Anger as soon as fed is dead, tis starving makes it fat.

I got a very rested but very interrupted sleep last night. Last night I worked out and then read for a little while and then when I was trying to fall asleep the girly cramps kicked in full force. Now ladies you know what I'm talking about, the ones that are full body and crippling. The ones that come in waves like labor pains and have put me off childbirth forever and ever. If you're one of the lucky women out there that has no idea what I'm talking about I envy you. While my body was in the throes of agony I chatted up one of my friends. Not the best idea talking to a boy when all you want to do is rip out your uterus. The poor guy tried to be sympathetic, but all I heard was "thank god I'm a boy." Well poo poo on you.

Around 4am I was awakened by something. I'm not sure if it was the storm, the cramps, or something else, but I was up. For some reason I also had the need to check my email, since it hadn't been working earlier and was slightly disturbed by an actually nothing sort of email. In my paranoid state however, I was so freaked out that I couldn't fall back asleep until about 6am. I have problems, I know. Anyways while I was awake I texted a friend about my paranoia over the email and now I'm pretty sure he's ready to commit me to the nut house. I can't help it, I fear confrontation.

In between getting a little more sleep and going to work I decided not to work out (totally regret that now) and instead watch the new episode of Wilfred. Jason Gann is officially going on the potential husband list. Seriously he is brilliant as a man in a dog costume. The show has definitely made me want to get my Siberian husky sooner than later and now I want to play frisbee all of the time. Someone please play frisbee with me!

I just realized that I have start school in ten days which means that I only have one more official week to go to the beach. Total sad face right now. I need to plan this one carefully too because there's so much going on in the office and I don't want to spend the last beach week alone on the beach so I have to make sure my beach buddy is available and all that jazz. SO much planning goes into this, argh!

Next time you're in Upper Darby you better let me know. I'm about to get laid off and I live with my mom.

The heartland of Uzbekistan is the Fergana Valley. Located across most of the country, this valley is extremely fertile and protected by mountains at the north and at the south. Two rivers run through the valley supplying life to area. Once part of the Northern Silk Road, it sustains the country's silk industry. It is a beautiful part of a often overlooked country in western Asia. I want to go to Uzbekistan and see the Fergana Valley. I want to stay in a yurt and hike through the mountains and travel along the rivers.

Fergana Valley

I just got back recently from a trip to Ocean City, NJ with my Hebrew Friend to see some friends who are staying at the shore for the week. It was the perfect day for the shore. Completely flawless skies and just the right amount of waves to go swimming and body surfing. We left the city early and were able to have a full rich day in Jersey. The shore was not too crowded, kind of like going to the Park on a weekend when the state park is too full to get into. We were all able to swim (those of us that actually like water), read, rest, and play Frisbee. Hebrew Friend taught me to play football though I still need some help with my catching and aim. He and I are going to have to go throw a ball around when I get back from Vermont (I'm not terribly excited about driving home alone tomorrow evening). Mini golf and pizza concluded our day and I did get a chance to see Chem Anna in action at the coffee shop. On the way home I nearly fell asleep, but then had a extremely enlightening experience with a friend. 

Yes I was with this person and yes he wore socks and shoes on the beach.

This time last year Chem Anna began her senior freak out. She would unexpectedly cry and fret about the idea of leaving school and getting into grad school. She had a hard time letting go of her safety net and preparing for the scariness of the real world. I though she and my other senior friends were crazy for crying about leaving school. They were only nine months away from no more homework. I thought that they should be celebrating and not mourning. Now that it's my turn, I feel even less prepared and successful than Chem Anna and some of my other friends who recently graduated. I just cry and cry at unexpected moments about school and the paths I've taken and how my life is going to turn out at the end of the next nine months. I'm scared about graduating especially since I will only have been working at my chosen major for three semesters. I don't have enough material for a portfolio to send to graduate schools and I haven't started studying for the GREs. I'm also terrified about leaving because I don't know where I'm going and I know I can't go home. I also don't want to leave my best friend. For the first time I have someone that I am unconditionally close to and I'm not quite prepared to put any distance between us. When I was in Vermont last time Lance said some very sage words to me: "Most choices aren't wrong, they're just not right." The decisions that I've made may not have been the best or the wisest for me but they've led me to finding a passion or two and to Yonni and to new skills. I'm just waiting for when I can start making the right choices the first time around. 

In conversations we want him to read our mind and in bed we want him to read our vagina’s mind.

Yesterday I went to the beach. It wasn't anything special because the waves were nearly dead and I was by myself, but the water was warm and I was able to finish a book and start another. It was great though because it was extremely hot out, but on the beach there was a nice breeze that kept things even and helped keep me in the sun longer. Don't worry Mom I wore my sunscreen. I also wore my polka dot one piece. I bought the bathing suit last summer when I was at the peak of my weight gain and couldn't face myself in a two piece but didn't want to look like I was eleven or my mom in my lap suit. I like the suit because it has a cutout in the back and it can be worn strapless or with a halter-type strap. It's already a bit loose, but I can still get away with it for the rest of the summer. It's my last one in it though because I don't intend to ever get that fat again unless there is a baby in my belly. I just don't think that this suit will still be in style in ten years.

No waves. Sad panda.

I've finished the Hunger Games. That's ALL I'm going to say since I already almost screamed at my friend about how I felt about the series conclusion and I can't relive that here. 

I actually put effort into making something for dinner or at least put the effort into assembling things on the same plate to make a meal since it's summer and it's too hot to actually cook anything in my apartment. It was brilliant and now I feel very full and content and will soon fall asleep from food happiness. I went to the store with the intention of picking very specific things up because I thought I was in the mood for something very specific, but once I got there I discovered that I was really in the mood for something else and brought home goat cheese, tomatoes, and pita chips. I also purchased a personal favorite from my childhood for dessert. 

Dinner for me was a full head of romaine. Actually I picked off the the tops because I don't like the soft dark green parts of the lettuce. I usually just do oil, vinegar, and cinnamon, but I wanted something different so I mixed olive oil, lemon juice, spices, and tarragon and tossed that with the lettuce. I added a tomato and some goat cheese for extra awesomeness. The tomato was slightly under-ripe, but what can you expect from anything outside of Lancaster County. The goat cheese was what really made the salad. The tangy cheese combined with the salty lemony dressing made fireworks in my mouth. 

I love goat cheese so much that I ate almost most of it with pita chips on the side of the salad. I've become more and more a fan of pita chip over potato or corn chips. They are just more filling without actually eating more of them. The Sandy's kind that I get also come in a bunch of yummy flavors. My favorite is the Naked kind with just a little salt, but I also love the cinnamon sugar kind. They are just the right amount of sweetness. 

Dessert is something most people wouldn't touch if they've ever had the real thing, but I didn't want to bake in the heat so I bought the stale cake cups that are sold next to the fruit for strawberry shortcake. I love strawberry shortcake with whipped cream. If I had been serious about the dessert I would have soaked the packaged cakes in raspberry liqueur to soften them and give the dessert added flavor. Instead I just piled the cakes with layers of strawberries and whipped cream until the little mounds could no longer stand. The heat from my apartment melted the whipped cream a little and the cream helped soften the cakes which was an unexpected bonus. I almost never eat these, in fact the last time I did was two years ago when I was living in the house, but I miss this even if the real thing is so much better. 

*The title comes from article I read over at Hello Giggles. 

Swallowing makes my tummy hurt.

Hebrew Friend beat me to it, but yesterday I went to the beach with some friends. I wasn't even thinking beach trip when he called me Tuesday and asked what time we should leave by. And when he said that he wanted to drive and that there were a few extra people coming I wasn't even thinking about where we would be going. I was just excited that there would be more than just myself this time. While I am all for alone time on the beach it is nice to have others around to talk to and go swimming with. I was also thinking that we would be going somewhere other than the state park since Yonni's a big fan of the southern beaches as well as the state park. I guess he's found his spot though because he asked for the park pass and knew exactly where to go down at the far end. It was a really nice selection of people who were with me too. There was my Hebrew Friend of course, but also Erin a girl I used to work with and Dev a lady that went to school with Yonni. I hadn't seen Erin at all since I left my job at the bookstore so it was nice catching up with her and I had only spoke a few words past hello with Dev when I first met her so it was excellent to get to know her as well.

Leaving Philadelphia it was extremely hot so we had the air conditioning on in the car for the ride down, but when we got out onto the beach we found it to be rather chilly and windy. The water was excellent with big waves and much warmer than it had been, but a few hours in I was huddled under two towels trying to keep as warm as possible. I swear it was going to storm, but then the sun came out and warmed us all up. Some even got a bit sunburned. It was nice to have so many people in the group because it gave us more things to do with each other. Yon brought a Frisbee as always though the wind made it hard to throw well at some points and Dev brought an excellent card game called Five Crowns. It was a bit like gin rummy and poker all mixed together but with a double deck of cards. The cards were really beautifully illustrated and reminded me of characters from an ancient Babylonian royal family or something you would have seen on one of the crusades. I even got a chance to read a little from Lolita and write in my log book. I showed the book to Yonni, but it's not finished and there isn't a whole lot about him in it. I need to start writing his stories down too so that he has a place in the archives. I want to finish the log book by the beginning of next summer so I need to be more diligant about writing in it.

After about six hours of beach time, my uncle invited us over for dinner and a chance to use a real toilet. Everyone agreed to some food before the trip home and I warned them that he likes to talk a lot. It seemed like a good time was had by all, Dev was really wonderful with my uncle, I think he liked her the best. It was a quick visit because we were all tired and wanted to get home. By the time we were back at Yonni's house I could barely keep my eyes open. I helped him clean up our beach mess as best as I could before I had to get back to my apartment and crash. It was wonderful to be tired from the sun and swimming because I soon fell soundly asleep and didn't even get a chance to read my Hebrew Friend's beach review until I woke up this morning. It has really been a wonderful summer so far. Vermont in a couple of weeks.

We haven't been dating long enough to have an anniversary.

It is 12:31am on a Wednesday and I feel incredibly beautiful right now. When I look in the mirror right now I see perfect freckles and blue eyes!

Okay on Wednesday I was on crack apparently. Really I had just gotten back from the bar in Narberth where I been out by myself stuffing my face and drinking Holy Moses White Ale. I spent more time eating than drinking, but still creepy old men wanted to talk to me and buy me beer. It was funny too because there were a couple of cougars in the place left over from quizzo night and they were going after him for cigarettes and trying to get him to go outside with them, but he stayed a stool to my right the entire time that I was there. It was kind of annoying at first, but then I just decided to become friendly with the bartender and spent the rest of the night chatting with him about bartending and the Jersey shore. It was also determined that I was responsible for emptying a bottle of bitters over the last couple of weeks. The bartender told me that I was the only one who ever orders it and I don't even drink it with alcohol. I do want to try an Old Fashioned sometime I just don't want to lay down the money if I can help it. That's why I love the Penn Valley so much because the bartender there will let me taste what he's making. Delicious and educational.

Wednesday morning I got up early and drove to the shore. It was a quick visit just a day in the sun and then home at night. I have to remember to pack some heavy duty bug spray when I go back this weekend because the horseflies were biting hard and by late afternoon it was either get in the water, get in the car, or be eaten alive. I did the water thing for a while. The ocean has warmed up considerably, however there had been a storm the night before so everything was still a little churned up and had a slightly fishy smell that got unpleasant after a while. The tide was extremely low all day, which I think was in part because of the storm. I had never seen the beach so flat even during regular low tides. It was nice to be able to walk out so far into the water and still have it be lower than my hip. Late afternoon though I had to get out of there and while I was packing up my car some guy approached me and started talking about the bay and how to get over there to take a picture of the foxes that live around there. I tried to politely shut him up and then I he asked me to go hiking with him, but I told I had other plans and was leaving. Twice this week I've been a magnate for totally creepy guys; I need to start keeping my pepper spray in my car from now on.

Last night I saw Transformers 3 with Neil. We went to the late show in Manayunk which was fun. It was a total date night for us. I wore lipstick and carried a big purse to sneak cheap food in and he bought my ticket. Now I thought that Transformers 2 was good, but OMG this one was amazing, and so funny too. Usually when movies are loaded with several high profile actors it's best not to expect much, but everyone was top notch. I kept whispering to Neil every time we were introduced to someone amazing. Seriously Frances McDormand as the head of NIA and John Malkovich as Sam's crazy boss was phenomenal. I was excited to hear Leonard Nimoy's voice as Sentinel, but it was Ken Jeong who stole the film with his part as a paranoid ex-NASA employee. I had a hard time buying Patrick Dempsey as an evil villain, but that's because I'm so used to him as the steamy Dr. McDreamy. The only one who wasn't outstanding was Rosie, but she's still new to acting. I will say that her hair was phenomenal in every shot, but as the movie progressed even Neil asked why she was still there. It was nice to see that Shia has evolved as an actor, but that he still hasn't lost the comedic from his Even Stevens days. I just wish we had seen more of the Whiwicky parents.

Wish I had a Camaro.

Shane Botwin is back, but Andy is better than ever!

So last night I finally got around to watching True Blood. I found a website that has the first two episodes posted so I spent two glorious hours catching up with the supernatural in Bon Temps. I really really hate when television uses time jumps to keep a series going, but in this case I found it particularly interesting because Sookie wasn't experiencing the time jump at all because of being in an alternate universe for only a few minutes. The show also didn't waste time in trying to have her catch up on all of her lost year. Everything was conveniently explained and then the show moved on. There are a couple of new characters this season to fill the voids of the few that were killed off last season. My new favorite is Janine Gavankar. Gavankar was previously on The Gates last summer and played Shivakamini on The League. In both shows she was excellent and so far her performance in True Blood hasn't disappointed as a shape shifter and love interest for Sam.

While I was online last night I also saw ads for the new season of Weeds. Monday night was the season premier and I can definitely say that it is much different than the sunny Southern California season one where we were first introduced to Nancy. While I don't want to ruin what happened for one of my readers. I will say that Shane has grown into a very interesting character, Nancy is still the same lovable, but sometimes crass and always in trouble, Jennifer Jason Leigh's character is a super huge bitch, and Doug will also be Doug. I think the most touching moment of the episode came from Kevin Nealon's character Doug when he said, "You aren't leaving me behind?" Season 7 of Weeds is shaping up to be excellent.

You know you wish she was your mother too.

In the meantime I have finally started cleaning my apartment. After about three weeks of no clean clothes and tripping over my hockey equipment every time I walk into my apartment I broke down and spent about $50 in cleaning supplies from Target at 10pm. I finally own a good mop and have clean clothing again. I sorted out my utility and linen closets and my bathroom has been sanitized, every last inch. The only thing left is to tackle my kitchen and living room and run a load of towels. I'll finish that tonight after I get home from the bar. Marg has finally come back to me so we're going out to celebrate and play quizzo and eat delicious bar foods. I'm hoping Neil will come too. Tomorrow's Wednesday which means a shore day and I have to give Ryan a call so he knows I'll be around to do something if he's free. Either way I'll be back to this sometime Thursday or Friday and then it will be back to the shore Sunday and Monday. I love holiday weekends!

I'm completely behind teen abstinence, but as a former teen it's not going to happen.

It's been almost two weeks since I last blogged. I've been a bad bad blogger and I have the angry reader tweets, comments, and phone calls to prove it. It's also been a week since Yonni's computer broke and I guess I figured that since he's not reading it and my mom could use a break from her scandalous daughter's not so scandalous life that no one else would care either. I was so wrong. So anyways I am back and I have a recap of the last two weeks to break down and share.

I guess the easiest place to start would be at Memorial Day Weekend because that's when you last heard from. I think the last post I mentioned said that I was going to Jersey to see my aunt and uncle and meet up with my parents. Which I did and it was nice. But prior to meeting up with my parents I got to spend some time with my cousin Ryan. Ryan is thirteen years older than me, the most guido looking person in the family with a Purnell surname, and possibly the only person who is more sarcastic and willing to take easy shots at their mother (Poor Aunt Pat). He is also the most easiest going and fun person after Lance. I've also looked up to Ryan as an older brother. Of all four of my older male cousins he is the only one I ever saw on a somewhat regular basis growing up. Unlike his brother and the other two that live in Florida, Ryan always took the time to stop by his parent's house and visit with us and talk to me. And since there's the same age gap between me and him as there is between he and Lance, Ryan likes to teach me the same bad shit Lance exposed to him. Though to be fair Ryan has distanced him beyond the shenanigans of Lance by miles and miles at this point. Anyways the night before my parents came Ryan took me out with some of his friends and finally let me join in on his "fun and games" and I had a really nice time. Like a good big brother Ryan also took care of me when I got too tired and made sure I was home in time to get some sleep before my parents showed up the next morning.

The next morning I hit the beach with my parents and it was actually a nice time. My mother kept her comments to herself and even took the time to notice by slightly improved physique (though I've fallen off the wagon these past few days). It also helped that Samantha wasn't there to be a pain in everyone's ass and act like a seven year old. There comes a point in everyone's life when they need to accept the fact that their childhood is over and that holding onto it is only stunting your personality and making you look like an idiot. Samantha has yet to realize any of this to the point where she will sometimes talk like a small child in a very whiny voice if she thinks it will help her get her way with things. It was a good time all around for everyone. I haven't seen my mother since I left Vermont in January and the last time my dad visited he spent more time with his friends in Hershey and his older sister than he did with me.


I got back early Monday night so I could go see a movie with my Hebrew Friend. We saw Fast Five, which was kind of funny because about an hour before I left Jersey we were all sitting on my Uncle's back porch discussing which was the best movie from the Fast and the Furious franchise. It was agreed that the first was the best, except for Lance who was the only who had seen Fast Five at the time, and that Tokyo Drift was the worst. After seeing Fast Five I agree with Lance. Even though the plot was a little borrowed from The Italian Job, the movie had the best lineup of characters and the best cars by far. Even without the amazing Michelle Rodriguez I was still happy and will definitely go see Vin Diesel and his Dungeons and Dragons loving self in the sixth movie.

I think there was one morning/night where I spent a chunk of time with Yonni. We've started having semi regular brunches on Thursday mornings with our friend Cynthia and if Kyle can come then Kyle  will come and eat with us. Texas Toast Kyle. The last time we ate together Yonni made a lovely Israeli salad with is possibly one of my new favorite breakfast foods after Greek marmalade and Challah French toast. We need to do Challah toast sometime soon. Yonni likes to try new breakfast foods whenever we get together, it's just funny because it's all stuff I've been doing since birth. Anyways one Thursday we spent a chunk of time together first in the morning and then later after he got off work we smoked hookah on his back porch for a while and I discovered my love for dark Israeli coffee. I usually reserve coffee for Aunt Val's and Christmas where I drink six cups in a row while eating the hundreds of pizzelles Lance has conned me into making for him. But I was really surprised how much I took to the coffee, even the muddy grounds at the bottom of the cup were nice. I've been really surprised at how quickly and easily I have become so close to Yonni. Especially after what we put ourselves through, it's nice that we were able to take a step back and become even closer. It's almost shocking to me how much I love him as a friend because usually it takes people years for me to love them and right now it's only a special few that I would drop everything for (Marg you need to come back to the city I finally picked up my pool pass). But that's the kind of personality that Yonni has, someone how is easy to get along with and really genuine. I dropped him at the airport the other day and I jokingly said "I'll miss you" even though he's only gone for a few days, but now I kind of miss his down the road presence. I'm going to be such a mess when I leave after graduation.


I've been watching a lot of Aaron Sorkin television shows lately. The old ones that never really got past a season or two that are now on Netflix. First it was Sports Night with Felicity Huffman and Josh Charles. The show's premise was the inner workings of a sport's news show in New York City. The dialogue and plot lines were excellent, but with the impending success of The West Wing, Sorkin decided to abandon the show and eventually it was canceled. Too bad because it's really good. The other Sorkin show that I got into was Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. The show was about the west coast version of SNL with guest stars from Sorkin's other series. The show only lasted one season, but it was easily Matthew Perry's best performance, even better than Friends. Perry played an addict writer who was getting a second chance as the show's execute producer after being ousted for writing politically sensitive sketches post-9/11. If you can get your hands on it, watch this show and then write NBC and tell them you want it back.

I started my second class this week. I'm two weeks away from finishing Western Civ I and I've already had to write an autobiographical haiku and do several readings and journal entries for my nonfiction shorts class. My autobiographical haiku is 100 words long and reads like a phone conversation to my dad. I've been really excited for this class, but the whole online aspect has me a little nervous because the school recently upgraded Black Board and it's now more confusing than ever and I've never taken an online class before and so I'm little confused about what we have to do anyways. The instructor is super nice and interesting and is definitely invested in helping us get through this course successfully. I've had teachers in the past who could care less about their students so having Dr. Spinner is really exciting and nice.

I took my Hebrew Friend to the beach with me on Wednesday. We went to the state park and I finally purchased my season pass. The guy at the gate thought that I was a total idiot because I kept asking about how to buy a pass, but the old lady who kept asking the poor girl about the shark was even worse and Yonni making fun of her made me feel better about being a total idiot. The water when we got there was amazing. I just wish it had been low tide when we went because the sandbar is much better when it's shallow. The water was frigid, but after playing frisbee in the sun for a while I warmed up and went in. I need to get a better bathing suit top because the one I have is not meant for any sort of physical activity. Thank God it was just Yonni, who doesn't care about my boobs and that we were almost the only ones on the beach. I almost went topless when I was lying in the sun, but I didn't want to make him feel uncomfortable. Later I took him over to the Sawmill for some pizza. He had never experienced their pizza, which is the size of three normal sized slices and then walked the boardwalk for a little bit. Lance and I thought that it was funny that he had never been to Seaside considering what a huge fan of The Jersey Shore that he is. I told him I'd take him back when they start shooting the next season later this summer. It was a good past two weeks.

Shout out to my best reader ever @Chris_akaTiny!

Day Seven: Lost at sea.

So this morning we decided to go over to Sombrero Beach off the bottom end of Vaca and almost against Boot Key. It's a great beach with palm trees lining the edge instead of sand dunes and a long expanse of white sand. It used to be coral beach but has been replaced with some very nice sand. The beach also has small pavilions for luncheons and areas for volley ball and a place for small children to play. It's also one of the very few excellent and free beaches in the Keys. About two hours into some fabulous beach time, tropical storm force winds came in and blew everyone off of the beach. Now this wouldn't be a problem for me, but Lance and Samantha were out at sea kayaking when this happened. My mother of course was on the phone at the time and left me to pack everything up and it wasn't until the beach umbrella was half blown apart that she got off the phone and went right into panic mode. I had to be the voice of reason and snap her out of it. Seriously if there was anyone in the world that you would want to be lost at sea with in a kayak, it's Lance. Mind you if I were Lance I definitely wouldn't want to be stuck with Samantha. Anyways I managed to pack everything up and get a hysterical quinquagenarian to the car to wait for the kayakers to return.

To end the exhausting day and to celebrate our last night in the house, I was rewarded with some fine spiny lobster. I'm going to huff it back over to Sombrero in the morning o get some sun in before I have to return to the great wet Mid-Atlantic.

A pleasant start to a beach day.

The backside of Sombrero.

Smoothing and expanding the beach. 

Sailboat! There was also a dolphin out there somewhere too. 

Storm's a brewin'. Get off the phone MA I'm already feeling rain.

From inside the car. This started long before I made it to the Silver Bullet. 

I broke away from studying to find a pleasant surprise in the pot. 

Steak 'n Shake on Friday

Argh I wish I were a pirate out at sea instead of a student in Philadelphia. I've been working all morning since I came back from the first half of my American Lit. midterm and then I fell asleep. I just woke up a little while ago and I am starved. I have absolutely no food in the apartment unless you count soy sauce and a few slice of American cheese. I'm going to go out and get something, but I'm not sure what I want to commit to. I have a feeling that it's going to be a very late night and since I have BOMF in the morning I'm almost tempted to get something take a nap for a couple of hours and then eat again and work until it's time to go running. Decisions, decisions.

I'll update this post later.

The lines at Acme were atrocious. They only had the self-serve checkout lines running and I didn't want to wait in line so I walked laps around the store until the lines shortened up. I didn't get much just some stuff to tide me over for the next couple  of days. Im trying to get as much of the perishable food out of the fridge before I go away. I'm almost there. Hopefully the rest of my family won't be expecting anything from me in terms of food when they get in Friday morning.

I still have laundry to do and some homework to finish and now that I've eaten a little I feel much better. I just need to take a shower and clean off the futon and open it up to put all the stuff I need to pack on it. I have to pack light and I'm limiting my clothing to only the barest of necessities. I also want to be packed before I head out to work on Thursday. I have an ugly habit of packing ten seconds before I go anywhere. When I left for college my freshman year I packed my room up three hours before Lance wanted to leave for the city. What a nightmare!

Anyways, sometime on Friday I will finally be able to get to Steak 'n Shake. The greatest fast food chain ever to come out of the Bible Belt. The place makes the world's best milk shakes in just about any flavor and combination. Someone in the car always gets a strawberry banana shake, I prefer something with chocolate, but their banana flavor is simply amazing. Yonni's never heard of the place and most people out of the south haven't unless you've driven through. Yonni doesn't drive to Florida so I'm going to have to tell him about it when I get back from the Keys.

Three days until takeoff, four days until the beach.

Okay last words of the night. I've decided to follow the Andy Botwin sleeping method. Three pillows, one for my head, one between my legs, and one to cuddle with. Makes for some very comfortable sleeping.

Food monster, not a food baby.

Ugh I at Taco Bell earlier and now I feel like an elephant stepped on me and left me in a ditch. I should have just let Lauren skype me into the meeting. I haven't been feeling so hot, I had the sniffles earlier. Maybe from eating ice cream outside to day or the act that it was just cold and damp all day. Anyways I came home this afternoon and took a great nap and almost decided to not to get up later for a meeting. I texted Lauren to bring her computer and that I would just skype in so that I wouldn't have to leave my bed. Excellent idea in conception, now I just need to test it out. And I was all set to do that but then I got a deep hankering for Taco Bell and wouldn't you know it, Taco Bell is Lauren's favorite fast food. So I drove all the way down to 63rd to pick Lauren up and all of the way back to Taco Bell and then all of the way back to school for the hockey meeting where I ingested fifteen minutes of Tex-Mex bliss before passing out in a food coma, rendering me glassy eyed and completely useless and unaware of anything Brian said all night. Oh Brian! I have a crush on another one of my coaches and unlike The Silver Fox, he's actually a possibility. The girls all think he' kind of funny because he never smiles and is really serious about the sport. I have been lucky enough to see him smile and see him in his glasses and now know that he too prefers Chipotle burritos over the cheesy mess that Qdoba serves up. And he has the build that I usually prefer: kind of toned, but not beefy at all. He's not as tall as other guys, but he's taller than me. Though most guys usually are.

Anyways because of the stupid sniffles earlier and the food monster living in my belly, I've been drinking a lot of tea. It's just so warming and comfy and the herbal sampler that I can buy at the grocery store is AWESOME. I usually get the Celestial Seasonings because they make an excellent orange tea, but Genuardis was out of it so I got the Bigelow pack and it's just okay. Bigelow does make a nice mint tea that I'm drinking now. I told My Hebrew Friend he should come over for a man-friendly tea party since he likes tea too. I think that means using the cow mugs and watching Hank. I should make him wear all his sweatshirts so that he can be a space heater when the apartment gets cold. Last night it was so hot even with the window open, but then this afternoon it was FREEZING! Grr stupid weather just get warm already.

12 days until the beach. Samantha ordered me some things so now I have make sure I pack enough Jergens tanning lotion for her.