Rachael Yamagata's been reading my journal...

It's a choice to stay,
It's a dream and I wanna wake,
You have blood on your hands,
And I'm feeling faint,
And honey you can't decide.

I'm a drug you don't wanna give up,
Smoke your cigarettes,
And make your love flow.
You poured blood in my heart, I can't get enough
I'm drowning, drowning,
And you can't decide.

It's not about geography or happenstance,
You need to fly and take a chance,
You don't need to soar to emptiness,
Float on high and forever dance alone.

You're scared, scared, scared,'cause I feel like home.

I hear your voice,
And I knew right away,
If you were here, what your eyes would say.
I have blood on my feet as I walk away,
Rivers are red, it's starting to rain.

I'm not gonna live for you or die for you,
Won't do anything anymore for you.
'Cause you leave me here on the other side,
You leave me here on the other side.

Not gonna shed one more tear for you,
Shed one more tear for you,
I'm not gonna shed one more tear for you,
At least not 'til Sunday afternoon, Sunday afternoon...

Rachel Yamagata, Sunday Afternoon

(If you don't have her music and love her already, get yourself to iTunes and let her change your life...)

Why....not?

I'm considering trying false eyelashes. Just for shits & giggles.

And when I say I'm considering it, what I mean is...I'm sitting here on the couch researching it...I might actually make a quick run to the mall.

Hmm. I'm going to check it out. Be back with details later.

PS...I'm just trying to avoid doing my Christmas cards.

I bring you good tidings of great joy....

I've decided to join this site....

I won't bother apologizing.

I'm sitting here in my apartment, waiting for my RA to show up for our one-on-one. And I remembered that I haven't posted in forever. So, hi. I haven't forgotten you. I can prove it.

Over the past month or so, I've come across certain things that make me stop and giggle. I instantly think of all of you, and how I just know you'll love it as much as I do. So, read on for proof that I think of you all often, and fondly. You sickos...


"Grams? Hi, yeah, it's just me, Susie. Um, I was wondering, I know you're not well, but if you're gonna kick it this week, could you maybe give us a heads up so we can get you in the Thanksgiving Edition of the Tribune? I mean, I don't want to be pushy, but if you want an obituary that's Pulitzer-worthy, I'm gonna need some time...it's a process, rough drafts and all that. Grams? Gramma? Hello?"



Ice, right? Frozen water. Just one question, though...why is WalMart's ice "healthier than homemade?" It's ICE...which is just...frozen...water. Am I missing something? And the way they use the word "homemade" makes me uncomfortable. It insinuates that ice takes a lot of effort to make. Or that there's some sort of secret family recipe that you've been using that's well, unhealthy...
"Ann-Marie! Don't use so much butter in the ice next time--Grandpap's heart can't take it!"




Uh...Santa's WHAT?




This little gem was from earlier this evening. Jess and I were at Dollar Tree. Just an interesting aside: did you know that Dollar Tree doesn't sell paintbrushes--but they do sell panties? Odd. I know.

But not nearly as odd as a girl wanting these particular panties. Your crotch is hot and spicy? Really. I mean, really? That doesn't seem like something I'd want to advertise to someone who's close enough to see said panties...it seems more like something you'd hear on a Valtrex commercial. Sit on a bag of frozen peas, honey, things'll be better in the morning. And in the meantime, you might want to think twice about comparing your vagina to Moo Goo Gai Pan.

Every party has a pooper...

Sorry to do this, but...I'm embarrassed for you. Yeah, you. You know who you are.

The one who claims to know God's grace and mercy. The one who knows that love is the greatest of all these. The one who would say they know God's character.

You. If that's true--if what you say you believe is true--then why all the hate? If the One you say you believe is always in control, who governs this world, is still truly in control--then why all the fear?

And if you and all of your friends and family called their prayer chains last night and were on their faces before God--praying His will be done...and Obama is in office--why all the disbelief?

If you are disheartened and sad and scared--then you, my friend have put your trust in the system. And the system is jacked--on both sides, from just about every angle. These men are just men. Some trust in chariots, but I will trust in the name of the Lord our God. It's something to consider, don't you think?

Maybe it's time to face up to the cold hard facts. God isn't simply a Republican. God isn't simply anything. His ways are higher than ours and I would rather trust Him than any GOP talking head. Any liberal analyst. Anyone, really.

And while I'm at it, maybe it's time to throw out this little gem...

Romans 13:1-7
1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. 4For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. 6This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. 7Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

That last part about honor and respect is hard to swallow, isn't it? Look, maybe instead of dwelling on your "whoa-is-me-what-in-God's-name-is-going-to-happen-to-us?!" attitude, you should try something completely different.

Honor those who have been placed in authority over you. Whether your politics agree or not. Try walking in love. Try respecting the position from the standpoint that if all of those people who said they prayed for God's will to be done, were really praying--either God has blown you off--or He knows what He's doing.

You should try being okay with it.

Welcome to western PA

Well. Looks like someone got her winter coat just in time....


What the...it is still only October, right?

I can't wait to move to California.

WTF...or...

What The Fur?

I need boots, but I realized today that before I get boots, I desperately need a winter coat. Cause I don't have one. And it was 40 degrees today.

So, I went out this evening and I have the following question:
Why is there fur trim on EV.ER.Y coat I saw tonight? Why. Seriously. Why.

All I wanted was a classic pea coat. With a hood. Tailored. Classy. Warm. It took me 3 hours, but I found it. And it was 50% off.

Awesome squared.

The weather outside is frightful...

Okay. The past 6 years, I've only had to be outside for as long as it took me to get from my house to my car and then from my car to my office.

This is NOT the case now. I have to walk across campus to get to the office, or for meetings, or to get to the dining hall...you get the point.

What does this mean? It's means I'm going to be cold. It also means that since I'm pretty much in a snow belt (the stories make my eyes water), I'm not going to get to sport cute pumps for much longer. I need boots. I don't want UGGs or anything that resembles them. But I want my feet warm and dry. But I also want to look wicked cute.

I'll take suggestions. But in the meantime...thoughts on any of the following:












(Okay, they have a heel, but...I kind of want them.)

The shallow end...

Welcome to the wading pool.

So, right now I'm sitting on my couch and I'm watching this thing on the Duggar family. They're that family that have 17 children. In this episode, they have friends visiting them (for 2 weeks) that have 15 or 16 kids themselves.

I've just learned that, apparently, God doesn't believe in birth control. Well. I've been schooled.

Whatever. I can't figure out why these people annoy me. And then it hit me...it's the long horse hair ponytails and the matching clothing.

Whhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhy? If you want to be a baby factory, that's fine, but can't you at least let your kids be NORMAL? Jeans? T-shirts?

Okay, the mother just said, "We just thought this would be pleasin' to the Lord to start wearin' dresses."

STOP. Just.stop. I'm pretty sure the God has some bigger fish to fry than being pissed off cause we womenfolk are wearing pants.

The following post is rated "F" for Female.

If you're a dude and still reading--don't say I didn't warn you.

Ladies. Listen up. I'm not squeamish and I'm not shy, so I'm just gonna do this.

It's time you went and got one of THESE.

Don't be put off by the ridiculousness of the pinky-pink, flowery stupid website. The bottom line is this thing changed my life. Fo.real. It's a thousand times healthier, a thousand times more environmentally sound and it saves you hassle and money. What's not to love?

I'll answer any questions if you have them. If not, order one.

Oh LiLo...

Honeybunchesofoats...if you're gonna get a spray-on tan, make sure they get your feet.

You're welcome.

What I've Learned...

So, I've been here in my new life for what, like, 2.5 months? It's been really great. Really busy. Sometimes I have days like this past Thursday where I had 6 hours of just meetings. In fact, most of my job consists of meetings. The idea of that might drive people crazy, and while it can be exhausting, it will always beat the hell out of a cubicle.

That being said, I've also been busy getting an education of my own...

• Quarters are priceless when you're paying to do laundry again.
• Dorm water does awful things to my hair and skin.
• 4-inch pumps are not the best shoes to wear when you have to walk everywhere.
• I should really learn how to throw a Frisbee.
• 33 is really old when you're surrounded by 18 to 21-year-olds.
• 33 isn't really old when no one thinks you look older than 25.
• Chicken patty day in the Cafe makes my day.
• Apparently, water pressure-like Spandex-is a privilege, not a right.
• Don't try sleeping in "limited" clothing. You'll inevitably get a call on the Duty phone and end up taking a little bit longer than normal while Campus Safety waits for you in your lobby. Not that that's happened.
• I canNOT win at Phase 10. Ever.
• People really don't have a problem making out in front of everyone. Or on the science building steps at 2am when it's 40 degrees outside. Just sayin.
• Football players have been, and will always be, the same.
• When sorority girls tell me they love my hair, I feel cooler than I really am.
• Sound, and voices, carry incredibly well in a residence hall.
• Parents of Millennials are batshit crazy.

That's installment #1...I'm sure there will be more.

CAKE!

It's been awhile since I've made a cake. Mostly because I don't have an oven in my apartment. But this weekend I went home to celebrate a couple of birthdays and my nephew Carter had requested a police car cake. With a machine gun on the top. To "shoot at the bad guy cars."

Bring it.

The great thing about being home to do it was that my Mum acted as an excellent Sous Chef.

It started like this.


Turned into this.


Yeah, they got a big kick out of it.


I looked over to see him doing this...

Defying gravity...

This month I also went to see Wicked with Jess (Roseum).

Our seats were kick ass.




OhmygoshitwassostinkingamazingthatIcantevenbegintotellyouhowmuchIlovedeverysecondofit.

I've heard it said
That people come into our lives for a reason
Bringing something we must learn
And we are led
To those who help us most to grow
If we let them
And we help them in return...

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?
But because I knew you
I have been changed for good...

Le sigh.

Civil Discourse

Here's the deal. I work for a great school. The average SAT score here is higher than Penn's average SAT score. These students are ridiculously smart, outrageous over-achievers but (sometimes) immovable in their opinions. They are the young Religious Right. For the most part.

We (the other RDs and I) operate out of the Student Life & Learning Department, so basically, we're always trying to do just what that implies--educate our residents in a way that a classroom doesn't, or sometimes can't. I saw alot of value in trying to teach my students that when they leave here, they're going to enter a world where (gasp!) not everyone thinks like they do. And (shockingly) the people they encounter, may even believe what they believe, but not vote like they vote.

Civil Discourse was Jason and Justin's brainchild. Other staffs (including my own) jumped on board because we saw it as a really valuable program, and something the campus needed. Basically, we pulled all kinds of campus groups together, and gave them tables to set up and then had a professor come in and speak on Civil Discourse and how we can, as humans and as christians, disagree better. Then we aired the Presidential Debate live. It was a huge success. We were told we'd get about 50 people and we had over 150. We didn't change the world. We may not have even changed any minds, but it felt good to try.

Here are some pics from the night:

Baby come back...

I know. You missed me. Well...Adam missed me. I have a lot of ground to cover. I'll do it in bits and pieces so it doesn't end up as one loooooong blog.

K? K.

YouTube Tuesday

This is my good friend, Danny. He's amazing. Which is an understatement.

El Ultimo Tremelo Performed by Danny Rectenwald

Random

Know what I really hate?...accidentally sitting down on the toilet and not realizing the lid is down. It's terribly shocking and uncomfortable. Really.

I also hate that eating in a dining hall will make you fat. Not because the food is so good, but because if you want to, you can eat ice cream for every meal. Not that I've done that...often.

What?

Heavy breathing.

Last week the RDs had to sit through hours of CPR/First Aid Training.

I always thought those 'Annie, Annie' dummies were creepy but the new ones were okay. Until I saw the ridiculous/creepy/nasty/terrifying BABY dummies. Please see below.

The Reidler (and Jess) ignoring his dummy and playing with his iPhone. Surprise.

The aforementioned sick alien baby.

Good thing I had a sterile mouth-guard.

MAP South

Hi kids! Okay, so I've had these pictures for a little while, but haven't gotten around to posting them. This is where I live.

My patio.


The 'Princess Stairs.'


See those doors? Go through them and you'll be at my apartment.

My lobby.

I'm a Wreck.

So, do you all remember my post about Cake Wrecks?

Yeah, well, true story. Years ago, I was on my way to hang out with Todd, Stacy and Jess at Hobart. They called and told me to "bring a treat." I stopped at a Dairy Queen and had a fabulous idea. I looked at the girl behind the counter...
"Sooo, can you write whatever I want on a cake?"
She kind of laughed. "Yeah. No problem..."
"Could you write, say, 'Sorry about your herpes'?"
"H-e-r-p-e-s, right?"

She came back with this (please ignore my very round face, my very awful make-up and my seriously out-of-control eyebrows...I mean, just...yikes):


I sent it into Cake Wrecks...and looky, looky!

Today...

I went to the local Walmart. Brief history of this town--it's rural. Completely. And the Walmart is generally filled with LOTS of scary people. But a different kind of scary, you know? I mean, I lived in Lawrenceville--I can handle thugs--it's these rural, mountainy types that set me on edge.

But I digress. What I wanted to tell you is that walking into the Walmart right in front of me was an Amish lady. Who knew.

I was desperate to take her picture to show all of you but I didn't want her freaking out, thinking I was trying to steal her soul or something.

That was a joke. I'm super insensitive. No hate mail, please.

You had me at Merlot.

Tonight Jess, Reid and I went out to eat. Jess starts telling us how she likes to think of people as certain types of food...we laughed really hard and then I asked her what she thought I was.

She said I'm like a glass of wine.

Reid immediately laughed because his first response was "cause she gets better with age?!" Yeah, you just shush it, man--I had a mother tell me today that I wouldn't know her niece who graduated from Geneva because, "she's older than you--she's in her late 20's." Riiiight. I get younger everyday, people.

Anyway, back to me me being like wine...she said it's because it goes well with other things, that it DOES get better with age-but that it's more of a process and that if you're not careful, it has the power to completely incapacitate and "own" you.

Awesome. I'll take it.

Transitioning?

The VP of Student Life and Learning is an old friend/supervisor/coworker of mine. He's one of the reasons I'm here and honestly, one of the most fantastic people you'll ever meet. I'm not being dramatic.

Yesterday we were walking out of the Student Union and he asked me how I was transitioning and if it was going well. And I told him this story:

On Friday I wore this ridiculously cute plaid skirt. An RA from another staff came up to me and was like, "That's really cute! I think I have it in blue!" and we made a joke about wearing them on the same day.
Yesterday morning, I woke up, checked Outlook and had an email from Jackie that had been sent at 7:30am. The subject line said "Dude..." and when I opened it, it read, "Can we wear our plaid skirts today?!" I typed back "Oh HECK.YES."
So we did.

Yeaaah. My transitioning into college life is going just fine.

Although, it's funny that I now eat my meals here:

(I'm hoping the beefy, hardcore football players didn't think I was trying to take their picture...)

Oh and check out what I got:

I got a lot of them, actually. Another RD and I are going to hand them out at local bars to attract men and prove we're employed and not just glorified camp counselors.

The ever after...

Remember me? Your long-lost friend? Hi. Are you doing something new with your hair? It looks nice.

ANYWAY.

This has been an insane--what, 11 days--since my last post. IN.SANE. It's such a weird thing to have been misplaced and not know it. Or maybe it was just that I didn't know the extent of it, but after a long 5+ years, I feel like I'm somewhere I belong.

My RAs are really wonderful girls who are ridiculously fun and, ok, let's be honest, thankfully think I'm super funny. And "popular." Which, if you know me at all, makes me the happiest girl (read: attention-starved) EVER. ;) Yeah, today Sarah said, "What?! Do we have the most popular RD or what?" Dana and I said yes and then I happened to tack on "and most attractive." Which they rolled with because I'm not sure at this point, they feel comfortable arguing.

The other RDs...yeah, I don't have words for these people. Seriously. They're astounding. They're smart. They're passionate. And holy CRAP are they funny. They made me feel really welcome and comfortable as soon as I got here (they'd all been here in training for a good 2 weeks already). I really really love our staff and am making new friends--which I love. They're fantastic. I honestly can't do anything but go on about them. So I'll stop before it gets superdog annoying.

I don't know, guys...this has been...amazing. I'm actually sitting here just shaking my head because I feel a little bit at a loss for words. I can't begin to tell you how different life is for me. How I feel like I've got fire again. How I feel like I have purpose. How I feel passionate about things and people. And it's hard. It's a hell of a lot harder than letting someone read me numbers. It's a huge committment and I'm alread tired--but I'm happy. That's the good word, peeps. It's as simple as that.

And now, some pics of my new apartment. The bedroom:




Yeah, I have 2 closets.


My iiiiiiiitty-bitty kitchen...ette. Yeah, that's a mini-fridge. And the thing on top of the cart? It's my Easy Bake Oven.




The living room. No, the fireplace doesn't work.


Oh, and yeah, the pink curtains are going. I don't know when or how, but I'm making sure of it. Trust me.




Well...that's it for now. We're still in the middle of RA Training so it's outrageously busy. When it slows down a bit, I'll have a routine again, which will be nice. Until then, text me tomorrow so I have a distraction when we're going over the section on confrontation...cause we all know I've got that one down. ;)
I have mad love for all of you. Night!

Hey.

Guess what.

It's my last day here at Giant Jimmy's Super Christian Big Bible Emporium.

Aww...

My boss brought me these today:

I heart getting flowers.

Memorandum

The good stuff is always scary.

It makes taking the risk to be brave worth it.

Yard Sale Day...

This Saturday we had our annual multi-fam yard sale at Team Bindys' house.

We were there a whole 10 minutes when Chris found a magnifying glass. A big one. It was really sunny and so we spent the better of the morning watching him light things on fire. Then we spent the better part of the day getting burned on our necks, shoulders, arms...
But the fun really started when he found fireworks.

Phil was helping things along with some lighter fluid...cause that's TOTALLY a good idea.

And Dave had found some quality reading.