RyRySays

Happy 27th! Love you like a brother.

He's still at camp by the way, and won't get back here until the end of July. And then we do beach week! Woo!

It's sad not being able to call him on his birthday. I texted, facebooked & emailed so that when he gets home he'll feel loved! And yes, I keep saying "he" and "him" because I'm 99% sure he doesn't even know about this website, much less read it, and I am 99.9% ok with that for now.

So a few minutes ago UGA lost the College World Series to Fresno State. And a few minutes ago my heart broke for people I don't even know.

The last 2 games basically sucked. We left people stranded, balls were dropped etc. I'll admit it, I cried. And not so much for the loss - I'm kinda over that part. It's for those kids. I've been in that spot - the person who hits a pop-fly for the last out (true it was middle school little league softball, but still). I've been there when my siblings have lost critical games in volleyball or wrestling or whatever.

When I saw Ryan Peisel tear up, I lost it. That pain of the loss is almost overwhelming. And it's one thing for a sophomore - they've got another chance. But for Peisel, and Beckham, and the other seniors, it's all over. They can't get that run back next year, or make that amazing play.

All I can say is that my blood will always be red and black, and that even though we lost tonight, my Georgia Bulldogs will always be better than the Fresno State ones.

My friend Little E and I went to Elliots this weekend. She got an email from them about a free beer tasting from 12-4. I don't know what we were thinking, but what I expected/hoped for and what we got were 2 very different things. For some reason I thought cool, we'll get a couple of glasses of some good beers that vendors are testing and they'll want our comments. Nope. It was like a fancy wine tasting, but with beer. All IPAs. The beer guy, who was also the wine guy I think, told us about the history of IPAs, how America likes to be over the top and thus we add a shit ton more hops (technical term) to our IPAs. We tested 5 - they were all pretty decent. The first was a lot more bitter than the other 4. Now I am not going to be all smarty-pants about beer because while I could tell the difference in them drinking them 1 after the other, I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference in general. And I prefer Bud Light to all of them. I figured out that I don't really like pale ales - I don't like bitter beer and hops = bitter apparently.

After the beer tasting we had lunch then talked for an hour. We both talked about that even though we consider ourselves smart women in general, we've put ourselves into the bubble on more than one occasion and blocked out reality when a man who was awful for us got involved. While I no longer give a crap about that man, he's still affecting my life in the sense that I opened myself completely to him and was crushed beyond belief. So now I am afraid to really really put myself back out there and will pull back at the slightest bit of hesitation on a new guy's part. I am crippling myself to avoid the potential pain. It's stupid and I'm working on it, but it's there.

I also told her that I am slowly looking into online dating but am freaked out for a number of reasons, many of which revolve around work so I can't/won't talk about them here. I looked at one site the other day and burst into tears. I'm sure that most of the men on there were perfectly nice, normal people who were just like me. But I looked at maybe 50 pictures and read the profiles and was like Son of a Bitch - what a bunch of losers. And realized that the same people would be looking at me and thinking the same thing. I cried at the computer for about 15 minutes. Next time I approach the online dating thing, it will be from a more reputable site instead of a super crappy one and I will put specific requirements into my selections. I'm a picky person in the sense that I don't want to settle for just anyone. But I am pretty open minded when it comes to looks, jobs etc. I've liked typical pretty boys, but I've also liked guys who are way off that spectrum. I'm not expecting Channing Tatum (although I wouldn't say no).

I'll keep you updated if I decide that I really want to do this. It just feels like I'm stuck and need to do something. Since work people are out and as I am not the bar hopping type of girl, this seems like something I could do. Plus my picture looks pretty decent (not the one I have posted on this site - a more recent one). I still look like me, just a nice version of me. I think the scariest part is rejection and at least with online stuff you can't see their face or hear the words, you just don't get the email. Now I just have to decide how much I plan on lying in my profile!

I was talking to a friend of mine last night. She was telling me about another person who has been married for about 5 years but who's only had sex in one position. That took the conversation on a bit of a turn. Then she mentioned another friend whose "sex sacrifice" is to allow her fiance to wake her up in order to have sex. My friend then mentioned that one of her no-nos was that she needed to wear a head scarf so as not to get messed up hair and that on special occasions she'd take it off. The first time around I heard the word head and I think automatically tuned out a bit because I thought she was going to go into oral sex detail. A few minutes later I heard "scarf" and took a big breath and rejoined the conversation. Now the 2 of us talk about just about everything, but there are a few topics that are somewhat off limits. Major details into sex life is one of them. It's one thing to talk about partners, the fact that you're doing something or whatever, but I don't want to know about birthday blow jobs - well at least not specifics.

On another note, I will be at a conference until Wednesday without a computer. So see ya!

It was hot. Work was somewhat stressful. I got home, let the dog out then immediately went to Walmart to get groceries and to buy a watch. My watch broke last week and I have been slightly insane without one.

I bought 3 six packs of different beers. I got Michelob Ultra (one Lime Cactus & one Tuscan Orange & grapefruit (or something like that)) and then Blue Moon. I got the Mic Ultras because my sister was talking about them the other day when she was in the store and how it sounded nasty. So I thought I'd try them. I thought Miller Chill with the lime was ok - although I normally could only drink half a beer and it had to be really cold or else I though it tasted like shit. I haven't tried Bud Lime. I also normally like Blue Moon on draft and have yet to try bottles so I hope it's good - I did buy an orange for it and have a mug in the freezer for tomorrow.

I normally don't buy beer. I haven't been drinking all that much in the last few years. A beer here and there and an occasional drink if I go out. True, lots of posts on this blog say otherwise, but normally I am posting snippets of my life that involve something special - like a Wednesday. Generally I am by myself and I don't drink by myself. Today was just such a weird/stressful day that I really just wanted a beer. So I bought a bunch. I am 3/5 through with a Lime Cactus and it was ok - nothing that special about it.

I was also confused/annoyed at Walmart. I had a list of stuff to buy because I want to try and make felafel pitas. In order to make the sauce I need tahini - sesame paste. Food Lion in Carthage, NC does not have it. I wouldn't really think that Walmart would have it either except that they have some random stuff. They have tapanad, and roasted red peppers. However the "International" Isle really means Spanish crap. If I was looking for chilies I'd of been set. they also have quite a lot of Asian cuisine. Anyway. Now I have to try the Whole Foods for tahini and either see if they have good pitas/flatbread or go back to Food Lion which surprisingly did have flatbread - and good flatbread at that. Stupid random stuff at random groceries.

Upon getting home with all my groceries I was sweating like all get out. I took off my work clothes and put the groceries away in my bra, underwear and flip flops - yea I don't really know either which is why I thought I'd post it. Then I was incredibly lazy and instead of going upstairs, I rooted around the laundry basket (which is full of dirty clothes) and pulled out my camping pjs and threw them on. Hey, it was after 8 before I got home and put everything away and I was tired and starving.

The one really good thing about today is that I made strawberry shortcake. I got an angel food cake, broke it up, & layered strawberries and whipped cream and the repeated. It's freaking good.

On a totally unrelated and somewhat disturbing note, I think my dog has a yeast infection. Last week she had really bright red bumps on her tummy. Now the bumps are gone, but there is black flaky stuff all around (not her ears though thank you!). My other dog Teak had similar problems. According to her vet, she was allergic to grass. Layla has never had a problem with that before. I think the combination of the heat, her bath/haircut & camping caused the problem. She's eating fine and doesn't scratch too much. She has a vet appointment on Friday so I'll see. But google says it happens and her symptoms fit. And if google says it, it must be true. All I know is I'm washing my hands a lot more.

So I mentioned before that my siblings graduated. Now it's for reals y'all.

The Roll is in Orlando starting her second week of work and loving it. My cousin yecats is down near her and they went shopping and fixed up her apartment and whatnot. So she's gone. I'll hopefully see her for beach weekend, but she already had to cancel the camping trip. The next time I see her will be Thanksgiving and then probably only on major holidays for awhile.

My brother left on Sunday for Army camp. He'll only be gone for a month, but during that month he's out of contact - no calls or email etc. It hit me really hard for some reason. We don't really talk on the phone what with him being a boy and having phone syndrome and all, but still, the fact that I can't talk to him makes it worse. He probably (fingers crossed) won't actually be stationed somewhere until January which leaves me a little more time to hang out with him before he goes to parts unknown.

It just makes me lonely and sad. I loved being so close to my siblings. And I know we'll still be in contact and that the last 4 years have made us stronger as friends and that's we'll always be family. But it's sad not being able to call them and having them come help me put together a table from Ikea while drinking mad dog 20/20 (Happy Easter!). I loved knowing that if I really needed to, or if they really needed to, we could drive an hour and be with each other and that just their physical presence made everything better, even when they didn't know something was wrong in the first place.

I'm going to especially miss my brother. Not that I don't love me sister, but we've always been close (except for a few crazy years when she was insane). In the last 2-3 years my brother has changed so much. He became a friend instead of just a brother. He's actually thoughtful now and likes to hang out with me instead of just putting up with me (or at least he does a much better job of pretending). He plans stuff and laughs a lot more. And I've seen him at least once a month for the last 4 years. For my first year in law school I had to because I didn't have a washer/dryer and the laundromat near my house was sketch. Then it just became habit. A part of my life is leaving me. There will be a huge hole when he leaves for good.

I love my siblings and am sooooo happy for them. I love that they love what they're doing. I'm so proud that they've got jobs and goals and are happy. But I am seriously going to smack them both upside the head for making me cry.

Not much is going on this week, thus no post.

I have a bizarre combination of food left over from camping. It's enough that I don't really want to go shopping, but nothing goes together so I'm left eating random combinations or going out. I went out for lunch twice this week. Which reminds me I have to get $5 to give to EZE.

One of the things I've got are Twistos - Giant brand Oreos. I bring this up only to say that I like Oreos stale. They're better when they're a little chewy and you don't need to soak them in milk to make them soft, but you still can. I like having the milk option.

My watch broke the other day. I woke up at 4 am (used a clock people) with something poking me in the back. The band on my watch had completely snapped and was in the middle of my bed. I tried to wear another one but didn't notice until I had already left the house that the battery in it was broken. I am such a watch freak. My arm is a different color where the watch goes. That is a huge item on my list of things to do this week because I feel totally off without it.

I can't wait until the actual competition starts on both So You Think you can Dance and America's Next Best Dance Crew.

I have random poison ivy. There are about 4 bumps behind my right knee, 3 dots on my right hand and a small clump on my left elbow and 3 bumps on my back near my right hip. I don't know how the hell that happened. I know we were hiking last week and I know that's where I got it, I just don't know how it only ended up in those spots.

I'm going to go decide what to do today. It's 100 outside and it's a debate between washing some coolers and taking a nap before doing other stuff. I think I'm leaning towards napping for now. Maybe I'll screw around online for a bit first. That's one bad thing about getting my computer fixed - now I have to catch up on approx. 8 months worth of blogs from the sites I used to read.

This weekend my family went camping. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but my grandparents on my dad's side of the family have pictures of all the grandkids on 2 shelves. The oldest 9 are on the top and thus we call ourselves "The Top Shelf". I know it's sorta dumb, but whatever. Anyway, we've had trips before with some of us, but this year we decided to have a big trip where all of us would go. We finally found a weekend and it almost worked out. Unfortunately, my sister got a job (what a grown-up!) and it started today, and my cousin B. Martin's roommate bought a house so they had to move. But it will happen someday!

So, the rest of us went anyway, along with 2 boyfriends and a friend. There were 10 in all. We had a group campsite, which is totally the way to go. There were 5 tents! We stayed in Matthews Arm campground in the Shenandoah National Forest.

On Friday, I went to my brother's house after work. He had already picked up my cousin Yecats from the airport (she's going to school in Tampa) and they were at dinner. I joined them and as it was Jeff's last day (and he worked at that restaurant) he had a lot of shots. Then we went shopping for camping food and it was like shopping with a 4 year old. He actually put things in the cart when we weren't looking. It was somewhat fun though. I am very glad Yecats was with me. We went to sleep after packing the car around 1:30. Then we were up at 5 to start on the trip. We made it to the campsite right in the middle of the other 2 cars (about 15 minutes each). The PA car had some problems - they had stuff tied to the roof that flew off. The recovered everything but a pair of sneakers, a hairdryer, and tent poles. We set up camp & had lunch and then it rained on & off until about 4 pm. Luckily it really wasn't that bad. The weather service had actually called for tornado & hail warnings for our area and it just rained.

The other thing that was weird was the caterpillars. They were freaking everywhere. They fell on you, or climbing up you until around 4 or 5 pm, when I guess they went to sleep. I'll have to say it was better than bees or flies, but still, it was kinda gross. The other thing was a ranger told us that when it sounded like it was raining was actually the caterpillars pooping. So yay. And that was basically a constant background noise. Oh, and did I mention that there weren't showers at this campground? Luckily nobody was really all that smelly. But that's why my hair was in pig tail braids & why I wore a hat until I got home basically.

On day 2 we made breakfast and then went on a hike. It was the Overall Run Falls trail. We read the map and followed the instructions only to find out on the way back that the trail ended literally at our campsite. So we walked 6.5 miles round way instead of 4 miles. Oh well! Here are some pictures from the hike.

All the cousins that went at Overall Run Falls

After we got backed we were all hungry and wanted lunch. That's when we noticed that 2 of the coolers (the ones with all the food) were missing. A ranger stopped by and gave us a warning about leaving coolers unattended because of bears. After lunch, a bunch of the group took naps. The rest of us sat around the fire and played drinking games. Layla "built" a fort and stayed in it the entire night, adjusting as we used the wood to feed the fire.

It started to rain again that afternoon, but it only lasted about 15 minutes. Jeff had some ponchos from his ROTC stuff and that's how we stayed dry to watch over the fire while other people either went under a tarp or in a tent.

This morning, Layla woke me up to go potty. Our tent was supposed to be a 2 man tent, but I could barely fit. I had to sleep diagonal if I did want my feet to touch. But it was cosy and that's what you get when it's a free tent. And it stayed dry so whatever. Anyways, there is a rocky outcropping behind the campsite and we were up there walking around. I saw something move and looked up and did a double take - it was an adult black bear. Probably about as big as a picnic table (maybe a little smaller). He was just wandering around. I don't even know if it saw me. I started running and under my breath kept repeating "it's a bear, it's a bear". Luckily some rangers happened to be coming up to the site and I told them. They went to look and couldn't find him and said that we probably scared it away. Nobody else was out of the tents yet, but 3 of my cousins said they heard someone running past them. One of my cousins and her boyfriend saw a bear cub on the side of the road just sitting there on their way out. I wish I had seen that one instead as I might have actually looked at it instead of running like hell - did I mention I was in flip flops and pjs?

We left this morning around 12 and I got to my house after unpacking first my cousin & then my brother, around 7:45. I am super tired, dirty and my legs are starting to get sore. But I had lots of fun. Hung out with some of my favorite people in the world, and met a few more to hopefully include in the family one day. Next time I just hope that the whole Top Shelf can come, and that it doesn't rain and that if I see a bear I am in a car.