red wine

red wine tastes like italy.

red wine smells like italy too.

i had montepulciano vino tonight and i am the happiest and saddest i've been since leaving italy. today was cheryl's birthday and we went to carrabba's to celebrate. looking at the menu i noticed the wine and begged my parents for a glass.

amazingly, they agreed.

and in that one glass of wine, in that hour long meal, everything came back. plain olive oil and hard bread, luke warm water, the time lauren spilt her wine across the table and onto my leg, drinking vino in the caffe with jenny and the rest of the art kids, laughing and talking and walking on the corso at night.



fuck.

plica syndrome

from webmd:

Plica syndrome consists of irritation and inflammation of the plica. The plica is a band of remnant synovial tissue (a thin, slippery material that lines all of the joints) that is left over from the earliest stages of fetal development. Generally, as a fetus matures, these tissue pouch remnants come together to form one large cavity—the synovial cavity—within the knee. However, in some people the plica does not fuse completely, leaving four folds or bands of plica within the knee instead of one combined cavity.

Overuse and injury may inflame the plica. If you suffer from plica syndrome, you will experience pain, swelling, a clicking sensation, locking, and weakness in your knee.


so apparently i have this and in return i get a nice little $150 knee brace. asked if i could do crew in the fall and he said yes, as long as i keep taking the medicine, wear the brace when running, etc and i need to stop if i feel any pain or feel it worsening.

mom and dad don't want me to do crew. say i'll screw up my knee and i'll pay for it when i'm older and that i should take a semester off at least. as soon as dad started talking about health insurance i walked out of the room.

the house...is a mess

i get back from my week long hiatus expecting most of the carpet and kitchen floor to be replaced only to find that it's not and the house smells and i can't stop fucking sneezing.

here's some pictures to describe to you what's going on right now:


there used to be carpet on those stairs. taken this morning, the scene looks much different now though still no where near done.


just another look at the hideous floor we are getting replaced. thank God.



the dining room is overrun with wedding things and books


that's it for now. the pictures of the finished product will be put up who knows when.

atlanta, alpharetta, athens

got to visit people this week!

some occurances and observations from my trip:

atlanta:

went crazy at IKEA, the best store ever (thank you erin!) and bought a ton of stuff for my room in athens.
drank a bottle of ($3) wine and watched movies on a huge ass screen and met some cool people, but pirate joe was a no-show.
a twin bed is made for one person, not two.

alpharetta:

alpharetta is...clean. the only reason they have sidewalks is for people who jog and walk their well groomed dogs. the sidewalks in macon and the sidewalks in alpharetta serve two different purposes.

in short, i hate alpharetta and love it at the same time. i wish i lived there but i'm glad i don't. with hardly any crime and perfect lawns it kinda freaks me out.

but aside from these first impressions i loved visiting amy and david. this visit consisted of trivia at willie mcgees, going to IKEA and little 5 (it rained, but i love storms) and then ate at steak 'n shake (which i haven't done in ages). watched taxi which was surprisingly funny and then left the next morning to...

athens:

picked up some paint, but didn't paint my room
got my health records for my appointment here on monday (for the knee)
talked to erin about the house and what we want to do with it/pet peeves/etc.

it's here i realized that i didn't want to stay in athens thursday night and went back to alpharetta

alpharetta (again):

more trivia with amy! and pennington! wasn't as good as willie mcgees, but trivia is trivia and i always learn something new.

more hanging out with amy and then back here to grand ol' macon. all in all a great trip.

harry potter and the half blood prince

after deciding that b&n was NOT worth the wait to get the 6th harry potter book i went across the street to kroger, talked to a lot of cool people, and purchased my book right at 12:02am. then i scurried back to b&n to get my dad, who was lost in the throngs of children and adult fans alike.

i then stayed up until 6:30 reading the book, finally passing out due to exaushtion, only to wake up 6 hours later and start reading again. i am now happy to say that i finished the damned thing earlier today around 5pm.

since i can't really talk about the book on this blog, go to my other one instead if you want to read spoilers, etc.

---

the painting is going okay. only the kitchen left now, so that'll be all day tomorrow. mom and dad are starting to get to each other lately. word of advice to all men out there: never ever tell your wife to "relax" or "calm down" in a condesending tone. it's like adding fule to an already raging fire.

"the human torch was denied a bank loan"

i've gotten my mom hooked on anchorman. she has yet to finish the movie but keeps asking me about it, desperately wanting to see the rest.

this makes me very happy. anchorman is a classic. now i just need to get my hands on wake up, ron burgundy: the lost movie.

for anyone that likes subway

amy, an employee at Subway (THE multinational restaurant franchise that sells sandwiches and salads) has bestowed to me information she deems essential for every customer to know. take heed, subway lovers! abide by these rules if you don't want your sub spit in when you're trying to decide between baked lays and doritos.


--DON'T get "everything" on your sandwich, particularly if you're going to say "Oh-- I meant everything but pickles" right after I pile on the pickles.
--DON'T order anything I find gross-- this includes but is not limited to the veggie patties, the meatballs, and the disgusting looking "seafood blend."
--DON'T get a footlong because they take longer to make.
--DON'T get one of the messy breads because I just wiped the damn counter down.
--DON'T order more than one sandwich.
--DON'T ask me what shit is.
--DON'T ask me how much shit costs. Actually, don't order anything at all. Or if you must, just order a medium drink or something."

the fastest hour

the fastest hour is from 11:05pm and 12:05am.

during this sixty minute period time speeds up at an amazing rate. i keep thinking the clocks in the house are playing tricks on me, but no; an hour has passed and i seem to have missed it.

it's been like this for the past week or so-- i happen to glance at the clock and it's 11:05 and the next time i look a hour has passed. why does this time pass so quickly? i'm not doing anything terribly exciting. the past couple of nights have been spent reading and before that it was a movie or talking with someone. i thought the expression was "time flies when you're having fun." "fun" has not been the adjective of choice for late nights since i've been back. more like "bland."

i'm slightly disappointed, to tell the truth. i almost feel like i'm being cheated by time. like people who race through things the closer they get to the end, i feel like time is rushing the day's last hour so it can start all over again and relax.

i should be thankful though. some people would love to have time fly by for them. maybe i'm just fortunate enough to have time look out for me. it knows how much i want to get out of here and back to my friends and to my new home.

huh, i think i just went through the five steps of healing. shock (wow, look how fast the time went by), denial (did that really happen? i can't believe it's been an hour), anger (i want my time back), acceptance (can't do anything about it). check, check, check, check. yea, i went through them all.

.....

do you ever get the feeling like you're waiting for something? i can't seem to shake the feeling. the past couple of nights i've had this dream (more like a snippet, really) and all i can remember is looking at a calendar and seeing the date July 21st. is something supposed to happen on that date? to me, or to someone else? something big or something small? what the dream dictionary says:

calendar: most dreams involving calendars signify gradual reduction of worries. it also denotes that you are well-organized and well-prepared

july: to dream of the month of july foretells of gloomy outlooks followed by unexpected pleasure and good fortune.

twenty-one: the number twenty-one represents a turning point in your life and your transitional into adulthood. it is also associated with the responsibilities that you need to own up to.

hmm...so all in all things aren't looking too good but they'll get better. on top of that i'm becoming an adult and need to embrace the obligations that come with that title. sounds about right, but something is still missing. guess i'll have to wait until the 21st to find out what.

late night entertainment

Bush bruised in bicycle crash





just another reason to avoid pretzels, i suppose. and bikes, and water, and air...

independence (day)

independent (n) : free from the influence, guidance, or control of another or others; self-reliant: an independent mind.

if one more person makes the crack that i couldn't find a church in italy i will scream. this all started the first week i was there and mom asked if i had gone to church. i said "no, i couldn't find a church" MEANING that i didn't have mass times and didn't go. after the first week i realized that i didn't want to go at all, so i didn't.

but of course she has to tell someone else, and then it spreads like fire throughout this family. people apparently think it's funny to remind me that i didn't go to church while i was there. "you couldn't find a church in italy? hahaha. isn't the whole country catholic? ohh, karen."

ohh you. go fuck yourself.

this comment keeps being thrown back at me everyday, about three times a day. i'm thisclose to killing someone or storming out and stealing the car. kevin and ryan could care less, but it's the adults that are getting to me, especially mom. i love the woman to death, but i'm about to blow up at her and say that i hate church and never want to go again.

i take that back. i don't hate church, i just think it's unncessary for me at the present time. i believe what i believe and i don't need a congregation or music or Bible readings to tell me anything different. i've been like this since last summer. if i want to go i'll go.

i'm waiting for mom and dad to give me a talk, especially after yesterdays church. kevin, ryan, and i came in late and dad gave me (what i would deem) a very stern look and mom 'joked' that i would have to stay for the next one to make up for my tardiness.

she hoped that italy would rub off on me and i'd come back more...catholic, i guess. instead i came back even less devoted than before. ha.


happy fourth of july. tonight will consist of a huge cookout (25+ people), fireworks, drinking, and an all-around great time with the family. i love coming here.

off to the great state of ohio!

i've been up since 7. i've gotten ready, packed, and cooked breakfast for everyone (mmm...blueberry muffins). i've been ready to leave for an hour and a half.

is anyone else ready? of course not.

and on top of that mom wants to stop at the "carpet capital of the world" aka dalton, ga.

trips to cincinnati always went like this. we would always say that we were going to get up early, but that always fell through. mom has this thing where the house has to be clean and tidy when we leave, so that if we die and people come to the house it won't look like shit. that and the idea it's nice to come home to a clean house after a vacation.

but then there's the stops. i have never made it to my cousins house before 10 at night on the day we leave because of all the freakin stops we make at historical sites and indian reservations along the way. and then we always have to stop at the smokies (solely based on fact that it's family tradition). i don't like to beg, but this morning i pleaded with my parents to make this trip a straight shot. i also asked to drive (to which my dad began to cackle like mad). i haven't seen kevin or erin in the longest time and i miss them terribly. i know i'll see them for the wedding, but the 4th with my cousins is always fun. kevin's grilling and fireworks-- what more could a girl want?



.....

i just realized that i'm starting to write in this like an actual journal. finally.