#i have to work from 8:30 am to 11:00pm because i have to pull a double

[zickmonkey]

I think this job is stupid and I should quit.

[keepingupwithabi]

Mondays: They Kinda Suck

So, here we are: another Monday evening. As I sit here and reflect, staring at my blank calendar, I wonder what I have really accomplished today. 

Every Monday typically goes like this:

I wake up at a time that I feel is reasonable YET somewhat responsible looking for a 20-year-old who has the day off from work.

I shower and get ready for the day, which includes making and consuming copious amounts of coffee. 

I force myself to leave the comfort and security of my apartment to drive to campus.

I meet with my advisor/boss of my work study to talk about what needs to get done. 

I work for a couple hours, mostly until I feel hungry. 

When I feel hungry, I leave campus and head back to my apartment and eat.

(insert anything else that needs to get done on a Monday)

So, there you have a rough outline of what every Monday tends to look like for me. Sometimes there is an occasional meeting or appointment thrown into the last slot there, but usually “anything else” means homework or errands- sometimes it’s a combination of the two.

Today, however, I had more of a later start. My alarm went off at 9:30am and for some unknown reason, I was actually able to pull myself out of bed. Living with three roommates, it can sometimes be a fight or seem like a race for our ONE bathroom in the morning. I have learned that there usually isn’t anyone up from 8:30-9:45am, so this is the prime window of time for me to shower. On Mondays, I don’t really feel the need to look super nice (by super nice, I mean jeans and a nicer top, hair that is dried and straightened, etc.) and today was absolutely no different. I threw on a pair of my comfy jeans and an over-sized sweatshirt paired with my black converse. Slinging my still wet (but clean) hair into a loose bun, I slipped my knee-length LLBean jacket on and headed out. 

Arriving at school nearing 10:30am, I made my way to the UTimes room (as we PCJ majors call it) with my coffee in hand and got to work. But of course as things usually go wrong for me, I couldn’t for the life of me seem to bring the computer to life (ie. turn it on). I was stressing out and enlisted the help of my boss and she was the one who asked if I had tried the power button. After realizing that I was indeed having a blond moment, the computer was brought to life and I began laying out the paper as if it were going to print. As the editor of UMPI’s newspaper, it’s part of my work study job to layout the newspaper both online and physically. 

I was pleasantly surprised that I finished the physical layout- I already published the online version last week (CHECK IT OUT: http://wp.umpi.edu/utimes/ ). Seeing that it was now past lunchtime and I was quite hungry, I packed up my stuff and headed to my car. I ended up deciding sometime between that moment and pulling off campus that I needed to grocery shop, which ultimately turned into me spending more money than I really should have because I was shopping hungry. Never shop hungry, it’s the golden rule when you’re broke and can’t afford to spend money on pita chips and hummus (because guess what, I got pita chips and not off-brand hummus, which I should not have).

By the time I got home, I was literally starving. My stomach sounded like a whale trying to contact its brothers in the Pacific. I decided to make myself breakfast for lunch and ended up eating turkey sausages, eggs and salsa, and a bagel. By the time all this was said and done (or, cooked and eaten), I had binge watched five episodes of That 70′s Show and was now facing a dilemma: do I start homework or take a nap? Let’s just say I faced this dilemma at 2:45pm and that it’s now 7:21pm (ie. I took a nap).

As you can probably see, I kind of struggle with Monday’s because there is no structure. It’s literally up to me to make myself to to campus on a day where I wouldn’t even go there if it wasn’t for my editing duties. While I know there are always things I need to get done, I tend to go at my own pace on Mondays and do not always end up getting everything done that I would accomplish. I have heard some sayings before about how there isn’t enough time in the day and what not. Let me just say- I think I am starting to really understand how this saying became a thing because I am fully behind it. Like, I am the one who invented those sayings I think because my self-discipline is something I need to work on. I do a lot better when my days are busy and there are set times for things, like days I have class or work at the restaurant. 

Speaking of days I have class, here is an outline of what my Tuesday will (hopefully) look like:

9:30am: Wake up, shower, get ready, drink coffee.

11:00am-12:15pm: History class, at UMPI.

12:30-1:00pm:Run UTimes meeting, make sure everyone has their November/December story ideas in.

2:00-3:15pm: PCJ class, at UMPI.

3:30-4:45pm: Hangout at apartment, eat lunch.

5:00-6:15pm: Spanish class, at UMPI.

6:30-9:00pm: Hangout, homework, dinner, unwind time. 

10:00pm: In bed, Netflix time. 

So, that’s all for today folks. I’ll update you Wednesday with how Tuesday goes! My hope with this experimental blogging is that I hold myself accountable because I am reflecting every other day on how I am spending my time. 

Wish me luck,

Abi

[writeoutsidethebox-blog1]

Ch 1: The Assistant

"Good morning Ms. Harris," the secretary greeted from her desk.

"Shannon," Autumn replied, heels clicking on the tile as she walked down the hall to her office. Sinking into the plush leather chair, she pulled a MacBook Air from her bag and set it on the desk. Meetings. Lunch. More meetings. Product testing, the Editor in Chief thought, scrolling through the day's schedule. Reaching for her coffee, she found nothing but air. No assistant, no coffee, she mused, remembering the previous one had quit last week.

"Shannon?" she called.

"Yes?" the secretary answered, cracking open the door.

"Did you hire a new assistant yet?"

"Yes I did, he should be-"

"Good morning Ms. Harris, your coffee," a young man purred, walking into the office and setting a cup down on her desk.

"And what would that be?" she replied, eyeing it suspiciously.

"A four shot skim milk latte with two pumps of hazelnut syrup from the place down the road." He grinned cheekily.

"Not to shabby," the editor said, taking a small sip and glancing at her secretary. "Does the assistant have a name?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, this is Connor Williams."

"Thank you Shannon."

"Of course," she said, waving politely as she shut the door behind her.

"Has Shannon given you the run-down yet?" The woman asked, scanning her emails.

"Sort of?" She glanced up.

"What does 'sort of' mean?"

"She briefly went over daily routines, then sent me for coffee." Autumn nodded, going back to her computer.

"So you know coffee, how about breakfast?" she asked.

"Something about croissants?"

"Yes. Fresh croissants from a bakery near the coffee shop, and a bowl of strawberries. Get a dozen, I have one or two and the rest go in the break room. You know where that is right?"

"No."

"It's past Shannon's desk and down the hall to your left."

"Good to know." He smiled sheepishly, looking down at his oxford clad feet.

"Daily activities include coffee and breakfast that should be on my desk when I arrive or soon after. I get here around 7:45. As my assistant I expect you to keep track of my schedule and notify me fifteen minutes before. Please go over the day's events when you bring me my coffee. You will accompany me most places unless I tell you not to. Saturday's are usually errands, and Sundays you have off unless there is an emergency. The rest is simply what I need day to day," she explained.

"Alright. Do you need me to do anything right now?"

"Breakfast, and please get my schedule from Shannon. She's been keeping track since the last assistant quit."

"Okay, I'll be back soon. I charge the company card I was given, right?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"No problem Ms. Harris," he said, turning to leave. The door clicked closed, and Autumn collapsed into her chair. It will be a long day, she thought, taking a sip of her coffee. Silence settled over the room as she replied to more emails, the keyboard clicking softly.

"Hmm." She tapped her fingers thoughtfully, staring at the blank screen.

A knock rang out, disrupting her concentration. "Ms. Harris?"

She sighed. "Come in."

"Am I interrupting?" he asked shyly, setting a croissant on the edge of the desk.

"A little," she admitted, reaching for the pastry. "But that's okay, I need a break."

Sitting back, she took a bite, relishing in the airy texture. Light and fluffy, with just the right amount of butter. Autumn looked expectantly at her assistant, who stared right back, bag of croissants still clutched in his hand.

"Well," she prompted. "Schedule?"

"Oh, right," he said, rooting through his pockets. Coming up with a rumpled piece of paper, he read aloud, "At 9:30 you have a meeting with the publishers, 11:00 you meet with the editors to approve final drafts, 12:30 is lunch, then you're free until 3:00 for product testing." She sighed. It was going to be a long day.

-

"Shit." Autumn looked up from the article she was reading, scanning the room for her assistant.

"What?" he asked, looking up from the papers he was filing.

"I forgot to get my dry cleaning and I need that shirt for a business dinner tonight."

He stood, setting the pile on the floor next to the lone filing cabinet. "I can go get it for you."

"Um," she hesitated. The editor didn't like other people handling her clothes, especially someone she had yet to form an opinion of.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, confused.

"No, it's just-"

"She's a control freak," one of the editors finished, smirking from the open door.

"Carlos," she groaned, shooing him with a flick of her hand.

"Oh come on, lighten up. Everyone in the office knows, never mind you assistant," he insisted, grinning.

"In my defense, I just started today," Connor cut in, looking between the two.

"Enough," the editor in chief hissed, effectively silencing the other two. "Carlos, if I remember correctly, you have a manuscript due tomorrow that will be on my desk at 9AM if you want to keep your ass in that nice leather chair."

"I'm going, I'm going," he insisted, turning to leave.

"Who's that?" Connor asked, watching him go.

"One of the magazine article editors, he's damn good at his job but has a habit of missing deadlines. He acts like an asshole but he's got a big heart."

"Sounds like you're fond of him," he replied, a twinge of jealousy in his tone.

"Anyway," Autumn said, ignoring it. She shook her head, what reason would he have to be jealous? "The cleaners are on W 26th Street, just tell them you're picking up for Autumn Harris. Charge the company card. It should be a couple blouses, a pencil skirt, a little black dress, and an evening gown. I need you back here to file so go quickly."

"Alright, I'll be back," he said, setting the papers on her desk.

"Be safe, it's icy out there," she called, glancing up at the man.

"Don't worry, I will."

-

"I swear to god if that manuscript is not on my desk at 9AM tomorrow-"

"I promise it will be!" he sang, running out the meeting room door. The editor in chief sighed, rubbing her temples. She could already feel a headache coming on.

"And the rest of you know what you're doing?" She looked around, eyeing each of them as they nodded, shuffling papers back into their piles.

"On my desk by 4:30 please, I want to read them over before submitting tomorrow morning. That's all for today, nice work everyone." The woman sighed, gathering her things before moving from the conference room back to her office. Connor looked up from his filing, flashing her a smile.

"Hi," he greeted. "How was the meeting?"

"It was fine, I have a headache though, and it's not even 1:00PM."

"Want me to get you some ibuprofen with lunch?" He stood, neatly stacking the papers yet to be filed on the floor.

"Yes please, I'd like a grilled chicken sandwich with avocado, mozzarella, tomatoes, and spiced mayonnaise on a ciabatta roll. Just go to the cafe downstairs and ask for a chicken sandwich for me, they'll know how to make it. I'd like a side salad too, and a green juice. Your meals are covered by the company, so feel free to take a break and eat downstairs. You're also welcome to eat up here with me if you like."

"Okay, I think I'll bring it up here if that's alright," he glanced over, unsure.

"Perfectly fine."

-

"You can set those down on the table over there," Autumn said, setting her book down.

"Are you sure? I can file while I eat," he replied.

"Nonsense, I was always taught to break for meals, no matter how busy I was. Plus, we can get to know each other a little better." She made her way to the table in the corner of the spacious office, sinking into one of the chairs. Gesturing to the chair across from her, Autumn looked on expectantly as her assistant sat down.

"So," she said, picking up her sandwich. "Where are you from?"

"The suburbs, Evanston specifically. And you?" He took a bite of his pizza.

"Arlington Heights, nowhere terribly interesting. Not compared to the city at least."

"Do you ever miss it?" he asked, looking out the window at the city, buildings glistening in the afternoon sun.

"Sometimes," she answered. "There was this one Asian marketplace my mom would always take us to on the weekends if we were good. We'd get to have lunch in the food court and pick out a treat at the little bakery. She'd get groceries for the week while we looked at the bookstore. It was nice."

He smiled softly, "Sounds like it."

"So what brought you here? Working for me I mean."

"Well, I just finished my Master's in Communication over at UIC and I needed a better job than waiting tables at the Italian place off the Godfrey Hotel. I made great tips, but I needed something a little more... professional."

Autumn snorted. "Nothing says professional like personal assistant."

"Hey, it looks better than serving food to snobby rich people."

"This is true." She laughed, taking another bite of her sandwich.

"Plus, magazines are a form of communication. You're shaping people's minds and opinions through words and images. It's pretty cool if you think about it."

"Huh." They ate the rest of the meal in silence, only interrupted by the occasional comment.

-

"Okay, I'm done with filing. I still have a pile of folders that didn't fit in the drawer though," Connor called from across the room, shutting the filing cabinet.

"Alright, well that's good enough for today. I'll order new ones, those are getting old anyways. You can get your stuff and walk out with me, I still have a few things to go over with you before tomorrow," Autumn said, putting her laptop back in her bag, and grabbing her phone off the desk. She exited her office, Connor following dutifully.

"See you tomorrow Shannon," she called, waving as she went by the secretary's desk.

"Goodbye Ms. Harris."

-

Her heels clicked on the concrete as they crossed the parking garage. "So make sure you have my coffee on my desk by 8:00, but 7:45 is better because that's when I get in usually. Whether you'll be free after you leave the office depends on the night, sometimes I'll need you to run errands. I think that's it. Oh! And I need your phone number," she handed him a matte black iPhone into which he quickly typed his number.

"That's my cell, my apartment doesn't have a landline so I'll make sure I'm paying attention if you text," he replied, handing it back.

"Perfect. This is me, I'll text if I need anything and I'll see you tomorrow?" She stopped in front of a sleek black BMW, turning to look at her assistant.

"Of course."

"Good," she opened the door, tossing her bag in the passenger seat. "I assume you know how to get home from here?"

"Yep I'll be fine," Connor said, running a hand through his hair. She gave him a wave, starting the car and zooming off.

"Wow."

[foomatic]

It’s been two weeks since ClexaCon

and I think I’m finally collected enough to write about my experience. I have to break it down into highlights, or else we’ll be here all day, lol.

I was extremely grateful to be asked to be part of the team this year. You have no idea the amount of planning that goes into ClexaCon. You think you know, but you really don’t. It’s a testament to the drive and tenacity of the Con directors that ClexaCon is what it is. They learned a lot from 2017 and having a bigger team certainly helped navigate all the major and minor details of running a convention that in its second year has doubled in size.

Perhaps the most surprising thing for me on Thursday was the way everyone showed up for the two pre-con events we had planned: speed friending and the pool takeover. People were spilling out into the casino during the speed friending event, it was insane. And put a couple of inflatable rainbow unicorns in a pool and suddenly you have a queer pool party in full swing complete with awesome weather and every type of queer under the sun. It was such a gay oasis that one of the lifeguards pulled me aside (I had a staff badge on) to ask me what event was this for, because never had he seen so many queer women at the Tropicana pool. The best way I could explain ClexaCon was, “It’s like Comicon, but for queer women and allies.”  He was pleasantly surprised and thought the whole thing was pretty cool.

I averaged 3 hours of sleep each night during the con.  Call time was around 7:30 AM, and we didn’t get done until 8 or 9PM.  There was very little downtime, and I think for each day my first meal, besides coffee in the morning, came around 3 or 4 in the afternoon.  My first meal on Friday was courtesy of @weasal and @gramjams when I finally had a moment to see them on the vendor floor.  They fed me beer, because obviously they love me.  The hours were long, but at the end of every night, my friends and I managed to gather and decompress and reconnect after having a crazy day.  it was much different than last year.  Pretty much all of us had something going on during the con, so there were no opportunities for us to hang out and just enjoy ourselves as a group.  We had gotten a two bedroom suite, so it was ample space for all of us to chill, relax, and a have a few drinks together.  We made that time, late at night, to be together, even though we knew we had to get up hella early the next morning.  And I’m glad we did, because we are such a tight-knit Kru, and it was hard not being able to spend the time with each other. @rialize , @puregloryandgore @colesmcgee @blakeyyang @second-stringer @metriosity @bnnxp @pandabearsnsquids y’all are the best homies ever.  Also there’s more of us but they’re not all on tumblr, but they’re important tooooo.

Having the opportunity to film the guests backstage while they watched my vids made every sacrifice I made during the con worth it.  I almost felt removed from myself during those moments, like I was so zoned in and focused on getting the shot that I couldn’t let myself really enjoy what was unfolding behind my eyes.  I was hyped, don’t get me wrong, but subdued because when I was working behind the scenes during the times when the guests are away from the craziness of the con, I didn’t want to encroach on their moment of peace and start fangirling.  That’s the trade-off.  But seeing Isabella Gomez, Gloria Kellett, and Mike Royce shed tears watching my ODAAT vid; watching Dom tear up watching I’m On Fire and Kat placing a comforting arm around her waist; watching Emily, Tamara, Dom, and Kat crack jokes and smile during “Raise a Little Hell”; seeing Nafessa absolutely rock out to Run This Town watching herself kick ass on screen . . . these are fandom moments that I never even dreamed of because they were so out there and so unlikely to happen.  But happen they did and man I don’t think I’ll ever come down off that high.  Other fav BTS highlights:  Sarah Shahi calling me out for wearing a WayHaught shirt to the Shoot Panel, and also dragging a fan backstage with us; seeing the pure joy on Nafessa’s face as we walked through the convention hall; filming Chyler Leigh as the crowd sang her happy birthday.

My fav con story, however, happened on Saturday.  Around 3 PM the directors had ordered a massive Kentucky Fried Chicken meal for staff, and kept the food in the AV room.  Staff filtered into the room in a rush to quickly eat and get back on the floor, so you can imagine what it must have looked like in there when they were done.  KFC Armageddon.  We were too busy to really clean up, so we just left the mess there for the end of the night, to clean up before we left.  Around 5:30, there’s a knock on the door, and Lisa opens it to find Isabella Gomez and Gloria Kellett standing outside.  We both froze and had a deer in headlights look, but apparently they were there to talk a staff member and wanted to come inside. Inside the room full of chicken bones, dirty napkins, and half eaten coleslaw and mashed potatoes.  The room REEKED of KFC.  We mumbled something about having to clean up before they could come in but they said they didn’t mind and wanted to see us in our “natural habitat” so Lisa let them in while @blakeyyang and I quickly tried to clean up the mess.  They were so nice and gracious.  Isabella was doing something with her phone (IG story or something) and Gloria smiled and asked how our day was going.  They were really chill about being in there, so I took a chance and asked if I could get a photo with them, and they were so cool about it.  I mentioned that I had made their panel video, and thanked them for ODAAT.  Nothing but smiles from them, at the end of a really long day.

Saturday night was crazy (honestly was anything not crazy at this point during the con?).  I left the AV room at 7PM to go to Cocktails for Change to film, left there at 8:30PM to help set up Ascension, finally got up to the room at 10:00PM for a quick shower and bite to eat and was back down at Ascension by 11:00PM.  Filmed, drank, danced, went back up to our suite around 3 AM and don't remember anything after that except waking up the next morning in my PJs passed out on the floor next to my bed. Wild.

I don’t remember Sunday much.  I did get my Kat and Dom photo op, they are such lovely ladies.  I think at one point I was staring blankly at a computer screen, too tired to move or function.  I was also feeling sad that it was over.  There was a great deal of time tidying up and getting all our stuff organized for the movers the next day.  By the time I left the AV room they had already torn down the Main Stage Panel room; it was as if we were never there.  The vendor hall was full of bare tables, and I just stood there and took it in for a moment, to really let it sink in what we accomplished in those three days.  That night we all just chilled and reminisced about all the things we enjoyed that weekend.

A friend and I shared a birthday on Monday.  We kicked off the celebration by sleeping in until 10:30, then we visited the con floor one last time to make sure everything was loaded out properly, then we all went to Shake Shack and spent our first day outside in the sun since we had arrived there on Wednesday.  It was glorious.  We followed that with Dinner at Wicked Spoon and ended the night with a ride in the High Roller.

I feel like I haven't emotionally processed what the weekend meant to me, even now, two weeks later.  Sometimes my heart feels so full thinking about it, that I want to cry.  There is something to be said about being with your community, and knowing there is a tacit understanding and love for everyone there, even if you don't know who they are, because they are you, and you are them.  I'm thankful for all of you who showed up, who believed in us our second year and helped make it a success.  You guys made it all possible.

I also want to shout out to @bnnxp who is an amazing photographer and took a lot of the photos on this post.  See you in London, then ClexaCon 2019!

[amelia-blackshepherd]

Pumpkin Girls

So this is part II of Pumpkin boys, this one is a bit longer and takes place a few years after Pumpkin Boys. Halloween spirit I guess and getting my homework done early allowed me to write this. 

The day Before Halloween: Thursday

I’m sitting at the counter sipping my afternoon coffee, when Owen walks through the door along with three of our four children. The only one missing was, Ricky, who was still at college for the day and ‘too old’ for Halloween, especially with his family.

Olivia, the baby of the family, comes bounding over to me with a big smile. She’d gotten to pick out her costume by herself for the first time this year, and she was thrilled about it!  I let her infectious overcome me as I asked, “Did you have fun picking out your costume baby?”

“Yes! Daddy let me look through the whole store until I found the right one. Wait. I’m going to try it on and show you” Olivia excitedly gushes, as she turns to her dad to get her bag. Connor does the same and grabs bag, leaving Owen empty handed.

Owen looks incredibly drained, and I wonder if it’s from costume shopping with a 7-year-old, 12-year-old and a 16-year-old or, if something else happened. I am distractedly concerned about Owen’s tired look, until my 16-year-old daughter, Eve speaks up, “Okay, so I’ve already seen her in about a million costumes today, so I am going to go over to Maddie’s now cause we have plans, is that okay?” She asks more to Owen than me, although she is already heading towards the door, before either of us answer.

Owen replies first, “Just be home for dinner, Pumpkin.” Adding his term of endearment that started when Eve was five and dressed up as a pumpkin for Halloween. Eve nods her head in agreeance as she grabs her coat and heads out the door.

When I turn back around to face Owen, I see a look I can’t quite identify in his eyes. “So, only two costumes for three kids? I don’t think that math is going to work out.” I jokingly tease. But we are interrupted as our two youngest come back in the room dressed as a pumpkin, and Superman.

I fuss over my two beautiful children as they excitedly tell me all about their days. Meanwhile I notice Owen is unusually quiet, he has already seen the costumes, but, normally he loves listening to our children babble on. Something is definitely off with him.

The Night Before Halloween: Later that night, after all the little ones were in bed and we were getting ready for bed I tossed my pillow at him, “O, what’s wrong? You’ve been oddly quiet since you came back from Halloween shopping?”

He grumpily throughs the pillow back onto our bed and replies almost accusingly, “Did you know Eve doesn’t want to go out trick-or-treating with us this year?”

“Well that isn’t exactly a surprise, she is seventeen after all. Did you go out trick-or-treating with your family when you were seventeen? Besides it wasn’t a big of a deal when Ricky stopped trick-or-treating and he was far younger than Eve.” I say trying to help him look at this rationally.

“No, but…” He knows I am right, yet it still upset him. “She said she wanted to go to a friend’s house! On Halloween! She’d rather spend time with her friends than me, us, her family. She didn’t even look at any costumes, because she said, ‘her and Maddie already had plans to do that’! Can you believe that? Not only is she blowing us off for Halloween but she’s… it’s like she doesn’t even want to spend time with me…” He sadly trails off.

“Come on, Babe, if that were true why would she have gone with you, Connor and Olivia to the costume store?” I ask hoping he knows deep down that his daughter still loves him, she is just growing up.

“Because, she wanted to corner me to ask if she could go to Maddie’s party on Halloween instead of going out trick-or-treating like we usually do. She knew I couldn’t say no to her, especially when we were out in public, and I was preoccupied keeping an eye on Con and Liv.”

“I’m sorry babe she is growing up what can I say.” And with that we go to bed, Owen still upset that his little girl wasn’t so little anymore, and me not really seeing it as a big deal.

Halloween Night: Friday

It was only 8:30, and Owen and I were contently back on our comfy couch, handing out candy to the few remaining older tricker-treaters. Our kids were done for the night, partly thanks to the large amount of candy the had collected, also due to the cold October, weather.

As we started watching a movie, our eldest, Ricky, came downstairs, with a bag of chips he likely got off his younger brother. When he saw us in the living room he came over and sat down with us, “Hey you guys are home. No emergencies at the hospital tonight?”

“Why?” I ask, “Are you hoping to score some pre-pre-med practise?” I jokingly say as he recently announced that he was going to do pre-med once he finished college, which we were incredibly proud of. But also, thankful it was a few years away, as he was only in his first year of college.

He laughs before quipping back at me “No, I just figured when dad would be in the ER after he saw what Eve wore tonight.”

I can see Owen’s entire body tense up as he takes in what Ricky just said. “What do you mean?” I ask. But Owen jumps in before Ricky can respond, “Are you messing with me? What the hell was she wearing?” Owen demand to know.

Ricky stammers some before guiltily replying, “You didn’t see her, did you?” When he is greeted with blank stares awaiting an actual answer he continues, “I assumed you guys knew what her costume was, at least to some extent…” He pauses before continuing, as much as he doesn’t want to rat his sister out, he knows not telling Owen and I is not an option. “She was wearing an army costume.”

Owen breaths out a sigh of relief “That isn’t bad, you really had me going there, buddy.” But my motherly instincts were telling me Ricky’s wasn’t telling us everything. I give him a serious mom look that he knows better than to ignore, meanwhile saying, “and…”

“Well… ah… it’s very err… adult…” He hesitantly tells us. I quickly understand what he means; our 16-year-old is off at a party dressed in a sexy army costume. While I may have understood what she was up to, Owen’s brain on the other hand wasn’t letting him put it together. I sent Ricky upstairs to check on his siblings, he obliged willingly, probably grateful his part in the conversation was over.

“Owen…” I start off, just as he pieces together what Eve is dressed up like. He cuts me off before I can continue “Oh my god… she isn’t-”

“Dressed as a sexy army woman… I think she is” The disappointment clear in my voice, as I vocalize both our thoughts.

“We have to go get her.” He starts, “Amelia come on, get up, we have to go get that daughter of yours, so I can kill her.” I know he doesn’t seriously mean that last part, and I am also aware I need to be the voice of reason right now.

Still seated on the couch, and very upset with my daughter, I shake my head at Owen. Who frantically wants me to go pull our daughter out of a party. Part of me agrees with him, but seeing as I’ve been this girl. The one who sneaks off to parties and disobeys her parents, I’m also aware it will only make it worse. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, it will only make it worse.” I reply to him.

“So, what? We just do nothing?” He exclaims at me.

“No. She is definitely not getting away with this, but storming over there, with all her friends there. pulling her out of a party, it is only going to make her rebel more.” I say, hating that I am right.

Halloween Night: 10:00pm

I tuck Connor into bed kissing him goodnight on the head, it’s past his bedtime and he’s already half asleep. I meet Owen in the hallway, where he wraps his arms around me, telling me, “Olivia just said she wants to go trick-or-treating with me every year.”

He has a goofy, happy smile plastered on his face. I’m about to send him back to reality telling him, ‘You know it won’t last right? She will grow up too, they all will.’ But I stop myself, as he is having a hard-enough night with his baby girl being off at a party, in a scandalous costume.

Halloween Night: 11:05pm

“She still isn’t home” He storms. I whisper for him to lower his voice, fearing he will wake the kids. It doesn’t work, he continues his ranting, “Her curfew is 11:00pm, not 11:05! Amelia, she has never been late for curfew before, what if something happened to her!” He is really concerned now, as am I, but she’s only a few minutes late, so I’m trying to stay calm.

“I’m sure she’s fine, she is probably on her way home now.” I’m really hoping she is, because if she doesn’t walk through that door very soon, any calmness I have will be gone.

“Probably fine!” He practically fires at me, “If she was fine, Amelia, she’d be home, not out past her curfew, doing god knows what, in a slutty costume…” I can see pain in his eyes as he uses those words referring to his baby girl. He continues, “…At some party, with some stupid boys, oh god… What if she is with a boy! What if he…, Amelia, I can’t deal with this!”

“Owen, she is smart, I’m sure she isn’t off with some guy…” Although I’m not really sure anymore, because the daughter I know wouldn’t sneak out of the house in a sexy costume, and she certainly wouldn’t miss curfew. “If I could make her come home this instant I would, but I can’t, she isn’t answering her phone… I’m scared to O, this isn’t like our little pumpkin.” I finish saying as I pull myself into a hug against Owen’s chest, willing myself to be calm, telling myself that she is fine.

The door swung open moments later, and in walked our daughter, wearing a costume I had feared she was wearing. She stopped when she saw me and her father standing there, waiting for her. “Uh, you guys didn’t have to wait up.”

It boils my blood the way she says it. Like she hasn’t done anything wrong, like she didn’t avoid our calls and texts, like she wasn’t wearing an outfit I wished I never had to see my daughter in, like she didn’t sneak out of the house in said outfit when she knew we were out with Olivia and Connor… I was mad now, I just didn’t know where to begin.

Owen did though, “We didn’t have to wait up! It’s 11:20 young lady, past your curfew, we were worried sick! And what the HELL are you wearing… no don’t answer that, I can see what you are wearing. Why didn’t you answer our texts or calls?” This time he did wait for her to answer.

Which she lamely supplied an excuse of, “Sorry, my phone died, I lost track of time at the party, I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry daddy.” She never calls Owen daddy anymore, unless she wants something, it is her way of softening him up. And it might have worked, had her phone not dinged and lite up at that moment. Causing her to look down at her phone, completely undermining her lie.

“Four weeks, school and home that’s it, no friends, no parties, and no phone.” Owen decisively stated.

“Oh my god! I didn’t even do anything, you are so over reacting!” Eve fought back.

I intervened “Room. Now. Unless you want to add to your punishment.”

Halloween Night: Goodnight

“What happened to my sweet little pumpkin… It’s like all of the sudden she turned into some wild creature, that I don’t even recognize as my daughter.” Owen sighed, as we were heading upstairs to bed for the night ourselves.

I sadly shake my head and tell him what I came to realize tonight, “Unfortunately O, she isn’t our little pumpkin anymore. I think… she is turning into a teenage version of me. Like the hurricane Amelia teenage me, and that is the scariest thing I’ve ever thought.”

Why do they have to grow up, they go from sweet little pumpkins girls, to hurricanes way too fast. “At least for now we still have as our sweet pumpkin, Olivia.” I say on a slightly happier note.

[livingwithintent]

Measuring 08/20/20

Ashamed

Today was less exhausting than usual, but only by a millimetre. I managed to force myself to stay focused on work for most of the day, still a lot of slip ups though.

When I first woke up, at 7:00am, I allowed myself some time to scroll on my phone. I told myself I would get off at 7:30am, which quickly came to pass and I tried to ignore and act as if I didn’t see the time. Renegotiated with myself to quit at 8:00am. Again, I pretended to not have seen the time. Who lies to themselves like that? About something like that? I am so ashamed of myself, I can no longer be honest. It was 8:58am before I got out of bed, only because my boss texted me with a task. I would’ve stayed if he hadn’t.

My food intake started off strong - I was able to listen to my body, although I was fueled by iced coffee for most of the day. I was able to resist the M&M cookies staring at me every time I walked to the kitchen. I also resisted the Klondike Bars which I’m dying to finish off so I never have to see them again. When I passed those cookies, I thought to myself “do you really want those at the moment? Do you really want to enjoy it?” Most of the morning I said no. At 3:00pm, after my lunch, I really did want them. So I made it a moment. instead of scarfing them standing at the sink, I told myself to take 2 and sit down at the table, rip off the pieces, and eat small bite at a time - really savor it. I was proud of that moment. I felt balanced... although maybe I should just had 1.

Because shortly after that, around 5:00pm is where I started to really falter. I gorged myself withing a span of just a few hours. I’m not sure what makes me so weak around that time. Is it habit? A few years ago I developed a nasty habit of ordering a lot of food after work just to binge and purge it all, almost everyday - it lasted for a few years. Am I subconsciously reconnecting with that time in my life? 

Maybe not, because a few weeks ago I was bingeing (no purging) all damn day long. Maybe it’s just an excuse. I’m trying so hard to understand why I am who I am, but all theories point to me being awful and just making excuses.

I also want to log my food for the day on here. I right them down in a notebook, but I hope sharing them will keep me accountable and honest, even if no one is listening.

09:00am - Iced Coffee with Almond Milk and Monk Sugar - 30 cals

10:30am - 4 Egg Omelette with Cheese and Salsa - 475 cals

11:15am - More Iced Coffee - 30 cals

01:00pm - More Iced Coffee (Decaf) - 50 cals

03:00pm - 1-1/2 Cup Brown Rice, 1 Cup Ground Beef, 2 Cookies - 1,110 cals

05:30pm - 3 Oranges - 240 cals

06:30pm - 2-1/2 Cup Brown Rice, 1 Cup Ground Beef, 2 Tenders - 1,250 cals

07:00pm - 1 Klondike Bar - 250 cals

08:00pm - 1 Cookie - 220 cals

Total of 3,655 calories. I’m ashamed of this. It honestly didn’t even feel like that much. The beef and rice are estimations since I actually did not measure it. But I’m trying not to make excuses. If it was off, I’m sure it was only by a bit.

Proud

Today was filled with mindlessness. But some of those bad decisions I was fully aware of, at least for a moment, and I pushed that mindfulness away to continue with my self-sabotage. 

But there were a handful of wins today. I made breakfast this morning, and cleaned up after myself. I took the time to stand there and proceed even when my body felt like it was being pulled back to my chair. My roommate got packages that I walked by, I didn’t want to bring them inside. I fought that battle too and won. In the middle of the day I did get distracted a few times, but I retained most of my focus. At one moment, I automatically grabbed my phone but within 3 seconds I told myself “Focus!” and I put it away. Usually an hour passes before I realize what I’m doing. 

And I did not order any food today! I waste so much money on food deliveries, and I resisted. I actually haven’t gotten and food deliveries this week I think. I deleted all of the apps.

Right now I know I need to take my dog out and then take a shower to prepare for tomorrow. I’m going to. As soon as I submit this. Then my day is over and I can focus on tomorrow!

Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning I’m going to make homemade soy milk. I just hope I pull myself out of bed early enough so I can do it before work. I have to be at my office at 10:30am tomorrow to meet a client. Which means I need to get ready at 9:00am with make-up and a nice outfit. I’m looking forward to it a little bit.

I’ve been trying to avoid ordering food, but I do not any food left that is easy to pack and bring to work. I’m wondering if I should just leave right after my meeting. Maybe enough iced coffees will be enough to keep me satiated in the morning? I’ll try to make breakfast too. That might help. Typing my schedule out may help me feel in control.

8:00am - Get up, wash face, brush teeth, take pupper potty

8:30am - Do make up, get dressed

9:00am - Start making soy milk

10:00am - Leave for work

10:30am - Prep for client

11:00am - Meet client

12:00pm - Leave and work from home

And then I’ll have to take the rest of the day hour by hour. And hope I make the right choices. No, not hope... WORK on making the right choices. If I can get a little better each day, I will be who I’m meant to be eventually. I’m in no rush.

[donnarider]

!!DISCONTINUED!! Klance - soulmate au (part 3)

Author’s notes:

Update 12th July 2019: This story is unfortunately discontinued and “ends” with part 4.

Read part 1

Read part 2

Read part 4

“Bold” texts are from Keith   |    “italic” texts are from Lance

(8:11pm): hey Lance here ;)

(8:11pm): did ur boss kill you?

(8:16pm): He was worried, first time I was late

(8:17pm): so u didnt get fired or anything?

(8:19pm): Nah, I’m the only one who knows how to reset the router

(8:19pm): I think he’s scared I’d run off again and leave him with double the rent

(8:21pm): ???

(8:23pm): I realize I should probably mention that my boss is also my brother

(8:24pm): that wouldve been nice 2 knoww :3c

(8:25pm): so u live with ur bro / boss together??

(8:28pm): Yes, it’s not that weird

(8:29pm): didnt say that ;)

(8:31pm): whats that like?

(8:36pm): sry I didnt want 2 be noisyy ;((

(8:37pm): It’s fine, he’s pretty chill

(8:37pm): You’re not being noisy

(8:38pm): ^w^

„Pidgeeee, I need a favour!” Lance ran towards his two best friends who just arrived on campus and threw his books on the ground. He rubbed his face against Pidge’s shoulder like a cat and made soft whining noises

“I’m not cutting my favorite lecture for you Lance.”

“But I have two free periods. TWO, Pidge! I’m gonna die of boredom. Do you really want to be responsible for that?” He gave them the best puppy eyes he could manage.

“Not my problem. You could always go back to sleep, it’s like 11:30. Or go read a book or something.” He gasped dramatically at the cold response from his friend and clasped his hand over his heart.

“You wound me!” He slouched his shoulders and let out a deep sigh. “Also I just finished the newest book from my favorite series. The next one doesn’t come out for two months.”

“Go study then.” Pidge’s voice was softer now. They knew that Lance really didn’t cope well with free time because it made his thoughts wander.

“Nah. Hunk is my study-buddy and you are stealing him so how am I supposed-“

“Pidge isn’t stealing me, Lance. We just have the same lecture,” Hunk interrupted him.

“… but Huuuunk-“

“I’m not cutting for you either.”

Lance groaned while Hunk patted his shoulder apologetically.

“Hmpf.”

“Dude, you know that we love you! But finals are just around the corner.” Hunk reminded him with a warm expression on his face.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it.”

They entered the university building and Pidge chugged their still half full coffee cup before tossing it over their shoulder into the nearby bin, without even having to look. They noticed that Lance was still bummed out, so they punched his arm lightly as an encouragement.

“Why don’t you go to Planet Altea? Say hi to Allura and Coran, or something.” Lance thought about it for a second before he scrunched his nose.

“I don’t want to go there alone. They already think I’m an antisocial stress eater with zero cooking skills.”

“You could go with Keith and maybe continue your talk.”

“I don’t know. Do you really think he wants to spend time with me… it’s been only a day.”

“Stop putting yourself down, of course he wants to. We’re talking soulmate here. Just text him, you big baby.” Pidge rolled their eyes and then giggled.

“Call me that again, tiny spawn of Satan.”

“Love you too, Lance,” Pidge said and smiled at him brightly before they turned around and entered the lecture hall.

“They are right, Lance. Ask him if he wants to grab lunch. You can do it.” Hunk squeezed his hand reassuringly before he followed Pidge. Lance stared after them for a while and fumbled with his hands. He finally let out a defeated sigh and took out his phone.

 (11:45am): hey keith u free rn?

He stared at his phone screen nervously and chewed his lower lip. He had started walking around campus aimlessly without noticing. Some students were giving him confused glances but he managed to ignore them.

(11:46am): Yeah, what’s up?

(11:47am): got a free period :((

(11:47am): u wanna grab lunch near campus?

(11:48am): Hold on a sec

Lance cursed silently. This was a bad idea. Surely Keith thought that he was annoying now, maybe he should have waited a few more days. Damn. His entire future ruined because he was, as always, too eager. He was about to lie down on the ground in the middle of campus when his phone vibrated in his hand saved him from his self-destructive thoughts.

(11:55am): My bike’s in the shop rn but good news my brother said I could take his

(11:56am): okay cool. Planet Altea then?

(11:56am): wait are we talking motorcycle here??

(11:57am): Okay, I can be there in 15

(11:57am): And yes we are

 Lance had to sit down on a bench next to him. So Keith wore leather jackets, had learned Spanish for him AND had a bike. He massaged the bridge of his nose and a soft ‘fuck’ escaped his lips. He was doomed, this boy was pulling him in way too fast.

 (12:00pm): damn

(12:00pm): i mean nice

(12:00pm): verry nice

 Lance handed Allura the menu back and smiled at her while she took Keith’s as well.

“Ah, wait.” The waitress turned around and came back to their table, raising her eyebrow at Lance.

“Do you take your tea like normal people do today or the way you always drink it?”

“My way, please and thank you.” He winked at her and then turned his attention back to Keith, who looked generally confused. “What exactly is your way?”

“Four and a half teaspoons sugar, one tablespoon honey and just a little bit of almond milk to top it off.”

Keith huffed in disgust and scrunched his nose. “Heathen.” Lance laughed and waved him off.

 Planet Altea was like his second home since he spend most of his time there studying and eating, especially during finals. He was on a first name base with Allura and the strange but friendly cook Coran. They never judged him when he dragged his tired body in and ate quietly in his favorite corner, not even saying hello sometimes. They got it. One time he actually fell asleep over his half eaten pizza and when he woke up they had put a blanket on him. He loved the small restaurant and its space design.

The ceiling was painted with galaxies in various different colors and football sized planets were dangling from it. Lance was forever thankful to Coran and Allura that they had made an actual effort and arranged the planets in the correct order. In the corner next to the counter stood a creepy old astronaut statue that Lance had lovingly named Blumfump while pulling an especially bad all-nighter.

  “So…” Keith started. “What is your subject at college?” Lance squirmed in his seat.

“At the risk of coming across as a giant nerd…Astronomy.”

“Really?” Keith quirked his eyebrows in surprise. Lance fumbled with the tablecloth.

“Yeah, I know it’s-“

“That’s cool!” Keith interrupted him and gave him a small smile.            

“I uhhh… you think so?” Lance stammered, too distracted by how pretty Keith looked when he smiled.

“Yeah, I’ve always loved that kind of stuff. What do you wanna do with it when you’re done?”

“Ummm. It’s a bit of a cliché but I always wanted to work for NASA. I know it’s really hard to get in but I’m still gonna try.”

Keith nodded. “I mean … if you really really want it and you work hard for it, I don’t see why it shouldn’t work out.” He smiled sheepishly at Lance.

“Yeah, I guess…” Lance smiled back. “So, umm. What about you? What exactly is it you do?”

“I work at a workshop and we specialize in bikes. It’s Shiro’s but we basically run the thing together.”

“Shiro’s your brother, right?”

“Yes. Well, it’s sort of a long story I guess.”

Lance tilted his head questioningly. “Huh?”

“Shiro isn’t my biological brother. He kind of … took me in?” Keith tugged at his gloves nervously.  “I wasn’t … it was like … things were-“

“You don’t have to finish that story, you can tell me another time.”

Lance smiled at him warmly. He reached out for Keith’s hands over the table and tried to stop him from fidgeting. Keith stared at their joined hands and blushed lightly. In that moment Allura walked over to serve them their drinks. When Lance noticed he quickly moved his hands away but couldn’t keep the blush from creeping onto his cheeks as well.

“Don’t let him trick you into trying this stuff, it’s nasty.” The waitress remarked and put down Lance’s tea in front of him.

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Keith shook his head in disgust.

  “So I don’t want to intrude but umm…back when we were sixteen, that umm…”

Keith nodded. “Yah. My parents. It was a car crash.”

“I’m sorry.”

Keith usually hated when people said that. Not that it would change anything. They just say it because it’s expected of them. They had no idea what it felt like, what they were even pretending to be sorry for. It was different with Lance though. If anyone understood it was him. It was him who had shared Keith’s pain on the day of the funeral and so many days after that. It was him who had comforted him at night.

“It’s okay. I mean…of course it’s not great but I’m doing better.”

Lance smiled at him. “I can tell.”

Keith just smiled back.

  “What about you? There were so many birthday and wedding songs, you must have a big family.”

“Oh god, you have no idea. I’ve got a younger sister, two older sisters and an older brother. My brother is married and has three children so I also have two nephews and a niece. And don’t even get me started on the cousins. We would be sitting here for a week.”

“Sounds nice… and stressful?”

Lance smiled excitedly. “It is. I mean the house is always full and it’s always loud. I was so glad when I left for college because I finally had some peace and quiet and didn’t have to watch any of the little ones. But to be honest… I miss it so much.”

“You don’t get to see them often?” Keith tilted his head to the side and watched Lance closely.

“Once or twice a year. But we skype a lot. My youngest nephew is starting to walk and it’s honestly so adorable.” Keith couldn’t help but smile warmly. He could imagine Lance playing with his nephews and nieces perfectly. He was definitely the kind of guy who was good with children and who loved them as much as they loved him.

 Allura returned to their table with their food. Lance suspected that she had waited until now because she had noticed that they were deep in conversation. She smiled at Lance and winked before she left the table.

Lance wished she hadn’t because he could feel warmth creep up his cheeks and wondered what shade of red exactly his face had turned. Allura obviously thought they were on a date. Well they sort of were, weren’t they? Lance knit his brow. What exactly was it they were having here? A meetup as friends or an actual date? Did Keith think it was a date? Oh god, what if he didn’t but he thought that Lance did? This wasn’t good. His thoughts were not going in a safe direction.

That’s when Allura turned on the music.

It was some kind of sappy romance song. Keith looked at him for a second before looking over to Allura who was very obviously smiling in his and Lance’s direction. To make things even more awkward she tried to give Lance a subtle thumbs up that Keith obviously saw. Lance wanted to die. His brain was on auto-pilot and when Keith looked at him again he just smiled at him awkwardly out of reflex. Keith returned the smile before looking to the side, obviously being uncomfortable.

That’s when Lance felt it. Fear. Followed by a sort of numbness and then a strong feeling of isolation. He felt like there were too many emotions boiling inside of him at once. Lance knew that none of these were his own emotions but it was confusing him greatly. It all happened in seconds but it was so intense that it gave Lance goosebumps.

He couldn’t understand what just happened. What had scared Keith so much? What had made him feel like running again? Because judging by the way he was eyeing the exit right now, Lance was pretty sure that that was all he was thinking about now.

He gestured for Allura to turn of the music immediately and she did after giving him a surprised look. Lance paused for a second. The song… A damn love song. Maybe this was going too fast for Keith’s liking. Or maybe… he wasn’t even interested in Lance in that way…

Lance swallowed hard. “Umm, listen…”

Keith turned his head and looked at him again. Lance couldn’t read anything on his face, he had closed himself off completely.

“I know there’s a lot of expectations and pressure and stuff with the whole soulmate thing-” It was almost not noticeable but by the way his jaw tensed, Lance was sure that Keith was clenching his teeth, “but that doesn’t have to mean anything, okay?”

This earned him a questioning look. “I mean… take my friend Pidge. They have this soulmate called Rover who’s really cool and all…but they’re both not really interested in dates and stuff… sooo, they’re just friends. I mean sure being soulmates equals having some sort of deep emotional bond but so does friendship, right? So, just… don’t sweat it okay? We… could just be friends too… No pressure.”

 Keith searched his face for a moment before his jaw relaxed and he gave a small smile.

“Okay, yeah. Friends sounds good to me.”

Lance sighed relieved and returned the smile. “Okay, great. So friends it is?”

 “For now.”

More author’s notes:

This fic on AO3

Please don’t hate me for how this chapter ends, there’s still a long way to go and to anyone freaking out rn... I only ever write sappy, romantic happy ends, so don’t worry!

Again a BIG SHOUT-OUT TO @alteanmoonchild (formerly beekeeper-cas) my awesome beta and friend who helped me SOO MUCH with this chapter and makes writing so much more fun <3 She sat down with me FOR HOURS and the chapter is so much better now ♥♥♥

Thank you all so much for reading, your likes and reblogs and your wonderful comments. Your feedback makes me incredibly happy ^-^

If you have any questions, feedback or just want to say hi send me an ask

If you want to know why I took so long to update or want to read about some fun things that happend while writing this check out this post

If someone drew fanart for this fic I would be the happiest human on earth! Seriously! I don’t care if it’s stick-figures, I will love you! If you do, please tag me and/or send me a link ♥

If you want me to tag you in the next part when I post it, just send me an ask saying so and I’ll add you to the taglist.

taglist: @alyy--caticus  @princealektheorange @an-important-nobody @teddyorionpotter @spookyscaryshitstorm @ewenoire

[bad-beats]

Bad Beets Ch. 3 (11/25-12/1)

Hello fellow degenerates, and welcome back to the Bad Beets Blog! For returning readers who obtain pure, unadulterated entertainment from my gambling misery, thanks for stopping by. If you are new to the Bad Beets Blog, here is how it goes: this is a space for me to rant about my horrible gambling losses of the week. Hope you enjoy the ride!

11/25/19

League: NBA

Bet: 76′ers vs Raptors 1H over 103.5 (-110)

Units: 1.1 to win 1

This one has a quick explanation. 62. No, I am not talking about Chicago Bears offensive lineman, Ted Larsen. 62 is the number of points these two teams scored in the first quarter. I needed a 42 (!!) point second quarter to win the bet. Some of the lowest scoring games in the NBA have quarters of about 50 points. I didn’t even think that this bet would be a sweat. 

Please explain to me how teams with Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, Pascal Siakam, and Fred VanVleet only manage to score 38 points in a quarter. Not the way I wanted to start the gambling week. Bad Beet #1 was a real bitch.

Quick aside: There is very little I love more than mid-week, daytime European soccer. Anything and everything from the Champions League to the Belgium Juliper League gets me amped up on a Wednesday at 2:00pm. However, these games also come with great risk of Bad Beet that hurts far more than most. If you lose a heartbreaker on a stoppage-time goal at 3:45pm, you need to wait until at least 6:00pm to bet on any American sports in an effort to drown out that loss. That means that you are stuck at your desk for the last 75 minutes of work, staring at the clock until it hits 5, and the only thing you can think about is Cercle Brugge conceding a 90+7 minute goal to lose by 2 when you had them +1.5. Here are a few Bad Beets that ruined my Tuesday and Wednesday...

11/26/19

League: Champions League

Bet: PSG vs Real Madrid 1H over 1.5 (+106)

Units: 0.9 to win 1

No description needed for this one. FlashScore commentary is incredibly entertaining to read, and they could explain this Bad Beet far more eloquently than I could.

24 combined shots on goal, 1 penalty kick overturned by V.A.R, and a 1-0 score at halftime. Absolutely brutal. Bad Beet #2 of the week harvested my kidney and sold it on the black market.

11/27/19 and 11/28/19

League: Champions League and Europa League

Bet: Under 3.5 (-133) and Under 3 (-112)

Units: 1.7 to win 1.3 and 1 to win 0.9

Just another episode of “Life is too short to bet the under.” But seriously, I don’t know a single person that loses soccer unders due to stoppage-time goals as often as I do (granted, I don’t know anyone who gambles on as much European soccer as I do, but still). 

Pretty ridiculous that Leipzig scored two goals in the final 7 minutes of the game to equalize and send the game over 3.5. Dutch soccer team AZ Alkmaar decided to do the same just 24 hours later, and really made me contemplate never betting another under for the rest of my life. Life is too short to bet the under Bad Beets #3 and #4 of the week.

3/14/2011

Worst Beet of all time.

Bonus: Hero Win Section

League: Champions League and NHL

Bet: Genk vs Salzburg 1H over 1.5 (-110) and Penguins -1.5 (+155)

Units: 1.1 to win 1 and 0.5 to win 0.8

Genk and Salzburg were scoreless through 42 minutes of the first half. This bet was completely dead. Until...

Me looking at my Genk vs Salzburg 1H over 1.5 bet rise from the grave!

This is probably my craziest Hero Win of all time. Unfortunately, this bet was only for 0.5 units, but never have I seen a bet so dead come back to life and end up winning in such fashion. The Penguins took an early 2-0 lead against the Canucks, and the bet was looking remarkable to start the game. The Canucks scored the next 4 goals, taking a 4-2 lead, and the Penguins puck line bet had a heart rate of 6 bpm. The Guins got one back 1 minute into the 3rd period, but the Canucks countered with two of their own and it was goodnight moon for my bet. What happened next was pure insanity.

The Penguins scored 4 goals in 10 minutes to take a 7-6 lead. The dangerous thing about betting the puck line is that not only does your team need to win, but they need to win by at least 2 goals. Every puck line bettor’s best friend in a one-goal game is the few minutes at the end of the 3rd period when the losing team pulls their goalie. By the grace of Moses, with the fate of the game already decided, Evgeni Malkin slotted the puck in the Canucks’ empty net, and the Penguins won the game 8-6. Madness. Thoughts and Prayers to anyone that had Canucks +1.5 goals.

11/29/19

League: NCAAB

Bet: Long Beach St. vs Wake Forest 1H under _____ (guess the total, -110)

Units: 1.5 to win 1.4

Call me crazy, but I hate watching a game when I have action on the under. Rooting for teams to not score and play poorly, where is the fun in that? On this Friday evening, I opened my ESPN app and noticed that there were 20 seconds left in the first half of the Long Beach St vs Wake Forest game. I quickly proceeded to click the blue “Watch ESPN” icon that popped up next to the game score and was introduced to the stream with 8 seconds left in the half. Here’s what it looked like on my phone...

Normally, a player pulling up for a half-court shot with a few tenths of a second left in a half or game, you’re rooting for the ball to go in. However, when you bet an under, you are just infuriated with the player that they even took the shot. 

AND WHEN YOU BET THE 1H UNDER 68 AND ADRIEN WHITE MAKES A “THREE POINT JUMPER” THAT’S ACTUALLY A HALF COURT HEAVE WITH 0.4 SECONDS LEFT IN THE HALF TO SEND THE 1H FROM 66 TO 69, YOU ARE PUNCH-A-WALL FURIOUS! FUCK! BAD BEET #5 COMMITTED A TRIPLE HOMICIDE!

11/30/19

League: Italy Serie A and Turkish Super Lig

Bet: Under 3 (+105) and Under 3 (-110)

Units: 0.75 to win 0.8 and 1.1 to win 1

Just another few cases of the “Life is too short to bet the under” bug biting me in the ass on international soccer. Stoppage time goals are certified NOT FUN when you bet the under. 

Three Alanyaspor goals in the final 11 minutes to not only put the game at 3 total goals but push it over (and they added 1 for good luck). 

11/30/2019

League: Bundesliga

Bet: Bayer Leverkusen vs Bayern Munich over 3.5 (-115)

Units: 1.0 to win 0.85

Bayern Munich is an absolute UNIT. They score goals like it is their job. Well, I guess it technically is their job to score goals. Bayern has scored 20 goals in their 7 home games this season. I thought Leverkusen could add at least one and that the over would hit easily. I also took the 1H over 1.5 because I was so confident in my bet. Sure enough, Bayern and Leverkusen combined for 3 goals in the first 30 minutes of the game. EASY. MONEY. I needed just one more goal in the last hour of the game, and here’s the stat sheet from the 2nd half.

YOU’RE TELLING ME THESE TEAMS CAN COMBINE FOR 19 SHOTS WITH 10 ON TARGET IN JUST THE SECOND HALF ALONE AND ROBERT LEWANDOWKSI CAN’T SCORE ONE MORE MEASLY GOAL?!?!?! WHAT A FUCKING JOKE. Bad Beet #6 was Ted Bundy’s accomplice.

11/30/2019

League: NCAAF

Bet: Southern Miss vs Florida Atlantic 1H over 28 (-115)

Units: 5.75 to win 5

This isn’t the worst beet I’ve ever had in terms of the grandiose level of “sure-win” to “horrible-loss,” but it definitely hurt due to the sheer size of the bet. Lane Kiffin’s Florida Atlantic team has been known to put up some of the quickest scoring drives in the country, and this game was no different. Multiple times they drove down the field and scored a touchdown within minutes. With about 7 minutes left in the half, FAU was leading Southern Miss 17-10. Needing just one more point with half of the quarter remaining, I felt gooooood. I was about to make a profit of 5 units and buy myself a new pair of jeans, but then both offenses forgot they were collegiate football players and played more like Pop Warner football players. Missed FG’s and turnovers make for some quality Conference USA football. Bad Beet #7 was just really unfortunate.

Missed FG’s and turnovers make for some quality Conference USA football. Bad Beet #7 was just really unfortunate.

11/30/2019

League: Premier League

Bet: Everton +1 (-120)

Units: 1.2 to win 1

This is just a bonus Brutal Push for good luck and to end the block on a fun note. Everton +1 was a winning bet until literally the final kick of the game. For immediate release:

3 minutes of added time, 90+4 minute goal that survives a VAR check. Just brutal. But at least I didn’t lose the bet. A push is a win!

Bad Beet Count: 7 (with 1 brutal push and 2 hero wins) Bad Beet Unit Swing: 14.2 to win 12.5 (26.7 unit swing)

As always, thanks for reading this week’s rendition of Bad Beets! Please leave a comment, share with your friends, and stay tuned for more Bad Beets if you enjoyed! Let me know some of your Bad Beets of the week to get featured! See you next time.

[backroadblues]

May 30th, 2017 - Grainau, Bavaria, Germany

Today was our first full day in our beautiful Bavarian Apartment. We all agree that this may be the best apartment we’ve rented on our trip. Our German hostess Carolin is so thoughtful in the way she decorates and equips our rooms and the facilities in general. Not to mention how beautiful our setting is at the foot of the Zugspitze mountain.

Our objective today was to get up early so that we could drive over to Fussen where we would meet our driver for a tour of Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau Castle, Linderhoff Castle and the little town of Oberamergau. This was a relatively inexpensive tour and we soon find out why. Our driver, “Laddo” an Aramaic Turk who immigrated to Germany, will largely just take us to each sight and give us some general narration of the landscape and topography along the way. L'addio says, "on zee right you zee trees, on zee left you zee mountains weet trees, here you zee happy cows." Nothing like the private tours we’ve had in Italy. Each of the castles we will be visiting do not allow private tour guides and we will be utilizing the guides at each location. We are staying in Grainau, which is near Garmisch-Partinkirchen and Fussen is only 21 miles to the west of us. However, it will take us about 45 - 50 minutes to get there because there are mountains and lakes between us and Fussen and the route will take us into Austria and back into Germany, plus there is truck traffic and it is difficult to pass them. Our plan is to depart at 7:30am so we can meet our driver at 9:00.

We had hoped to have a healthy and nourishing / low calorie breakfast here in our apartment. But if you read yesterdays Blog, you know that we weren’t able to order groceries. At least we got some water to go with that 15Euro bottle of Barolo that we picked up at the gas station. We scrounge around in the morning and go through provisions we’ve purchased along the way. We have a jar of peanut butter, some jelly and jam, some honey and Elisa has 4 slices of gluten free bread. Now you have to realize that gluten free bread pretty much tastes like cardboard when it is fresh. You have to imagine what it tastes like after it has been sitting in the back of our car for 4 days. Elisa offers up a couple of slices to us, but there are no takers. Instead we opt for some stale Italian breadsticks with peanut butter. Yes, stale breadsticks taste better than gluten free bread. Carolyn was also able to pick up some bananas at the gas station. They are a little green but she has one anyway. Needless to say, our early makeshift breakfast was relatively light but hey - God forbid any one of us should miss a meal. You have to remember, we gorged our way across Italy like a plague of locusts. In fact, they Italians are declaring the day we migrated north into Austria and Germany as a new Holiday - the day the plague was lifted.

We manage to get on the road at 7:30. Navigation on my iPhone says it will be a 51 minute drive. We do encounter traffic and we end up arriving at 8:45. Fortunately, we are on time. Laddo shows up and explains how things will work. He will take us by mini-bus up to Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau castles. Arrange for our tickets and leave us to explore and partake in the guides at the castle. He drops us of at the entrance, passes us our tickets and tells us how to get there and what to see. Our tour starts at 9:55am and it will take about 1 hour. We then can explore the Marienbrucke bridge that overlooks Neuschwanstein and then we can make our way down the hill to visit Schwangau and the Hohenschwangau Castle. He will be picking us back up at 1:00PM to take us to Linderhoff and Oberamergau.

First a little background for you. Neuschwanstein is the famous “fairy tale” castle built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. He built a total of three castles during is short reign. Two of them done in a Baroque / Gothic style but Neuschwanstein was a testament to medieval architecture. What is odd about that, is that King Ludwig ruled from 1865 through the time of his death in 1889. He lived well after the times and eras from the castles that influenced his design. Neuschwanstein, is his most famous and of course the inspiration of a young Walt Disney who would go on to construct his own Castle at the Disneyland theme parks. King Ludwig was a man born in the wrong time. By the time he would inherit the throne as a result of his father’s (Maximillian) passing, the monarchy was practically a figurehead position. By the time of his birth, a Bavarian republic would exist and the parliament would largely govern the people. However, the King of Bavaria would be expected to be involved in the politics of the time, but in reality he had very little power. What he did have though was a large family fortune that was augmented regularly by the Government because of the families former sovereignty. At the age of 18, when he would rise to the throne, he was ill prepared. He led a sheltered life under the tutelage of his mother. He was a learned man with a keen interest in science, music and literature. He would spend his childhood growing up in the Castle Hohenschwangau. This castle had very early roots but it was largely renovated by his father, King Maximillian. As a boy, young Ludwig would look up at the rocky crag of a peak known as Schwanstein, atop of which stood the ruined remains of a much older castle originally built in the 1100’s.

When Ludwig became King he made it be know that he would build a new castle atop Schwanstein - hence the name Neu(new)Schwanstein. However, before he would start work on this castle, he would build Linderhoff castle. It is a relatively small castle, and was used by Ludwig as a summer retreat and hunting lodge. It is basically a one bedroom Bachelor pad. Quite a nice place, I might add. Ludwig, would become a patron of Richard Wagner, a famous German composer of operas and music. Ludwig became totally obsessed with Wagner and his tales. Neuschwanstein would be dedicated to the medieval tales expressed by Wagner.

When we arrive, at the site of Neuschwanstein, we see that it is high up on a hill. There are 3 ways to get there. 1) walk up the hill - it will take 40 - 60minutes, 2) horse drawn carts that seat about 11 people and 3) a bus service. We opt for the horse drawn cart. Carolyn and Trent have been keeping tabs on their various modes of transportation on this trip and this will allow them to “tick one more box”. Our horses today are Roxxi and Shotzi. They are ½ bothers - born of the fame father but different mothers. These are big horses that are pulling the wagon and its payload of 11 people up the hill. Our driver tells us that today Shotzi is being lazy and making Roxxi do most of the work. We soon understand why that might be - because after we are part way up the hill, Shotzi decides to take a massive dump. Our driver courteously pauses the wagons so that Shotzi can finish. The only problem with this is that I am seated directly behind Shotzi and I have a prime viewing and smelling location for the entire activity. After what seemed like an entire bale of “used” hay was expelled, our driver uses the reins to give Shotzi i a swat on the rump and tells him to get going. Soon both horses are leaning into their harnesses and they make quick work of the mountain and we are soon there. We see that we still have about another 10 minute walk up the hill to get to the entrance where our tour will start. We begin to make our way up and we come to a fork in the road and Trent tells us that we should go right. After about 5 minutes of walking up hill, we are suddenly reminded of a time when Trent suggested that a steep set of steps in Positano would take us back to our hotel. They didn’t and guess what, the trail we were on wouldn’t get us to where we needed to be either. So, just like in Positano, we have to backtrack. We make our tour with a few minutes to spare.

As imposing as the Neuschwanstein structure appears from the bottom of the hill, the castle is not really that large. Many of the structures surrounding the castle, really had not practical or structural purpose. They were simply built to honor the medieval and fantasy castles suggested in Wagnerian operas. For example, the towers and spires were largely ornamental. Similarly the large keep that served as an entry to the main castle courtyard was not really used for anything either. One other reason that the actual usable portion of the castle is relatively small is that they had to work with the confines of the mountain top. The original intent was to largely use the foundation of the old castle, but it would prove to be in too bad a condition and it would have to be completely removed and a new foundation would need to be laid. It is said that the original cost estimate to build the castle in 1869 expressed in current value would be about $230 million - but with over runs it would be valued at over $800million. Our guide explains that although King Ludwig would complete the exterior of the castle, only a small part of the interior would be completed prior to his untimely death in 1886. It is suggested that because of the cost of the construction of Neuschwanstein, Ludwig would have to borrow heavily significantly draining the family fortunes. He would be arrested in 1869 while residing at Neuschwanstein, overseeing construction. He would be found to be unfit to rule. He would be held under house arrest at a nearby palace on the shores of his beloved Lake Schwangau. But shortly after being commanded to the residence, his body and that of his personal psychiatrist would be found dead. Although the death is suspicious, it is also suggested he may have committed suicide. That mystery has never been solved. However, immediately after his death, his Uncle Maximillian III would take over the throne and he would immediately halt all construction on Neuschwanstein and one other castle Ludwig had under construction. Within 6 weeks after Ludwigs death, both sites would be opened to the public for a fee - so it became a tourist attraction even back then. Today it draws and estimated 1.5million visitors a year. They come year around to see Neuschwanstein in the different seasons. No one is complaining about How much Ludwig spent anymore - it is a huge moneymaker for Bavaria.

The rooms that were completed include his bedchamber, the kitchen, a throne room - sans throne as it was not constructed by the time of his death. Also completed was a large drawing room. The portions that were completed are really amazing. We think he may have been the Michael Jackson of his time. He was very artistic and everything he did was over the top. Although the castle was a tribute to medieval times, it did include some modern conveniences of the 1800’s - including battery and electric power for certain appliances, and a telephone. What he created is truly a one of a kind monument. If you read about Neuschwanstein on Rick Steves website - and if you recall in one of my very first post, some of the members of our traveling group think Rick Steves is an idiot (#rickstevesisanidiot), especially when it comes to packing tips - he sort of suggests that Neuschwanstein is a faux castle and its too touristy. He suggests that why see this when there are so many “real” castles to look at. From our perspective, we agree it is touristy, but we are certainly glad we didn’t miss it. It is really spectacular.

Our tour of the castle takes about 45 minutes and the requisite visit to the gift shop puts us over an hour. We then decide to take the supposed 15 minute walk up to Marienbrucke - it takes us about double that. It is up a steep hill filled with switchbacks. We huff and puff our way to the top and we are glad we did. The bridge is for walking only and it spans a gorge carved by the mountain stream that has been cascading down the hillside for centuries. The narrow wood and steel bridge is jammed with tourists. There is a staff person there at the entrance to the bridge whose job, I can only imagine is to monitor how many people are on the bridge at the same time. From surveying how many people are out there, I surmise that he pretty much “sucks” at his job. Nevertheless, Trent and I push our way through the crowds and step onto the steel and wood bridge. We feel the boards under our feet flex and sway as we and the many others walk along the bridge. I finally find a spot and before I can take any of my own pictures, I am being bombarded with request from other tourists to take their picture on the bridge with the castle in the background. Finally, the crowd begins to thin out and Elisa and Carolyn make their way out onto the bridge, but just far enough to get some photos. The view of Castle Neuschwanstein is magnificent. Once again Minerva, the goddess of hope, has been with us. The weather forecast called for rain starting at about 11:00 am. But the skies remain clear and the temperature is comfortable.

Once we are done taking photos, we take the shuttle bus back down to the bottom of the hill. Make sure you have a 1 Euro coin on you when you head down. The driver does not make change. By the time we get to the bottom of the village and finish looking at the shops it is about 12:00 noon. We look up the smaller hill to Castle Hohenschwangau and we decide, to have lunch instead of making our way up to that castle. After all, this older and more original castle looks like the servants quarters as compared to Neuschwanstein. Also, by now the weather is very warm and a bit more humid, signaling the coming rain. We dine in a nice hotel restaurant and Trent and I have some nice cold beers. Elisa her water and Carolyn a coke. For Lunch, Trent and I have the grilled Schweinewurtzl (pork sausages) mit sauerkraut and kartoffelpuree (mashed potatoes). It’s very good. Elisa and Carolyn both opt for the grilled salmon. It is very well prepared and cooked just perfectly. Their meal comes with the boiled potatoes and grilled vegetables. Elisa complains that the vegetables are more of a garnish for the plate than a side dish. She loves her veggies and they are often hard to come by at restaurants in Germany. With our bellies full - again - we wait for Laddo, our driver to return to pick us up.

When he comes, he explains that we will be driving for 35 minutes toward the East to get to LInderhoff and then on to Oberamergau. He suggest that we take our car and follow him, as we will be much closer to Garmisch when we end our tour at Oberamergau. We agree, because if we were to return to Fussen with him, we would have an hour drive back to our apartment. The tour is now turned over to his son Auggie. He will be driving us to Linderhoff. We stop along the way for photos at Plansee, the largest lake in all of Austria. It is a beautiful mountain lake with a surface area of approx 3 sq km. and it is about 78 meters deep. The water is a cool blue color from the minerals that runoff the mountains into the lake. It is much cooler here because the weather is beginning to change. The rain clouds called for in the forecast are beginning to form. An interesting side fact about Plansee, is that during WWII, this area was also home to a sub-camp of the infamous Dachau concentration camp. It was here that descendants of the Maximillian royal family were held during the war as they opposed the Nazi regime. At the outbreak of the war the family had fled to Hungary for safety, but were eventually captured. They were then held at this sub-camp of Dachau near the lake. The family members survived their internment at the camp and were released at the end of the war. The one remaining heir to the throne now lives in Munich.

With the photos now complete we head off to Linderhoff. This castle is tucked into the woods, it is so unlike Ludwig’s other castle Neuschwanstein which projects itself into the air and surrounding landscape. Auggie explains that Linderhoff was Ludwig’s summer home a place where he could get away from the politics he detested and where he could be alone. As we walk down a winding gravel lane and emerge from behind a stand of trees there lies Linderhoff. Having just come from Neuschwanstein, we are first taken by its modest size - modest at least when it comes to castles. Ludwig had this castle constructed in the 1860’s. We take our tour with a young man who is very knowledgeable about the castle and speaks perfect English. He explains that Ludwig would come this castle to be “alone” - meaning he would have only 20 staff attending to his needs while at the castle. This castle is a testament to Ludwig’s love of the French monarchies of Louis XIV and XV - the last absolutist monarchs of Europe. This is what he longs for; he would prefer not to have to cede his power to a parliament. He would come to Linderhoff to get away from such politics. This castle is laid out in a symmetrical plan. It has only one bedroom (excluding the smaller rooms for the staff on the lower level). It has a number of drawing rooms for the display of art or musical instruments. It has a throne room where he would receive visitors (but he did not accept visitors here). It has a dining room that is relatively small, because he would typically be dining alone. The dining room had a smallish dining table that would sit atop a platform that could be lowered into the floor where kitchen staff would set his table and food and raise it back up to him, this way he did not even have to see his staff, It was reported by staff that Ludwig would often have the table set for 2 or more people so that he could engage in an imaginary dinner with musicians, artists and other royalty from times gone by. The staff would say they could hear Ludwig have animated discussions with his imaginary guests. Ludwig’s bedroom is huge, measuring about 10 meters square and over 20 feet high. It is designed to reflect the size and adornment of Louis the XIV’s bedroom. Once again with all of its Baroque grandeur it is over the top. The woodwork is all adorned with gold and so many object d'arts are displayed, just as it was during Ludwig’s time. The furnishings, art work and drapes are all original Unfortunately, we are not allowed to take photographs inside of the castles. The tour is relatively quick due to the small size of this 1 Bedroom “bachelor pad”. We spend a little more time walking the grounds. There is some renovation work going on in the “water feature” in the back yard of the castle. This feature is a tall set of cascading steps, where water from nearby springs would feed the fountain. This feature that extends more than 100 meters up the hill side culminates in an ornate fountain of horses. Ludwig had this built so that he could look out at something other than the hillside when he was in bed. Once again a little over the top.

We meet back up with Auggie and he leads us to Oberamergau. This little town is a very well preserved Bavarian villiage. Many of its buildings are painted with storied themes taken from folklore and fairy tales. One such home has scenes taken from Grimm’s fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood. Oberamergau is also famous for the performance of the Passion Play once every 10 years during Christmas. Many of the shops are dedicated to selling Christmas ornaments and decorations. Carolyn and Elisa set off and begin shopping and Trent and I do what we do best and find a sidewalk beer hall. Finally, the weather that had been predicted befalls us and it begins to rain. It is not falling very hard but it falls steadily for about 20 minutes and then stops. By then Elisa and Carolyn are ready to be picked up.

By now it is about 5:00 pm and we find that we have spent the entire day on the road seeing these sites. We also note that once again our step count is at about 15000. We’ve been regularly averaging about 5 to 10 miles per day of walking. We must all be losing weight - oh yeah - I forgot about the plague of locusts thing. Hopefully, we won’t be going home with a lot of “excess baggage” - if you know what I mean. Then I remember an old Italian saying that was shared with us, “tonite we eat - tomorrow we diet”. As we head back to our little apartment we decide that we will stop at a grocery store along the way to pick up just enough provisions to have dinner tonight and breakfast in the morning. Elisa has missed cooking the most so far on our 18 days on the road. So tonight she will cook and with the limited items we have, she manages to make a lovely sautéed chicken dish served over pasta. We have a large dinner salad and fresh fruit cocktail to cap it off. We opened the 15Euro bottle of Barolo that we purchased at the gas station and as you might have guessed, it is not very good and barely drinkable. Imaging that, a gas station not having decent wine. Well, it does come in handy as Elisa uses it in the making of her chicken dish.

For probably the first time on our trip we push ourselves away from the dinner table feeling pretty comfortable and far from stuffed. It is a good feeling. We all relax and catch up on phone calls to loved ones back home, read our email, and do our social media thing. Then 3 of us enjoy the last of our limoncello that we picked up in Italy - we are a little sad. We should have picked up 2 bottles. With the washing machine and dryer available - yes they have a real dryer here - no need to hang clothes out to dry - we catch up on our laundry. Before you know it, it is going on midnight and it is time for bed.

What a wonderful day - again.

Aufwiedersehen!

More later.

[wildlyhardphilosopher-blog]

house training an older dog | how to train my puppy to walk on a leash

New Post has been published on https://dogtraining.dknol.com/english/house-training-an-older-dog-how-to-train-my-puppy-to-walk-on-a-leash/?utm_source=Tumblr&utm_medium=Tumblr+%230+Freda+K+Pless&utm_campaign=SNAP%2Bfrom%2BBest+Dog+Training

house training an older dog | how to train my puppy to walk on a leash

How often do I have to go outside with my puppy? It depends on the size of the breed. With a young puppy from a small breed, start with every 15 minutes and watch your pup. If there are still accidents, you have to go more often. And if not, you can try to increase to 45 minutes and so on, but you won’t be able to avoid accidents altogether. You’ll learn from your puppy and you’ll grow together. Puppy Training: How to Housebreak Your Puppy In Just 7 Days and millions of other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more Exercise & Play Accessories o Building a bond with your Dog is the first and the most crucial step involved in training him successfully. As soon as you bring your Dog home, you must first try to develop a caring and loving relationship with him in order to win his trust and confidence. Protect Birds and Bats from Burdock! 5.0 out of 5 starsI can’t believe it! Dog Training & Behavior Housetraining and chewtoy-training will be quick and easy if you adhere to the puppy confinement plan above, which prevents the puppy from making mistakes and prompts the puppy to teach herself household etiquette. If you vary from the program, you will likely experience problems. Unless you enjoy problems, you must reprimand yourself for any mistakes you allow your puppy to make.

dog training

puppy training

how to train a puppy

training a puppy

how to potty train a dog

fbq('track', 'ViewContent', content_ids: 'dogtraining.dknol', ); Staffed 24-7 10 Signs Your Cat Might Be Stressed Walk back and forth until he goes to his own area automatically. Find by Dog Size How long does it take to toilet train a puppy? Ask This method of training a puppy to walk on a leash is suited to very young puppies, it requires no pulling from you or your dog. The result is a nice loose leash hanging down between you and your dog. All it takes to achieve this is to follow the above steps, then apply some patience and persistence. Please read this article for leash training older dogs. You can also teach your puppy or older dog to walk on a loose leash using a clicker – loose leash walking. Allow quite time in the crate. How to clean after your puppy Our training is guaranteed for the life of your dog. Published on: Sep 17, 2016 Two Parts:Teaching Your Puppy Not to BiteLearning About Puppy BitingCommunity Q&A Kitten Guide If you’ve followed the guide so far, you’ve now gathered all the information you need to design your puppy’s house training schedule. It’s best to avoid handing out puppy food as reward every time. Start gradually replacing the treat with praise. Once your puppy has learned a command, give the treat every other time, then every third time, always praising enthusiastically. Pretty soon, your puppy will work for praise and the very occasional treat. Read reviews that mention Tablet, cell, desktop, laptop. All good to go! Ask A Vet based on a sound understanding of dog behavior and learning theory. Check out our blog archives for additional puppy training tips and tricks, and have fun bonding with your new best friend! Muse® The first week is not the time to work on walking perfectly in heel position on leash, a down stay, or never jumping up to greet you. There will be plenty of time for those behaviors if they are important to you. For now, it’s best to focus on what you can teach your puppy in a hurry, the behaviors that will benefit both of you the most. Sunday Urgent Care 12:00pm – 4:00pm Arlington/Northern Virginia CF Because a full bladder or bowel is uncomfortable, dogs are happy to relieve themselves, but some may try to hold it if they think they can get to stay outside and sniff around a while. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Yin, Sophia (2007). “Dominance versus leadership in dog training”. Compendium on Continuing Education for the Practising Veterinarian, North American Edition. 29 (7): 414–4–8 Register Your Dog Roudybush Report A Lost Pet Similarly, any other movement or sounds like praising them too early or shuffling your feet might distract them and they might not finish what they’ve started. BONIES Calming Formula Mini Dog Treats, 2 count Never leave children unattended and unsupervised with dogs, even ones that seem “safe”. You may need to isolate the dog and/or crate him when a knowledgeable adult cannot be present. adopt a dog Took us a little longer, but our puppy quickly learned how to read, and got with the program. © Depositphotos.com / adogslifephoto Vote Up13Vote Down  Reply Strollers & Bicycle Baskets OUR PRODUCTS Lead your puppy to the couch or bed and sit down. Page 1 of 1Start OverPage 1 of 1 2.4 21st century July 28 @ 10:30 am – 11:30 am A puppy needs to go out every hour for his age. 2 months old can usually go 30mins to every 2 hours, 3 months every 3 hours and so on. After 6 months, your puppy needs to go out every 6 to 8 hours. potty train puppy | house training older dog potty train puppy | toilet training dogs potty train puppy | house training a chihuahua Legal | Sitemap

[mrwizard555-blog]

Guatemala 2018

Eric and I left for Guatemala on Saturday, October 20, 2018.  We rose at 4:00am and Deb, Eric and I headed to Logan.  We had an 8:30 flight to Dallas/Fort Worth and then onto Guatemala.  Eric and I do not talk a lot as both of us are rather quiet, and given how tired we both were we spoke very little on the flight to TX.  We landed at 11:30 (roughly) and had a 4 hour layover.  While there we were also to meet up with the  rest of the team.  We ate, played some cards, took a nap and waited.  I asked Eric if he was a little hesitant about what we were getting into and he said yeah.  I agreed with him but we both decided it was an adventure and we would take whatever the trip gave us.  The flight to Guatemala was pretty basic - I watched Dead Pool 2.  We met up with everyone, got our luggage, cleared customs, and hopped into our vans for the ride to the hotel, the Euro Hostal.  It was a decent place with a whole wall dedicated to license plates from everywhere.  Rooms were clean and after a meeting with the team we crashed.

The next morning we had about a 2 1/2 hour drive to get to San Lucas Toliman, which is a village on Lake Atitlan.  Leaving the Hostal we finally got a good view of the area.  There are walls along the streets on both sides.  Everything is closed off for security.  Side streets have gates and along the top of all the walls are barbed wire. It gave us a bit of a worry given how fortified everything was.  The drive out was an experience as well.  There are no rules while driving on these roads.  And as we drove up into the mountains, along mountain pass roads, we consistently pulled over to the left to pass other vehicles.  It didn’t matter if we couldn’t see 30 yards in front of us.  Eric, Fran, and I were also in the very back of the van, with a wall of suitcases packed to the ceiling directly behind our heads.  All I kept thinking was if we stop short those are crashing down on top of our heads.  But we made it without incident.

Once we arrived at San Lucas I got to see just how beautiful Lake Atitlan is.  It is surrounded - and created by - 3 active volcanoes.  The lake is 1,100 feet deep and huge.  The mountain range around the lake is beautiful and as I sat on our deck at dusk it was amazing listening to all the birds and animals in the jungle around us.  Once we got settled into our rooms we all met up and walked down to the lake, which is a fun filled meeting area for locals.  Lots of people, music, families, and food being sold.  (don’t eat the food).  We all hopped on a boat and took a ride across the lake to San Juan.  Another village with a great many shops.  But the ride was spectacular.  You got to see multiple areas/villages/homes around the lake and understand just how pretty it is.  The village was nice, but poor and run down quite a bit.  It was definitely set up for tourists as the streets were lined with shops.  With Auntie Fran leading I think we visited every one of them.  The  people here are very nice and friendly.  I’ve been told not to eat anything off of the street but I really want to try some of this stuff.  But when we visited Cancun, Dylan and Deb ate stuff from the street folks and got violently sick and it ruined their trip.  So I am not eating anything I’m not supposed to.  Once back to San Lucas we ate dinner in the church/mission, cleaned the dishes and wiped down tables.  Then had a meeting to go over all that is expected, walked back to the hotel and sorted through 10 large bags with medical supplies, preparing for tomorrows work.  My next installment will pick up then, with our first day of working the clinic and helping people.  That will be on Monday, October 22nd, my Carolyn’s 19th birthday.

Monday - October 22

We woke a little before 7:00am after a night of listening to dogs barking and fighting, and roosters crowing since about 3:30.  Eric was a bit grumpy.  We all meet at the mission for breakfast by 8:00.  We stand in a circle and someone leads us in prayer and we all sing some song, which is printed out for everyone so we all know the words.  It may sound a bit dorky, but it is actually quite nice.  Eric never leads my side.  And I can hear him singing along with everyone else.  Us newbies, first timers to Guatemala with this group, then hop onto the back of a small pickup truck, standing in the back, and drive to the local hospital.  We see this because it is tied to the same mission, as is the school we later visit, and all involved are very proud of how far everything has come along over the last 50 years, primarily lead by one priest.  Whose name now escapes me but I’ll add it in later.  The hospital is actually pretty nice, for being in Guatemala, and in 2017 served over 20,000 people.  San Lucas Toliman has a population of 17,000, so many people from neighboring villages come here for help.  The hospital recently had an x-ray machine donated to it, which was needed because the one they were using was from WWII.  It was, because they still have it and we saw it.  They also recently had an ambulance donated to it, which is actually another small pickup truck with a box built on the top.  Honestly, I think it would be too small inside to allow someone 6′2″ to lie down if needed.  But again, it is far better than not having anything at all.  After that tour we went to the local school, again 11 of us piling into the bed of a small pickup.  The school is very nice, with over 800 students.  It is private with families paying about $1.80/week (US) to send their children there.  They recently adopted the Montessori technique for teaching - which I don’t fully understand but have heard of before.

Once our tours were complete it was time to meet up with the others down the mountain at the village we were to work for the afternoon, from 1:00 to 4:00pm.  The ride down was again 11 of us piled into the back of a small pickup, this time shooting down the mountain doing roughly 50 MPH.  The driving here is a bit wild, with “chicken buses” driving faster than anyone else, passing on the left at any point in the road, not caring what could be coming in the other direction.  Eric loved it.  The village was small and very hilly.  We worked in a small 1 floor room and set up stations.  Eric, Jonathon (another boy 1 year younger than Eric and in 8th grade) and I worked the reading glasses station.  We were to test people who had a hard time seeing things close up - which for the US is mostly reading but here can be threading needles, fish hooks, etc.  Primary necessities for many.  We used a tripod with a yard stick attached at the top.  This allowed people to put their forehead against the yard stick, which was 14″ away from an eye test chart taped to the yard stick and hanging down from it.  Our interpreter, Oscar, would explain what we needed them to do, which was read the numbers with one eye at a time, downward to see how small a font they could see without any glasses.  We then tested them with varying strength eye glasses, from 1.0 to 3.25.  It was a great feeling when you watched someone put on the proper strength eyeglass and read all the way to the tiniest print.  They beamed.  It was also funny when the young girls would show up at our station.  They knew we would also give away sunglasses if they asked, but first they had to take the test.  All of them had 20/20 vision and when asked why were they there they simply asked for the sunglasses, which we gave them.  Some people we were not able to help though.  These folks had more serious issues and the glasses weren’t really going to make much of a difference.  I wanted to explain things to them but couldn’t, due to my lack of the Spanish language.  We didn’t wrap up on time, not finishing until after 5:00.  This could have been problematic because of all the supplies we bring with us, including drugs.  We wanted to be back and unloaded before dark, which did not happen tonight.  Eric and I had a chance to talk towards the end of the day, before we had to pack up.  Eric said that this made him wish he was fluent in Spanish because the people are so nice and friendly that he would have liked to talk to them, but couldn’t.  He also said this was making him look at being a doctor a little differently.  He could see how this was truly helping people and making a difference in their lives.  Along with making a lot of money, which of course he added in.  But day 1 working down here and he is seeing things a little differently.  Very nice.  Our ride back, while harrowing to me, was uneventful, thankfully.  We enjoyed dinner together, prayed and sang together again and came back to our rooms.  Everyone truly shuts down after dinner, enjoying a little quiet time and going to bed early because they are all exhausted.  For the second night in a row I”m writing this blog and Eric is snoring next to me.  I’m off to sleep too because I am also exhausted.

Tuesday - October 23rd

Similar day as Monday.  Things get into a routine here with Breakfast at 8:00, prayer in a big circle before we eat, wash dishes and wipe down tables, and make sandwiches.  Hop into the back of a small pickup truck and pray you make the journey safely.  On Tuesday I went with Larry at 8:30 to the hospital to help load all the suitcases of equipment onto one of our trucks.  We then headed back to the mission, picked up everyone else and headed to our village.  Eric was making sandwiches while I went to get the bags with Larry.  We are on different teams for these domestic duties.  Eric, Oscar (our translator), and I were on reading glasses again.  We test peoples vision, try a couple of strengths of reading glasses and repeat.  This day we were working next to a school and the schoolyard where the kids play was just outside.  So at lunchtime Jonathon, Eric, and I started kicking a soccer ball around and some local little kids joined us.  Eric and Jonathon played for a while, which was nice.  Oscar and I managed the glasses alone for most of the afternoon, which was fine.  We finished up earlier than some others so the 2 of us walked around the village.  Not really much to see, but on our way back some little kids went running by us, looking at me, and yelling “gringo!”.  It was pretty funny.  

Even though October is still part of Guatemala’s rainy season we have been blessed with beautiful weather.  It hasn’t rained on us yet.  

That night, after dinner a few of us walked to get ice cream.  We went to the local park which had a nice basketball court and some kids were playing.  Eric was so upset that he has a broken finger because he wanted to play.  The kids there weren’t very good and I think he believed he could take them.  The fair/carnival was closing down and rides were being dismantled in the streets.  The carnival doesn’t set up in some open piece of land like at home.  They set up their rides in the street and shut the streets down.  The ferris wheel was still going though and was probably the fastest spinning ferris wheel I’ve ever seen.  It was a nice day and the routine is getting to be familiar now.  Enjoyable even.

Wednesday - October 24th

We started out as usual, breakfast at 8:00.  The food here is actually quite good and I think we will be lugging a lot of the food we brought with us back home, or give it to the team who are staying another week.  A nice problem to have because the food could have been terrible, and so this is much better.

There was a mass going on during breakfast which was specifically for the hospital workers, so when the mass ended we lined up on both sides of the exit doors and clapped and thanked the workers for all they do.  They loved it.

Today at the clinic Eric and I got to work with the dentist.  This is not like a dentist at home.  There is little preventive care, if any, and the villagers only show up to have teeth pulled.  Eric’s jobs were to sterilize the equipment, which was continually used, washed, and reused all day, discard the bloody gauze, and throw out the teeth.  He also handed out free toothbrushes and toothpaste to all the patients.  He was magnificent.  He did a great job, enjoyed the autonomy of having his own tasks to perform, and didn’t make one mistake.  My job was to take temperatures of all potential patients and blood pressure of adults.  I enjoyed today’s work more as well.  I got to interact with villagers more than with the eye glasses because I didn’t have an interpreter with me.  It was a little bumpy sometimes but fun.  I actually had to take my own temperature for one little girl because she was terrified and had no idea what the thermometer was.  Once I showed it she reluctantly let me put it in her mouth and get the reading.  There were a lot of teeth pulled but very little screaming or crying, and we saw a lot of little kids.  They’re tough.  I think they live with tooth pain for so long that the thought of pulling it and having the pain be gone is a happy prospect for them.

Another harrowing ride back with 11 of us standing in the back of a little Toyota pickup, prayer, dinner, clean up, and after dinner meeting/prayer stuff again.  But then we walked back to the hotel and the Red Sox were playing game 2 of the World Series against LA.  Which I was able to watch on the 1 tv at the hotel which is in the outdoor patio area.  Team members joined me for a little while, which was nice because normally we all separate at this time.  It was even nicer because the Sox won and now have a 2 game to 0 lead on LA.  Go Sox!

[mitasb-blog]

Camden Day 5

7:30am: My day woke to the sound of Janice’s soothing but urgent voice telling me it was 7:30am. Aww man. No time to do anything but quickly get my paint-stained pants and shirt on, pull a comb through my hair, and quickly run downstairs and make a turkey/egg/tortilla? combination of a sort for breakfast. Oh, and grab my “She Loves Me” libretto from my backpack to practice my lines—it would take a 30 min drive to get to the South New Jersey Food Bank and I wasn’t about to waste any time (esp since I hadn’t been super productive the night before. That’s what happens when you’re surrounded by so many cool people and have an urge to sing all the time :D )

9:00am: At the Food Bank, we are greeted by Riley, Amanda, Wendy, and Robert, whose Uber had arrived first. Our Uber driver had accidentally driven off without checking if all the doors were closed, so poor Janice had gotten a big scare when her leg was out the door. It was fine though—she was fine!! The Uber driver’s rating definitely wasn’t though.

9:30am: Robert and I were given a task to organize papers and old applications of elderly people in South Jersey who were applying to personal delivery service of food twice a month. In the process or organizing these papers, I learned how many people are waitlisted for this program! It’s unbelievable. Or also, the sadness of discovering that someone’s service was cancelled because they deceased, or their income level was too high. Additionally, the income levels of people asking for this service was very low. That was very surprising to me—a reality check about how little some people in Camden have.

11:00am: After organizing through piles of paper (and alphabetically!), Robert and I joined the Food Bank packaging line, where we were in charge of disassembling boxes. Although the line was slow at first, we quickly picked up haste and I learned how to keep a pile of milk cartons fully stocked for the person putting them in boxes. It was efficient, and as I stared at every milk box I passed to the person in front of me or box of wheat, I thought about every grandmother or grandfather that would be fed by these boxes. It was crazy, to think this much food would last them two weeks. That’s why I made sure, in haste, to make these boxes for them. Everyone who requested one should be able to get one!

4:00pm: A couple of hours of break. Eleane, Sharon, and I helped bake chicken! I burned my hand a little, but all was good. These were battle scars! Everyone said the chicken was a little too salty, but I thought it was perfect. I tried dipping my chicken into ketchup and mayo, but the garlic was enough to give it flavor and the dipping was unnecessary.

8:00pm: Walk toward Joe’s place. It was dark, and walking at night in Camden was something that I was not very hype about. While we were walking and I was having a very pleasant conversation with Robert, we were passed by a man who was wailing while riding his bicycle. From far away, his bike seemed to resemble a body, so for a very terrifying minute, I thought he was beating up somebody. But as we approached and he approached us, I realized he was on his bike and moving past us.

9:00pm: I hear Spanish being spoken from one of the tables in the shelter. Happily, knowing that I could connect with a couple of Hispanic people, I gravitated towards it and found two men: Hector and Walter [names changed for anonymity]. They proceeded to give me advice about college and how to be a responsible woman in the 21st century. One of them, Hector, was deeply Catholic and the other was Christian. They both, from their own faith perspectives, gave me advice as if they were my parents. Although I didn’t completely agree on everything they told me, I was grateful.

There was another man, Jose, that I had met earlier that week at the daytime shelter. He had told me at the time that his friends had left him in Camden and he was not sure where to go. He told me he was a cook, and that all of his family was back in Puebla, in Mexico. I had empathized with his story greatly, ignoring the parts he told me about spending all his money on alcohol. He was desperate and he was lost, I had thought. I had hoped the best for him and remembered him fondly.

It turns out, Jose was also in this night time shelter. The friends that were supposed to come pick him up had no appeared and, based on the fact that he was drunk and kept repeating different stories, I hypothesized that he had not told me the truth about a lot of his story. As the night went on and I realized Jose did not respect the fact that I wanted to talk to Hector and Walter and not just him, I began to politely distance myself from him. I did not feel comfortable, and was a little hurt��I had given him my trust, and he was behaving like a child. I was deeply disappointed.

9:30pm: Jose ignores me completely. At this time, the food he had left on my table to eat and the coffee he had made for me lay on the table uneaten, and he was at another table, talking to other people in a way that appeared to be aggressive. He promptly went outside after that, where I realized he was smoking with a couple of other friends. Were these the friends that maybe he said left him in Camden? Or were these friends that had given him the cigarette and alcohol that so deeply affected him? I’m not sure.

At the other table, my friends are having great conversations with other people in the shelter—until one man is disrespectful to my friend and we realize that we should leave. As we leave, the man follows us out of the shelter, and the manager of the shelter has to close the gate to keep him inside while we run out. At this time, all of us are very afraid, laughing to cover up the fear of being outside, at 10pm, in Camden, awaiting our ride.

10:15pm: Teresa arrives with her truck. 5 people squeeze in the back of the truck and try not to let the police see us—while me and Sharon sit in the seats. It’s a wild ride back home, Teresa laughing and everyone else, laughing definitely. I was afraid, but we were all together and thankfully we arrived home safely.

10:30pm: We arrive to CFET. We make smores, and hug each other. Being chased by a “slimy” guy, like we called him, and personally, being disappointed in a man that I thought was a friend, made me really sad. I had to talk to Riley that night to make sure I hadn’t done anything wrong—but eventually, all I remember of that night is the fact that service can be challenging sometimes.

When doing service, sometimes we ask ourselves, “How much do we give?” How much do we trust in the people that we were raised to be wary of, how much do we give to them and accept in return? Why categorize all the people we met on the trip according to two people’s bad behavior? Sometimes, I feel society sees people who are homeless as all mentally ill or disrespectful, like Jose and the man who chased us out of the shelter were. However, this overshadows the other people in these situations (one’s who are respectful, slowly working their way up out of their circumstances) that provide a very integral perspective about what is actually important in life. They appreciate and share every single thing they have, for they know what it is to have nothing!

For this reason, I am deeply grateful to have been able to go to the shelters. It was a little scary sometimes, but I was able to gain a perspective on reality that took me outside of the bubble of my life and allowed me to consider other people’s lives. I definitely recommend :)

-Luisa

[brownboymeetsworld]

Challenge #1 : My BORING LIFE

hey world, i am godie. eidog. dogie. iegod. dieeeeeeeeeeego. digo. defuego.

Me gusta la color rojo.

I have no life.

welcome to my bloggo. 

It is January.

30th.

not 2017. it’s 2018.

It is a Tuesday. 

The night before I was afterschool for a P.I.R (performance in the round - 15th event in the IHSA Speech State Series) in the up till 5:00 am doing APUSH homework and random algebraic equations

 Followed by some Netflix watching (One Day At A Time - good show).

 I do not know how, but I woke up at 7:20, a good ten minutes before the bus arrived, thank the respected God(s). Took 5 minutes to get ready, and I was my tired self, as usual. Ran down the stairs, grabbed my Iphone 4, NO HONEY NO  NOT  “4s”, I’m too broke for that Siri stuff. Plugged in my headphones, and did not worry about breakfast, because I do not eat it, until I get to school (as in I get breakfast at school). 

As I make my way out the door, me and my dog, Remi, make eye contact (he just woke up, because of my loud self) and then I dash out. Takes a minute to run to the bus stop, but yet I am still out of breathe. I’m not built for winter, almost died. ( i literally speedy Gonzalez down my street ).

 This old lady from the condos snitched on me to my Mom telling her I went to school wearing crocs. She’s a snake. 

Anyway, I get on the bus at 7:32 am and plop in the seat and sleep. It is now 7:45 when some random kid on the bus wakes me up to tell me we are at the school. He is a big trick for waking me up but it is okay. I’m such a bidget. (big bodied trick).

 So I get off the bus, sit next to Bree at the lunch table and set my stuff down and go get breakfast. THIS BIDGET security guard legit wants to fight me asking for my I.D when it was clearly on my neck, and on my way to get breakfast. So I pick up some two apple juices and a hot fudge poptart. Sat back down at the table, and ranted to Bree while devouring my breakfast. I throw away my breakfast at 8:05 and I keep forgetting thats when they dismiss the students from the cafeteria to go towards lockers and classes and what not.

 And lets just say a swarm of tricks of the Joliet West population ram into me as I’m trying to get my stuff from the table. 

I love my school.

 I retreive my stuff and head for upstairs G building and plug in my Spotify on my lego brick phone and drown my feelings into “Halo” by Beyonce. As I make my way up the stairs these bidget freshmen threw a football down the stair well and hit some girl and I’m guessing they are all friends speaking that the girl was not mad and just laughed the whole time, so I just kept making my way up.

I reach APUSH and I open the door to Mr.Lundeen’s class. My friend Trinity gave me a McDonalds hashbrown, and my day was better. So class happened. Decent day so far. Advanced Algebra with Mr.Almon comes next and so I was really thirsty for some reason and I went to the water fountain mid class, and when I came back I just stressed on math problems. Sadly, my life problems aren’t as easy as y=mx+b.

 Then I head off the my humble C building, and sing my emotions away in Choir. I pulled my phone out to record a specific part I thought my specific section needed to work on and showed DeBoer, so thanks to me we are now going to concentrate on that tomorrow, and I’m the bad guy for trying to make my section better? @all the groans and glares that they gave me. 

After such class, I headed to seek refuge in the little theater for 5A and 5B and drop my stuff off, while I go to the cafeteria before the rush comes, and get a pepperoni calzone with a light purple gatorade, and I guess thats my lunch, I mostly spend my time helping Mrs.Blake, or bothering her with ideas or Speech talks, or I just read off my Tumblr feed and listen to my musicals Spotify playlist. I am on the backstage couch, making myself at home, respectively. She has a study hall that period, so I just come and spread my presence.

 6th period came, so I had to go to Symphonic Band and break my mouth and lungs into Slavonic Rhapsody. Totally just go there to my death sentence, numbing my fingers, and stress from the fast chromatic runs we play in that demonic piece. It was fun until it hurts.

 7th period Drama 3 in the little theater eventually came and it was a blast. It is pretty much made up of speech kids, so we are talking in weird accents and what not, and my good mother Mrs.Blake tells us the agenda. 

My friend gives me some Ramen noodles to eat and (SHE PACKS A WHOLE FRIDGE) a flavored water lemon bottle.  She is a good woman. I put my physical energy into our group improv, and even eat my ramen during it. I dispose of the ramen in the garbage and keep the flavored water. I am drained, and now have to walk to English. 

 It was a typical school day. Class to class, doing my work.  To be completely honest, I never use my phone at school for texting or social media unless it’s during 5A and 5B. But, today, I didn’t or Snapchat (SHOOK - MY STREAKS) anyone till the last 5 minutes of 8th. I text my mom telling her I have speech rehearsal, and that settles it.

 The only time I do is to listen to so much music possible, in passing periods, when I work in class. I’m not really a big social media addict as I used to or like my many friends and peers. 

 Suprisingly, I ate alot today, I usually never get lunch, only on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and rarely breakfast, and then my friends were nice and fed me. Much love. 

Oh, and I still have that flavored water bottle. I then stayed after for a speech rehearsal (@little theater), my last one. It was a workout, but I very much enjoyed it. A progressive season it was. My event (Humorous Interpretation) requires me to cut a 365 character play or kids bop music video into 8 minute performance, and I play all the characters, change my stance, face, and voice. I was kidding about the 365 characters and  and kids bop video, but I do have to cut a one act or play of humor and theme into below 8 minutes, memorized, and practice the whole season and compete.

 I had the pleasure to choose “Chester, the Boy Who Painted the World Purple” by Marco Ramirez, it was not my best season, but it was amazing. Let me tell you, quickly popping into all the characters, changin my voice, face, and body position, makes me SWEAT. So, this is when I chug the flavored water bottle, and boy I felt good and proud. 

I now get picked up by my mom at 6:00pm. YEP, that’s right, from 3:30-6, I’m constantly running or rehearsing, maybe at times going to the bathroom or sitting and breathing and giving or taking notes from other people. So, I get home at 6:15, I sit down and do my homework till 8:00. 

I make some MacNCheese and pour some lemonade (MinuteMaid) into a nice mason jar. Concluding with an episode of One Day At A Time. 

Again, have not shockingly, touched my phone. Once I finished eating, I wash my dishes, take a quick shower, send my siblings to bed, and I go brush my teeth, and then set my stuff for tomorrow. This was between 9:00pm and 10:00 pm.

It is now 11:30 and I am typing this blog, in my bed,  and crying about college and plugged in Ultralight Beam by Kanye West, also thinking about how I will be a senior. Some scary stuff. I am now going to bed. Rest in Peace.

[kitcatcait]

Traveling adventures: July 17, 2016

My last 30 hours of travel home: I leave the hotel in a taxi the security people approve of. I get to the airport at 1:36pm for a 4:47pm flight. There is no one at the Volaris check in counter. I was told they'd be there at 2pm. So I start the line and hang out. 2:17pm people finally show up and about 5 minutes later check my bag in. I go through security easy and kill lots of time doing nothing. There's only four gates and I keep checking for my flight info. Nothing. Finally, as it's getting close to boarding time, it appears and says on time. Awesome. Suddenly it appears again and has estimated boarding 35 minutes delayed. I go to talk to someone at the counter. He says it's an hour delayed not leaving until after 6pm and his supervisor will come up to talk to me since I was concerned about the connection I have at 6:57pm. 20 minutes later a girl finally asks if I need something. I explain the situation, she looks it up on her computer and says the connection appears to be on time but maybe it's not updated, maybe it's delayed too and to just go on and wait to see, that it'll be fine. I land in Mexico City a few minutes before my connection is supposed to leave. I have hope. Then we sit on the runway for 15 minutes and that hope slips away but I remain optimistic. I tell the main guy at the door I have a connection that supposedly left 20 minutes ago at this point and he made a face then smiled and said he'd check on it but that it'll work out. The stairs finally pull up to the plane and when I get off he says to check with the representative at the bottom of the stairs. I ask that guy and he says he'll check but to go ahead and get on the bus. I get on the bus, it fills up, the guy walks away and the doors close. No answers. We are driven over to baggage claim/connections. I go up the stairs to connections and have to wait in line for security screening. Again. The guy manning the X-ray machine is on break apparently and all the other security officers are useless to answer any questions or do anything until he returns. I get through that and one person finally said "I don't work for Volaris, Miss, you'll have to go to their counter at the other end on the left." I walk a quarter mile and see an info booth in the middle, stop and ask that lady if the flight left or was delayed and what gate. She says it left an hour ago and told me to go to the Volaris booth almost another quarter of a mile away on the left. I finally get to the damn booth and the guy says he can't help me but to go down the flight of stairs, turn right, go past gate 12 then go down another flight of stairs, go left past baggage claims, exit through the doors go right and find gate 6. Wait, huh? So a girl comes over thinking his English was bad and tries again. Their directions were terrible. Well, probably fairly accurate but I couldn't comprehend them. I get down to baggage claim and see a Volaris booth at the very opposite end another quarter mile away and make my way there. The chick sitting there just glares at me, puts a finger up and gets a co-worker. He finally comes out and tells me to exit baggage claim, turn right, find gate 6 and they can help. I ask him about my checked bag since it was supposed to go straight through to my destination but we didn't make it in time for the connection... So where is it and should I pick it up? He said yeah maybe get it first but it'll be a 15 minute wait but maybe I should get the bag then go to the other booth at gate 6. I wait and everyone else's bags come and they turn off the conveyer. I panic a little wondering what the hell. At this point it's after 8:00pm, I haven't eaten since breakfast, I strategically used all but 37 pesos expecting to be on a flight home and I'm exhausted still hoping there's another flight out tonight. The guy from the counter a quarter mile away sees me asking the security guy about my bag and comes running over and says no to wait at baggage claim number 6 instead of 5 because my bag was in the connection area instead of with everyone else's. He can tell I'm getting frustrated and bordering on falling apart so he says to wait another 10-15 minutes and he'd go track it down. I show him my little bag and said it's the big version he's looking for and he leaves. Eventually he comes back and goes through security, says it's there, points to the other baggage area where I see nothing coming out. He then decides that it was a bad idea to point at nothing since I'm a little fragile and he walks over there to get it for me from behind the rubber tassel things. I thank him profusely, fighting back tears, clarify where I go to get my flight changed and exit to turn right and find gate 6. Apparently I was at gate 1 and had a looooooong way to go. Plus, I might add, they weren't really gates, they were exit ports on to the street that were kind of well marked but I didn't know what I was looking at since they weren't gates per say. So I walk for what seems like a mile and see a Volaris counter. Eureka! I show the girl my boarding passes and ask for assistance and she says I need to go down to gate 6. Are you bloody serious?! I haven't seen a gate number yet but apparently it's down there somewhere. I ask her to be more specific with her directions and include landmarks because this is getting ridiculous. She says to go past the escalator and on the right is Volaris across from Viva or something and they can help at that counter. I finally find this illusive place and ask the guy greeting people, tell him my situation, show him my boarding passes. He says just a minute and takes them then wanders around with them for 5-10 minutes talking to people, greeting people and doing other things. Finally he gives them to a girl (8:30pm) and she asks for my passport and says it'll take a while and leaves!!!! With all my important documents!!! Like left the counter and wandered down towards the direction I had come from into never never land. I try not to panic too much and have faith she'll work things out while whatsapping my concerns to my folks which helped to vent a little. 20 minutes later she comes back and says she has my boarding pass for the same flight 24 hours later and that it's the only flight daily, nothing sooner. Ugh. Heart sank a little. Then she says the airline will put me up in the hotel Camino Real attached to the airport, feed me and I'll check in for my flight tomorrow. A little better. I sign her form, take my copy and her instructions to go up the escalator, turn left, go down to the second bridge and take it across to the hotel, give them the paperwork and settle in for the night. I'm thinking, okay, maybe I can do some exploring around Mexico City and things will be fine. I follow her directions, get all my crap to the hotel and the guy says that the form she gave me from Volaris needs to be stamped over the signature and that they can't take it. Are you kidding me right now?! It's after 9pm, I'm exhausted and I almost fall apart on this poor guy. I tell him I'm exhausted. Take a deep breath and I ask what I need to do. He says go back to the booth and have them stamp it. I asked if there was any other way around it, that I can't even bear the thought of going back over there, he said no he needs it stamped and that's the only way. I must have looked like I was about to clock him because he quickly signaled for the concierge to come over and offered to have them hold my bags while I went back. Well, thank goodness for minimally small favors! I take my purse and little backpack, leave the big and little luggage there and make my trek back to the damn counter by gate 6 which has become my nemesis. I tell a different girl at the counter now the situation. She looks about as dumbfounded as I am, then she realizes what I'm saying and what's missing but can't seem to locate the bloody stamp. The girl who originally helped me joins the party (there are like 6 employees at the counter) and the one with my paper looking for a stamp shows her it wasn't stamped. They stamp it, she gives it to the girl to give it to me and she says "sorry Miss." Yeah. Sigh. Thanks. The coworker giggled and made the hand motion like she was smacking her around for screwing up. They all giggle. I try to find it funny but can only muster a smirk and an eye roll as I leave with the stamped form to make my way up the escalator, down the walkway, across the second bridge, back to the hotel and wait in line to be checked in. Some random dude is standing in the middle of nowhere acting like he's been there all night and no one was in line and he's next...and cuts in front of me. Fucking figures. Whatever. Some new lady helps me check in, says to give my room number to the food places and they'll be billed to Volaris. I ask her about my bags that were being held there at the counter and she looks at me like I have two heads and said she doesn't have my bags. Meanwhile my first guy had come to make sure I got the correct stamp on the form and wandered off, so I told her to ask him where the bags are. She did, he got someone to bring them out to me and I go up to find my room. 6th floor, farthest far corner from the elevator, overlooking the street and airport. Noisy and smelled super musky. Whatever. I go down to eat. It's about 9:45pm. They give me a menu. Then when I say Volaris is paying they ask my room number, take the good menu away and give me a crappier menu. I couldn't make this shit up. Fine. I order, I eat, I go up to my room about 11:30pm to crash. My checked luggage had been zip tied together, there was no way I was getting into it. Plus my clothes inside had been carefully bagged because a previous room had bed bugs and I didn't want to risk any stowaways or eggs so I bagged all the clothes up tight anyway. I slept in what I wore all day. Awesome. I was awakened at 8am by housekeeping entering my room "Buenas Dias!" I grumbled something and she left. Then at 9:30am housekeeping broke in again and I grumbled something else and she left but I couldn't get back to sleep although I tried. The Frida/Diego museum I wanted to see was a half hour away per maps, opened at 10, I'd have to find a taxi and pesos since my 37 pesos wouldn't cut it. I still needed to eat and clean up and check out by 1pm. They wouldn't give me a later check out without another voucher from the Volaris counter at gate 6 and let me tell you how badly I wanted to go back down there! So I blew off Frida. I went down to the lobby, asked someone at the counter for scissors to cut off the zip tie on my luggage, who reluctantly let me borrow them. I went back to my room, cut off the zip tie I had earlier tried to nibble off with my teeth, laid on the bed with a cold wash cloth on the puffy eyes and relaxed a bit. I put coconut oil on my peeling face, went downstairs to return the scissors and get breakfast. It's about 10:30am. It's a buffet and the food was good. The girl gave me a table and put a ticket there with my room number and Volaris on it. I go look around, the chilaquiles were out so I asked a guy to refill it, wait, finally get those but no protein on them so I wait for the custom omelette/scrambled egg guy who thinks I want mushrooms not bell peppers so he had to remake it. I finally go to my table and the lady is seating someone else there. I just put my stuff down and sit, she realizes her mistake and leaves. I eat my now cold chilaquiles and scrambled eggs. Then I get up to get something else and a guy rushes over with my tab. I tell him I'm going to get fruit and I'll deal with that later. I get juice and fruit, sign the tab, try to relax, grab a churro and then head to my room to clean up. Another cold wash cloth on my puffy eyes, shower, same clothes I've been wearing for 24 hours, minimal makeup and more coconut oil all over my sunburned/peeling body. It's 12:30pm so I laid down until I had to check out at 1pm. I take all my crap down, check out and sit on a chair with all my bags around me and use their wifi for a couple hours. I make my way across the bridge to the airport, go to the Volaris counter and apparently it was the domestic flight counter not international counter so I'm sent another half mile away back upstairs. I finally get there, check my bag, get a temporary gate number to check in at and find out my actual gate number 50 minutes before the flight (WTF) then make my way through security. Apparently the little onyx lamp I got looks suspicious in the X-ray machine and they asked if I was bringing someone's ashes back. They did a chemical test swab, scolded me for checking my voicemail while waiting, then I opened up my bag, showed him which souvenir bag was the lamp, he unwrapped it. He and his coworker admired it. Then he put it back half-assed so I had him wrap it better, and he sent me on my way. Oh joy. I get to my temporary gate, chat with a friend who is moving to Hawaii via whatsapp which can be a challenge in and of itself, get my actual gate number and it's in a whole different wing. I make the trek over there, charge my phone and wait. Of course it doesn't board on time, someone says their gate was moved so I gather my stuff and go ask at the counter if it's still the right gate. The guy says yes it's the right gate so I wait. They announce everything in Spanish which is to my disadvantage since I only understand about 1/4 of what's being said. I hear the flight number, I heard the zone so I gave the lady my boarding pass to get on. She said zone 4 hadn't been announced. I said I just heard all zones, she said I had to wait. I move aside. Then I heard two lines so I got in the one closest to me. Well, that was a connection line to be searched apparently and I needed to be in the other line since I had a direct flight boarding pass. Of course! So I march to the end of that line 40+ people deep. I finally get on the plane 24 hours later and the customs form for the US I have to fill out to claim stuff etc I get from the airline is in Spanish and when I ask for it in English they say they have to track down an English form for me at the back of the plane like it's a huge inconvenience, but I have learned I sure as hell don't trust my limited Spanish well enough to complete the form accurately and sign my life away in Spanish. Good grief. It's been a super fun adventure but it'll be nice to be home! I was the third off the plane, first through customs, then waited 20+ minutes for my bag to arrive. I wait in line about 30 people deep for the bag check to exit. I get to the bag check lady, told her the only food I have are tamarindo candies and she told be to get out of there! Off I went. I went out to the curb and sent my request for an uber ride to Alameda. I make my way out of terminal 1 to section 2E which is set up only for app rides. As I walk up rolling my bags along, I hear a guy yelling at his lyft driver "We are here, where we are supposed to be for app drivers but you aren't here! Where the hell are you?! Everyone else is here but you! I'm the guy raging mad in a green shirt and my girls are in pink. Yeah. Okay. I'll still be here waiting for you!" I chuckle and wander down to the ladies in the yellow vests working and say "You girls must see it all here on this curb! I hope you write a book!" They laughed and said "Girl, you have no idea!" Well, I'm pretty sure I do, actually! So I wander back and track my uber guy on my phone...1 minutes away and right next to me...but he's not there. He calls. We talk, I ask him if his car is blue. I see him through the glass wall at the first curb looking over his right shoulder for me. I tell him to look left, the other left, turn around.... I wave to him so he sees me and direct him to loop around to the second curb to 2E. I watch him loop around on my app. Then he pulls up to the third curb and gets out of car and comes to the 4+ foot high fence and waves. The ladies crack up laughing and say "Oh my gawd, he's over there now! How'd he get there? I even heard you tell him directions!" I crack up and say "Sorry, girls! I hope it's okay that I hop the fence or I'll be here all night! Add this to your book!" And I wheel my bags across the road, heave my 55 pound bag and carry on bag over the fence, climb up and hop over and off we went! Turns out this was his first day and he had never been to the Oakland Airport! Hilarious. We finally find my car, I get my key from the hiding place, load up and hit the road. 80 miles until my gas tank is empty. Well this could get exciting but I have zero desire to stop for gas at this point so I make the trek home. When I was 8 miles from home, I had 5 miles to empty so I stopped for gas at a place that keeps their pumps on all night thankfully. I made it home just after midnight and boy was I happy to see my parents (who chatted with me on the way home and waited up for me next door to greet me) and my sweet cat! What a couple days of travel!