Nick bought some wine to cook with because he has to make food for work tomorrow.

And of course I was all HEY WE SHOULD DRINK SOME since he already opened it.

It is cheap wine. It was eleven dollars. I like it/do not mind it. And the name is cute.

Nick does not like it.

So I am drinking it all. IT IS ALL MINE BWA HA HA.

Anyway it is this. I don't like wine and I think it is okay.

Drrrunk

Recent thoughts - duplicated for your enjoyment

I like the idea of Montreal (much like one enjoys the idea having a baby but not the pushing it out of your own vagina part or the human being inside me thing or much like one may love the idea of organizing a bookshelf by color but not actually having said bookshelf (I cannot find any book I am searching for. Surprise, surprise, I do not remember my books by color.)) but that whole French thing always turns me off. Gravy and cheese curds on French fries? I am there. Calling it poutine? Sorry, I'll pass. Maybe next time. With bacon. And a not French name. Losers.

I think I might have mentioned it before but this I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant show is insane. How the fuck do you not know you are pregnant? "Oh I had missed my period two months in a row but I just thought it was stress." "I had a craving for tacos but I just like tacos, you know?" "I thought I had to poop and then a baby was in the toilet." What the fuck, kids? And they never have any prenatal care but the baby is always fine. While people who take care of themselves have sick babies. Also, what sexually-active woman is not hyper-aware of every single thing that is going on with her body period-wise?

I am having more and more dreams that involve someone sending me back to France for some reason. And I'm not allowed to leave for some other strange reason. Like I lose my passport or I lose a piece of luggage and cannot leave until it is found. I suppose that is what I get for speaking French all day.

Speaking of...speaking French, I think I speak more French in my average work day than I ever did during my 8 years of studying it in school. Probably even more than I did in an average day in France. I really hate myself for not speaking more French while I was there but whatever. I went to Budapest, bitches. French didn't matter. Now I talk about having votre numero de reservation and combien des chambres voudriez-vous and sorry, you need a carte de credit and who doesn't have an adresse email these days? My dreams are just filled with more French.

My sister is studying in Innsbruck, Austria next year. For the whole year. My mom didn't want her to go for the entire year because she didn't want to pay for Notre Dame with my sister not even being in the country but somehow they got over that. Also, next year is the motherfucking bicentennial of Oktoberfest so my friend and I were already planning on going to Munich. She lived in Germany for a long time and knows people we can stay with for free. We would only have to pay for airfare and food/drink money. My sister and I are planning a European tour since we can handle most countries with my French and her German.

I need to learn to play an instrument. I am thinking something terribly hipster like a ukulele or organ. I've always wanted a hurdy gurdy.

I have no clue what to get anyone for Christmas. Personne, kids. Not even Nick. It is terrible. I know what Nick wants but I can't buy him a 400 dollar laptop/netbook or whatever. And I can think of things I would like for him but nothing he would actually like. You know how guys are. I can think of about twenty things I think he would like but he would just say "oh, thanks." And not really enjoy them because it's nothing he wants. You know? And of course if you ask him what he wants, he never knows.

Nick does many things to annoy the heck out of me because he thinks I'm cute when I'm mad. One of these is not putting the new toilet paper roll on the holder. He knows it drives me insane, so he doesn't do it. Every single time he does(n't do) it, I fake yell at him for it. It's what we do. It's our joke. Anyway, the other day, I was joking with him about it and he said he'll always do it. It's his thing, and it won't ever stop. And I said, "Just like it's never lupus." So today when I went to shout at him about it, he said, "It's never lupus."

I am torn about Monk ending this week. It jumped the shark years ago but it has always been one of my favorite shows. I almost have Nick hooked on it but I think it will be like West Wing, I will talk about it for years and he won't watch it until it's OFN and then he'll fall in love with it and talk about it like it's something new.

I read about the newest game from Team Ico and it looks like it's going to be only for the PS3. This may be the game that forces my hand into buying a stupid PS3. Damn you, Team Ico. DAMN YOU.

Nick's parents got us an electric fireplace for Christmas (and already gave it to us, obviously) and it is awesome. The smart cat has only slept on it once so far but their favorite thing seems to being going behind it for some reason. Silly cats. We totally tripped a breaker with it already too. Which was bound to happen since it's on the same plug with the xbox and the router and the modem and the TV and the cable box and the surround sound and the Wii.

I've typed for about an hour now so I think that more than makes up for my silence. I'm out, kids.

I love you all &c.

↑D8

At NewJob for the past two weeks, I was the acting Senior. A Senior is between the Team Lead (supervisor) and the underlings. They help out if something needs escalated or anyone has a question that needs answered. One of our two Seniors left our team for another shift and they needed a substitute to cover until someone new was hired in. And I was chosen.

It was nice because I got to be off the phones. And I help people out anyway. It was just a bonus thing.

NewJob posted a new position in another department that I'm going to apply for. Intentional vagueness just in case.


I was nauseated for 12 days straight and when I went to the doctor I was told I need to eat better. The end. Just glad that's over.


I am so excited for Thanksgiving, kids. So excited. We're doing Nick's family first then probably just paying a video game or two at my parent's house. Food.

How I've been

Hate my job hate my job hate my job hate my job hate my job hate my job hate my job hate my job hate my job hate my job hate my job hate my job hate my job which just makes me depressed and hate my life and the only time in my day that I actually enjoy spans about an hour and half after Nick picks me up from work and before he goes to bed.

I hate my job.

Rings

After an unsuccessful conversation with Nick the other day, I got myself this ring.

It is gorgeous. I am going to wear it forever.

The Future

Is it terrible of me to be disappointed that I won't be engaged within the next six to eight months?

I mean, we've been together for over 5 years. Come on already.

Is it okay to talk about a wedding and expect a proposal any day now?

But unless Nick's tricking me, it doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon. Nick wants to go back to school and he wants that to happen before he proposes.

Because once again, he has this grand idea in his head that I want something I don't. This time he thinks I want an expensive engagement ring when I am perfectly happy with spending $125 or $150 or $200 or still $200. But no. He wants to get me a diamond ring or something equally gross and normal.

I am thinking of proposing to him. Just so I can get this party started already.

Life summary

Real quick.

Found a place to live that was awesome. It was great. The owner ran out of money and said it wouldn't be done until October. The property management company found us other places to stay in until it was done. 2 were really, really awful.

One was okay and I was all for it but Nick didn't like it. I just wanted a place to live. We looked at that place on Monday. That's when the property management guy told us that our dream place won't be done until the end of October. Maybe. But we really shouldn't hold out hope.

So that was that.

Then Nick was cruising Craigslist and I was drowning my sorrows in sleep. We found a place on Monroe Center, looked at it Friday at noon, loved it, told the guy then and there that we'd take it and now we have a place to live.

In other news, I am sick of this job. The other French girl on my team is leaving on August 21 so I will be the only French speaker after 10pm. I hate speaking French so hard.

And that's what my life's been like.

UGH

So our application was denied. For zero reason. It costs 140 dollars more than our old apartment and we're making double what we did back then.

But we still don't make enough somehow.


I don't want to look at any more places. I am so tired of this. We have less than a month to find a new place.


Ugh. I hate this so much.

Movin' on up!

Nick and I found an apartment. Finally. And because we are now earning twice as much as before (yay! full time job!), we can afford an awesome apartment in an awesome neighborhood downtown.

Yes, I am an adult.

We looked at this building when we first moved in together but it was condos back then and WAY above our budget.

Friends, I give to you our future apartment (As long as they accept our application. But as I said, they turned these condos into apartments so they are pretty desperate.):





Yes, it's the floorplan just rotated around but I like it better the second way. I think you can see the layout better. The door is at the bottom and the balcony at the top just like when you walk into the apartment.

Here's the website with photos but our kitchen is a lot bigger than the one they show.

There is an exercise room (and room for the Wii fit in the apartment!) and a movie room that you can reserve with big leather seats with cupholders and a big screen. There is a trash chute on every floor (and one right outside our potential apartment), recycling downstairs and a two-story heated garage in which we will have a reserved parking spot.

My parents are trying to convince Nick and I to just buy a house already. Since we don't want to stay in Michigan and don't know how long we'll be here, we decided to just get another apartment until our plans sort themselves out.



On the new job end, things are getting better. This job is going to be so, so easy. The hardest part is going to be speaking French but seriously? It's not going to kill me. And my accent already tells them that I'm not French so any mistakes after that will be a given.

I got in a giant French sucks fight earlier this week but let's leave that for later.



Yay! New apartment! Yay! Being an adult!

Being an adult sucks

I don't know about this job yet and don't feel like talking about it/have the time to but I have a story to tell you:

Today, we had a trainer come in and teach us Google Earth. Before we started, he went around the room and asked our names and for us to say something in our language. He was French African.

Please tell me you are feeling the same thing I was: DREAD. PANIC. DREAD.

So we go around the room and everyone is saying five bajillion sentences and the other two French people have great accents and each have two paragraphs prepared already.

So he gets to me and all I can think to say is "ta mère est un pamplemousse." I can't call his mother a grapefruit! Who knows what connotation that has! I am probably calling her a whore or something.

What do I do? What do I do? OH! MAKE A JOKE! People love jokes! They will be so busy laughing that they won't notice that you say "Bone-jewurrr y'all"! Make a joke, Rachel.

Do I say my name in French or English? What did the Hope girl say? KAH-Rhen? Okay, so French.

"Je m'appelle Rachelle et je ne parle pas français."

Everyone is staring at me. Why are they staring? Did I miss an article? "Parlez-vous anglais?" No. No article needed. I said the "ne" but they can forgive that, I was nervous, I had to prepare a simple sentence. THIS IS A JOKE. I just said "I don't speak French" in French! Ha ha. Laugh already. No one is laughing. Okay.

"Ceci n'est pas une pipe...?"

Did they get it? Okay. He got it. And I got a little laugh. Ugh. Do these people have no sense of humor? Hope girl is staring at me. I'm not even looking at British guy. Heaven forbid he judge me. He's British. We left them for a reason. And Hope girl liked France. Screw them.

Reasoning doesn't stop the embarrassment. I can feel myself turning red. I am warm, it's warm in here. Ugh. I am a retard. Why did I think this job would be okay? I can no longer get away with the fact that I don't speak French.

I told them up front. I told them it was terrible! It's not my fault!

During break, I am furiously checking the internet as I have chosen sleep over Google Reader for the past week and have 97 unread items. I AM STARING AT THE SCREEN AND NOT WELCOMING CONTACT.

Hope girl turns around. TURN BACK AROUND, GIRL. DO NOT WANT YOUR HUMORLESS FACE LOOKING AT ME. AM ON THE INTERNETS.

"Bonjour, Rachelle."

Cut her off, cut her off! There's no way I'm speaking French to her and letting her judge me. I AM NOT YOUR FRIEND. I hate France! I hate French! I just told you I don't speak French.

"Oh, no. I cannot think to speak French today." Still staring at my 97 Google Reader items. Must label all interesting things.

"Oh. I was just... I was wondering why you said you didn't speak French."

I looked over at her. Oh, God. She is looking at me with pity and concern. Cut it off quick! No friends! No pity! No French!

"It was A JOKE."

"Oh." She turns back around quickly. The conversation is over.

Was I just a bitch to her? I think I was just a bitch. Whatever. She's not talking to me.

Ugh. Why don't these people get jokes?

At least they are all nice.

Nick's coworker also passed away Sunday night. He was 35, divorced, had two daughters and had a massive heart attack in his sleep.

See why I hate April?

omgwtf

One of my friends (as Nick enjoys pointing out frequently, my internet friends (that I have never met in my life but talk to all the time (and sometimes I think of/see things that they would totally love (and then tell them about it later and of course they love it/already know about it)))) lives in NYC. She's finishing up grad school in forensics right now, at the same time I'm finishing up college. We are bonding over last minute exams and papers.

She works for the NYPD. She was working in forensics but is now working in narcotics. She's very good friends with her coworkers as many of them are/were classmates.

One of these coworkers was found stabbed to death this morning.

And even though I don't really know her, even though we've never met, I still feel just as upset and sickened as I would if we were close friends. But unlike my other friends, I can't hop in the car and go see her. Or call her and meet up somewhere. I can't be there for her. I can't hug her and tell her everything will be okay. So I am just reassuring her everywhere I can. Facebook, her journal, everywhere.

Ugh ugh ugh. I was just thinking about how awesome my life has been so far, how little of a dent 22 years is, and looking forward to the rest of awesomeness. I only hope that her life was just as good. And that her friends and coworkers can just keep breathing, just keep moving.

Update

Bad news comes in threes, right?

Nick's grandmother (the one on his father's side, the one his parents are staying with)'s best friend passed away yesterday. Four years ago on the 15th, Nick's grandfather (her husband) passed away.

So at 9 Sunday morning, we all got up and drove up to the house to basically house-sit while Grandma got out.



I got to see the house in daylight on Sunday. I don't know what was the worst thing to see: how small the hole is...the hole that used to be the house, the steps that led to the front door that are now cement steps to nothing, how little is left or the charred leaves and grass surrounding the house, the charred path carved out behind the house to the man who started it all, the ash that threatened to jump the road to take out another house. I don't know.

I think I was in shock before then because Sunday night it really hit me that it was all gone. And Nick's parents are spending their days making lists of everything they had, trying to remember everything they lived with, how old it was, where they bought it and quoting things that have no price. Things like Nick's grandfather's woodworking tools, the baby clothes, his great-grandmother's handmade quilts, his grandfather's guns, the bunk bed his father made, his mother's wedding dress, Jess' cake and all the pictures of everyone and everything.



I feel like I need to be helping out more but there's nothing we can do. I can make food, I guess. I can give hugs. But these lists, the insurance stuff, everything. I can't help.

When they start to look for places to live, then I can help.



Thanks for everything, kids. Love ya.

I baked food, kids!

(If you click "Read more" at the end of this entry, it will take you to this entry on its own page and the recipe will be right below this text, before the rest of my blabbing. I did this so you don't have to scroll past a lot of stuff to see my other entries and you don't have to scroll down to see the recipe. And because I am that cool.)

It is below because I don't like the code I found.

Here's the recipe in American (with my notes in italics):

Prep time: 1 hour
Baking time: 25-30 min. (Either my oven was really hot or was preheated for a long time but mine only took 23 minutes)

Ingredients (yields about 8 egg-cupcakes):
6 TBSP and 2 TSP butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup white sugar
8 eggs (medium or large, shells only) ONLY USE 3 for the batter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
~2 tbsp eggnog (I don't know where you can get eggnog all year round. Maybe you can make it using your other five eggs. It's just for white egg-cupcakes. Just make chocolate ones and you'll be fine. Or, please, please for the love of all that is holy, use a box mix.)
1 tbsp cacao powder (Cocoa powder. Stupid British.)
~2 tbsp milk
sunflower oil for greasing the eggs (I used vegetable oil and it was fine.)
aluminum foil (I used these awesome disposable mini-muffin/cupcake aluminum foil tins that Katti bought for mini-quiches. It was perfect, like it was made for this recipe. She bought them at Meijer and they came in a pack of four or so with wrappers.)

1. Poke a tiny whole in the bottom side of the egg by using a needle or an egg poker. (I gently cracked the top of the egg on the table then poked a hole with a toothpick. I then just broke a bigger hole with my finger. It ended up being pretty big, about an inch.) Carefully enlarge the hole using a pointy knife, make sure to only break small pieces of the egg shell to better control the size of the hole, about 1cm (or .5") would be perfect. Turn the eggs upside down and empty them in a small bowl (ONLY DUMP THREE EGG INSIDES INTO ONE BOWL. Dump the other five eggs in another bowl AS YOU USE ONLY THREE EGGS FOR THE BATTER like a terrible, wasteful person. Make an omelet for breakfast or something.), some of the egg white/yolk will be used later for the cake batter (three eggs). If the yolk and egg white refuse to come out, take a wooden skewer and poke inside the egg. (I used the toothpick to drag the yolk out. It is really gross and sounds gross and feels weird and seems really hard but after the first one it is really easy.)



2. Clean the shells in cold water and prepare a bowl with salt water (I put a bunch of salt in warm water and stirred it with my fingers until it dissolved), fully immerse the egg shell, make sure there's no air trapped inside. Remove them after about half an hour, rinse them under cold water and let them dry on a paper towel, with the hole pointing down. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 355°F. (I rinsed out the eggs in cold water both before and after the salt water soak. Don't worry, eggshells are actually pretty thick and strong. Just don't turn the tap on all the way or YOU WILL WASTE ANOTHER EGG YOU TERRIBLE PERSON.)



3. Baking prep: A muffin tray works great, use little pieces of aluminum foil to form rings, which will help the eggs to stand upright during the filling and baking process. (Again, I used Katti's awesome disposable mini pan. Really, this can wait because this other stuff is so annoying. Unless you are using cake mix. Then it is awesome.)



4. In a large bowl beat the soft butter together with the sugar until the sugar has dissolved, then add three eggs. (ONLY THREE EGGS. The three that you oh so wisely separated from the other five earlier when I told you so. It is okay if you didn't. Eggs are awesome and tend to stay in their own eggy package so just pour three out.) Beat well until the batter gets a creamy consistency, then add the flour together with the baking powder. Whisk until evenly combined. (Just buy a mix, people. The beating and the whisking is so hard. So, so hard. And so annoying. I hate beating butter. And creaming butter. ugh ugh ugh. I wish I could pay someone to cream butter for me so I would never have to do it again. Sigh. And whisking that concoction? I made Nick help me toward the end because it was really thick and my arm started to hurt.)



5. Divide the batter into two separate bowls. (This is only important if you are making both white and chocolate egg-cupcakes. Otherwise, just keep it in the one bowl.) Add the eggnog to one, the cacao (COCOA!) to the other. If it is too thick, you may want to add some more eggnog (for the yellowish batter) or a bit more milk (for the brown batter) (Mine was thick back there when they tried to make me whisk rubber cement. I actually didn't have to add any extra liquid here.)



6. Drizzle about 1 teaspoon of sunflower oil (Vegetable oil is A-OKAY!) in each egg and turn/flip it in your hand until the inside is completely covered. Get rid of any excess oil. (I put a little bit of oil in the first egg, swirled it around then dumped the excess in the next egg, swirled it around and dumped the excess in the next egg etc, doing the same for the rest of the eggs. I was already wasting five eggs, man.)



7. The hardest part is to fill the eggs, you can do it with a teaspoon and A LOT OF patience or you use a piping bag with a small nozzle. (Katti reminded me that I could MacGuyver a piping bag out of a regular ziploc bag. I just filled it up and cut a hole in the corner like I've seen good old Alton Brown do hundreds of times.) If you want bicolored cake eggs, start with one batter and finish with the second batter. Fill the eggs up to half and two thirds full, sort of trial and error - I seem to never hit the exact amount: Sometimes it is too few and the eggs will look incomplete or it is too much and the batter escapes through the holes, making a mess. You can easily remove the excess parts after they're cooled down, so better add a bit more. (It is really hard to tell how full the eggs are. Make sure to have a bright light source around to hold the eggs up to. Maybe I had small eggs (probably) but filling them up to two thirds full totally made them overflow. But this kid is right, just pick off the extra when it has cooled down a bit and you are fine. It was super easy.)



8. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. (Again, mine were great after 23 minutes because my stove is crazy lame) A wooden skewer should come out clean, if the cake eggs are done. (Or a loyal toothpick!) Remove from the oven and let cool down completely before cracking them open and peeling off the shell. (I am sorry but the coolest part is the fact that you cooked them in the shell. Leave the shell on, stick them in an egg carton, and be proud of yourself. You just cooked cupcakes in eggshells! If you just want egg-shaped cupcakes, get a jello mold, loser.)

Again, I'll let you guys know how they taste and if the cake mix really does make it easier. I am thinking of using my five extra eggs to make iles flottantes tomorrow night. If I do, there will totally be pictures. I'll keep you posted!

I made these today:



We are going to Nick's parents' house linner tomorrow and I've wanted to make these awesome egg-cupcakes for about a year. I sadly found the recipe right after Easter last year.

I would have taken pictures of the process but somebody couldn't find my camera the last time I wanted it and wouldn't wake up when I tried to get it from them this time.

So I used their cupcake pan ha ha.

I can tell you one thing, you definitely have to have a lot of patience. I thought "this is the hardest part" at every single step. I still don't know which part was the worst. Probably the last.

I just made chocolate ones because I don't know where to find eggnog at this time of year. The only bad part about that was the fact that they overflowed and looked really...gross when they came out of the oven. And I only cooked them for 23 minutes instead of the 25-30. Oh and I had to convert the recipe to American. I'll post my converted recipe at the end of this. The converted recipe can be found by clicking "read more" at the end of this post. It will take you to a new page that has the recipe right at the beginning of this post so you don't have to scroll past it and I can be awesome.

It was a lot of fun though. I'll let you guys know what the in-laws think of them tomorrow. I kept them in their shells and put them back in an egg carton for maximum awesomeosity. I'd take a picture but...

Next time I make them (probably Monday night for work on Tuesday), I'll just use cake mix instead of making it from scratch. It's pretty silly to make cupcake mix from scratch when I can just buy a box and save myself so much trouble. And there will be pictures.

Funny story, kids

I can't believe I left this out!

I did not apply for the job I have an interview for next week.

They found me.

On one of the many sites my resume is on, they found me.

So thanks for the congratulations on my bravery but I am not worthy.

Dudes stalked me.

I have an interview next week for a bilingual customer service job.

The other language being French.

The other language being a language I hate speaking.

What am I doing?

Nick said it can just be an in between. A job I have for a while before I hear back from the government jobs I've applied to.

But what if I don't get those either? What if I'm stuck speaking French for the next year or two. I don't know if I can do it.

We'll see. I mean, I don't even have it yet.

Ugh. I don't know. I guess it's cool but I hate French. Why am I majoring in it? I like writing it. And I love translating it. It's like a puzzle. I love figuring it out. But I can't stand speaking it.

I think I'm just ready to graduate already. I have three or four more papers to write plus tons of homework and I'm already done done done.

Vicki McMilli-update

She looks and sounds great!

She is at home for the rest of the semester and I don't know who is teaching her classes.

I saw her at the library the other day and stopped very quickly to give her a hug as she was talking to a bunch of librarians. She likes my haircut. She looked fantastic, as usual.

She is undergoing radiation to get rid of any residual tumors.

And she asks that we keep her in our prayers.


I am so happy that she's doing well.

More wedding talk while I'm still not engaged because I know you kids love it

I have been rethinking wearing my mom's dress for imaginary future wedding. I looked at the pictures of my mom and grandmother wearing it for the bajillionth time. It's a nice looking dress but I am beginning to feel a little apprehensive. It is really dated and it appears to be shiny... Maybe it is just not a good photo dress?

I don't really like any other dresses either. Well that isn't true. I fell in love with one when Jess was getting married. I wish I could just buy a bunch and wear them all the time. I love dresses. Maybe I will just wear a dress I really like.

Whenever this boy proposes to me, I am definitely going to try it on and we'll see from there. It might just need updating.

---

My mom said that if I don't find a job right away, Nick and I should get married so I can be on his health insurance. That is the first time she has shown open approval of our relationship. The first time in almost five years.

I'll take what I can get.

---

I received my graduation packet in the mail. I am so ready to be done.

I am nervous about getting a real job though. I mean Ashley is still there and she's been done for almost a year.

I'm still pretty chill. What will happen, will happen whether I freak out or not. I can either be worried about what might happen or I can just let it happen. I'd rather not be worried about it.

---

My brother's birthday is this weekend. He is going to be 16. Oh. Man. I met Nick when we were 16.

Kids, I need your help

I saw this movie, long ago, and I cannot remember what it was called.

It was on a ship? or a submarine? and the two ships/submarines were fighting against each other but then they all got sick so they banded together and housed the sick people on their ships/submarines. One of them was probably a German shipmarine.

This movie was probably a terrible movie. Every time I watch a submarine movie, I want to watch this mystery one.

Children, what is this movie?

I do not remember who is in it. Probably some men.

It is not U571. They just get blown up and the one guy drowns.

Mark your calendars, kids

Nick has mentioned that we will get engaged before my plan of 2012. He also has said that we won't get engaged unless we can afford to get married.

He just recently mentioned that 26 is the perfect age to have a kid. That makes 2013 The Year of The First Child (not the year of the snake like those Chinese want to tell you).

It's crazy to think about having a kid in the next four years. Four years ago, Nick and I had been dating for a year. Four years from now, I don't even know where I'll be living or where I'll be working.

But Nick'll be there. Nick and a baby.

Vando Calrissian

I was going to write this awesome post about how cool the car is but I have a headache so you get to look at pictures instead!


Ladies and gentlemen...I present to you Vando Calrissian, former administrator of Cloud City and General in the Rebel Alliance.

Nick and I went to McDonald's on Monday and came home with food poisoning! YAY!

I never had it before so it was awesome.

Missed all my classes and work on Tuesday and am still not feeling 100%. At least I can stand up and not feel nauseated.

Sad part was that I missed classes on Friday because of my death cramps so I haven't been to my Tuesday/Friday classes in a week.

Nick still isn't feeling well.

funny story is below...now this is serious

In other news, McMillan is in the hospital. She was teaching a class the other day and couldn't remember what she was talking about. She kept searching for a word and couldn't think of it. She said everything went out of her head, she couldn't remember anything and she thought she was having a stroke. She collapsed or started shaking or something and the nursing students helped her out and called Nurse Kim. She's been in the hospital since then. They took an MRI and there was a teardrop shape that was floating on her brain. They think she has a brain tumor but won't know for sure until the test results come back. Cindy and Pat went to see her and said she wasn't wearing a hospital gown, she was just wearing her normal clothes. How very McMillan.

I hope she's okay.

Killer Balloon

I received two birthday balloons. One I received on my birthday. This balloon is still alive somehow. It still touches the ceiling and everything.

Today, this balloon stalked Katti. I was sitting in my room watching TV after work and it floated across the room to Nick's desk by the door. It appeared to be plotting something with my other balloon. I returned to watching Jon & Kate Plus 8 reruns and at some point it escaped my bedroom. I didn't notice it leave but Katti came to talk to me and the balloon was waiting for her right outside her door. To get to this point, it needed to float down from the ceiling and through my doorway. It proceeded to follow Katti down the hallway and then made a break for the kitchen. In order to get to the kitchen, it had to float down from the ceiling to get around a part where the ceiling lowered a little to make room for the ducts/vents. AND IT DID IT. It then turned a corner to stop in the middle of the kitchen.

This is where it stayed and waited for us after we got back from the grocery store. I cleaned the cat's litter box and threw it back in our bedroom, hoping that it would stay there and stay away from me.

I started to get ready for bed and I went to kick it out of our room when I noticed it wasn't in the room. I searched the apartment and couldn't find it. I finally called Oliver out to see if I had just gone blind and couldn't see it but he couldn't find it either. I decided that if I was looking for it, I might as well look everywhere and opened the door to the third bedroom (the door that stays shut to conserve heat) and the balloon was hovering on the other side of the room, past some boxes.

I am keeping it in there. This other balloon better watch it or it might get kicked out too.

I only need one class to graduate and that is the one class that I am too lazy to do the work for. Ugh.

I love our country

First Lady Michelle Obama visited Howard University today, where she assured a crowd of college students that hey, it's ok if you're not sure exactly what you want to do with your life.

"There is no one right way to do any of this. And the choices and the decisions will change, given your circumstances.

The person I was when I was in college is very different than the person that I am today. That person is very different than the person who was single and married. I was different when I was -- not -- but single and not married. I was different when I was married. I was different when I was married with kids. (Laughter.) I was different when I was married with kids in certain types of jobs. And every step of the way, I wondered whether I was doing the right thing.

So know that in your struggle to figure these things out as women, as professionals, that you have to do what's right for you at any given time, and that's going to change -- from week to week, from month to month, from year to year.

The question that I hate most that we ask of young people is, 'What are you going to be when you grow up?' And the truth is, I still don't know, and I'm 45 years old. All I know is that it's important for you to be true to yourselves, not to worry too much about what other people are going to think or make of your choices, because everyone will question what you do and tell you you should've done it the other way."

White House.gov

Tattoos, cont.

I would like the number 143. It will be under the infinite heart on the same wrist. I am adding it to the previous list.

"[Mister] Rogers came 'to see that number as a gift…' because, as he says, 'the number 143 means ‘I love you.’ It takes one letter to say ‘I’ and four letters to say ‘love’ and three letters to say ‘you.’ One hundred and forty-three."

I read that article and cried. I can only hope that I can be as nice and as good of a person as he was.

Tats I am currently wanting, location of said tattoos, their commemorative occasion and how long my lust has been brewing

I was bored in Philosophy so I decided to make this list. Quotes denote the actual word or phrase, descriptions accompany pictures/designs.



1. "Orpheus", behind my ear (left? right?) upon my engagement. Lust for this one has been brewing for over two years. Nick doesn't like tattoos (he thinks they're stupid) but I've talked to him about the ones I want and I think (?) he's okay with it. He still thinks they are stupid.

2. Infinite heart (infinity sign with heart on one loop), on my right wrist (in white?) whenever I am with Laura and we are drunks. Lust for this one has been brewing for four to five months.

3. "Music is my aeroplane", unknown location, unknown commemorative event. Lust for this one has only been brewing for a month or so making it the second sketchiest.

4. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one.", unknown location, upon birth of first child. Lust has only been brewing for two hours making this one the one I'll probably nix. Also people probably already have it so I will need to google the heck out of it when I get home.

5. "143", below the infinite heart on my right wrist, upon the birth of my first child. Totally pretentious awesomeness? "CXLIII". Did you know google will do Roman numeral translation like it does math equations? It's great. Lust has been brewing for...20 minutes?



This is here so I can reference it, talk it over with you kids and refer to it when brewing more ideas.

NEWS! THAT IS GOOD! GOOD NEWS!

I know I mentioned this to you guys in passing but it seems to be actually happening so I feel like I can really talk about this now.

Nick's parents bought a car van and are fixing it up for Nick and I. They estimate it will cost about $1000 to fix everything on it (dented driver's door, dented panel above driver's side front tire, no driver's side mirror--all from the accident that put it in Nick's parents' possession) and they are giving us a year to pay them back. We definitely don't need that long to pay that small amount but it is so very nice of them to give us an extended amount of time. The interior needs to be cleaned out (cheerios, crumbs, children wreckage etc) but other than that, it should be ready for us in the next couple of weeks!

It is a 2002 Chrysler Town and Country minivan. It has heated seats (!), automatic sliding and hatch doors along with cap'n seats, a four disc CD changer and leather seats.

I have not seen it yet and I do not know what color it is so it has not a name. I only know it is awesome and we are so very blessed. I am so thankful. If we really end up moving like we want to, this will be perfect for our big move out of state.

And it makes me want to have/steal a baby to make it useful. Also, road trips: this time it's for real.

Hey, news media!

I don't hate Nadya Suleman because the economy is bad, news media. I would hate her even if I was the richest person in the world and everyone else was happy and had tons of money.

I hate her because she is a single, unemployed mom who already has six kids under the age of eight who is living with her mother. I hate her because one of those six kids is autistic. I hate her because none of her children will get the special attention they need. I hate her because she thinks she can breastfeed all eight of the kids she just had. I hate her because there are people out there trying for just one kid, and never able to have that one kid, while she gets 14. I hate her because she's an idiot.

I want to have kids too but you don't see me running out and getting knocked up. I know that I can't afford to support even one kid right now. How in the world did she think she could support 14? I'm sorry but she cannot have eight more kids and rely on sponsors or media support. I don't think she thought this through at all.

And what kind of doctor transfers six embryos when she has six kids already and is younger than 35? This is just a fucked up situation all around.

ALSO! Do not have babies because you want to be loved. Have babies because you have love to give.

Birthdupdate

See what I did there? Remember when I promised you a birthday update and then nothing happened? Well I slept in today and can't sleep so here it is! Finally.

I worked on B-Day because otherwise I would have just sat at home. Alone. And I wouldn't have gotten as many birthday wishes. Work had a mini party for Cindy and I (her birthday is the day after mine) and I realized that I do not want to be working there indefinitely like Ashley. After work I waited for Nick to get home and we went to meet my parents for dinner at Palace of India. My dad was out of town (like he tends to be on my birthday. I don't know if you remember but he was out of town the day I left for France. And he felt awful about it.) but he made it just in time. The food was delicious. My family was awesome. My mom gave Nick a hug (A HUG!) so I think she's finally decided that he is sticking around for a while. Mind you we have been only dating for almost five years, Mother. But whatever. She's weird.

I got a cool retro red dress that I would find and link to for you but I have a cute cat on my lap. I also got a shirt that says "I got an A+ in 'French'" and John Hodgman's new book (autographed!). Oh and a board game I wanted for Christmas that Katti has already found out how to win. Yay!

Thursday, Friday and Saturday we didn't do anything. I got moody (see below) and hid in Nick's car to surprise him at work. That "ruined his surprise" of buying himself ice skates so we can go ice skating together all the time. We planned to go ice skating that night but got sleepy and napped instead. We didn't go Sunday because of the game and finally went Monday.

Monday I got out of class early and went to dinner with Nick's parents (and Jess and Ryan and roommates). We went to Logan's and it was delicious. It turns out that they bought this 2002 Chrysler Town and Country and are fixing it up for me and Nick! After they fix everything it should only cost $1000 and they'll give us a year to pay them back. So soon Nick and I will have an awesome, pimpin', working van/car to drive! This means road trips, kids! And happy Rachel again! Yay!

Nick took me ice skating after dinner. I had to relearn everything but it came back to me quickly. And I wore my own ice skates! I don't know what it is with ice skating but I didn't stop smiling the entire time. It was perfect.

Then we got home and I wasn't feeling well. My nose starting running and I seriously said "oh no I better not be getting a cold" and went to bed early. I woke up with a death cold. Stage 2 of Nick's death cold. I've been sleeping ever since.

Anyway my birthday week was awesome and I'm blessed to have such awesome friends and family. Thank you all for the birthday wishes and presents. Moi, I seriously cannot wait until I get my period again so I can whip that cute little case out. Or my next hot date.

I love you all.

I may be in a mood...

Dear Life (formerly of The Cereal, now Comma My),

Thank you for the awesome birthday week. It was great to have dinner with my parents at a delicious Indian restaurant and I'm glad you let me drag Nick along while he suffered through the terminal stages of Extended Man Cold™.

I am blessed to have awesome friends that wished me a happy birthday all week long. Although work has become super lame since you decided my favorite kid needed to get fired and you brought my arch-nemesis back from Spain, it was great to have to work on my birthday and celebrate with the people I have been stuck with for the past four years. You made me look forward to graduation and leaving this town so much more!

I've got to say though, the coolest part of this birthday week has to be all the plans you decided weren't awesome enough to actually work! Instead of going ice skating with my boyfriend, you gave him a cold and death cough for a week and a half more -- just long enough for him to be whiny, unbearable and asleep by eight o'clock every night of my birthday week. It was also really nice of you to give my roommate a great car, tempt us with a Sonic located closer to us and then decide that her car needed a new alternator the day before the planned trip, trapping us at my school for an hour and a half longer than we really wanted to be there. That was great.

I have one thing to thank you for though. For my birthday weekend, I will pay rent, pay all overdue bills (most likely on my own) and get a haircut then be unable to eat or do anything for the rest of the week. Thank you so much! This is even better than the time you tempted me with seeing the friends I hadn't seen since August and then decided that all six backup plans wouldn't work. And I thought that was awesome. Oh man, I didn't even know you were going to get me a birthday present!

I guess I wanted to just say thanks. Now I know that I really should never plan anything ever again.

However, if you want to come to my graduation, I was just planning on becoming poor and homeless afterward. I don't need a new car, we only need one door to be able to open really and who doesn't love scraping off the outside and inside of the car? I also was just planning on staying in Michigan and never getting a job with my bachelor's degree. Maybe I should plan on drowning in all my debt? Alone? Because I'm planning on never being engaged or married and I never truly wanted kids.

If you want to ruin those plans, go ahead.

Love,
Rachel

P.S. No, I did not get to make that birthday cake, Toi. Because I planned on it and I wanted to.

This totally just happened

(Nick's asleep in bed sideways, covered up by my blanket. He needs to move to his side of the bed and take his blanket and his pillows. Also the bed has moved away from the wall and needs to be pushed against the wall again. I cannot do this while he slumbers. The bed is pretty big and heavy and Nick makes it impossible to move. This whole conversation takes place with Nick half asleep, eyes closed. Intermittent snores are heard.)


Me: Nick?

(I proceed to say his name about ten more times.)

Me: Open your eyes so I know you're listening to me.

(He keeps his eyes closed and, for some reason, raises his left hand.)

Me: Nick? Open your eyes.

(He does not open his eyes. He puts his left hand down and raises his right hand, smashing me in the face and putting his pinky up my nose. His eyes open for a second. He is immediately asleep again.)

Me: Why did you raise your hand?

(He's totally asleep again.)

Me: Nick. Nick, move. You need to move.

(He wiggles.)

Me: You want to move? To your side of the bed?

Nick: Nnnnnmnnnn

(He sort of moves over a little but he's still laying on the bed sideways. Now he's totally in my spot. I decide to let him wake up a little bit and continue talking to him.)

Me: Nick? Did you set your alarm?

Nick: Yes.

(He's awake! Sort of. I pick up his clock. The alarm is not set. He is totally just sleep talking to me.)

Me: What time do you want to wake up?

Nick: mnnnnnnnm 10:09.

(He has to work at 10. He has a meeting at 11. He has to leave the house at 9:30. He is so totally still asleep. I decided that only continuous talking will rouse him from his slumber.)

Me: You have to be at work at 10, Nick. What time do you want to wake up?

Nick: 10:30.

(I start setting the alarm clock for the time I think he usually wakes up, 8:45.)

Me: You didn't answer me. Or move. What time do you want to wake up?

Nick: I TOLD YOU ALREADY!

(This is shouted at me like I'm the crazy one in this conversation. He finally moves to his side of the bed, resumes sleep.)

Me: You need to get up, I need to fix the bed.

Nick: mmnnnnnnmmmmm

(He stands up. I don't think his eyes are ever open. He somehow navigates to the end of the bed and pushes it against the wall. He gets back in bed and is asleep in seconds.)

Me: Do you want pillows? Do you have enough pillows? Nick?

(I receive snores in response. I hate that he can fall asleep this quickly. I hate it because I am jealous. I bet you five bucks he does not remember any of this conversation in the morning. I set two extra alarms to get him up because he is dead tired.)

P.S. BIRTHDAY UPDATES WILL COMMENCE TOMORROW.

ME

It is my birthday!

Nick got me drunk last night FOR ZERO REASONS.

Then I went to class. And work.

THIS NEWS AND MORE... AT 11.

Woman things

If Baby!Bro or Nick are reading, they may want to stop now. In fact, the ladies might want to look away too.

I have started using tampons. And I can't believe I ever said a word against them. I feel like I'm not even bleeding out my baby hole. And I bleed for two days less than I used to. I'm still trying to find out how often I need to change it because it seems like day one is fine but days two and three are crazy.

I blasted through my first box (of 40) in two periods. I ran out at my parents' house and despite (or because of?) not bleeding for the past eight years, my mom had extra tampons lying around. She said they were on sale so she threw a box at me. They're deodorizing (which means they smell) and have a different applicator and...tampon part than the other ones. I don't like them. It's weird having brand loyalty when I've only been using tampons for two months.

I don't remember why I'm writing.

I feel like I'm producing a lot more waste with tampons than with pads. There's the wrapping, the applicator (plastic) and the actual cotton wad compared to the pad and two little wrappers. And the blood. Gross.

So I'm thinking that I might start using the Diva Cup. Because I feel like this waste is ridiculous. And how hard will it be to have that up there after a tampon anyway?

France

Glad we didn't go this year. This storm would've been a hell of a welcome party.

Poor Jean. Looks like late nights for him.

Also, why did I not hear about this plane crash?

Birthday week!

I decided that my birthday week (a week-long celebration of your birthday beginning the week of your birthday) will begin tomorrow as my birthday is too close to the end of the month for actual birthday week enjoyment.

Nick and I commenced birthday week by making frozen pizzas and drinking sparkling wine. Both of us being quite buzzed, Nick is now asleep.

I think I'll let him sleep.


I went with Katti and Oliver today to get this. Do you see that brush? It's really a comb. It's weird. But it was free.

I've never done the whole makeup thing so it is taking a little bit of time to get used to. I am not looking forward to taking it off.

And I poked myself in the eye a couple of times. Now my eye is bloodshot. But it is gorgeously bloodshot.

I am going to look for my camera tonight and tomorrow so you guys can have photographic proof of the awesomeness that is birthday week.

P.S. I totally am still laughing about my facebook fight. One of her skanky friends messaged me and I can't figure out why. I think she was trying to defend her but I seriously asked her why she was contacting me.

Second week of classes

I hate the first couple weeks of every semester. The freshmen get to their classes a half an hour early and take up all the seats so I have to sit in the front of class. In order to get to class a half an hour early, they need to park very early. So by the time I get to Fulton lot, there aren't any spots open.

Plus, the parking lot isn't plowed and these freshman apparently have no spatial skills. The parking lot is a mess. Cars are all over the place, making the lane wide enough for one car to drive through at a time. Especially at the back of the parking lot.

Thank goodness they haven't discovered the flood lot yet. There were six cars parked there, including mine. I'm definitely clinging to the hope that they will never find it. I don't know where I'm going to park once it rains. They better have gotten their act together by then.


This is apparently the stupidest group of freshmen we've ever had. They don't know how to schedule classes or listen when you answer their questions. And I don't know if I've become a genius overnight, if I'm good at reading comprehension or if these four years have really beefed up my school skills, but these kids in my English class ALL OF MY CLASSES must be mentally disabled. We read a short story for my English class that was narrated by a nameless boy and girl. It wasn't even hard to tell them apart because the girl's text was bold and not capitalized. Half the kids thought the girl was telling the entire story and the bold parts were flashbacks. And this one girl couldn't believe that the boy and girl would use the same phrases. Even though they were lovers. And they weren't necessarily writing at the same moment. That was when the story was unbelievable to her. And she almost started crying when she was telling all of us this...which was weird.

In my philosophy class, we are only reading nine chapters of our first book. These nine chapters don't need to be read all at once but gradually during the upcoming weeks. I seriously heard multiple people say they couldn't read 200 pages at a time and they were thankful we were reading it slowly. TWO HUNDRED PAGES. HOW THE HELL DID YOU PEOPLE GET THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL/LIFE? OMFG.

Reflections...also, the boots.

I reread Lamb because I received it for Christmas and I have a few things to say: my semi-crisis of faith is over. Jesus rocks. Also, that God guy is pretty cool. Again, I kept hoping somehow, someway, Jesus wouldn't have to die but (spoiler alert) he did. And I cried.

P.S.
These are the boots. Along with this dress/shirt/thing, my mother and sister agreed that I was a very, very strange person.





THE DRESS THING:
...it needs leggings.

P.P.S. Did everyone always say "happy new year" when seeing you for the first time after the new year? Because I don't remember that. And it's a lot like saying "cheers" to me. I freeze up and have no idea what to say. I'm glad your Gregorian calendar turned a new page? New Year's Eve/Day means nothing to me. I drank one Smirnoff thing by myself because no one else wanted to drink and woke Nick up to watch the ball drop. Woo, our human-made construct of time measurement continues! I am one year closer to maybe getting proposed to!

P.P.P.S. Speaking of which, one of my friends from high school (who has had a crush on me since 7th grade and who, after I made out with him once, went totally downhill into drugs and has a kid) is engaged now. To get married in DECEMBER OF 2012 THAT BITCH.

P.P.P.P.S. I don't know if I've ever talked about our hatred for Belly. That post is coming.

P.P.P.P.P.S. I should take a shower maybe.

oh btw...my schedule

Since Nick and Oliver work together now, they have the car Tuesdays through Saturdays. I get to drive myself on Monday and Katti drops me off on the other days.


Monday
Intro to Fiction 10:50-12:05...I needed the credits. Chesley is awesome.

I drive home to eat lunch or whatever. I took a nap yesterday with Nick. It was the best day ever.

Desktop Publishing 3:05-4:20...I needed the credit.


Tuesday
Intro to Philosophy 10:50-12:05...my one required class for the semester. THE ONLY ONE. All we have are four essays. No tests. So. Excited. Also, attractive 35 year old = win.

Lunch or whatever. At school because Katti drives me.

French Translation Concepts 1:40-2:55...we didn't have this class today because he's still in France but three of us didn't know and came to class only to sit around for fifteen minutes. I don't know how it will be but Pichot assured me that quite a bit of English will be spoken.

Work from 3 until 5.


Wednesday
I work from noon to 5. Katti drives me.


Thursday
Intro to Fiction 10:50-12:05...again.

Work at 1 until 4 because I don't have the car.

Database 4:30-5:45...because I need the credits and it sounded interesting.


Friday
Intro to Philosophy 10:50-12:05...again.

Nom nom nom.

French Translation Concepts 1:40-2:55...again.

Work from 3 to 4:30. I think. That sounds silly now. I will check. Later.




So I am super excited for this semester because it will be so easy but I'm kind of nervous about it because I am already getting the urge to skip.


P.S. I got rainboots for Christmas and they cheer me up.

LIFE UPDATE, STAT!

Exam week
I had two exams. They were easy. I got a C+ in my art class and cried. I found out that my favorite new kid at work got fired and cried. Bieneman said we could turn in our final projects on Friday but the weather was bad and our internet was out so I didn't. I emailed him on December 23rd to let him know it was coming. I looked at my grade and saw it was an F and emailed him apologizing on its tardiness.

CHRISTMAS
The Eve: Nick worked until 4:30 so we weren't able to leave until he got home. Then, me being awesome, I had to wrap all the presents with pirate and wedding wrapping paper. Or I would have if I didn't drag Katti to Meijer with me to grab the first wrapping paper I saw. I quickly wrapped all the things I had made in my art class for my family and gathered up the roomies. Around 6 we finally started up to my parents' house where we exchanged family gifts and Nick got money then we went up to Nick's parents' house and pigged out. We spent the night there and I barely slept because I always get so excited for Christmas.

I'm boring myself.

I got awesome PJs from my dad and everyone loved them. Christmas Day was weird because I'm usually there to see everyone open their presents but this was the first year I didn't.

I got ice skates from my parents and cried.

BREAK
I played WoW with Katti and Oliver and only worked last week. I found out that Bieneman actually meant to give me an incomplete and put in the wrong date so he's okay that I'm handing it in super late. I still have to do it and I'm lazy but that's my project for this week.

Oliver started at Comcast on the 6th. Which is cool because now they have money and they will maybe pay bills for the third time since we've lived together.

I also found out that the book I requested through interlibrary loan last semester finally came in. So I can start my French paper before the incomplete deadline and get both my incompletes done early.

If I'm not lazy.

Nick got me WiiFit. Did not cry but felt guilty.

So that's what you've been missing.

I am already excited for this semester to be over and it's only the first week.

Graduation, here I come!

P.S. Ben and his stupid girlfriend got engaged. Everyone hates her and the two of them as a couple. They have not been together a year. They are so poor, both their parents are helping to pay their bills and rent. Ben did not tell us they were engaged, facebook did. Katti railed on Ben for not telling us. He said he didn't know facebook told everyone and he was planning on telling us. He suggested we all get together to celebrate some weekend. Katti's reply: "Oliver works on Saturday." We (Katti, Oliver, Nick and I) agreed that we would never celebrate their engagement because we are not happy for them. And that was that.

12-12-2012

BLAHG

I am tired of this apartment. I can't wait to get a real job and move anywhere but here. I am already sick of winter and I still have at least three more months of it to suffer through.

I'll do a life recap tomorrow/today when I've had one more day to absorb the crazy-, awesome-, cool-, lame-ness that was this break.

December 12, 2012 is my goal, Moi. It's just long enough away that it allows for any crazy things that might get in our way or delay it but it's close enough that I'm setting a goal for us. I love the repetitiveness it has to it too. I was all about 10-10-2010 but Nick's sister stole October and I don't think we'll be engaged by then. Also, 12-12-2012 gets it in right before the next apocalypse.