Some Kind of Wonderful

Wow. It's been a heck of a week! I'm sorry I've been so bad about updating this things lately, but I think it's at least a good sign that I'm more about being present than blogging these days, right?

I missed seeing everyone at Thanksgiving, but to be honest - I'm kind of glad I stuck around here. I'm also glad I didn't go camping like we were planning - it has been so nice (and necessary) to just have a few days to myself to veg out and recuperate. And the best part is... I STILL HAVE TWO DAYS LEFT! Haha, I'll tell you what - working 60 hours a week certainly makes you appreciate your vacation time a bit more.

I worked Monday and Tuesday, but I think mentally I checked out last Friday and since we didn't have to teach class this week, that was kind of okay. Our two days of work consisted of a lot of goofing around and pretending to be busy and it was nice to be at work without all the stress. The one important work thing that did happen was I had my midyear evaluation. I'll admit, I was a little nervous but everything went pretty well. My boss was nice, and the few more negative things he had to say were things I already knew to be working on.

Tuesday at lunch we all went to the Five Guys that just opened up by campus. Amy's from D.C. where Five Guys was started, so she was even more excited about it than I was. It was some serious greasy goodness - the only thing that would have been better is the Varsity. Tuesday night I hung out with Kevface and J Foulke for some roommate bonding time and then I went over to Amy's and watched "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys." I liked it so much I watched again on Wednesday night! I can't believe I'm so type-able about what I like - give me a good angsty coming-of-age story any day and I'm happy.

Wednesday - J Foulke and I worked on our personal projects all day and right about 5 o'clock we both FINISHED!! Those of you who know what crazyness I've been working on all month - know how monumental it is that I'm finally done (ish) - and those of you who don't know what I'm talking about... be patient. You'll find out soon enough. Anyways it felt so amazing to finally be done - and as promised I gave myself the reward of a yearlong subscription to Entertainment Weekly - wooo! And at only $20 for 55 issues, it ain't bad. I'm pretty sure if I were a magazine I would be that one. And have I told you my friend Adam's cousin used to work for them in NYC. Aaaahhh!

We went to Denny's to celebrate (yeah... we're poor) and I realized that I am no longer capable of truly enjoying a belgian waffle with strawberry and whipped cream on top. Surprise surprise.

Thursday - HAPPY THANKSGIVING!! Though those of us still in town were far from our homes and families, we managed to have several awesome invites for Turkey Day. First, Rocky, Jess and I went to our boss's boss's house (Betty - she's the retired english teacher that is the program manager now at CF) for the big meal. It was really nice of Betty - she invited all of us homeless kids (in the home sense) over to her house to spend the day with her family. She has this beautiful ranch house down in Kyle, right near where I teach. And her whole family was there - her husband, bro-in-law, three kids + one daughter-in-law, and 3 grandkids including one very oversized baby boy who looks nothing like my nephew, Hunter, but made me think of him nonetheless. The food was DEE-licious. They also had unsweet ice tea which I never realized til yesterday was a staple of my Thanksgiving experience. The best part for me was the dressing... which I figured is specifically southern, being made of cornbread rather than bread bread. Awesomeness. To top it all off we had pecan pie for desert, but I was too full to enjoy a whole piece.

After hanging out at Betty's for a bit and watching a video of her granddaughter Riley shooting a dove with their BB gun in their backyard that morning (they made her eat it! it's their rule - you shoot it, you eat it), we headed out and went straight to Amy's for a second Thanksgiving feast. Amy's roommate Clara cooked the whole thing - including a homemade salad dressing from scratch! Unfortunately I was too full to eat anything other than some garlic mashed potatoes. We hung out at Amy's for hours, just vegging out and talking. And then Rocky and Jess left and Amy and I hung out some more. And then we came back to my place and played Wii! Woo! It was an awesome day of a whole lot of friends, "family," food, and fun.

This morning we got up early (10 am actually) and went to see the new Baz Luhrman movie Australia with Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. It was AMAZING. Totally cheesy at parts and not at all surprising - but beautiful and epic and very well acted. It felt like what Hollywood is supposed to be about. It's not about real life - it's about romance and adventure and the things we dream about played out on screen.

Which reminds me - I have a small self-discovery moment to share. Another exceedingly obvious moment that took me 22 years to stumble into. I couldn't decide what I wanted to do with my life, right? Teach kids/work with kids -- or make movies? I love making things - writing and visualizing and bringing things to life, but I also know I get teenagers. I connect with them and I love them and I know how important that time in life is. So how could I in good conscience walk away from my gift with kids just for my own pleasure of creation? But what if? What if? What if my goal in writing and film was to speak to teenagers? To resonate with them and affect them the way certain movies and books affected my life back then. Everything seems so much more important when you're sixteen - even the stuff you read and watch. I could do that. And I'd be working with kids too, wouldn't I? And maybe someday down the road I could start a school - just like I talked about. A school that teaches teenagers how to channel all of the emotion and drama into art. Man - if I can speak to these kids - who knows? And if I could give them a voice... - this is everything - teaching, and helping, and film, and writing, and Invisible Children. Talk about a burning bush, right? Can I get an A-MEN?!

I don't know that I'd never made another kind of movie or book - but I've always had trouble trying to pick a focus - maybe now I have one. I feel more inspired than ever. My time is here.

Speaking of... do people really think that college is the best time of their lives? Do people really hate the time right after as much as they say? And does my life not count cause I'm hiding in AmeriCorps? Or did I just get super lucky?

Anyways - Australia was an awesome movie. And if you're on the fence, you should definitely see it. After the movie, we went to Kohl's so Jess could get a coat. I almost made it out the door without getting anything, but then I found this super cute and super cheap hoodie schwacket (sweater-jacket) that I had to have. After that I got on this super shopping kick - and Amy and Jess were in on it too so we went all over. But I didn't find anything so that was bad for me and good for my wallet.

I just want lots of cute winter skirts that I can wear with leggings. I have none. Old Navy used to have all these corduroy minis but they're sold out, and Target used to have this plaid mini dress but it was sold out too! BUMMER! I hate how winter confines me to jeans. In 10th grade I had this wool mini skirt that was sort of brownish gray - and it was the coolest thing ever. I wish I still had it. Alas.

Anyways, we finally came back home and now we're getting ready to go to dance at this electronica show. Ain't life grand?!

And btw - I almost forgot the best part of this week - we're catsitting! It's this adorable 6 month old orange tabby named Omar that belongs to a friend of ours at work. I love this cat. He's so much trouble but he is so stinkin' cute!


On the boy front: Joe has fallen off the grid -- apparently. His family's in town - so hopefully a better update on that scene after the holidays. We'll see!

Otherwise, my life continues to be awesome!

*Peace*