Fun little day off

The flies in our basement that get in through the garage and fly around the family room have been the biggest pain in the ass living here. They're so obnoxious when they land on you because it feels so dirty, you just don't know what kind of shit that fly had gotten into that day.

So today was a pretty good day. I finished the drawing I did of Jenipher, Kline and their baby and believe it's truly one of the best portraits I've done yet. I got my hour of guitar practicing in as well and am getting so close to having Aerials completely mastered and can be uploaded to YouTube. I've really been focused on NOT reading the music while I'm practicing-- taking off those training wheels that are separating me and guitarists that can just drop jaws wherever they go and pick up an instrument with 0 reference.

Katharine is coming up on Tuesday for her friend's wedding and we're planning on going to the Benton City bar for the first time ("the Tav" now I think, originally the Palm where I swear to God I'd never step foot in, ha ha ha). It's apparently a lot less of a dive now that there's new owners, but my mom said she and my Dad ordered a pizza and two beers there and their tab was about $30!! Lol that's means that their large pizza probably cost 4-5 times what the pizzas I'm making at Little Caesars cost and likely have the exact same ingredients. That's economies of scale at work-- we're creating a mass number of pizzas so we can sell them for $5 each and still make profit where at a bar if they sold them for that cheap they would make no money because of the time and effort a single person would have to put into making the pizza when they could be selling drinks. How business works is so fascinating to me.

So yeah taking a Benton city bar run will be a funny ass time, visiting with Katharine is pretty enjoyable in general and we've got a lot to catch up on.

Kayla and Kevin were going to the fair tonight and Kayla wanted to know if I was going (unfortunately, no. It costs $25 to just park and get in the door, not to mention the gas to get there and the fortune I'd have to spend to go on any rides). A part of me wanted to go of course but it just wasn't gonna happen. I've been trying to live as cheaply as possible lately to save some of the money regardless of the money I spend on gas just to get to work.

Here's the kitchen from the Brady Bunch. Veda W. posted this and it gave me a nice fuzzy feeling to look at this. I love the 1970's decor, reminds me of estate sales and time spent rummaging through dead people's stuff with my Dad! Happy memories. 

peace.

Just close your eyes, and pretend that everything's fine

Just close your eyes, and pretend that everything's fine

Just close your eyes, I'll tell you when 

Best. F^%$ing. Line. in this Mastodon song "All the Heavy Lifting" that I absolutely love to listen to when I need an extra push during my runs around town. I joke that with all the pizza and beer I've consumed this summer I'm not even running to get in better shape, I'm running to stay in the same shape!! 

Anyway, what's up guys? It's Wednesday morning. I had the last two days off which I spent doing the usual, but did have a nice evening last night for my cousin Graham's going away party so I'll start out by telling you about that. 

This might look like any other picture of cousins taken over the years (Minus Rachel who's in Mexico for a mission) but there's more behind the fact that it's being taken. 

I feel like things have changed for the better  in our family because of the effort I've made to keep in touch with my grandmother regardless of the painful situation that occurred primarily between my Dad and Ty a few years ago that basically took my Dad out of the picture entirely. I know my Grandma didn't intend for it to go as far as it did. I just think it more or less has comes down to my Grandma not wanting to deal with life alone after my Grandpa died and when Ty was willing to come in and take over the finances she was all for it. 

For about a year after that last cherry harvest where Ty wanted to fire me for messing up our already inefficient ticket system, I had no contact with anyone on that side of the family. I remember passive-aggressively making a point to my aunt how much I didn't like them by posting a status a following Thanksgiving when my Mom's side was visiting that it was "The best Thanksgiving ever." My aunt Teri and I got in an argument over Facebook shortly after and I deleted and blocked everyone on that side of the family for about a year. 

It wasn't until about Winter of my second quarter at Central when I started dealing with some major anxiety that I started trying to patch things up with my family. I started calling my Grandma when I was trying to come down from major panic attacks and her talk of mundane, day to day life would kind of put me at ease. She loves to talk so that kind of helped rebuild our relationship after not talking for two years. Since then my relationship with the rest of my family has been pretty good. We just entirely
avoid talking about the kind of sad and obvious stalemate that has occurred between my Dad and his family and just hope there can be some kind of resolution someday. 

Graham's going away party was actually a send-off for bootcamp with the Navy. He's going to Illinois to get his ass kicked, basically. But we're all really proud of him and he seems more than ready. It's pretty incredible, Graham lost 90 lbs in the last year by keeping a food diary and exercising in order to suit his recruiters needs. Only someone who really wants something could do that because losing significant amounts of weight is so hard, especially when you've had kind of the same build your entire life. So yeah I have no doubt he'll do great. 

The party was at my aunt Teri's house and she was cooking a lot of Dominoes (here I am eating pizza again!! I swear to God this summer I've been on the pizza diet...!). Teri, Traci, Grandma, Tiffany, Avery and I were all standing around the table chatting. One thing that came up a couple of times that stood out to me was the sudden death of a young Benton City woman that suffocated sleeping on a memory foam mattress. My Grandma went to the funeral because the family of the woman that passed is LDS and she is actually the older sister of a guy I graduated with. Very sad. 

....I can't help wonder if they'll file a lawsuit against temperpedic. 

I think the biggest highlight of the evening was that my uncle John and I actually related on something-- and this is a family member I've honestly never talked more than small talk bullshit to in my life! He asked me if I was returning to Central in the Fall and I told him that I'd decided to stay back and work full time for a quarter instead. 

When I told him I'd be "returning to business school in the Winter..." he asked me "So are they going to raise or lower the prime rate soon?" He was trying to see if I knew my shit and I wanted to seize the opportunity. I paused for a second... my mind was like 'God, think, Prime rate, interest, Carbaugh's class..." and I responded "The interest rate the federal reserve charges to borrow money? I'm not quite sure what they're doing now." 8-) Ha ha ha, Hell yea. I could have just bullshit and said they were going to lower it to increase spending if I wanted to sound like a real hotshot but I honestly don't know the REAL answer to that question. 

I told him that someday I want to go into forecasting stocks and portfolio building and he said he wanted to be an analyst himself if he hadn't become an engineer. He's bought and sold stocks before so I could probably learn a lot talking to him about his experience with it. 

I'm just dying to start playing around with buying and selling stocks on E-trade but before that happens obviously I've gotta MAKE some money. As of right now I'm flat ass broke and have been for a couple days. I've got a paycheck waiting for me at Caesar's but it's not worth the drive to Pasco to get it when I can just pick it up today when I go to work. 

With my little 3 and 4 hour shifts my paycheck is going to be puny as all Hell. I'm probably just going to keep out $40 in cash, try and stretch that as long as possible and put the rest of it away. I really need to start applying for other jobs. Things have just been coming up so I haven't had a chance yet but I think seeing my first paycheck will *really* motivate me. 

peace. 

Has it really been two weeks already?

Goodmorning.

I can't tell you how many times I've sat down to write and have to stop to do something.

Today is Saturday. I'm working at 2 pm which means I've got some time to practice guitar this morning and what not. Days that I have to work tend to be more productive because it motivates me to not sleep in because it puts me in a better mood to have accomplished things before I go. Anyway lets talk about what's been going down in my life lately.

Not much has changed between Jared and I since he returned to work. After we'd hung out I had wondered if he'd continue to be as interested in me as I was in him after that night and I felt happy that meeting didn't make him reconsider. We have been texting and snapchatting off and on for the last couple weeks. Jared always tells me about the crazy shit he does and the military has him do to maintain his physique and become a killing machine if nessasary (10 mile runs, hours of target practice, etc...).

Anyway he sent me a text a couple days ago saying he was going to be MIA for two weeks because he's going to be guarding potential world detonation machines and isn't allowed to have his phone. I won't lie, not being able to talk to him at all is going to be a bummer and test my patience a little bit. But at the same time I know that this is what I signed up for having feelings for someone in this line of work and I should just be happy he's still in Washington and not shipped off to Hell somewhere. He's too handsome, smart and sexy to have his head blown off in Afganistan, you better keep him here God damnit (lol, but seriously...)


Alright enough about Jared. Let's talk about work and some of my new friends a little bit.

Me and Kayla W. have become pretty good friends this summer! Ha ha I never realized how much we had in common until I hung out with her a few times and saw some of her badass interests. First of all she has a great taste in music. She's also the type that likes to listen to music a lot which I think is admirable. She listens to all kinds of badass old rock like Rush, Pink Floyd, Rob Zombie, The Doors... She also likes to watch the same cartoons that I do. The Simpsons is listed on her top TV list on facebook and my Dad just gave me this Simpsons drawing book which I've got really no use for. I'll probably give it to her if she wants it. 

Last Sunday I also had a good time hanging out with Brianna and her friends (almost all coworkers at Little C's) at Justin's mom's place in Richland. Being able to hang out with and get drunk with some of the girls from work was cool because I got a chance to get to know everybody in a relaxed scene versus while we're all trying to step over eachother to get stuff done at work.*

*Since I've just started my boss has been scheduling me when there's enough people that there's not a huge amount of pressure on me to be speedy. Now that I'm getting better at my job it occasionally seems like there's too many people trying to accomplish the same goal and I end up doing busy work like washing the dishes and scrubbing furniture to ensure they don't send me home early. 

I know they're doing their best with hours and I wholeheartedly appreciate just having the job as it is but unfortunately because I'm the newest my head is on the chopping block first when they get slow and start sending people home. That being said I'm probably only getting about 10-12 hours a week and need to start looking for a second job when I get home today. Right now is a really good time to be applying because a lot of people are leaving their part-time jobs for school or whatever.

I'd still really like to get a job at the Conoco in Benton City. I know they've got students leaving and they said they would keep my resume on file so I'll try to drop by before work this morning and let them know I'm going to be around until January. This is for sure now. 

I finally got the courage to drop those three classes on my "perfect" schedule-- I say perfect because I was signed up for the best combination of professors: Finally getting a spot in Tenerelli's not impossible Finance 370 class and Human Resources with Avey who's won awards. But it's just not gonna happen this Fall and maybe if I'm lucky I can take them in the Winter or Spring.

The good news is however that I'm going to be taking Cost accounting online in the Fall so I'll be better prepared for Finance 370 when the time comes... That way if I DO get stuck with Young "the anal orifice" I'll be waaay more prepared this time. Because a Finance class is basically the same thing as cost accounting class, but requires arithmetic and doesn't give very thorough explanations of the concepts because they assume you already know. This cost accounting class with help solidify these concepts and give me working knowledge for working for the State auditor next summer.

So yeah, regardless of that fact that I'm still going to be living at home trying to master the perfect pizza crust I'll also be slaving over my accounting book and taking these babysteps every day to continue toward my major goals.

peace.

Dazed and exhausted

Today's been kind of a useless hangover day.

I had quite a long and interesting day yesterday for Andrew C.'s birthday and simply felt exhausted today. Not surprising considering how much I actually drank and was still coherent enough to make conversation with Andrew's kind of serious mannered friend. I had talked to a number of Andrew's friends that night who would go in and out to smoke cigs but it wasn't awkward or anything because it was kareoke night and I was a little preoccupied picking songs.

Here's some of the songs I can sing relatively well:
Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood
Good Girl by Carrie Underwood
White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane
Redneck woman by Gretchen Wilson (*Granted I haven't actually sang this at a bar before-- last night the bartender sang it and it gave me the idea)

And I'm going to keep an ear out for other songs by female country artists and maybe Hailstorm. I've never even been a country fan but I can sing it a Hell of a lot better than my whack at any female pop voice I can think of. It would be even worse if I tried singing practically any of the metal music I've known the lyrics of for years.

Oh! Out of the blue I got to meet Jared.

Bllllaaghhh I admit I really like his pictures.... He posted this the next day before going on a 5 mile run and swim with his friend. 

Taken by Maeleena D. who I know also took a pic of me and my Mom at her vendor stand that I've been waiting for her to upload. Still, look at the mayor of Benton city, ha ha ha ha..... God my home town cracks me up. I didn't actually make the parade but I saw Little Miss Benton City Daze that was pretty damn cute this year. It was a lot longer than usual, pageants have become popular enough that some of those girls seemed VERY well composed. 

This is Cody V.'s wife and daughter, Koty that won second place in her "division"-- that's new, it used to just be one group of really little girls but now there were three separate age brackets, including preteens. When her name was announced that she was the daughter of Brittany and Cody V. it was kind of a "woah" moment because I went to highschool with both of them and now they have this beautiful little daughter with her own personality and dreams. 

She was the first contestant announced so I was excited to see if there would be any other parents names I'd recognized like Courtnie H.'s daughter or Chrissy's but I didn't. I can't remember saying 2 words to Cody V. in highschool but because he was popular and I took yearbook pictures I'm sure I did at one point or another. Anyway yeah, the pageant was too cute, I'm sure I'll see more daughters of people I recognize in the next few years which is fun to see. 

Anyway.

Jared came into the tri the day before "Benton city daze" (Yes they've been spelling it that way for years). I was excited last night to hear that he was driving here and hoped we'd get a chance to see eachother but for obvious reasons I didn't have my hopes up. Kayla, Koty, Kevin and Austin came over for a little while when I'd invited Koty to come over and play guitar. We originally had the plan to walk around town but it started raining crazy hard. 

Kayla took Austin home pretty quick after they got here. I understand, I had turned on the TV but me and Koty were really wrapped up in guitar. Koty told me I'd gotten a lot better since that last time he saw me which made me soooo happy to hear. Getting a compliment like that from a fellow guitarist is huge, especially someone who loves it as much as Koty. I really need to draw him one of these days, he's been asking me forever but I always find a girl I want to draw more... lol, no offense to Koty, guys are just more of a pain to draw.

After hanging out at my house for awhile waiting for Kayla and Kevin to get back I made a Digorno's pizza that we had some of before heading over to Kayla's with the intention to all hang out and drink a little. I'd picked up my favorite red beer and a Steel Reserve that I didn't end up drinking until going to Jared's later. I'm glad I'd brought it because he was drinking Corona extra that I think tastes like the smell of piss (I'm sorry that's a gross thing to say but it's true). Modelo all the way if you're going Mexican.

Jared texted me pretty shortly after getting to Kayla's place saying he was drinking beer and watching movies and that I was free to join him, this was at about 8. I did stick around at Kayla's for about an hour longer to talk and laugh while chillin out on the front porch and Kevin was working on his motorcycle. Kayla and I have a great time. They were sad I was leaving because they were gonna make mixed drinks. Kayla then had realized they had no soda which kind of gave us a better reason to drive back passed my house. 

I touched up my makeup again (I had a long day so I was by no means looking my best at this point but didn't have time to start my makeup all over). It didn't take long to drive to Jared's Dad's house in the nice part of Richland. I was really impressed by how nice his Dad's place was, but what's funny is Jared and I stayed in their guest room because he hasn't actually lived there.

Jared and I get along pretty well. When we were hanging out in the kitchen downstairs we started talking about Dragon ball Z and the adrenaline I used to get from watching it as a kid. It has the same effect on him but he started watching it when he was 16, ha ha ha. We ended up watching it upstairs and it was like nostalgia crack. I was laughing so hard and having a grand time.

I hope Jared and I get together again but I won't hold my breath. He's a busy dude with all his military stuff and I don't know how often he gets days off. Still this is kind of perfect for me because there's no pressure. He lives on a military base surrounded by other men so I know he loves it when I send pictures on snapchat and texts. I get to see what he's up too and get some of that attention I've been craving without worrying about whether or not we're going to see each other anytime soon.

Alright that's all I had to say tonight. I'm going to see if I can get a blogspot app on my phone tomorrow. I have so many google logins on this computer half the struggle of writing is just getting into the right account.

peace.