Friday, July 29, 2011

If you have a job without any aggravations, you don't have a job. -Malcolm S. Forbes

I          AM          DONE.
Started working: May 10th
Stopped working: July 29th

Windows-Blue
Tank foundations-Crimson
Rails in the Caustic Loading area-Yellow
Safety poles-Yellow
Doors-Blue

I am completely exhausted.

I now have 5 days in Florence of being a kid with friends and staying out till the sun rises and living my life with my arms, face, legs, and clothes free of paint.

From left to right:
Bo: Would come in every day to break and lunch with a big smile on his face and say, "Whatchyall doin'?"
Seth: The other summer college worker.
Kent: He and Seth would talk about Alabama football every single day (which made me miserable) and would also sing me songs that had Sarah in the title. He also played in a band with Johnny Cash once.
Big Dave: A gentle giant. We always had great conversations about food.
(sitting)Donald: Retiring in December. My grandfather taught him in trade school. He is always the one that gets pranked. Either he or my dad.
Billy: Working in the same place and spending almost every day with him has definitely given us a better relationship. For that, I am very thankful.
Duwayne: Sat by me every day at lunch and is absolutely precious.
Corsby: Probably my favorite of all of them because we had a real connection. Everyday, he would force me to eat a peanut butter cracker, offer me dip, tell me stories, laugh at me, make me turn red, and at the very end...he gave me a cantaloupe and said, "Be good, little'n."

Everyone in the entire chemical plant treated me like their daughter, granddaughter, or their little sister in Seth's case. Everyone would call me, "Dear, Darlin', Little'n, Sweetie, Honey, Baby, or Hun." My summer has been filled with making memories and laughter and working there really was a blessing. There's just something about watching fifty and sixty year old men prank each other, scare each other, or laugh until they cry that just fills me with joy. The people in this picture are the people that I built relationships with and they all have had an impact on my life and left a lasting impression.



Wednesday, July 27, 2011

"So, my little Amelie, your bones aren't made of glass. You can take life's knocks. If you let this chance go by, eventually your heart will become as dry and brittle as my skeleton. So, go ahead, dammit!"
         Last night, I re-watched one of my all-time favorite movies, Amelie. Some people find a good movie and buy it and watch it occasionally with a group of friends. Not I. I have my favorite movies and I watch them over and over and over whenever I feel like it. I reference them in every day life whether I do it aloud or in my head and I like it that way.  
         I noticed that several of my favorite movies are French or set in France, and because of my love for France, the French language, the French lifestyle, and specifically Paris...I'm going to share these movies with you.
French Kiss (1995)
Meg Ryan and Kevin Kline
When I take a sip of red wine, I think of the line:
"A bold wine with a hint of sophistication and lacking in pretension...actually I was just talking about myself."

A Very Long Engagement (2004)
Audrey Tautou and Gaspard Ulliel
"Revenge is pointless. Try to be happy and don't ruin your life for me."

Chocolat (2000)
Juliette Binoche and Johnny Depp
"Can I interest you in some nipples of Venus?"

La Vie en Rose (2007)
Marion Cotillard
Reporter: "If you were to give advice to a woman, what would it be?"
Edith: "Love."
Reporter: "To a young girl?"
Edith: "Love."
Reporter: "To a child?"
Edith: "Love."

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Visit #2 with Crentist...

Norah Jones again, my adorable dentist, the sweet nurse lady, the only difference is the side of my mouth that's numb. Last time-left. This time-right.

I've got the giggles like it's no ones business and all I want is a chocolate milkshake.

Monday, July 25, 2011

You can always tell a real friend: when you've made a fool of yourself he doesn't feel you've done a permanent job. -Laurence J. Peter

I'm leaving to go back to school a week from tomorrow and I'm ecstatic. I can't wait to have a house with a mailbox up by the door, antique door knobs, a kitchen to cook in, and two beautiful funny girls to live with.

However, this summer...I've made more friends than I have in the past year and I am going to miss them so so much.
  
 If I had to pick three words to sum up my summer, they would be: paint, dancing, and fireworks.

It's always nice when you find someone who has EVERYTHING in common with you. You know that it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship when you find someone who matches all of your little quirks. 
THIS GUY  ^ does exactly that.  We have absolutely everything in common. It's actually quite scary sometimes. Zelda, The Office, Batman, Harry Potter, Garden State, weather preferences, food preferences, music taste, movies, citronella candles, matching triforces, freckles, and countless other things have contributed to building a really great friendship. Oh, and he actually reads my blog and enjoys it. So that's something, right? 
Some have been around for a while. And I love them more than anything in the world, cabbage patch kid toes and all.
And others have gone in and out of my life, but now it looks like they're there to stay. My summer has been filled to the brim with hilarious memories that I know will be talked about for years to come. I love having friends that love me and truly enjoy my company.

I am an extremely lucky girl. 





Wednesday, July 20, 2011

I need to marry a dork.

After many many many times of being "in it", I've realized that I've changed a lot this summer. I've matured in more ways than I can count, I'm stronger, I learned a lot of things, I changed the way I handle certain situations, and I've taken the time to look back and see a lot of things that I could have done better. I also have surrounded myself with friends, old and new, who are able to keep my mind occupied so that I can make myself happy. And truly, this summer...I have been happy. People ask me how I'm doing and I tell them honestly that I am doing fine. I usually get a skeptical look because I guess people don't expect me to be fine. But, I really am. I wish I could change things, but I can't. I see what I should have done better. I see what I shouldn't have dealt with. I see everything I should have done differently and I've fixed a lot of things about me that needed fixing. But everything is in the past and there's no sense in dwelling on it. So, I'm moving on. "If you can't laugh at yourself, life is going to seem a whole lot longer than you'd like." So, I'm laughing at myself. I'm laughing at how immature I was about certain things. I'm laughing about how besides me being immature about certain things, I didn't do anything wrong and the one thing that I thought I had control over-failed. And I'm laughing about how I'm able to laugh about it. Things will be okay.   

Now, I've also learned this summer that I am a complete dork. I never really thought about it...but I am. A dork through and through. Nerd to the core.
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Sunday, July 17, 2011

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Mischief managed.

For years, Harry Potter has filled me with the kind of happiness that can only come from reading a good book or watching a good movie.   Now that it's all over, I'll spend my days letting memories from Harry Potter drift in and out of my mind and allowing myself to make references to it in any way I can so that the memories are never lost.
Thank you,  J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. for keeping me entertained, excited, and occupied for many many years. 
"When I’m 80 years old and sitting in my rocking chair, I’ll be reading Harry Potter. And my family will say to me, “After all this time?” And I will say, “Always.” - Alan Rickman.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

"All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his. " -Oscar Wilde



      My mom and I have always had a great relationship. In the summer when I was little, I would come in from playing outside and she'd grab me and hug my sweaty body and swing me back and forth while squeezing me till I squealed. In the fall, I'd come in from school and the house would be decked out for Halloween and then again for Thanksgiving. Our pumpkins were always elaborate and cooking for Thanksgiving was always an all day event that gave us the opportunity to spend time together. In the winter, I'd come in from playing outside and she'd have homemade hot chocolate ready for me and my brother. She'd come in our rooms after we were asleep and throw an extra blanket on us when she saw that we weren't warm enough. In the spring, she would buy fruit and plant flowers. When ants came in, she'd kill them for me. When summer rolled around again and I trekked through the house dripping wet from swimming, because I forgot a towl…she'd push me out the door and throw a towel at me. (Peeved, but hey, she'd still bring me a towel.)
     In the times in my life when I was antisocial and had friends but rarely wanted to see them, she was my best friend. We'd order Pizza Chef salads and watch our favorite movies. I can now quote or recite from front to back: Notting Hill, When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle, French Kiss, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Sabrina, One Fine Day, and many many more. We'd have "Spa Nights" where we would do facials and manicures and pedicures while we gorged on sweets. Sometimes, if I did something good, or just because she knew I loved them...she'd make chocolate oatmeal cookies and surprise me with them.
     Not much has changed from back then. She's still my best friend. I know that if I lived at home and if I still ran and galloped outside, she would hug my slippery body when I came in. She would still deck out the house for holidays like she did back then. Now, don't get me wrong. Our house is DECKED OUT for holidays. But back then… it was doubled. Our pumpkins would still be elaborate if I was home to share the experience with her. But since Jon Christian doesn't care about Halloween very much...the pumpkins are pretty much just classic pumpkins. When I come home in the winter, hot chocolate is extremely common. Apple cider, chai tea, any comforting, hot beverage is easy to find. She still kills ants for me and when I can peel myself away from my friends...we watch movies. In daily conversation, we quote the movies that I grew up watching. We say that we will "Be still like vegetables and lay like broccoli."-Pretty Woman. We say, "My ass is twitching. You people make my ass twitch." in a french accent from French Kiss. "Not bad. Not bad at all. Well chosen briefs I must say. Chicks dig grey. Nice. Firm. Buttocks."- from Notting Hill.  She's my best friend. She gets my jokes. She laughs at my stories. She corrects me when I'm wrong. She holds me when I'm sad. She's a "goddess".

I'm saying all of this because sometimes I forget it. I forget to hug her and love on her and I forget that she's the woman who stood in my room and was patient with me every time that I was feeling completely unoriginal and not cute while being surrounded by clothes and feeling like nothing fits right. I want to be able to look back on this when I start to forget and then remember what an amazing woman I have the privilege of calling my mother.

     When I have days like the day I had today, I remember. Today, nothing went right. I packed my lunch for work and instead of grabbing a fruit cup, grabbed a whole jar of peanut butter and put it in my sack. Had I not noticed the weight difference, I would have gone to work with a whole jar of peanut butter for lunch. -Waking up at 5:30 will do that to you. After I got to work, I started painting and I wasn't happy with the way it was turning out. Sweaty at 8:00 in the morning-I knew it'd be a long day.  Hours passed and I learned that the handrails I had been painting for the past 2 weeks now need to be painted on the underside. Which means that I have to lean through them while 13+ feet off the ground and paint with paint that only has a 30-45 minute working time in the dead of summer. I'm not one to complain about something that is my job. So, I do it without complaining and end up soaking my ponytail in the industrial paint, hitting my head on the rail and getting it on the top of my head, and almost dropping my phone and ipod. After that and several other incidents, I leave for lunch and call my mom for a short venting session.  During the thirty minute conversation, she fixes everything.
      She tells me how proud she is of me. How she couldn't care less if I were to spend every single penny that I make this summer because I deserve it. She told me how she was so proud of me for doing what I do, how she couldn't have gone back for her masters degree if it weren't for me watching Jon, how she couldn't explain how proud she is of me. How my dad is proud of me and each of them know that they have a blessing on their hands. How people she talks to all tell her how sweet I am and how proud they are of me. While sitting there, blushing on the phone and smiling and wishing I could give her a huge hug...my day turned itself around completely. Not because of all of the nice things she said, or because people like me, or my dad is proud of me. No. Because this woman who God gave me to, has done nothing but love me every single day of my life. I've been rude to her a few times, usually I realize I'm doing it and I start laughing and admit that I was a little bitch and life moves on. When I used to be scared of storms, she visited me at school one day because she knew I was worried. When my heart was broken, she left work to come hold me. When I was lonely at college, she sent me packages and cards.  When my heart put itself back together and I got excited about something and turned back into my old self, her face lit up. I don't think I'll ever forget the look on her face.
     All she wants for each of her kids is for us to be happy and healthy. She wants us to live our lives and have our own experiences. She wants us to be honest and good to others and true to ourselves. This woman is an angel. A beautiful, tall, laugh-line covered, ballroom dancing, confident, badass angel.

Monday, July 11, 2011

Chin up.

 I'm doing this in my room when I move.
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My dad and I are going to make a bed like this. Without the "Quiet".

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I'm painting my furniture like this.

I have an intense love for Octopi. 

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Thomas Paul shower curtain

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Your dentist's name is Crentist? That sounds a lot like dentist.

Maybe that's why he became a dentist.




Today:
1. I had my first experience with oxygen and anesthesia at the dentist's office.
-My dentist is an old lanky man. (which automatically means I'm in love with him)
-The nurse gave me headphones and a cd player with Norah Jones in it so I could have prime relaxation.
-My dentist said I had a beautiful smile. (They say that to everyone but since my dentist is an old lanky    man, I blushed)
-I kept laughing during the work they were doing and they would let me finish laughing then go right back to work! My dentist accommodated my outbursts of laughter. What a saint. I bet your dentist doesn't do that.
-Afterwards, I had to call my boss while I was feeling completely high/drunk and explain that I wouldn't be back to work.
-When I say that I felt completely fantastic, I mean.. C.O.M.P.L.E.T.E.L.Y F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C. I also felt fat, but aside from the fat feeling-it was amazing.
-Now, one section of my mouth is numb which means that drinking a cold drink only feels cold on one side. It's a very weird sensation.
2. Our air conditioner is broken. Sitting on the second floor of a house knowing that heat
rises...not that lovely.

That was my day. My mouth is now clean and healthy! :)


Sunday, July 3, 2011

Second star to the right and straight on till morning.

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I'd never get this tattoo..but it's still wicked cool.

If I were to ever get a tattoo, it would have something to do with birds. Probably an owl feather somewhere. My grandfather's last name is Fowler which had to do with someone who kept or handled birds back in the day, so that's where my decision comes from. 
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Or, a puzzle piece somewhere. In honor of Autism Awareness and my brother.