Category: Family

Cosley Zoo Lights

Posted on

Saturday Brother # 2 and his girlfriend (hence forward known as R) came over so we could all go to Cosley Zoo to check out their zoo lights. It’s not too impressive, but it’s close, it’s free, and it was 50 degrees out so that’s a win in my book. I just wish they’d decorate the trees and other areas instead of just putting up animal-shaped lights and calling it a day. They could make it a little nicer, plus it would be easier to navigate through some of the otherwise very dark sections of the zoo.

Rudolph

After getting back home we ordered pizza and played some games (Pictionary Jr. and Uno Attack). Then Joe, E, and my brother decided to pay Call of Duty online (my brother brought his PS3 and hooked it up to the TV in our loft so he could join in). I took that opportunity to introduce R to the rats which she enjoyed. She actually commented on how much she likes their tails which is funny because even I wasn’t so keen on them at first. She got to hold and pet Marshmallow briefly once he calmed down. He also stayed on the bed which is unusual for him since he usually spends all of his out of cage time trying to get off the bed. Before that I had put Milo and Gizmo on the bed and she was able to pet both and give them treats. Gizmo, being the most friendly and outgoing one, eventually jumped onto her shoulder. It was cute.

It was nice being able to get to know R better. My brother has been dating her for like two years, possibly longer, at this point and I only see her once in awhile at my parents’ for holidays. After dinner they usually slink off to my brother’s room so our discussions are always brief.

Thanksgiving & Black Friday

Posted on

IMG_4629.JPG

My Black Friday philosophy is simple – if I can’t buy it online, I’m not getting it.

I happened to wake up this morning just after 6 am so I logged onto Target.com and ordered $300 of Target gift cards for only $270.00. Some will be used as gifts but the majority will be used to pay for groceries and whatnot. I could have sworn the ad said all boots were buy one get one 50% off but the style I wanted weren’t on sale so I didn’t bother.

I did play Macy’s instant win game and won $10 though! And I checked Amazon’s prices on the gifts I bought Joe (already wrapped, I am on fire!) and found one item had dropped in price so I chatted with customer service and got a refund for the difference.

We did actually leave the house in the afternoon to visit the library and Joe and E headed to Target to grab some eggs and milk while I stayed at home with a monster bellyache. I really didn’t stuff myself last night so I’m not sure what didn’t agree with me (maybe the can of Pepsi I drank since I drink water 99.9% of the time?) but luckily I was feeling better by the time dinner rolled around (skipped lunch) and was able to eat two turkey sandwiches. They are so much better than warm turkey imho.

Last night was fun, as always. Brother #2’s girlfriend was in attendance and we ended up playing Buzzword and Taboo (E’s favorite). Somehow I lost track of time after dinner around 6 pm and more than four hours went by in a flash. We ended up leaving around 10:30 pm.

One thing – I’m getting a little tired of my mom commenting on how competitive I supposedly am. Sure, I want to win (who doesn’t?) but it’s not like I have a fit when I lose. I just want her to stop making commentary during game play when she should be asking the questions on the card so we can earn points before our round is over. I don’t think that’s unreasonable. Joe feels the same way but doesn’t say anything so I get attacked because I get frustrated and request she stay on point. Needless to say my team lost because she was on it.

I just feel like she is always attacking my personality with the little comments she makes. Why I continued to get hurt and annoyed by it I don’t know. It just makes me miss my grandparents even more because I always felt good enough in their presence.

Sorry for the negative turn that took. It’s just (unfortunately) true. It’s not like I’m the only one she does this to, though, so I guess there’s that?

In any case, I’m thankful for my family even if they can drive me a bit nuts and be thoughtless at times. And most of all I’m thankful for Joe and his unconditional love and support.

The Elephant

Posted on

My green bean and sweet potato casseroles are cooked and cooling in the fridge and the turkey is finally defrosted thanks to a bath in the sink for two hours. I’ll be throwing that bad boy in the oven tomorrow morning, making more sides (stuffing, mac n cheese, etc.) and then bringing everything over to my parents’ for Thanksgiving.

For the record, I’ve been feeling better mentally the last two weeks and I’m not sure why. In fact, my sleep has been horrible so I’m flummoxed. Which just proves that my moods are completely beyond my control. Yay!

—

Here’s some stuff that happened recently:

A few days after we had dinner with my cousin I came home to an Amazon package. This was inside:


CousinGift01

CousinGift02

CousinGift03

A little backstory – Over dinner I was telling my cousin’s boyfriend about how when we were kids my grandma took me to the circus and I got to ride an elephant. She also bought me a super cute powder blue inflatable elephant which I loved. Well, one day about a month or so later my cousin came over to my grandma’s house to visit and spotted my elephant in the basement. She decided she wanted to “ride” the elephant even though it was far too small for such a thing and before I could stop her she sat on it and it popped. I pretty much hated her after that day (not that we were ever close to begin with, but that cemented my dislike of her). Of course, when telling this story I changed it to “I didn’t like her too much after that”. My cousin thought the story was funny but couldn’t even remember the event because she’s younger than me and couldn’t have been older than six at the time.

After opening the package I messaged my cousin to thank her and we had a good laugh over it. I didn’t tell her, but I plan on blowing it up and putting it in different poses and sending her photos. I just haven’t gotten around to it.

—

You know those sliding windows that are at the drive-up pharmacy? Well, my company has something similar to deal with visitors so they can’t just walk into our office. It’s also where we tuck outgoing mail to be picked up. Last week at work I slid open the window to put some mail in there and the entire thing fell out of it’s track! It actually fell inward toward the receptionist/HR/admin (she’s a jack of all trades) onto her desk. It made a terrible racket and scared the crp out of both of us. Thank god it didn’t break as the glass is thick and could do some real damage. Apparently it was off the track the day before and the guy who “fixed” it didn’t do it right. Now I’m scared of the damn thing.

—

Last Friday Joe and I decided to go play BINGO at the local church. I invited a friend/former coworker to join us and we had a nice time even though Joe and I didn’t win shit (my friend won $10 which paid for her admission which was nice). Now my friend wants to go to BINGO every month, but that’s too much for me. It gets tiring sitting around for three hours. I told her maybe every other month would work better.

Polish Food & Heros

Posted on

Saturday evening we met my cousin and her longtime boyfriend at a polish buffet, Warsaw Inn, that my family used to frequent when I was younger. The last time Joe and I had been there was when my youngest brother graduated high school ten years ago. The place hasn’t changed a bit. It got packed quite quickly, but we took our time trying out different foods and just chatting for about two hours. It was really nice because we’ve never really hung out with either of them outside of holiday gatherings or funerals. Now they want to meet up again soon to visit Ruth’s Chris steakhouse. I hear it’s pricey but I’ve been wanting to try it out and Discover card offers a gift card with our cash back rewards so that will make their crazy prices easier to swallow.

After dinner Joe and I went to my parents’ house to visit. We played some board games, and despite making fun of it, I tried a slice of Little Caesars’ Soft Pretzel Crust Pepperoni Pizza that my mom and Brother # 1 had brought back to the house. And it was so good I had a second slice. I guess I was totally wrong judging that pizza before trying it because as disgusting as it looked on the commercials I keep seeing, it was quite tasty.

Sunday morning we headed to an early matinee of Big Hero 6. Lately my favorite movies are animated and this one gets a 5-star rating from me. Stay until after the credits for a bonus scene!

Wake and Funeral

Posted on

Work was cool about me taking a vacation day so I only worked Tuesday and Wednesday last week (getting to the point where only working two days would be awesome if I could pull it off). Wednesday night we drove down to my old hometown to attend the wake and then back again on Thursday morning for the mass and funeral.

Luckily my mom liked the flower arrangement I had chosen although she didn’t care for the “empty” spot without flowers in the arrangement. Hers was the only spay that was sent over so it was not only at the wake but also the funeral and graveside for the burial. My cousin insisted I take my arrangement home after the wake. This is what $63 buys you. I don’t care for the flowers with the pink/red spots on them (they weren’t in the photo of the arrangement I chose); they kind of ruin the look which should have been all white and blue. Also, the vase is different than what was pictured; it looks like a cheap one for $2 from Walmart.

UncleEdsFlowers

Thursday we stopped at the local Burger King for breakfast since we got down there much quicker than we anticipated. It’s the only fast food chain for miles and was actually built when I was in high school. In fact, I was the first round of workers to have a job there but had to train at a different location so that once it opened I was ready to work. I ended up working there for about 3-4 years until I got pissed off at one of the shift managers and quit on the spot. But I was really good at my job while I was there and worked all the stations including front cash and drive thru. You could say I was the Burger Queen. ;)

Mass was weird. I grew up attending Sunday School and attending church weekly but I don’t practice anymore. I actually moved out of my parents’ house in my early twenties when my mom gave me an ultimatum to either continue going to church or leave. I chose the latter. It’s one thing to raise your kids with the religion you identify with, it’s another to try and force it on someone once they’re an adult. Ironically enough, neither one of my brothers go to church and they are still allowed to live there. And she claims there’s no favoritism. Suuuure…

I’m not even sure if I believe in God to be truthful. I don’t really call myself an atheist as I’m not 100% sure there is no God, but I’m finding it increasingly difficult to believe that he’d allow such terrible things to happen to people. Plus some of the nastiest people I’ve ever met are avid church-goers. It just seems fucked up that those people would represent Christianity. Needless to say, it was uncomfortable to sit through a mass.

The graveside funeral was sad. It made me tear up to see my cousins and mom crying. Ugh.

The “nice” thing to come out of all this is that I got to know my mom’s cousin better as well as make plans to go to dinner with my cousins who lost their father. We never hang out, but death reminds you that we aren’t long on this earth, and if you’re like me doubting the existence of God then there’s likely not an afterlife to look forward to either.

In other words, you better have some fun now before it’s all over because “this is your life, and it’s ending one minute at a time” – Fight Club