OCD+ADD=OMG

We finally got the kitchen around 1, and all the ladies went in and unpacked as much as they needed and began cooking. Mom knew that I was feeling bad, so she told me to find our cabins and unpack our clothes and such. She gave my cousin Patricia the key to unlock the bunkhouse and all the cabins, and I agreed to follow her and just plah-kay myself down in whichever one of the cabins I choose. So, Pat, Jerry (Bernadine's youngest) and I dissembarked. I was in my little car (which reeked of rotten watermelon) and Pat and Jerry were in Pat's big diesel truck. They lead and I followed through the twisting labyrinth that is Chicot State Park. Finally we came upon Cabins 1-5. So, we parked on the side of the road and went over to cabin 1 to try and unlock it. It wouldn't unlock. We tried again. Still, no go. We went over to cabin 2 and faced the same thing.

So...we left my car parked where it was and went back to the front office. Pat explained our problem and then returned to the truck laughing. Turns out, there are 5 cabins behind the kitchen (where we were originally)...... so, we went and got my car, and then went back to the group area. We trekked back to the 'cabins'. It was pathetic. They were little rooms, each with six bunk beds and an AC. That was it. There was a separate building that had mens and womens shower stalls and toilets (two of each). We were told that all these facilities were self contained (meaning furnished with everything you would need)... they aren't. The beds are almost entirely bare. The kitchen, though full of pots and pans, had no seasonings, plates, forks, knives, spoons or glasses. When we told Mom, she was so disappointed and frustrated, she looked like she might cry. I know for a fact that she wanted to. We tried to make light of it, and assure her that we could handle it anyway, but she was still upset by it. Still, they were busy making the gumbo and potato salad for that night, so she had something to occupy herself with... otherwise, she would've thought about it too much and been more upset. You know how that is.

Technically, we got this place at a great deal. It isn't cheap by any means, but it's cheap in comparison for what we want. But still, the pictures of the cabins online are the pictures of plush places, with sofas and beds and flat screen TVs. Not wall-to-wall bunk beds and communal bathrooms. Mom's worked hard to pull this together, and it's upsetting to see so little be supplied considering how much she's put into it.

Most easily put, I hate this place. I'm still sick, though not feverish, so at least that isn't a worry. But still. I'm the type of person that likes my own space. Bunk beds are confining. And the fact that I can't have privacy in a shower... That's just my own private hell. If I were perfectly healthy, I would hate this place.

We've managed to borrow sleeping bags from those that came more prepared. Still. It just isn't what we'd thought it'd be.

Oh well. I'm absolutely exhausted, and it's terribly freezing in here. Goodnight, Sunshines =..=

You Are "Across the Universe"

You are spiritual, deep, and at peace. You try to keep life in perspective. You can't help but realize how small you are in the universe. You're just thankful you exist. You tend to be a stream of consciousness thinker. You just let your thoughts flow, even when they don't make sense initially. You trust your intuition to guide you. You know that whatever is in your heart is right and true.

What Beatles Song Are You?

Blogthings: We Have a Quiz for Almost Everything

 

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ISR WorkSaver Systems Christmas Lunch. Ok, so the lunch went very well. This little restaurant is just so charming and so superb. Not to mention that the company was just delightful. Donna and I conspired together to share an appetizer; the crab ravioli in a creamy buttery sauce...exquisite. Hell, I’d go back just to order a few more of those! Of course, Donna reminded me not to over-eat because they had some great deserts here. We immediately planed on sharing a desert. For my meal I had originally wanted to order a four-cheese fettuccini that could come with your choice of chicken or shrimp and with your choice of pasta. But, I think that I always get fettuccini when I go places, so I decided to try thinking outside the box and got a chicken dish that was fried and smothered in cheese. Not a bad dish, mind you, but I’ve also decided never to ask for something else when I know I’m gonna enjoy my original selection -_- We talked so much and just enjoyed Mrs. Ellen & Dr. Bunch’s company. We gave them their gifts (Mrs. Ellen got a very lovely candle and Dr. Bunch got a current Saint’s hat and shirt which he loved). I’m not sure what all the other girls got, but I got a $100 bonus as well from them. They really did not have to do that what with the lovely lunch and all, but it was an unexpected treat. Mrs. Ellen also gave us some great tips for how to ‘inconvenience’ a man without getting charges pressed against you. Donna and I ended up sharing a mudbath for desert ^.^

Sloths’ Con Christmas. We ended up getting out of our lunch a little late, and what with traffic being a nightmare, we didn’t actually get to Chibi’s till 4:20ish. I told Reiko that I had wanted her to actually feel as though she got there early for once...even though she was late too -.- Anywho! They were surprised to see my cousin, but almost instantly accepted her into the fold. In fact all it took was a ‘are you as cool as MM?’ question for them to want to boot me out _ But that’s another story. We all sat down and exchanged gifts and we all loved our gifts. I got both the Moutos gifts that corresponded without actually matching. Chibi and Reiko both received a beautiful hanging fairy from Pyramid Collection and a lovely key necklace, but their gifts were unique to them. I also got Scamp a 60 color pencil set and a year’s subscription to Writer’s Digest. I would’ve gotten her a membership to their book club as well, but her income is substantially less than mine, and it wouldn’t be fair to shove all those books in her face without her being able to actually get them. So yeah. Reiko got Chibi the second season of House, and she got me the first season of Bones. I’m pretty sure that I mentioned that I knew what she got me because of the escapades we had to go through to get it, but if not oh well. Chibi got me a T-shirt of Sesshomaru, a cool kanji mug, and a beautiful necklace; She got Reiko a necklace that Reiko’s always stealing from her (she figured she’d earned it), a kanji mug and a nezu & neko Furuba T-shirt. Very cute. Note: Pictures of this event is up on my FaceBook ^.^ After that, Scamp and I showed them all the benefits of having a GameShark to stop the timer on Katamari & We Love. It was fun for a bit when we could finally impress them by rolling up the world and all. Then we watched the first few episodes of Threshold. Chibi made some (very nasty) onigiri in between brakes (when we had to get up or permanently loose all feeling in our backsides), but we didn’t actually leave till 11. And even then it felt like we hadn’t spent enough time together -.-

Saturday. I was feeling a little more sick Saturday morning, but Mom, Scamp and I had all planned on heading to town to pick some things up. We had to be home before 1 because Mom had a wedding to go to. We got a couple of nice shirts at Avenue and I also bought a few products at Bath & Bodyworks. I was getting low on my pink cherry blossom shower wash, so I wanted to get a bit more, and I’ve noticed that my hands are cracking a bit, so I wanted to get some lotion as well. Well, I got both of those, and then I noticed some caramel corn bodywash/shampoo/bubble bath. I had to get that too! Then a sales lady said if you buy 3 you get 1 free, so I got Scamp some hot chocolate hand lotion (that I’m sure will make all British boys and pert puppies lap right out of her hands ^___^). We went home and just chilled out for a while. Neither of us was feeling that great. We ended the night gabbing our heads off in my room. Bub came in that morning while we were out shopping, so he had to take the guest room. I admitted that I was a fitful sleeper and Scamp said she’d rather sleep on the sofa. So that’s how things went. But before we really called it a night she checked in with her parents who’d called earlier. They said they were picking her up early, sometime Sunday morning because her uncle was coming in and he had gifts for them all. I couldn’t really complain since I’d had her for 5 days or so. I think we finally got to bed around...1ish?..I guess.../shrugs.

Sunday (Christmas Eve). Sunday I felt really bad. I thought maybe it was just because I was tired, but I really couldn’t shake it. After waking up and having breakfast, Scamp and I just hung out in my room till her parents got here to pick her up. We visited for about 45 minutes before they left with her and all the gifts I had gotten for her siblings. We then headed for church, which was very nice. I was nearly falling asleep by the end of it, but I was very hungry. That’s completely new for me considering we used to get up and go to the 8 am service and be out in time for 10:30. No one was really hungry, but we’d all head out to town (if nothing was cooking at home) and arrive just in time for the restaurants to open. Once we smelled the food we were a bit hungry, but even then it was a proper “I really want to eat” hungry. It was more of a “hmm, that sure smells good” hungry. This time we were actually hungry. So we went to Burger King for Bub, Dad and I and Mom got something from Taco Bell (which is not a church ^___^). Inside joke. I quickly succumbed to my illness right after eating and was miserable all day. I did manage to (somehow) get a scene from the book written out. It’s not in sequence, but it is crucial so I wrote it all out before I lost it.

Christmas. Christmas was fun and terrible all at the same time. Bub was just as sick as I was (perhaps worse), but we managed to try and put on a good front for the rents ^,^ We had our traditional breakfast of tomato gravy and biscuits with bacon. Then we exchanged gifts and all, and I really do think that passes entirely too fast. I got a very nice jewelry box, a pretty necklace, and a 60 disc CD holder from the rents. Scamp got me this adorable statue of a baby dragon, who I’ve taken to calling Edger (Eddy for short). I’d been eying him from the Pyramid Collection catalogs, even though I was certain it’d be one of those things I’d never buy for myself. Dad got a gift certificate from Harbor Freight from Mom. And from me he got the Bible Collection (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Sampson & Delilah, and King David), the Smokie & The Bandit Persuite Pack, and The Ultimate Johnny Carson Collection on DVD. Mom got a watering can fountain and the computer game Insaniquarium from me. She got Channel #5 from Dad. Thomas got a “grooming kit” from all of us along with some cash to get more clothes while he’s down here. We all retreated to enjoy our gifts. Note: There will also be pictures of this on my FaceBook.

I cleaned up my room a bit so we could scoot my jewelry box in here and then loaded it up. That got me to wanting to clean for good, and that kept me busy while Dad and Bub watched King David. I realized it had been a while that I’d been cleaning when Mom tapped on the wall and told me lunch was ready. We had roast beef in gravy with mashed potatoes, rolls, green been casserole, and rice dressing. It was wonderful. Then Bub and I promptly went off to be sick and pass out for hours while the rents went and visited other family members who were celebrating at their houses.

I woke up after being asleep for a while and they were back. It was dark, so I asked Dad if he wanted to watch some of the Johnny Carson DVDs with me. We laughed so hard at that. There was this one thing (which will explain the title) where Johnny came out and said that there was a woman arrested for performing sexual favors for spaghetti dinners. She didn’t demand money or anything she just wanted spaghetti. So he said “Does that make her a Pasta-tute?” and Mom like to died laughing! I had to pause it, she was so loud. And I’m not talking about insane giggles neither; no-ho! This was high-pitched, I can’t breath, my sides are aching, Hyena on speed laugh. We ended up laughing harder at her than at the video! She said it almost reminded her of when I was very young and I had read over something about concubines in the bible and I asked if we knew any ‘combines’. Started the laughing madness all over again...

Lord, it’s been a pretty good day. It’d be nice if this sore throat and heavy head would go away, but still. All in all a very nice Christmas. Even if I am more exhausted and sore from all the merry making. Now that I’ve finished up this monumental entry and the e-mal I was writing to Scamp, I’m gonna finish my hot tea and go take my shower. Goodnight.

Your Five Variable Love Profile

Propensity for Monogamy: Your propensity for monogamy is high. You find it easy to be devoted and loyal to one person. And in return, you expect the same from who you love. Any sign of straying, and you'll end things. Experience Level: Your experience level is low. You've probably either had only one relationship.. Or all of your relationships have been very similar. You still have a lot to learn... and a lot to try! Dominance: Your dominance is low. This doesn't mean you're a doormat, just balanced. You know a relationship is not about getting your way. And you love to give your sweetie a lot of freedom. Cynicism: Your cynicism is medium. You'd like to believe in true and everlasting love... But you've definitely been burned enough to know better. You're still an optimist, but you also are a realist. Independence: Your independence is high. You don't need to be in love, and sometimes you don't even want love. Having your own life is very important for you... Even more important than having a relationship.

The Five Variable Love Test

 

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