what i'd like to do this weekend

1. Go to the Athens Humane Society and play with homeless puppies. I can't wait to get my own place and be able to have a dog of my own...

2. Try a new summery drink. Seriously, there are a million great drinks out there, and the summer is coming to an end.

3. Sleep in... I've been getting up every morning before 9 to prepare myseld for classes starting on Monday... but today I slept in til noon. Yay!

fortune cookie

please, please, please let this fortune be true, haha

they set a date

A childhood friend of mine has been engaged for a little over 3 years and they finally set a date!Congrats to Brandi and Brett!

the difficult kind

I remember this song from a few years ago... but last night a woman sang it for karaoke and I found it again... so give the difficult kind by sheryl crow a listen when you get the chance

movie quote

From the newest movie in my vault...

"But sometimes we're so focused on finding our happy ending we don't learn how to read the signs. How to tell from the ones who want us and the ones who don't, the ones who will stay and the ones who will leave. And maybe a happy ending doesn't include a guy, maybe... it's you, on your own, picking up the pieces and starting over, freeing yourself up for something better in the future. Maybe the happy ending is... just... moving on. Or maybe the happy ending is this, knowing after all the unreturned phone calls, broken-hearts, through the blunders and misread signals, through all the pain and embarrassment you never gave up hope." - Gigi from HJNTIY

There's some motivation to start your week off right...

he's just not that into you

OK, so I finally caved in and watched He's Just Not That Into You with Justin Long, Drew Barrymore, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Aniston. I promised myself that I wouldn't watch it until after I'd read the book... but I watched it with my mom this weekend. I really liked it, mainly because it's the story of my life!!! as sad as it is to admit it, haha. It's a romantic comedy that's mildly predictable... but was eye-opening for me. Anyways, I liked it, you should watch it sometime.

do something crazy... or just different

here are a few ideas to make this weekend unordinary...

1. Find a pretty photo you've taken. Enlarge, print, and frame it. When you see it around the house, you'll enjoy your own artwork.

2. While it's still hot outside, go jump in a fountain. Play in a sprinkler. Run and slip-in-slide. Remember what it was like to be a kid!

3. Use cookie cutters and cut your sandwiches into cute shapes. Or make deserts in a cupcake pan. What better way to make a delicious meal fun and keep the portions in control!

what animal is this

Remember looking at the clouds and deciding what animals they look like? I was never that kid... I wish. Here's a beautiful pic I took at the pool this week.

stupid and contagious

This Sunday I started reading Stupid and Contagious by Caprice Crane. I have owned this book for almost a year now, and finally decided to crack it open after Jenn raved how funny it is. I'm only 40 pgs in, but it's one of the funniest books I've ever read. Brief chapters, bouncing between the two protagonist's POV. It's a hilarious, romantic comedy, about two twenty-something neighbors who embark on a zany mission to meet the founder of Starbucks, and in doing so, find each other. Definitely a summer read to enjoy poolside.

what the splat?!

Nickelodeon has decided to get rid of the infamous "splat" design and switching to a all lowercase font. I don't like this at all. Nick was the core of my childhood existence, haha. The splat is what it's all about... don't take it away!

just thinking...

As the next road trip approaches, I can't help but think about all the people I won't see when I go home. Don't get me wrong, I love being with my mom and visiting my crazy cousins. But crossing the county line always brings a tear to my eye, especially when I think about Pop. For the longest time, he was the only tie I had to my dad's family. I felt like he was the only one that cared... The last time I saw or spoke to my dad was at Pop's funeral. That was Dec 2001. I always blamed him, held him responsible... And now I regret not keeping in touch. April 8, 2009. The date used to be a happy one, my best friend's birthday. Now it's a day of remembrance for the man that was absent from 99% of my life.

My father had a heart attack. Brandan, my older brother called me that afternoon to tell me. "I don't know if you'll care, but Dad had a heart attack, Sissy. Just thought I'd let you know." It's a pretty big slap in the face when someone says it like that. "I don't know if you'll care..." I'll never forget those words. Never. I know he didn't mean them as an accusation, he didn't know how much they'd sting, but they were heavy words. All my life I thought my dad, stepmom, and uncles didn't care about me. When in reality they thought I wanted nothing to do with them. Edie, my stepmother, said Dad didn't want to "crowd me"... didn't want to "pressure me into some kind of relationship"... he just figured I'd come around eventually, when I was done with school and everything. I was counting on that. But now... I can't. Regardless of what may or may not have happened when I was 7... because I damn sure can't remember any of it... my father hurt me the most when he walked away. I felt like the criminal. I still do. He kept in touch with my two brothers (both from different wives) but not me. My mom tells me he was just living in the fast lane, didn't make time for his children, his children made time for him. And I was too full of hurt and anger to send another Father's Day card (return to sender) or pick up the phone. All I heard at the funeral was how proud he was that his daughter is at UGA... how proud he was that I am so smart... how proud he was that I have big dreams and was going after them... how proud he was that I am going to make something of myself... But why couldn't he ever tell me that?! Why did all these people that I've never met have to tell me how my own father felt about me!?

Numb is a good state to be in. I've staked my claim and don't know when I'll leave. Maybe when I've finally come to terms with everything that's happened in the last few months. I think of my friend Clint losing his father back in the fall and wonder how he dealt with it. Clint was close to his father. "Dad" wasn't a foreign word to him. I don't think I've ever said it aloud. Ever.

Well, I'm driving home in two weeks... home to my mom, my family, my beach, my town. My playlist is set, GPS is set, all that's left is to pack a bag and grab a sweet tea to go... box of Kleenex in the console.