Thanksgiving

Normally I'm not too excited to celebrate Thanksgiving. I love to see my family, but being a vegetarian I just don't get into the Thanksgiving spirit. I find "I'm thankful for..." facebook statuses annoying. Shouldn't we always show appreciation for those we love?

This time I'm going to be different though. Even though I've been more negative lately, I still want to be able to look at the glass half full. And I have a lot on my mind about how lucky I really am. It just so happens to be Thanksgiving, so why not? Here goes...


In typical Thanksgiving fashion, I am thankful for my family. They have always supported me and I know they will continue to. I cannot give enough thanks for the countless times they have bent over backwards so I can do something fun. I am thankful for Brendan because he always makes me smile.

I am thankful for my friends, the new and the old. Thank you allowing me to be dramatic. Thank you for keeping me sane. And thank you for cleaning me up, both physically and mentally, in my less-than-stellar moments.

I am thankful for Dodger. You become more of a dog each day in your old age. Thank you for finally letting me pet you after all these years.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say thank you to all the people who have jaded me. You taught me to truly love and appreciate the people that genuinely care, and I am especially thankful for those people.

I am thankful for music. My brain wouldn't know how to handle life without someone else expressing the emotions I need expressed.

I am thankful for food. Especially the white kind that goes straight to my love handles. I am thankful for the people who eat the carbs with me. And that's what I'm going to do: eat some carbs with some awesome people.

Why I will never be a child psychologist

Anyone who has ever worked with children knows that there is one question you NEVER ask: What are you drawing?

I asked a child that question today. He wasn't done with his picture, so I figured it was a safe question this one time. I was wrong. He responded, "Guess!"



At the time the only thing drawn was the red thing in the middle. So I guessed puddle or something. I was wrong. "Noooo! It's a bear!"

Oh.

In this moment I realized I would never work as a child psychologist (not that I was planning on that anyway) because analyzing pictures that children have drawn is crucial. Imagine if a traumatized child I was working with drew this, and I guessed puddle. A child who is already struggling now sucks at drawing. Then because I couldn't help, the kid doesn't think anyone can help and has even bigger trust issues. I can't emotionally deal with that. Thank you, child psychologists, for being smarter than me.

The Rules of Dating

A while back my dad made a Facebook post about the rules of dating. He doesn't understand why they exist. To him, these rules make dating a game. Me? I think I agree with him. Except I don't even know what the rules of dating are. If by chance the rules did turn dating into a game, this is the world I'm living in. I have to play the game if I want to find love, or the semblance of it.

So, what are the rules of dating? I heard something a few weeks ago along the lines of "He gets 2-3 days to call/text you." Well, that's great. Then what? Is it actually ok for a woman to initiate conversation? In this day and age it seems like a silly question. Then I think about how it used to be. I wasn't around for it, but it seems as if men tried to impress girls. My recent experiences tell me that men are lazy or not courageous enough to make 100% effort. Sensitive guys are great, but I'm a stereotypical woman when it comes to dating. Unless you show me you're interested, I'm pretending I don't see how cute you are. I'm enough of a nervous wreck for the both of us. You don't have to be too. There's something to be said about traditional romance. Mainly because it actually has romance.

In an attempt to figure out the dating rules, I asked my friends to name them. I got a wide range of responses. Interestingly, the only clear cut answers came from two straight guys, which is perfect for me, being a straight girl. One of these men provided me an entire list, but the list seemed more like human decency than rules for dating. Being open and honest? Good communication? Listen? Everyone deserves that. The other simply said, "there are no rules." Those are two very different answers. What is a girl like me supposed to do now? I'm not going to be the girl that asks men their philosophy on this stuff. I can't think of a faster way to lose a guy (maybe, not bringing that stuff up is a dating rule).

All of this led me to the conclusion that we're setting ourselves up for failure. We are attempting to follow dating rules that no one actually knows, and everyone's interpretation of these apparent rules is different. It only leads to mass confusion and broken hearts. If we have to date by the rules, I propose we actually have rules we can follow. Or better yet, how about that human decency thing: just be open and honest. If we can do that, maybe the next time I meet someone with potential I'll know what to expect, saving my ipod from having to play "Foolish Games" and other awesomely bad songs during my bouts of insomnia.

What is the opposite of escalator?

The topic of conversation we had today at the mall:

Escalators should only go up. You can't escalate going down...


Originally we thought cascade referred to going down, so we called a going down escalator a "cascadalator." After googling, though, cascade is not correct terminology.

We can call the going down escalator a "descalator." DESCending escALATOR. I'm not a fan of that though. The opposite of descend is ascend. It's not called an ascendalator.

I still don't know of a better name. Thoughts?

Purse

My last post was about Boystown, too. Apparently that's where my best stories come from.

Amy, Tommy, and I were standing in a circle (triangle since there's three of us?) when all of a sudden I feel someone pulling on my purse trying to get my attention. I turned and this is the conversation that took place:

Guy: Can I have your purse?
Me: ...WHAT?
Guy: Can I have your purse?
Me: Um, no.
Guy: So the answer is no?
Me: Yeah, my stuff is in here and this is Coach.
Guy: So no?
Me: No. Go to Coach if you want one.
Guy: Well, let me know if you change your mind.
Me: I will.

Later he came into our circle and pointed to my purse asking again. I still said no, and he still said, "Let me know."

The Monsoon Boystown Adventure

My sister showed me this blog (Hyperbole and a Half). It's really funny, and now I envision my life in paint pictures. Last night would have made for some awesome pictures, but the idea has been taken, so I'll just tell the story.

Last night Amy asked me if I would go to a Halloween [birthday] party (yes, it is July) in the city with her so she wouldn't have to drive alone. I said sure because what else would I do with my life? She picked me up and she said she was hungry. We decided to go to Taco Hut (Taco Bell + Pizza Hut) but get our drinks at McDonald's since they have Diet Coke. When we got our food we were also given a drink that we did not order. We couldn't tell what it was. It tasted like regular Coke, but this is a Pepsi place. Then we found out that Amy's pizza was pepperoni instead of cheese. So we had to go back and wait for a cheese pizza.

At this point it was raining, but not anything intense. Then we got on the expressway. We could barely see! It was definitely a monsoon. We stayed in our lane by following the guy in front of us. When we got to the city the rain wasn't any better and we knew we'd get soaked. However, while looking for a parking spot we found a deformed umbrella lying on the edge of the street. We pulled over and stole it. It certainly came in good use.

At one bar a man came up to me (I can only assume he's gay since we're in Boystown) and said, "I'm probably gonna get hit, but you're one of the most naturally beautiful woman I've seen." SCORE! That made my life, actually. Later in the night Amy and I were sitting at a table and the same man walked by and noticed us sitting there. He quickly said he'd leave, as if we were threatening people. Then Amy said, "I think he thinks we're lesbians." As we were leaving Amy and I were holding hands (so we wouldn't lose each other in the crowd) and someone else shouted "lesbians!" Really? I feel bad for real lesbians now if that's the kind of stuff they have to put up with!

I think I met a straight boy though (don't worry, I'm still with Steve)! Who woulda thought?! This guy was kinda standing in the way while texting. I moved around him and he said something along the lines of "Hey now! Calm down!" I replied, "I just wanna leave!" He said he was joking. Then my nonsober friend, who will remain anonymous here, started to be aggressive with this dude. He looked at me and said, "I'm really a nice person!" I told him I believed him. Then he said he was a "nice, straight guy." I told him that there weren't many of him left (nice or straight) and to stay that way.

On the way home it was still monsooning. There were huge puddles underneath the overpasses. Despite being in a pickup truck, Amy was nervous about going through the swimming pools caused by the monsoon. So then we drove around pretending to figure out a way home. Eventually we just decided that we were gonna do it anyway. We survived with no harm done, of course. That's the story. It kinda just ends like that.

I am a true geek.

I was sitting in Mary's office (geek moment #1: I associate with my professors outside of class).

She got me a little book for graduation (geek moment #2: They like me so much they get me a graduation present).

I was talking about how I feel accomplished with my academics, but not necessarily my social life. Then I compared it to Erikson's integrity vs. despair. (geek moment #3: It's self explanatory).


Oh, did I mention I drank with THE MAN, Dr. James St. James last Thursday? Yeah, it happened. (geek moment #4: I'm excited that I drank with my advisor, the chair of the behavioral sciences department).

Cloud 9

This week has been pretty freaking awesome, if I do say so myself! I got accepted into The Chicago School of Professional Psychology (I also got accepted into Roosevelt a few weeks back, but I'm not quite sure how this happened since they originally denied me). On Monday I had my interview at Adler School of Professional Psychology. I looked like a rockstar and had a sweet interview too!



I found out I got accepted on Friday...WITH A SCHOLARSHIP for community service. Have I done community service? I've interviewed a few homeless individuals...I guess that counts? I'm quite excited.

Anyway, Millikin also had the Tunnel of Oppression this week. I was on TV for it. They spelled my name wrong, among other things I have issues with, but here is the link for the video:

http://www.wandtv.com/global/Category.asp?c=182814&clipId=4652645&topVideoCatNo=99891&autoStart=true

Hopefully life can stay this awesome!

The most blog-worthy post I'll ever have.

I am currently living in temporary housing until I'm allowed to move back to Hessler. Not cool, but it has had its perks. I met awesome people, got to training in 2 seconds because I literally live next door, and got a nice view. The bad thing? THE BATHROOM. It's not clean. I've seen worse, but Hessler's communal bathroom is much more sanitary. This is locker room style: 4 stalls, followed by 3 showers. No changing room or anything. It's all in the open. Oh, did I mention it's co-ed? Now, I do not have a problem with gender neutral bathrooms. We have them in Hessler (with the exception of showers). But I don't know these people. They seem kind of obnoxious, actually.

Anyway, tonight, I go into the bathroom with all my stuff. I put my shampoo and everything in the shower and my towels on the chair right next to it. I decide I should pee because I think it's more hygienic to use the bathroom prior to showering. So after putting all my stuff down, like I said, I go into the stall. I hear someone come in the bathroom and start a shower. Earlier, my roommate told me how she had to awkwardly take a shower while a guy was too, and they came out at the same time. I was afraid this was going to happen to me.

It did not happen. Nope, not at all. I couldn't shower. Want to know why? HE TOOK MY SHOWER. My stuff was there! In the 30 seconds I went to pee from 2 feet away, someone took my shower! So I thought maybe he just thinks I left my stuff there, but that does not explain why my towels are there. Did he think I traveled naked to my room and he just missed it?! And even if I changed after my shower, it does not explain why the bottles are not wet. What if I was in the shower? Would he think I just forgot to turn the water off?

If I wanted to shower, but saw someone's bottles sitting there, even if there was a possibility that they left them there, I would wait to make sure they forgot them or just use another shower. But honestly...who does that?!

"Well I, I just wanna see the light. And I, I don't wanna lose my sight..."

Today in my POST (Peer Outreach Support Team) we did an exercise for self-awareness and illustration of maturation throughout college. At the end of my timeline, I ended with being denied from grad school. But then I announced that I have to end on a positive because that's just who I am. So I finished with "I still have hope."

Then at our break, Stacey came up to me and showed me a little medallion thing of hers. It's an angel and on the back it says "Never lose hope." She said she carries it with her. I briefly talked with her about it and how cool I thought it was. Then she said "How about you hold on to it for a bit? Then you can just give it back to me when you don't need it anymore. And if I never get it back, I know you needed it."

I think it is one of the sweetest things anyone has done for me. It helped so much. Thank you, Stacey Sparks.

Lessons from today

Lesson #1: Jelly DOES need fruit pectin.

The recipe called for it, but did we need it? Apparently so. Apple did not work. Maybe we need more? The jelly tastes good, but not like jelly. I think we should put it in the freezer for homemade fruit chillers!

Lesson #2: Pasta sauce does NOT double as pizza sauce, even if it has pizza seasonings in it.

Colleen even tried to thicken it. It did not work. It tasted like Italian sop on bread. UGH. The consistency did not match the really bready, not crispy, crust. Maybe measuring the yeast correctly too...

Lesson #3: Mozzarella cheese is not the correct cheese for pizza.

Next time, we will use pizza cheese. I think that is a combination of cheeses to give us the perfect blend of flavors.