The Eye Twitch...

I bet this is the post you have been waiting for since my last holiday posting. I cordially invite you to sit down, relax and read Christmas 2010 through the eyes of Sara. After spending the respectful 5:00 hour at Chrismas Eve mass, I headed home to a dinner of Pork Roast,homemade applesauce,sweet potatoes and bread. After a whoops I got too excited because it was Christmas Eve and forgot to eat all day until dinner, it was time to lay low until the all night Ralphie marathon.
     After the annual first viewing of "A Christmas Story", promptly at 10:00 I recieved the I'm home for one night so ya better come see me phone call. "Let me find my parka,winter boots and then I'll be over." Okay so maybe I didn't need to find my winter boots for walking less than a football field length to her house, but after the unfortunate incident with my crocs on ice, I needed to find better shoes. Wallabes to the rescue.
     Knowing that in less than two hours I would have a day filled with chaos and family, I planned to make a short 10 or 15 minute stay. "Okay it's time for the annual playing of Christmas Eve Charades. Kids against adults.Sara you get to go first." Wait a second? Who in the room was considered a kid? Anyone under the age of 30. "I'll stay for one or two rounds and then I have to get home and go to bed. I've got a long day ahead of me tomorrow." First card I draw? "Christmas In Connecticut." Seriously? I had never heard of this movie. And how in the world does one act out Connecticut? Point to a christmas tree, attempt to air draw a map of the United States, hope they get the idea, attempt to point to the state of Connecticut and pray to God they get it. Five laughter minutes filled later, I had achieved success. Highlights of Christmas Eve Charades? Yukon Cornelious, Cindy Loo Who, and the Bishops Wife. TWO HOURS later, the clock had turned to Christmas morning and I trekked back home to attempt to get some shut eye. Ohhhh but yours truly had a better idea than sleeping.
     This was one night I truly felt like a five year old on Christmas Eve. I couldn't help it. I was so excited. For what? The morning, mom and dad's present and jitters about Christmas dinner. After the 12-2 and 2-4 AM viewings of Ralphie I finally slept from 4-9:00. And for the first time good ol dad had to wake me up on Christmas Morning.
     The rest of my family was to promptly arrive at 9:00 for the days festivities of which included opening of stockings, breakfast of welsh rarbit,sausage and danish, and opening of presents. I'm not mentioning names, but the person who gave me the title of this posting thought it might be funny to torment me and be FIVE minutes late. Usually I don't mind, but seeing as this was Christmas, this whole act of being late wasn't funny. I didn't have time to worry about them being late. My stomach was in knots. Knots of excitement. You could say I was pretty pumped for the day but I was WAY more pumped about mom and dads present. (That's coming later) Present highlights included: Sara Spills business cards (holla) my yearly Mary Englebreit tear off calendar, khaki pants (you can never have enough) a couple bottles of shampoo (yes I'm picky) and INDIVIDUAL peanut butters. There is a peanut butter God. Yes I got excited over peanut butter. Be jealous.
     There it sat. The last box. The box that I had lost sleep over. The box that was filled with love. The box that had the first clue to mom and dads scavenger hunt. I was so ready for this moment. The first clue read: "A preview of a future beach wedding?" The next clue turned out to be hiding under a picture of myself and unmentioned sibiling in dress up wedding gear around the ages of 7 and 5. I'm not going through all the clues because thats not the point, but after the final clue sat a big red bow on the cabinet that held their Christmas present. "Just press play." Insert a huge sigh of relief.
     This was no ordinary Christmas present. This present was a video that told a "story" of mom growing up, dad growing up, their dating years, their wedding, the time before as much as she gets on my nerves/creator of this video sister was born, her childhood, my childhood, the best brother in law I could ask for childhood, 2005 and on, and Michigan pictures. You would think that when you are approached with this idea, it would take a week or two from start to finish it, but try a MONTH and a half. I'm not complaining, but when you take on a project like this, make sure you can clear your schedule. It was time to finally press play and queue the unlimited waterworks. I could finally sit back and see what I had helped produce.
     The opening of the presents had been completed and it was time to gear up for another rousing round of presents and Christmas dinner. Like I mentioned in Christmas Eve Eve Ramblings my hope for good behavior was dwindling down to nothing.
     I bet you thought I wasn't going to tell you about Christmas afternoon and dinner shenanigans did you? Stay tuned...

-Sara-

Christmas Eve Eve Ramblings...

I promise that I will blog a full low down of my what should be interesting and if it is not, then something is seriously wrong Christmas 2010 holiday, but before Christmas shenanigans play out, I do have some where did you come up with these Christmas thoughts. Like I've mentioned in pasts posts, we all know just how random yours truly can ramble, so here goes nothing.

      I have found my top four favorite Christmas songs. Why not five? Because after working at Shenanigans headquarters for the last three Christmas's you get tired of hearing Mimi's classic Christmas carol "All I Want For Christmas Is You" at least five times during my assigned shift, you must branch out and find better Christmas music. And that's exactly what I did. In no particular order, here they are. Silent Night by Sara Ramirez. She does an absolutely gorgeous version of it that can be heard in the "Holidaze" episode of Grey's Anatomy. Little Drummer Boy by Josh Groban. There are a million different versions with the same lyrics, but after hearing the same version with humans trying to sing a beat of a drum, he gives his version a twist of pop to it without the human beating of a drum. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas by Chris Martin of Coldplay. Same thing, I heard it on Grey's Anatomy and fell in love with it. I went to go buy it on iTunes and it's not there. iTunes has almost every song known to man but this one? Oh wait. They do. But I have to pay 20 dollars for one song? No thank you. Apparently it was on CD, but only made 1,000 copies for the VIP Coldplay fans. Finally, The Christmas Song (Chestnuts' Roasting On An Open Fire) by The Roots. I despise this song. It's just so depressing and slow. But then why do I like only one version? Because Quest, lead singer of The Roots has the most soothing voice I have ever heard. I am currently on a quest to get The Roots to put this version on iTunes. And if you haven't heard any of these you should YouTube them. Immediately. 

     As I sit here blogging to my fellow followers, I am about to witness the 18th throwing of Jay Thomas throwing a football to a giant meatball on top of a pizza on top of a Christmas tree on The Late Show With David Letterman. I find it slightly disturbing. And odd. 

      I know this blog is titled Christmas Eve Eve Ramblings, but Tucker's (the four legged king of the house) 13th birthday is Christmas Eve. It seems just like yesterday I was in art class while Mom and the sister traveled to bring the little fur ball home. My little baby is all grown up. 

     Because it's not Christmas Day until Saturday and can't go into present details, I have come to the conclusion that my fellow siblings and I will be giving Mom and Dad the best present ever. I will be sure to include details post Christmas but if someone tries to top our present, it could get ugly. Consider this a warning. 

     According to the meteorologists, it looks like I will get one of my Christmas wishes fulfilled this year as they are predicting we will in fact be having ourselves a white Christmas. I mean I'm kinda sorta pumped. I can't tell you the last time I saw snow on Christmas. 

     It's going to be a bummer going back to Shenanigan Headquarters and not working with Christmas music. It's so joyful and cheery. And when it goes away, it's like what a bummer, Christmas is really over; until next year. For me, Christmas music is a little break from the non stop thanks to satellite radio there are no commercials' 60's and 70's oldies station. 

     Along with my white Christmas wish, I did ask for one more thing. Not to be sick. And because I was such a good girl this year and was sick within 18 days of each other, I will not be arriving to Christmas dinner sick. I won't go into details, but for the people who were lucky enough to hear my Christmas dinner 2009 story they would be happy for me that I will be able to enjoy dinner 2010. 

      "Hey Sara will you please run to Target and go get some printer ink for me?" was the best joke of Christmas 2010. Sure Mom. I'll be happy to go fight the whoops, are there only two shopping days left before Christmas, I guess I better go do my shopping customers just so I can go get you some ink. Well after Target I made a little detour and purchased some of the best $12.78 I'll be eating until next July because I have five pints with my name on them peppermint stick ice cream. 

     It was two years ago Christmas Eve that my view on Christmas movies changed forever. I was forced to watch who cares about a 12 year old boy named Ralphie wanting a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas? But fine, I've heard so much about this TBS 24 hour marathon of "A Christmas Story" I'll give it a try and see if I like it, it might be my all time favorite Christmas movie ever movie. 

    If you read First People Givers and experienced Thanksgiving 2010, all I asked for Christmas was for my family to behave at Christmas dinner. My hope is slowly dwindling down to nothing. I'm sure it will be filled with laughter, and "mother no nuts!" commentary. 

     There was a timespan in my life of when I was OBSESSED and I mean obsessed with *NSYNC. You can ask anyone in my family and they will 100 percent agree with that statement. Circa 2002(?) *NSYNC came out with a music video titled "It's Gonna Be Me". I never really listened to the lyrics, I just watched the video for Justin Timberlake's hair and fascinated with the fact they were marionettes in a toy store. *NSYNC came out with the brilliant idea to put out a line of marionette look a like dolls of themselves. Bet you can't guess what was at the top of my 2002 Christmas list? The official Justin Timberlake doll. Christmas morning had arrived and the final present was calling my name. Soak it in Sara. This is the last present you'll open till your birthday. One end opened, I began to see the infamous orange stripes on the box just like I had seen in the video. I really wish we had captured the moment on camera. I'm sure I woke the entire neighborhood up. Apparently I squealed like I have never squealed before. As my family describes it, high pitched shrills came from my lungs. If there was a memorable Christmas moment that speaks to me, this would be the one. 

     Oh, and after learning the hard way, finding Feliz Navidad in english is a lot harder than you think. 

-Sara- 

      

March 27, 2005...

I was finally starting to get into my Sunday night routine. Dinner, the last minute procrastinating of homework followed by the ABC primetime Sunday night lineup. Wanting to make sure that my normal shows that consisted of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Boston Legal were new, I did a quick look over to find the tiny little "N" to tell me my shows were airing a new episode. I knew exactly where these shows were in the paper and with my eyes going straight the top of the lineup, there was no Boston Legal to be found. "I know it's here somewhere. Maybe I'm not looking on the right day." Oh here it is. Nope. My show had been replaced. And we all know change isn't my best friend. 
     What's was this"Grey's Anatomy" show? You premiere a show in the middle of the TV season? Are you serious? ABC has the guts to remove one of my shows from the Sunday night lineup? Maybe this mid season show would totally bomb and bring back my shows. I'm only going to watch it because my normal show isn't on. Famous last words. Sunday night had arrived and after an afternoon of dreadfully boring homework, it was time for me to sit down and give this I really wish my other show was on, but I'll watch this and see if I like it show instead. 
     Going into Grey's Anatomy with hardly no information about the show, I was quite skeptical. Wasn't Grey's Anatomy a well known go-to medical book? A show about a book? This is starting to get sketchy and boring and I haven't even watched the first episode yet. Okay Sara if you can't get into the show within the first ten minutes you can change the channel, but at least give it a try. 
     Who names their first episode "A Hard Day's Night?" Aren't most shows titled "Pilot?" I knew I had heard that title somewhere. This is when it pays to be called the Human iPod. Oh that's right. The episode is titled after the legendary Beatles song. Creativity just went up at least 100 points. And the production company at Grey's Anatomy had already named their first episode? This wasn't looking good for my other shows return. 
     "The game. They say a person either has what it takes to play or they don't. My mother was one of the greats." And you use those words as your opening line of your show? Strike one. Adorable cute actor Patrick Dempsey in opening scene? You can erase that first strike. Oh how cute. This looks like it's gonna be just another one of those primetime love story dramas. And as we all know I have an attention span of about a 5 year old. I get bored. EASILY. Next thing you know it was 9:30 and the show was half way over. And I hadn't moved. That says something. And as an added bonus? I actually understood the story line. 
      On March 27, 2005 is a day that I became addicted to at the time little show called Grey's Anatomy. I wasn't sure of it at first, but as time went on, I became addicted. After watching the first two episodes and seeing what was unfolding during it's freshman season, I instantly had my favorites. The first and still favorite I spotted was the neuro surgeon Derek Shepard. I won't go into character details, but I'll say this about him: HIS HAIR. What a hunk. And then I found the heart of the show sweet character Meredith Grey who deals with the ins and outs of residency at Seattle Grace Hospital in Seattle,Washington. And some of the advice she gives can some how be worked into my life. If I was only that wise. And here I am seven seasons later. I might be one of the most dedicated Grey's watcher one has ever met. And I'm sure you want the reasons as to why I think I'm the most dedicated Grey's viewer. 
     Here is my evidence. I've seen it from the beginning. I have every single episode on DVD. I have a Microsoft Word document dedicated specifically to Grey's quotes. I have a photo folder that has everything Grey's you could think of. I know every important moment in Grey's history word for word. I know what story line it is within the first twenty seconds of the opening. I know every doctors story. I stood by Grey's Anatomy through the tragic writers strike.
     And as Izzie Stevens once said in the Justin Bieber squealing Season 5 episode 22 "What A Difference A Day Makes"  "You don’t recognize the biggest day of your life, not until you’re right in the middle of it. The day you commit to something or someone. The day you get your heart broken. The day you meet your soul mate. The day you realize there’s not enough time because you wanna live forever. Those are the biggest days. The perfect days. You know, it was a beautiful day." 

Dedicated. 

-Sara-

This Ain't No Snowmageddon....

"Snowmaggeddon: (n) the term used to describe epic snowstorms- like the February 6 blizzard that dumped some 30 inches of snow in Washington D.C." People were snowed in without power for weeks, schools were out for days, and the federal government had to be shutdown some days. We're talking about the feds here people. If the government was shutdown and people had to ski to work, yea, I'd categorize this under a crisis. And then you have our weatherman calling for the half inch of ice with an inch or two of snow storm 2010 a big deal? They need to get their priorities and facts straight. 

    Three days shy of the official start of Winter and I have already witnessed what may be one of the craziest winters (well besides 2009, but thats another story) of my short 22 years of life. As I mentioned earlier in one of my postings, I'm beginning to despise the cold. I have always enjoyed the cold, but when I have to set my alarm at least five minutes earlier and can't press the snooze button, just so I can build in time to put on extra layers, you could say I hate the cold. 

     Rumors of this impending "storm" began swirling mid day Monday. The meteorologists couldn't pin point the exact day of it's arrival, but whatever it was, it was gonna be a big one. If this so called event was gonna be big, it was time to do some major we better gear up in case we're snowed in for days shopping. And with the shopping came the panic shortages of bread, milk, and eggs. Insert Mom knew this was coming and went out two days early and beat all the locals panic attacks. Recently one of  our beloved local meteorologists retired after serving his twenty five years of weather duty. (I'm getting somewhere just hang on...) and when he got excited about a storm he rated it by how many milk bread and eggs we would need. Sadly, he's not here to rate this storm, but as good ole dad said, he would have rated this as a one loaf of bread one dozen eggs and a gallon of milk storm. I had myself convinced this was gonna be nothing compared to last year's Winter storm. Or so I thought. 

     With our special christmas guests arriving the day of the impending storm, I thought two things: A) It can snow and ice all it wants, but let them get here first, and B) I hope they brought warm clothes. The storm was to begin promptly at 12:00 Wednesday night. Once it had been pinpointed as to where the storm was headed, it was time to call in the big whigs of ABC News, Jim Cantore of The Weather Channel, and CNN. At this rate, I was finding my winter coat, my candles, charging my cell phone and my computer for what could be days of living life in little house on the prairie. If we called in the national news, this was gonna be an epic storm filled with lots of snow, ice, and loss of electricity. Excellent. No power in December? Just what I've always wanted for Christmas. With my adrenaline at an all time high, I had prepared myself to ride the storm and pull an all nighter so I could experience the beauty of the glistening snow falling on top of the dreaded ice. Like I mentioned earlier, the weatherman need to get their facts straight before they start reporting the weather, because at 9:15 Wednesday night the white stuff began to fall. "The more snow the better. The more snow the better. The more snow the better." If I kept telling myself that, maybe this would all blow over. 

     Finally after watching all of Jay Leno and the opening of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, I gave in. I was okay with whatever was going to happen. As long as everyone was safe, and school was called off the next day, I would be okay. Heading to bed, hoping for the best, it was off to what would be a night of spotty sleeping. 4:30? Still have power. Back to bed. 7:45? Still have power. Back to bed. 9:00? Still have power! Success. This was some storm alright. It's a good thing we called in ABC News, The Weather Channel and CNN because it was a big storm with two inches of snow and a half inch of ice. Yes, the snow and ice were pretty, but having your car being completely iced over is not what I call pretty.  

     One would think that if the city received a blanket of snow and ice, people would be smart enough to stay in and hang out and take advantage of the snow day. I'm not mentioning names, but you know who you are, had better plans to come and hang out with yours truly for the day. I'm not complaining that they came to hang out for the day, I'm just saying that they should have thought the idea through when driving on the side roads. Bringing themselves and the Jo Man for the day, it was time for them to tackle coming down the street with a four wheel drive. Halarious. Having the bright idea to start breaking 100 yards before mi casa, they thought they could get into the driveway with no problem. And they had no problem gliding into the neighbors driveway 100 yards PAST mi casa. Seeing that they found themselves stuck in the neighbors driveway there was only one person to call. AAA. 

    "Uh yes, I'm sure you've gotten multiple calls like these today, but we have a vehicle that is stuck in a driveway and we need you to come get it out."  "Okay we'll be there in 30 minutes." I kid you not. 30 minutes later the tow truck had arrived with Humpty Dumpty.  "I don't know about this one either. I've already had to leave three other jobs." Humpty Dumpty wasn't about to leave his fourth job was he? I'll put it this way; if you have a relative who doesn't take no for an answer, you can figure out his response. Well over 90 minutes later, we had ourselves a celebratory lunch to celebrate the car being pulled out filled with ham and Nord's bun and hunkered down for an afternoon of naps. 

     One parting tip of advice: Crocs and ice don't go together. 

-Sara- 

     

The Simple Life...

Before I begin, let me clear this up. This is not going to be a blog about the FOX t.v. show staring Paris Hilton and Nichole Richie. With the holiday less than two weeks away, and things get insanely hectic in life, lets have a stop and smell the roses moment, and allow me to tell you about the little things in life that make me smile, giggle and sometimes squeal. Two things before I start: A) This list is in no particular order, B) This list will be random. 
     Okay so maybe this one has to be first, but if it wasn't for my family, I wouldn't be here. So topping the list of the simple things in life, my family. Joker and Tucker. Orange Gatorade. Shenanigan Headquarters. The silence of the house after every one has gone to bed.Grey's Anatomy. Big and baggy sweatpants. Mom's hot chocolate in the winter. Quotes. Facebook. PEOPLE Magazine. My cell phone and the people in it. The Bear. S.A.S. Straightened hair. Car keys. Leftovers. The breakfast angel. gLee. Summer 2009. J.K L-I-V-I-N. The never ending library of music. The Bieber fever squeal. THE sweatpants. Rainman. Postsecret. Scented laundry detergent. Wedding Cake. Justin Timberlake. Decoupaging. Mary Englebriet's calendar. Cruises. Homemade Birthday cake. Dooley's Sun-dried Tomato Bagel with Sausage. Monday's Crosswords. The Box's Sweet Tea. Speedy ICEE's. Hard Rock Cafe T-Shirts. Perez Hilton. Text messages. Blogs. The Shore. Superman. The Rose. Noodles. Ellen. Snow. Nothing broke.Wonder Word. Homemade chicken noodle soup. College Football. Basketball. Peppermint ice cream. Exit 119. Wholey Guacamole. My laptop. French Fries With The Sauce. Late Night TV Shows. Crushed ice. Finale Voting. The Bow's. Being Right. Patrick Dempsey. Amazon.com. Dove Chocolates. YouTube. SNL. Chip. Vera Bradley. The Green Flash. Life. 


-Sara- 

We're Going To The 'Ship... We're Gonna Win First Place...

W. L. L. L. W. L. L. W. L. W. L. L. F. Not with that record we weren't. No, that does not spell out anything. Nor is it an acronym for a word either. That spells out the Win and losses of the 2009 UL football season. Oh, and that "F' is for the firing of Coach Steve Kragthorpe on November 28,2009. From the Falls of 2007-2009 are football seasons I would rather not talk about.
     Of what this Rainman brain can remember, I do believe the coaches line up went a little something like this: Ron Cooper reigned from 1995-1997, John L. Smith 1998-2002, Bobby Petrino 2003-2007, Steve Kragthorpe from 2007-2009. Until 2007 I had faith in the football team. Coming off a BCS Orange Bowl Championship win with Petrino, I figured the team would want to continue to shine and continue their glory days run. Insert former head coach from Tulsa Oklahoma Steve Kragthorpe. Win against Indiana State? Nicely done boys. Loss against UK? Typical. Loss against UTAH? Unacceptable. After that loss, I knew the team was headed downhill. The team had no enthusiasm,  had no curfew and had no team spirit. If I had played in the Orange Bowl and had to come back to this sort of team, I would have no team spirit what so ever. As the loosing streak continued, my faith and dedication began to dwindle down to nothing. It was so sad to see all these football players sit on the bench as the score went up and up.
     After the 2009 season began to come to a close, I started to notice that the Athletic Director began to look awfully tan. Yes, it get cold in the winter, but why would you leave during the end of the football season when you know you are going to have to fire your schools football coach? And these weren't just weekend trips down south. These trips were week some time two week long trips. What was in Florida that had him going in the middle of Football season? "I have no intentions of firing Steve Kragthorpe." Were UL fans on an episode of Punk'd? You're gonna make us sit through another season with this so called "coach?" And you want to sell out the multi million dollar stadium expansion that I'm sure I helped pay for? Good luck with that.
      The trips began to become more frequent and longer. And UL's athletic director began taking important people down with him. Quit dodging the rumors, and admit it. He was finding us a new head football coach. There had been a short list of names including Tommy Tuberville, the return of John L, Phil Fulmer and University of Florida's Defensive Coordinator Coach by the name of Charlie Strong. I had only heard two names come out of Florida's team and those two names were Urban Myer and Tim Tebow.
    Being the polite Athletic Director he was, he was polite to wait until after University of Flordia's SEC Championship game between University of Alabama to approach Charlie Strong. After the our football team isn't too hot right now, I just had to fire Steve Kragthorpe, and with no coach we have no team,  So if we offered you a boatload of money would you care to leave paradise and come put my team back together? conversation, UL had hired Coach Strong.
     Clean slate. Clean record. Having to clean up the mess that Kragthorpe had left behind, Coach Strong had some serious recruiting to do. New recruitment class? Check. New stadium expansion? Check. Sold out stadium expansion? Check. Sara's new faith in the team? DOUBLE CHECK. What seemed to be an eternity of a spring filled with practices and hours of watching old game tape, August had finally rolled around and it was time to debut Coach Strong and his new team.
    Your's truly had doubts about the team going to a post season game. I mean it would be great if we could, but I wasn't going to be disappointed if we didn't. It was Coach Strong's first season, and getting us bowl eligible would be a miracle. It only takes six wins to become eligible. L. W. L. W.W. L. W. L. W. L. L. W.  I'm not asking how we got to 6-6. I just care that we did it.
     On a it's way too cold and it's only gonna get colder night in December, UL gracefully accepted their first BOWL INVITE since 2007 to the Beef O' Brady's Bowl in St. Petersburg, FL. Do I care that it's the third bowl game of the post season? No. Do I care that we may loose? Slightly. Do I care that it feels great to talk about football again? YES.

-Sara-

Dear Professors...

Hello Finals week 2010. For the first time in my entire education career, I'm not dreading you. Maybe because it's the fact that I have one paper and one written final away from winter break and I do not have to discuss the topic of you until 2011. While I don't have a problem with finals, there are some issues to be discuss with the great minds of higher education.
     I'm not going to mention names, but as one teacher character look a like from a 90's T.V. show once stated in the class syllabus and multiple emails, this person said that they would be handing back the long awaited they assigned in October and would be due the Monday of Thanksgiving break, and that way they would grade them over break, so they could give them back the Tuesday after break paper. "Um, yeah so I had a 30 page paper due yesterday, and therefore I do not have some of your papers graded." Okay, thats great and all that you're going for your Ph.d, but if I do recall, aren't you getting paid by the university to teach us? Because I am an organized person, I have the syllabus for your class that clearly states you will hand them back on the date you promised, not the next class. And because you thought your 30 page paper was more important than grading ours, I have to make an unnecessary drive to school to HAND deliver my paper's revision to you. I understand that you assigned us this paper in October, but you have the nerves to stand up in front of us and say your paper's were "mediocre" when I'm sitting next to a girl who got a 94, your's truly with a 85, and then 93 next to me? You call that mediocre? All night grading of papers at it's finest. And then on top of that, after 27 classes of looking at my name, you spell my name wrong. With comments on my final paper. My name is not SaraH. It's Sara. Four letters. Not five. Clear and simple. It's a good thing you handed our papers back after your evaluation. "What can this instructor do to make this class better?"If it's an anonymous evaluation, you best believe I wrote my piece of mind. "Show up on time."
    Oh the Tom Brokaw look a like... There is nothing that I can say horribly about you. Or your class. You were a laid back man who said at the beginning of the semester, "I'm not here to be your teacher." Well then what are you doing here? You teach at a university so you have to be a professor of some sort. "I'm here to be your editor." That's a first. Except with the how many comments do you really need to make from the peanut gallery, your class taught me just how much I want to go into the Broadcast Journalism field. You handed back papers within a timely manner and graded fairly.While I was looking over your corrections for your final, I came across some figures I had written. And you quote: "something's not right with these figures." How can they be wrong if I spent an extra 90 minutes at school in jeans, a sweatshirt when it was 70 degrees but couldn't take it off because I had the wrong shirt on, and probably walked a good mile across campus to find these figures in an office I had never heard of? Those numbers came from the school census. Not me estimating. Of all your papers I have written for you, you thought I would make up a number of 73,324 credit hours on your final paper? Like I said earlier, I really did enjoy your class. Please, if I quoted the school census you can pretty much trust me on this one.
     And I keep telling myself, two trips to school until break and 20 days until Christmas. I can do this. I can so do this.

-Sara-
  

I Live In A Winter Wonderland...

There are about a million things I could be doing right now (like wrapping up the semester with papers), but instead, I'd rather sit by the gas fireplace looking at the "Want a real national lampoons Christmas? Come to my house" christmas lights PLEASE NOTE: My house is no where near National Lampoon's. I REPEAT: My house is no where near National Lampoons. While we do have special guests this year, Mother outdid herself and decked the halls with boughs of holly. And if you could witness these decorations, I think one would be jealous.
     After coming home from the feeling miserable, I'm not in the mood to be picked on Thanksgiving, I was ready for the day to be over. Having to be at work by 7 on Black Friday, I headed to bed at 11:00 dreading the following morning. Wait a second, did I see what I thought I saw? Snow? No way. It's Thanksgiving. It's not supposed to snow. Oh yes. We had ourselves a somewhat of a white Thanksgiving. Okay. That's all the snow until January. Pretty while it lasted.
      After a glorious break from higher education, it was time for me to head back for one last week of class. Depending on when I leave mi casa, I "meet up" with the normals in traffic. One of those normals being a cop. Meet up with the cop? Making good time. And no, I did not nor do I ever get pulled over. I'm one of those who actually drive the speed limit. And if I see the 8:45 Delta flight flying over the bridge, its taken me 10 minutes to get the bridge instead of 17 minutes and I know it's gonna be a good day. But Tuesday, I met one of my new normals for the first time of the season. A snow plow. The snow was long over. I guess they were just out driving the route for the first of the season. Later that afternoon, there became talks of a "measurable amount" of the white stuff. Pssssh. Yea right. Actual snow? This was far too early. How could this be possible? We had just experienced Thanksgiving with temperatures in the 70's.
     After a shocking drop in temperatures, I experienced the first shock of the season. No more flip flops, no more capri's. Looks like jeans and sweatshirts. Highs in the 40's. Which means lows in the 30's in the morning. "Sara, where are your keys? Oh I found them. I'm gonna go warm up your car." The best seven words one can hear when your car sits out in the frigid Ohio Valley air. Warm car, jeans, sweatshirts and gLee to accompany your drive to school? Maybe the drive's not so bad after all. If it was this cold, this snow needed to come.
     Thursday afternoon, I began to see the infamous white thin lines on the roads. School age chillen's have come to dread those lines, while some love those lines. What are those white lines you ask? The thin white lines of brine. For those who are lucky enough to live in paradise and are lucky that you don't have to experience brine, brine is defined as the following."Salt brine is a clear water and sodium chloride solution used for snow and ice control.  It is composed of tap water and rock salt mixed to typical concentrations of 23% to 26% salt." Sorry for the scientific explanation, but it's the best I can do. Seeing those lines finally hit me; winter 2010 was here. But where was this so called snow? With more talks of maybe 1-2 inches, Thursday came and went, and Friday was quickly coming and going. FINALLY on Friday night, the flakes began to hit the ground. With the snow came the countless Facebook Oh Em Gee! It's snowing! It's so pretty! Ah Freakout postings. 
     You can hear Thunder, see lighting, hear rain and hear hail, but one thing you can't hear? Snow. I compare snow like a surprise. Unless you stay up watching it, you wake up to it. Once again, another Sara analogy. Like I predicted, I awoke to the freakout there's snow on the ground Facebook statuses. Whoop de doo. A little dusting of snow. Nah, more like a good inch a half of snow. And the weathermen had predicted for more of the white stuff during the day. Sweet. I was headed to an afternoon of work with snow. And with the snow, you had the weekend of championships football marathon, UL and UK basketball, UL mens soccer game, and the high school football state championship. I'll go ahead and save you a breath. Sara how was work? By far one of the slowest work afternoons of my life. While you were watching football, I was crossing something off my bucket list. Eat fruitcake. And according to the boss of Shenanigans's headquarters, there is one less fruitcake than there are humans. I can see why. 
     If you think that I'm complaining about the snow, I'm not. I love snow. And I love all the perks that come with it; Mom's homemade hot chocolate. The sounds of a crackling fire. The beauty of the snow falling. The front yard being picture perfect with no footprints. The absolute silence in the air. But what I've come to dislike about the snow? Driving in it, having your car covered in it. Not having an ice scraper, having your car covered in salt, and the COLD.I used to love the cold. I used to hate the summer. I would rather be cold than hot. Looks like I've reversed that idea. I would rather be hot than cold. 
     I'm taking applications for anyone who would like to join me in purchasing a time machine that will take me back to Summer 2010. 


-Sara-

It's The Final Countdown...

"As the stress has started to pile on, I tell myself, 103 days until Christmas break." -Doughnuts And Directions August 2010. Ladies and gentlemen; those miserable 103 days, have dwindled down to the final  TWO days (count them. One. Two.) of the semester before the land of fruit baskets, the wonderful idea of having eight hour dreams instead of three hour dreams, saving gas, birthday celebrations, and holiday shenanigans. Before I can begin the festivities, there is that road block from allowing me to enjoy those ideas. Three hours of driving, (one being totally UNNECESSARY), one anonymous class evaluation (I've been doing them since I could write, so I've practically memorized it.) One it's the last day of instruction before the final, so I'm gonna give you a worthless assignment. One last class with Topanga, (I'm gonna kinda sorta miss that class) and two final paper revisions until December 9th. Oh yes, and who can forget countless hours at Shenanigan headquarters. And PLENTY of yours truly. I have been waiting for this day that may bring tears of joy and some Bieber fever shrieking. 

-Sara- 

Hibernating Rainbow's...

Ah, the sweet smell of summer. School's out,laying by the pool, flip flops, countless number of barbecues, cute bathing suits and 89 cents any size Coke ICEE's. Even though I'm not exactly Summer's number one fan, I do enjoy all these. Except, finding cute flip flops with no toe separator became quite a challenge. Seriously Sara? You have another phobia? Well, at one point I did. Until the age of 16, I had a hard time with tactile issues. No one could sit on the same couch with me, it took me at least three minutes to make sure my socks were smooth, getting pedicures/manicure's were not even considered and even shoulder massages gave me the creeps. Which brings me to the flip flops issues. For many years, I had to wear socks and shoes during the height of summer, or just resort to the ever popular ADIDAS sandals with the strap across the top of the foot. If you haven't noticed, I wasn't your average American teenage girl. Until, the ever so fashionable sister introduced me to the seriously just wear these you'll eventually get used to them, they mold to your feet, its all I wear Rainbow leather flip flops.
     When I was first introduced to these flip flops, I tried them on with serious reservations, knowing this was not gonna fly. They were uncomfortable, had the ever so evil toe separator and didn't look all that attractive. "Will you at least just try? If you don't like them I'll wear them." Okay fine, I will at least try them. "Well, what do you think? The more you wear them, the more they will mold to your feet." A shoe that will mold to your feet? This was becoming sketchy. I wore them home, with my toes itching to get out of them. Someone once quoted, "Patience is a virtue." And with great patience, not only did I learn to tolerate the aforementioned footwear, I fell in love. With a pair of flip flops. I know, I have got to get a life.
      These have become a part of my everyday existence. With my somewhat sketchy driving record, the deal was no driving in flip flops.  Being the ever so disobedient teen I was, I drove to school wearing tennis shoes with the plan of switching into flip flops after school. Hey, it was spring and my feet were hot. Before coming into mi casa, I would plan to switch back into my "appropriate driving shoes." This was a fool proof plan. I'm guessing this is new information to some people.
     My Rainbow flip flops aren't just any pair of ordinary flip flops. When I first started wearing these, I wore them everywhere. The longer I wore them, the more inseparable we became. Strolling down memory lane, the 'bow's first trip was the annual family trip to the sandy beaches of Lake Michigan. "Sara, if you really want them to become loose and comfortable, wear your shoes into the water." Leather shoes and water don't mix. Unless you want orange feet, and then they do. But that one dip into the unsalted waters of Lake Michigan confirmed my love for these shoes.
     The trip to Michigan is just a preview of where these shoes have been with me. Aside from the daily trips to get gas, these shoes have literally been all over the world. My Rainbow's have been on a countless number of trips to Florida, they have been to sea shores of the east coast, in the adorable red telephone booths in London, England, they've climbed the Arch de Triumph and wondered through the Louve in Paris France. This love is indescribable. They have also be worn during the milestones in my life, including my last day of high school, my first day of college, numerous UL football and basketball games, and my first day at Shenanigan headquarters.
     Christmas Morning 2008, the original pairs of Rainbow's tried to be replaced. And I use tried loosely. I decided to use my new pair for special events, because after years and thousands of miles they really should have been thrown away. I have attachment issues. The first time I wore these shoes wasn't like the first pair. They didn't have the "magic touch" that were in the first pair. People have said to me, it's time to throw those away and break in the others. Like I've said in earlier blog posts, I have issues with change.
     When I blogged about my first day at Shenanigan's, these flip flops couldn't have been there for me at a better time. If you stood on your feet for a solid 6 hours in socks and tennis shoes in the height of summer, you can imagine how hot your feet would be. After what seemed a long and hot day, I came to my car looking forward to taking off the shoes, and slipping on the bow's. Now that the foolproof plan had failed, I had began driving in my rainbow's daily.
     Summer was over. Now what shoes do I wear ? Back to tennis shoes? Nope. Still wearing the bow's. Some people consider it Fall until mid October, but I was still wearing these well until November. And then, my feet began to freeze. When would I cut myself off from wearing them? It had been decided that after I saw the first snowflake, my flip flops would would go into a season of hibernation. And sadly, the first snowflake came too early this year, because on November 26, 2010, I witnessed the falling of the snowflake. And the fall of the snowflake only meant one thing; it was time for the rainbow's to rest up for Spring and another year of adventures.
     I've included pictures for you to see just how much love I have put into my shoes. I'll let you guess which ones are my first pair, and which ones are the competitor pair.
  
-Sara-

Indian Givers...

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, Saturday. When I told Shenanigans headquarters that they could "have" me starting November 19th, I didn't think they needed Superman everyday.Wrong. I'm not complaining that I worked seven days straight with one obligatory day off, I'm just saying thats why you can call me Superman. Let me tell you the stories of Thanksgiving 2010.
     After working the much anticipated weekend before Thanksgiving, I began to become worn out. And you would think after being worn out from school, and work, I would go to bed at a somewhat reasonable time. Not so fast. With working Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, I began to show the symptoms of The Cold That Has Taken Three Weeks To Go Around Work and after talking about how I hadn't gotten it, I thought I was out of the woods Cold 2010, well well well, look who was the lucky winner and of course who gets it the week of Thanksgiving? Don't answer all at once. Of all people how did I get it my second favorite week of the year? I was not about to call in on my favorite work day of the year. I had bakery commitments to live up to. (And you think all we eat is fruits and vegetables.) After what I thought was allergies, this "cold" started as sniffles late Tuesday night. Maybe just a good night sleep outta knock this out in no time. Knocked out? I meant come invade my immune system. I awoke to a pouring down rain Wednesday morning armed with Funfetti cupcakes and Orange Gatorade for my favorite work day of the year.
     A little history on my favorite day of the year. The Wednesday before Thanksgiving can be described as a madhouse marathon that starts promptly at 7:30 AM. (This is the one day that I do not mind the before 8:00 customers.) In the previous years, I love this day of the year, but this year, I came in with sniffles, a somewhat of a scratchy voice, and the pouring down rain. Working a mostly talking job of eight hours with a scratchy voice was no bueno. But as long as I had three dozen doughnuts, my two dozen cupcakes, a dozen homemade Chess bars, :) a dozen home made gingerbread cookies, and my gatorade, I would be good to go. To everyone's surprise, we were not as busy per usual. Thanks for nothing mother nature. I know there's always next year, but thats a mere 363 days away.
    At least the sniffles were nice enough to hold off until I got home, because Wednesday, I felt like I got hit by a smart car. (No not a bus a smart car.) The rest of Wednesday would be trying to sleep off this awful cold junk and get better for turkey day. I spent nothing but sleeping, consuming copious amounts of orange juice and popsicles. Maybe if I said that I was thankful for my health that this would magically go away.
    On Wednesday, I said I felt like I got hit by a smart car. Thanksgiving, I felt like I got hit by a bus. I wanted to enjoy the Christmas lights Wednesday night, so I slept on the couch. The deal in my family has always been, if you sleep on the couch, don't expect to get a good nights sleep. Being sick and sleeping on the couch didn't mix for a good night sleep anyway. I got up at 8:00ish which is purely ridiculous for my one day off, but less than 90 minutes later, I was fast asleep. I had told myself if I didn't feel better by noon, I wasn't going to dinner. Being sick, and attending another family dinner, there would be no way I could function. But being sick on my favorite food holiday with Mother's homemade stuffing, NOODLES overnight expressed from Florida, Cranberry Jelly, and Rolls, how could I miss out? By showering and somehow looking decent, I pulled myself together and went off to go take notes for what would be just another family holiday dinner. (Insert eye roll here).
     Putting together an outfit of khaki pants, a classic white t-shirt, a brown sweater, and my adorable and I mean adorable Sam And Libby flowered ballet flats, I somehow miraculously showed up for Thanksgiving. Like I mentioned, being sick, and dealing with family, I would be in no mood for being picked on. Arriving at 1:15 for a 2:00 dinner, I was glutton for punishment. Oh, and then on top of that, I walk into the kitchen to find an elbowlessness turkey. Somehow a furry friend that shall rename nameless wanted to partake in our thanksgiving feast and grabbed the turkey to pull off the platter when the thanksgiving hero, CFL lightbulb Uncle, caught the 109 pound furry friend, and stopped him before total turkey devastation. A pizza thanksgiving averted.
     Time for the first course including family heirloom oyster shells oysters Rockefeller while Mom and I ate Rockefeller on toast. Oysters are not included in my appetite. For those unaware of what Rockefeller is, I shall inform you. This green "goo" which includes spinach and watercress, is quite the treat at holiday meals. After scarfing down this deliciousness, it was announced that there were leftovers, and I directly quote my hostess with the mostess grandmother, "yes doll, we will send the rest home with you." CHA CHING. Wait a second. I was asking for spinach "goo" when normally I can not stand the smell of cooked spinach? I must be sick. "No mother, she may not have them. We'll freeze it and save it for Christmas." Did I just witness an act of Indian First People giving on Thanksgiving Day no less? (After all this is 2010, and we must be politically correct) I think I did. Adding to the already eclectic dinner conversation, it was announced that the actual "first people of American's were Russians, and Sarah Pailin could see them from her Wasilla, Alaska home." FREEZE FRAME: Am I really witnessing this, or has the mucinex gotten to my head?"And this wasn't even dessert.
     After a dinner of oysters Rockefeller, turkey with oyster dressing, wild rice, NOODLES :), broccoli, rolls, and your choice of cranberry jelly, or cranberry jelly with whole berries, it was time for dessert. Dessert included, pumpkin pie plain, pumpkin pie with whipped cream, pumpkin pie with vanilla ice cream plain, pie and vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce, pie with vanilla ice cream and CARMEL sauce or ice cream with chocolate and carmel sauce. How many choices can there be? I went with vanilla and carmel sauce. Cold carmel sauce that is. As I mentioned the CFL Uncle who wished to be unnamed, he announced at the table that in 2011, Congress will ban all regular lightbulbs that we use today, and has been "collecting" the ones used today for several years stockpiling in his basement. He also went on to say that Thomas Edison still has his original lightbulb burning in his (Edison's house).
     Next up on the family holiday dinner? Christmas. I can only hope that we can all be on our best behavior. We do have special guests joining us. So to the family that I love and adore... (you know who you are) Can I have one extra present this year? Can we please be on our best behavior? One can only hope...

-Sara-

Sausage Biscuits And Doughnuts...

"Hey it's Sara, I was calling to get my schedule for the week. Monday 3-Close, Wednesday 12-Close, Friday 2-Close, Sat 7-3. Excuse me? 7 AM? On a Saturday? Yes 7 AM. See ya Monday. Click." Who on earth goes to work at 7 AM? Adults. That's right. Once you turn 18, you become a member of the 9-5 world. Being the early bird I am, I set my alarm for 6:10 AM. On a Saturday. Being the considerate and clever person I am, and not wanting to turn on lights, or waste energy, I turned to my handy dandy cell phone and got ready for work in the somewhat dark. Don't think I'm weird, because I'm sure you do it too. And yet again, I set my alarm too early, and arrived at work at a mere 6:40. It was off to go see what I am to do at  7 AM on a Saturday, when actually work doesn't open until 8:00. Queue the already halfway into the store and ask "oh are you open?" 7:01 AM customers.
   After coming to the realization that I was at my home away from home on a Saturday morning, it was time for me to figure out what needed to be done.  I had the option of putting up peaches, grapes, plums, or nectarines. Or the big fat elephant in the room.... the unmentioned thousands upon thousands of strawberries. Nope. I'll leave that to the experts. 
     "Is this your first time opening?" Well, yeah. Considering I don't know the last time I had to set my alarm for 6:10 AM on a Saturday morning, you're gonna have to show me what to do.  Leaving the grapes, those unspoken of evil berries and peaches, (I have a good reason of not touching those things. I'm allergic to the fuzz) it was off to learn the difference of a good plum and bad plum. Okay, this should be easy, if there are any spots on the plum, I'll just throw it in my bad box. Correction: You must first take down all the plums that were put up yesterday, go through those to see if those are bad, put new ones up on the bottom, and see if those are bad, and then put the old ones on top so those sell first. Make sure that the "butts" of the fruit go on the bottom, so they all are facing the right direction. And you wanted me to learn this all at 7 AM? Oh and in between doing that, you need to check out those 59 minutes before we really open customers. 
     Besides my when it's 9:00 on a Saturday morning and and asks in that way too early for being perky "whatcha doin? What do you want to do today?" Dad, I had to ask myself, who is up at this time of the day, never the less, DRESSED, and out shopping at 7:00 on a Saturday morning. Go back to bed and do me a favor and come back at 8:00 when the neon orange sign says "OPEN." Promptly at 7:15 it was time for me to play nice and check out the even though I have a pint of strawberries and two banana's can I have that in two plastic bags? I'm walking before it gets super hot out customers. Now back to what I was doing.  


-Sara- 
     

You'll Shoot Your Eye Out...

"I want an official Red Ryder carbine-action 200-shot range model air rifle with a compass in the stock, and this thing which tells time." Okay, so I don't want air rifle because I'm not a 12 year old boy, but this classic "A Christmas Story" quote has prompted me to think: What do I want from Santa? Snow on Christmas Morning. (I couldn't tell you the last time I saw snow on Christmas) An unlimited supply of donut holes and chocolate icing for dipping during those 7 AM mornings at Shenanigans headquarters. Better Chiquita Banana Stickers. (It's the little things in life) Khaki Pants/Shorts. (You Can Never Have Enough Khaki Pants) Decoupage Materials. (I'm not an athlete. I'm an artist.) Mother Nature to make up her mind about this weather. (It's not supposed to be 70 degrees in December). Most kids want a bell for their bike. I on the other hand, want a horn for my car Chip. Coldplay's Chris Martin to release "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas On iTunes. (Don't make me buy an album that is twenty dead presidents for just one song.) Amazon.com, do me a favor and reduce the price of your Kindle. I've waited long enough. I can't wait until 2011.  A non perishable version of "The Meat Suit" for The Monster Ball. One weekend where there is not a THING I have to do. (This whole being an adult thing is getting in my way of fun).  For my attention span to be longer. Apparently there are too many classic movies that I haven't seen. (So I get bored easily. And no I have yet to see Titanic.) We won in Freedom Hall, so lets win again in the bucket on New Years Eve. Meredith Grey's adorable probably well over my price range sweater dress. I have attached a picture in case you come across one. And if you do, call me. Preferably before December 15th. 

-Sara- 

He Put A Ring On It....Royal Edition...

Ding. New Text Message. I looked at my phone. Who on earth could be texting me this early? (6:04 AM) : Prince William And Kate Middleton are engaged. I was still half asleep and my day was ruined. Thanks Dad. No actually thanks Prince William. Scratch that. Thanks Kate Middleton. Being half asleep I wasn't about to check my three sources to find if this was true. I was in the middle of my two weeks of paper writing and I valued every second of sleep that I could. It was time for my already ruined day to begin. I had checked my sources. And all three sources were correct. So much for becoming the wife of the internationally well known arm candy. 

     I know somewhere in my scrap books upon scrap books of Prince William, I have the collectors edition of the April 14th 2007 Daily Mail newpaper headline that read "PRINCE WILLIAM AND KATE SPLIT" gave me hopes in becoming Her Royal Highness Sara Princess Of Whales. To the people of Great Britian, it was a headline of depressing and grim news, but to the millions of girls who were vying for the Most Eligible Bachelor in Europe, its the best headline they could ever read. 

     Before I continue, I must ask. How do you keep the worlds most well awaited engagement a SECRET FOR OVER A MONTH?? I mean seriously, when people tell me secrets, they tell me maybe three weeks out and that even wears me out. BUT A MONTH? And you carried your deceased mother's gorgeous sentimentally priceless sapphire and diamond ring for THREE WEEKS? In your POCKET? IN KENYA? And didn't tell a SOUL? Are you nuts? And I quote your beautiful fiancee, "I'll be in big trouble if I lose this." Yea you will. So don't. 

    Now that the initial hype has somewhat calmed down, there is one final question to be asked? Is this ring cursed? At the ring being valued at £30,000 when originally purchased by Prince Charles for Diana Spencer in 1980, the ring would become a symbol of a royal marriage... or so we thought. So by passing down an engagement ring, are you passing down an unsuccessful marriage? Also on the subject of the beauty of the ring, I was checking my daily blogs, and saw that an unnamed Home Shopping channel, coughcoughQVCcoughcough, has had the honors of debuting a knock off of Kate's engagement ring. Soapbox time. Excuse me. First off, it's tacky to duplicate something. Second off, it's horrible that you would sell something like this. Third off, you might as well go to Chuck E. Cheese and go spend $1.00 and get one in the robot toy picker. 

    Kate, as much as I have been sitting here blogging about my jealously that you are marrying my William, congratulations are in order as you have found your prince charming. I'll be like a kid on Christmas waiting for my invitation in the mail sometime soon. 

-Sara-  

Guess Who's Back...

I'm back!!!! And I'm back for good!! And I'm pumped. And with the holidays coming up, expect some blogs to come. "You can not possibly compare yourself to surgical interns. It took you five hours to write two sentences." Maybe that should be the slogan for the procrastination poster that I will be posing in. When I had to leave the wonderful world of blogs, I entered the slowly killing trees one tree at a time world. Three, how many more days till Thanksgiving break papers later, I have successfully returned to the place where I belong. And boy does it feel good to be back. Because there were some times where I was tired of writing in MLA format and wanted to write the way I write and not write about boring classic literature books.
     A little background on these papers. (I promise I won't bore you). Paper one was our weekly paper that we are assigned every week on the book we are currently reading. The selection? The number one New York Times Best Seller list chart topper Don Quixote. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll be bored. Because I was. I was able to whip paper one out in 2 hours. One paper down, two to go. Just how long could I put off the dreaded " Which Book Is Faster To Learn A Moral? Aesop's Fables or Everyman?" I'll save you the time and effort of reading the books to find out for yourself. Spoiler Alert: Aesop's Fables. You wanna know why Aesop's Fables are faster? "Looking through some of Aesop’s fables and seeing how short they were, I came across fable 147, “The Dancing Camel” and after a letter count, I counted a total of 97 letters.  Putting Aesop’s “The Dancing Camel” in social media terms, this fable has fewer characters than a regular tweet from Twitter, which has a count of 140 letters or less." Yep. I win. I mentioned twitter in my final essay. I'd like to see Topanga's face when she reads this essay.  When I have papers like this, I like to have a plan in mind. Do I stick them? Not exactly. I talk a good story, and then it never happens.  After coming home from the horribly called UL-USF overtime had the refs been better, we would have been going shopping for a bowl game,  I decided that I would write from 7pm to 11:35 pm. Bahahahahaha. Two sentences down, a tons more to go. I had set my alarm for  8:00 the following morning to get this paper out of my life. Two hours later, I was not allowed to go anywhere until I finished this paper. Let's just say it's finished and turned in. And I don't have to look at it until November 30th. Two papers completed. And one more to go. 
     I had categorized the three papers into categories. Paper one was strep throat, Paper two was heart surgery, and paper three was a walk in the park. Well I thought the last one was a walk in the park. For my final paper, we were to write a features story. Any topic of our choosing. Having to interview three sources, and not wanting to track people down, I did a story on the record enrollment on my higher education. Once again, it's turned in. Finished. 
     Do I have plans for my Thankgiving/Sorry We Care About Your Education And There For You Don't Get A Fall Break Break?? Heck yes I do have plans. Sleep. Working the best day of the entire calendar work year/day before Thanksgiving Shenanigans. And grubbing on turkey skin. 


-Sara- 

 

87 Hours And Counting....

Mission Accomplished! Almost. As of November 15th, I have successfully completed two out of three papers. I promise I have not forgotten my bloggy blog blog. This may be one of the most stressful weeks I've endured since... well a long time. I will go into details when I make my triumphant return, but in some of my papers, I wanted to bust out the writing of my blogs. Miss Me!!! 

-Sara- 

Pardon This Interruption...

My Fellow Readers... 

It is with great sadness that I must abandon saraspills.blogspot.com until November 19th. I promise you I will be back, but I must take a blog vacation until then. I use vacation loosely. Here's what's on my agenda until then: Just this week alone, I have 78 pages of reading, a paper on those 78 pages of reading, three interviews for my final paper in another class, research for my final paper in my Literature class, "A Christmas Story" night at the theater, work, and the annual dad can't use his ticket, so I'll go instead football game against USF. The following week : A.K.A freakout week/I'll be back before you know it: Turning in the final draft of my literature final essay, reading only the best book ever, "The Tempest" turning in a first draft for my other essay in my second class, finding somewhere in there to breathe, and starting the best week of the entire year at work/Thanksgiving week! I promise you I will be back with the latest breaking Hollywood news, but for now, higher education is my best friend. Sinara blog world. Hello Sara doesn't have a life until Thanksgiving World. 

-Sara- 

Happy Birthday Ya Wild Animal...

The girl's name Sara \s(a)-ra\ is a variant of Sarah (Hebrew), and the meaning of Sara is "princess".   And yes, that's exactly what I was on my wonderful day of birth. For those who were unable to participate in my festivities, you were extremely missed, but it's a good thing you have your handy dandy sara spills birthday blog to fill you in. 

    12:01 AM: New Text Message. 12:05 A.M. New Text Message. 2:15 AM: New Text Message. 4:15 AM. New Text Message. Oh the joys of Facebook Mobile. I had prepared myself for the notifications of the obligatory Happy Birthday wall posts, but having to get up super early because of attending higher education, I would need to put my phone on silent. Okay, if you put your phone on silent, how did you know you got all those text messages? Don't you leave your phone in the kitchen plugged into the wall where it belongs? Sadly no. I am one of those Generation Y'ers who sleep with their phone next to their head. And don't try to tell me that if I sleep with my phone by my head I'll loose brain cells. Because it doesn't work. Oh wait. If I turn my phone on silent I'm going to miss the first Happy Birthday 7 AM phone call. Set my "It's T-Shirt Time" alarm for 6 AM and turn phone on to ring. Go back to bed. Problem solved. 7:02 AM. "Happy Birthday To You..." phone call. I normally have to get up for school at 7:30 but heck, it's my day of birth, so why not get up 28 minutes earlier and enjoy the day? In order for me to get to class on time, I like to leave the house at 8:30ish which gives me time to get there, park and get to class, and not speed. It took me everything to get out of bed at 8:15 to attend class. I went to class on my birthday. I won't be making that mistake next year. If I went to class on my birthday does that qualify me for student of the year award? Yea, I thought so. Coming out of class, it began to rain. The big guy upstairs must have listened to what I wanted for my birthday because I wanted it cold and rainy for my day. High of 53 and rainy to be exact. With school, taking a birthday nap, and getting ready to debut my killer and I mean killer birthday outfit and family celebrations, my schedule was beginning to fill up.
     On a normal school day, I just head home, but as this was the this world would be boring with out Sara, thank goodness she was born day, it was only appropriate that I celebrate with a birthday lunch with the Dove Chocolate Fairy :),  in a cute little adorable cafe in the back of a party store. In the back of a party store? Yes. And it's absolutely adorable. Wanting to save plenty of room for dinner and the homemade cake I got to watch being made, Mom joined me in splitting a Ham and Brie sandwich dressed with pepper jelly and spicy mustard on Orange Cranberry bread.

     Between driving to classes, attending classes, and lunch, the birthday girl did need her beauty sleep. Well so I thought. As dinner reservations were at 6:15, I figured that if I got my beauty sleep from 3:00-4:30, I would have plenty to get ready. Call the Guinness Book of World Records. I took the shortest nap in history. With birthday calls and MORE birthday texts, I took an all of a two minute nap. Not that I loved all the calls, because I did, but I could have used a nap of what I was about to face at dinner. 

     The day had come for me to debut my boots that would accompany my jeggings, the classic J-Crew white long sleeved shirt and a vest. I can't go into details. We'll just say I like to go shopping in a relative's closet. Dinner. If you know me, you know how family dinners go. A nice time had by all. 

     Next thing you know it was time for the delicious home made chocolate on chocolate on chocolate cake to be presented. Ruh Ro. So did the ice cream. My family must have read my blog on my phobia, because ladies and gentlemen, we have made a great stride with this phobia. My peppermint ice cream was served in a bowl. No not with the cake on the plate, but in a totally separate BOWL. But because ice cream melts, I still felt the need to scarf it down before I ate my cake. The cake was ready to go, and so were the candles. Most people can blow out candles in one breath. After last years nightmare of blowing out candles, I was determined to blow out my candles in one breath this year. As my wise sister commented, "not a chance." Bingo. It took not one, not two but THREE tries to blow them out. And it's only gonna get harder. 

     We have a routine when it comes to birthdays, chit chat a little, and then presents. I took my first bite and was handed my first present. "Okay Sara, in order for you to get your first part to your present, name all nine American Idol winners in order." I named the first three, but struggled. I was handed a crossword puzzle. Okay...  I was slightly confused. "In order for you to get a pencil, name all your vowels."  "A,E,I,O,U and sometimes Y." And so began "Sara's Epic Birthday Crossword Puzzle." Being the oh so wise sister she is, she created a crossword puzzle that had the answers to my birthday presents. Included? iTunes, Target, and Heine Brothers for those upcoming, way too cold for winter, 7 AM's days at work. Shout-out to The. Best. Sister. In. The. World. Holla. The family celebration concluded with funny and cards and a sophisticated Lilly Pulitzer phone cover for a very sophisticated adult.
     With the birthday coming to an end, it was time to come home to watch my Thursday night tradition with an episode of Grey's accompanied by presents from Mom and Dad."Uhhh. Is this what I think this is?" I saw the infamous little red box with white letters. As. Seen. On. TV.  "This is halarious." Yep. I am a proud owner of a Snuggie.
    Okay, so I do enjoy birthday's, but what I don't enjoy is getting another year older. But what I didn't forget to do on my special day? "And don't lose the way that you dance around in your pj's getting ready for school."

-Sara- 

So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Adieu Childhood...

In the spirit of the Halloween Holiday, I'd like to take a moment to mourn the loss of my youth.  I never really had to worry about filling my pillowcase full of candy. I always knew that the Candy Queen would pull through with the annual eight pounds of sugar. Oh yes. Eight pounds of halloween candy. Not for my family, not for my friends, not for my distant relatives, but all for ME. Well, maybe I can't eat eight pounds of chocolate goodness by myself, but as of October 29,2010, I received my final bag of candy.
     I have always looked forward to the day I would receive my candy especially post the glory days of Trick Or Treating. Receiving this candy, was a highlight of my year. If I wanted candy, I had to be on my best behavior. This event only came once a year, and every time I got it, I knew it was one year closer to not receiving the sugary goodness. As the years went on the candy queen always knew what kind of candy I liked and what I didn't like, including my favorites of Twix, Kit-Kats, and Reese Cups.  After receiving my candy, I was to follow tradition and dump it all out and sort it into three groups. The don't even think about touching it pile included, Reese Cups, Twixs, Kit Kats, and Milky Ways. The you can touch it pile but you have to ask, three musketeers, hershey bars, skittles, and starburst. And the go ahead you don't even have to ask pile/I stuck those in for your mother and father almond joys, whoppers, and some years, those nasty mary jane's sticky peanut butter chews.
     I usually get my candy some where in the middle of October. If I remember correctly, I would usually get it somewhere around the 15th of October. It was perfect timing, just enough to hold me until the actual holiday, when I was fortunate and young enough to trick or treat, I would have more to add to my collection. While celebrating the candy queens's birthday, I started to wonder? Where was my candy? I hope she hadn't forgotten. The last year I get candy she forgets? This can not be happening. "Did you forget about candy this year?" "Is it already Halloween? Whoops." Hahahahaha. Real funny.  "No I did not forget." Crisis Adverted.
     "But what if I go to grad school next year?" "Sara you're not going to grad school next year." Thank you captain obvious. I am/was determined to make this candy tradition go farther than just my undergraduate career. "No Sara. We've gone over this before. You only get candy through your four years of college." The breezy cool fall October days went by and still no sign of candy. It hadn't been mentioned since the birthday celebrations, and there were no traces of empty wrappers in trash cans to be found. The weekend of Halloween had rolled around. This was starting to worry me. Being the problem solver I am, I took it upon myself to solve this trick (I'm so clever) and invite myself over for Taco Night. We all knew there was an elephant in the room that needed to be discussed. WHERE'S. MY. CANDY?!  I could taste the Reese's in my mouth. What a perfect dessert after a delicious dinner. "If you stick around for dessert...." My dream had come true. I had solved this mystery. Case closed. "You can have a piece of Coconut Cake." Who wants Coconut Cake for dessert when you have a whole bag of sugary goodness waiting for you? I began the lonesome walk to my car in hopes of having a front seat filled with unhealthy candy bars. 
     "I forgot last night. What time do you get off work?" Can you come by the house after work?!" It's about time I be reunited with my candy. And for the last time, I slowly dumped my candy out into the piles. In the words of the great philosopher Taylor Swift, "Growing up happens without you knowing it. Growing up is such a crazy concept because a lot of times when you were younger you wish you were older."
-Sara-

Brumotactillophobia....

There's about a gajillion perks to living in the South. Sweet tea, SEC football, home cooked southern food, girls always have an excuse to wear cute dresses for something, and my personal favorite Peppermint Ice Cream. You think it'd be something easy to find somewhere up North, but it takes twice as long to find this treat (if you're lucky). I promise you I'm getting somewhere with this. Peppermint ice cream is only available starting November 1st and goes out of production December 24th. This is a staple in my family. If you don't like it, then something must be wrong with your taste buds, because it's kinda sorta ridiculously delicious. I can remember as a young chillen eating this at birthdays, Thanksgiving, and Christmas dinners for dessert. Has your mouth watered yet?

     With the birthday a week away, :) the question has entered my mind? What kind of ice cream is to accompany the it's too good to describe and I don't want my mouth to water while I think about it, and I don't like the Cheap cake and it's my day of birth, so  yes I would like a home made chocolate cake with home made hot fudge in between the two layers of chocolate and mini chocolate chips in the mix cake batter birthday cake? Having grown up eating peppermint ice cream for virtually every holiday, I decided to go with tradition and have peppermint stick ice cream with my cake.  I served my piece of cake, and was served my ice cream. Slight problem. The cold ice cream is touching my warm cake, which is making my ice cream melt. And that's no bueno. When you eat your cake and ice cream, you should be able to enjoy it. Savor it. Not have to rush eating it, because it's melting into ice cream soup. Your birthday only comes once a year. Here's where my phobia comes in. I don't like cold things touching hot things, or hot things touching cold things. Well there is only one thing that is not included in this phobia. I don't mind dipping fries in room temperature ketchup. I know this is beyond weird, but it's a challenge that I am forced to face daily. Yea, that's right, when people get hot fudge sundaes, I don't have hot fudge on my ice cream unless it's cold, and usually it's not, because it melts my ice cream faster. Here's a perfect example, one morning last week, I was indulging in delicious Pumpkin pancakes. I was asked if I wanted whipped cream. Uh, no thank you. See there it is. Cold touching hot. I like to look at this phobia this way, why would you want something as cold as 32 degrees touching something that you could probably cook in the dead of summer's heat?
     Just this week, I came across another problem. The in house chef :) fixed stir fry for dinner, and added pineapple. Then cooked it. HOT PINEAPPLE?! How do I say gross? Hot pineapple. Pineapple is supposed to be a refreshing fruit that you can turn to during those hot summer days, not throw it in a pan with peppers and snap peas and duck sauce and then eat it are you? Didn't think so.
     I'm sure this is something that not a lot of you think about, but this phobia is slowly crushing birthday celebrations one birthday at a time.

-Sara- 

We're Playing Basketball...

Dear Arena Authority,

My sincere apologies for not exactly saying the nicest things about your latest project. I mean you did finish under budget and a month early and all. Along with 21,999 other people I got to visit the shrine dedicated to the greatest basketball team in the city, I had mixed emotions about your plans. I was speechless in your plans and the way you executed. Seriously though, with all the money you took from my paycheck, you made a KFC Chicken Sandwich $11.25 (And no I'm not exaggerating either) ? And you RAN OUT OF POPCORN? You knew WEEKS ago that 22,000 people were coming and you ran out of POPCORN? Aside from those two minor kinks, give yourself a pat on the back, and I can not wait to go back and see Mama Monster. Once again, please accept my apologies with these fabulous pictures only one true fan can take.

The Shrine. 

Only The Best City In The Country. 

Born And Raised

Man Of The Hour.

I Told Them To Do Work. So They Did. 

No Cell Phones? I'll Send A Smoke Signal Instead. 

L. Yes. 

-Sara-