Actually excited to go home at this point...

Boys are trouble. And quite frankly, sometimes I question their intelligence as a sex. 

I got sloppy joes on my new white button up. 

This is not a good day. 

What Flu?

Note > I work for a professor on campus grading papers and helping out with odds and ends  

Dr. So and So: Char, can you believe this flu?  

Char: Oh have you been having a lot of absences?  

Dr. So and So: Pause. No, the swine flu, it's killing people in Mexico.  

Lesson? When you work for a prof you should probably keep up on your current events...

Olympus Love

All I can see are photography opportunities. And I don't have a camera. I emailed the kind people of Olympus for a price quote but so far no response. 

When it first broke I was hopeless.

Now I'm taking it as an opportunity to look at new cameras. I think I'll stick with Olympus, I really love my current camera and can do a heck of a lot more with it than I should really be able to. I can coax some fancy  pictures out of that baby. 

I've considered saving long term for an SLR, but I just don't have the time to figure out how to use one right now. I mean, I don't like manual cars, I don't figure I'll like manual cameras. However, there's no denying the quality difference... There's also no denying toe price difference... Ouch. 

This is killing me. I just want my camera. 

Cameras and Weddings

My cousin is married, my camera is broken, and I have to talk to my grandma about sex. 

The most important part of that sentence? My camera is broken. 

Like there was any doubt of it's importance...

This past weekend my cousin, Dena, got married. The ceremony took place in the chapel at Valparaiso University. I wish I could show you how gorgeous it was. It was filled with beautiful modern stained glass windows but somehow achieved the lightness and airiness that is so hard to keep in heavily glassed churches. Beyond gorgeous. The aisle was ridiculously long... Eric (the happy groom) beamed at Dena as she made the treacherous journey to the alter (it was stone slab, not easy in heels). 27 Dresses' Katherine Heigl would have approved. 

Poor Eric has had to work at fitting in our family. I do not deny that I have sometimes doubted him. But seeing how happy he makes Dena, and just how much he loves her makes me think that perhaps we are just a hard bunch to fit in with sometimes. I am quite happy to bring him into our family and I'm going to assume that the few boys will enjoy a little more testosterone. 

My favorite part of the wedding? That would be dancing and music. I love to dance. I'm no good at your average booty shaking, shimmying around on various guys, but give me a good song and I will make my own little dance. Two years ago, the BF would not have danced with me like a crazy person in front of my family. Heck, even a year ago he would have refused. However, after a few songs he joined me on the dance floor and we rocked out for the rest of the night to tunes like "Give You Hell", "Build Me Up Buttercup", and "Go Cubs Go." I think you know which song was my favorite. We even reenacted a bit of Dirty Dancing's, "The Time of My Life" with a somewhat less graceful lift. 

I didn't think he would dance with me like that, all wild and crazy, but one of the best thing about relationships is that they do change you. You change each other constantly and slowly and permanently, but in good ways. Changing people gets a bad rap. I know that the BF has certainly changed me. He is by far the more serious of us (voted most serious, class of 2006 I believe), I have a terrible time being straight faced and serious, but I've gotten a lot better. He also makes me do things. I'm notorious for saying I'll do something someday and then just never getting to it (voted laziest, class of 06...). I am now forced to do things, in a good way of course : ) 

Well I like to think maybe I've pulled him out of his shell a little bit, or drug him out more like.  

Just Take It Easy, That's The Rule

 Normally spring brings me to constant giggles and smiles but I seem to have needed some help this week. Well the Bearded Guy upstairs took charge and I ran across these tidbits today. Please watch them, it will reassure every positive thought you ever had about humankind and help you toss out those cynical ones. Normally I try very hard to do that, but I've been losing sight lately, this got me back on track!

Clip 1:  

This is just super cute. The little robot has a destination on his little flag and is completely dependent on unsuspecting passerby to get there. The people that started the experiment assumed the little guy would die immediately, just a matter of time. He moves at a constant speed in a straight line and is made of cardboard. But as one of his makers followed far behind with a camera in her purse civilization proved her wrong. She said that one man even turned the robot around as he was about to cross the street and audibly said "No, you can't go that way."

Clip 2: Ok I know how annoying it is when YouTube won't let you embed a video, but the effort it will take to click on the link is so worth it. No joke, I cried. I mean I cry a lot so that may not go for everyone, but it sure did touch me. It also made me hope I was never like the annoying girl in the audience when I was a teenager and it makes me vow that my daughters will never ever make that face. 

Link 3: You cannot look at this little chunk without smiling. Impossible. 

Dear Alfred Angelo

I hate you. I am tired of spending $140 on dresses that do not come in my size. I am tired of paying women to try and bring them in for me only to fail once again. You can't turn these dresses into my size. You just can't. I waste my money. I look odd in all the pictures. And I spend yet another wedding uncomfortable, seams poking me in odd places, dresses constantly needing to be pulled up. It's ridiculous. Would it really cost you that much more money to just sell the dang thing in my size?? 

No one at my wedding will ever wear Alfred Angelo. Not ever. Never never never. And I'm sure I will be able to fit into his dresses by then but I don't care, this is an issue of principal now. 

When Good Roommates Go Creepy

Sunday: I got annoyed and made her bed and folded her clothes and cleaned up her desk. They had been laying on her desk for 2 months now. I couldn't handle it anymore. Afterwards I called and left what I thought was an angry message on her cell, demanding that she call me back. When I repeated it to the BF he didn't think it was that angry, but I think it got the point across. 

Today: I went and bought some hair dye, got back from CVS and started looking for an old towel in my closet. I moved my bridesmaid shirt to the side because it was hanging in front of my closet. Wait a sec. Last night I hung it on the front of her closet, ya know since no one is using it. Suspicious, I open her closet. Nothing! All her clothes are gone, and even the giant dirty clothes basket that had been filled for the last two months was gone! I checked the dresser, same thing. Weird. Mostly creepy though. It feels like a stranger was creeping around my room...

How Not to Flirt 101

Hold your right hand out in front of you, palm down. Twist it up and down at your wrist, kind of like a teeter toter. When the left side of your hand goes up, the right side should go down and vice versa. This is the universal symbol for "eh". It will henceforth be called the "eh". Keep this in mind. 

Hermione and I ran to Lance's tonight, I needed some kleenex for my overactive allergies and some milk. Lance's is prone to googly-eyed stock boys. As we were walking to dairy two such stock boys strolled past, obviously giving us the once over. "Ew" we said. 

Soon we were in the check-out line, stuck behind a father and his kids who were taking a massive amount of time to check out. Hermione looks over and sees the two boys again. "Check this out" she says. They're staring at us from across the store and then looking at the bag boy for our lane telling him to check us out and get our numbers. "I feel like I'm at the zoo, and I'm the one in a cage!" I say. 

The bag boy looks at us, not realizing Hermione is watching him, and ya know what he did? He "ehed" us. What? We don't get "ehed". Maybe we weren't at our best, but we are not 5s! We are 10s! 

Hermione realizes that there's another guy over with them now. It's Dustin, we know him! He laughs at the other boys and walks over to us. 

"Hey guys" he says. "Those boys think you are hot." 

"Yeah we got that" We say, laughing. 

Then Hermione does the best thing I've ever seen her do ever in our 13 year friendship. She looks at Dustin (who is now standing right next to our bag boy), smiles and points at said bag boy, and says, "Yeah and then we saw this loser do this (eh hand motion)" 

Bag boy turns red and tried to recover, "They were uh trying to uh get me to get my number, I mean your numbers, get me to get your numbers." 

"Mmmhmm" We say and walk away chatting with Dustin. 

Sometimes you just have glorious moments, and this was one of Hermione's. If you see her congratulate her. 

And boys, we can see you, we are not blind. We are also not zebras. And do not "eh" us. 

Liberal Art College...

Normally I am a big fan of liberal art colleges. Students need to be well-rounded, I'm totally behind that. But right now I'm taking chemistry, which is silliness. It is silliness because I could be finishing off a second major right now, but I can't fit it into my schedule. If I decide to take a second major on I will be here for another semester. Because of chemistry. I won't get to graduate with my friends. Because of chemistry. Maybe I am being unreasonable but I just don't see the argument for it right now. 

Hodge Podge of Thoughts...

That title makes me think of Mod Podge... Ooooh the possibilities... 

I'm slightly sick and currently buried deep within the blogging universe. I have a chem test tomorrow, but have I ever shared with you my complete distaste for studying in classes I don't enjoy? Extreme distaste. 

Here are some of my blogging finds for the evening...

It Ain't Me Babe

My Memoir of You

The Snail and the Cyclopes 

My Life in a Picture 

Oh Hello Friend, Etsy Shop

All people who I feel are ridiculously cooler than I will ever hope to be. 

I'm currently engaged in a blog search for people in college that are on the same wave as I am. So far I'm at a loss. I've found a few but I can't follow a blog if it belongs to someone I don't feel I would ever be friends with and that's all I'm finding currently. 

Just heard a fantastic line in a song. 

"Walking away is easy, it's the staying that's so hard."

That sounds slightly pessimistic, but sometimes I want to tell it to those people who are chronically single and skeptical of relationships. It's hard but everything that is hard is worth it and the easy way out almost never is the right road. 

The Answer? Perhaps...

Roomie has left moldy water bottles, dirty clothes, and a mess and then ran off for almost 2 months now.

After countless phone calls, voice mails, and messages left no reply. Not one.

Hermione's idea for the roomie issue?

Call and leave a message saying that for every phone call left unanswered I will throw away one of your things that is bothering me. 

Pure evil? Or pure genius? 

Photo By Char

Things I Have Learned Recently

1. I have a high speaking voice. And it apparently gets higher when I want something or when I'm trying to say something kind of mean nicely. 

2. The sister is scared of ladders. 

3. The sister doesn't know how to wash windows. 

2 and 3 were learned after she and I had volunteered to wash the windows of our churches resale shop... 

4. I make up words. The BF called me out on this one. I think it's still endearing at this point, but stay tuned...