Christmas 2007

I wonder what's inside!? This pretty much sums up the ridiculousness of my family. We stopped pretending that we are normal a long time ago.

Ooops...

I was supposed to take a teaspoon of cough syrup not a tablespoon. I didn't think cough syrup was supposed to be that much fun.

Goals for tomorrow:

1. Get out of bed.

2. Get to the airport.

3. Make it to Houston. alive.

4. Find car.

5. Drive home.

6. Get back in bed.

"You're medically boring."

Thank you, Dr. Waddell. This was his conclusion after reading my medical history chart. Then he checked me over and concluded that I have a sinus infection, the flu, and bronchitis. But let's start this story from the beginning.

A clue that I may not be feeling well is when I can't eat all that I ordered from Taco Bell. When there are leftovers around me, you know something is wrong. So on Sunday I wasn't feeling well. We (my family and I) were supposed to leave for Texas on Christmas day. But on that day I can't get out of bed, I have a temperature over 102 and can barely breathe. So my mom sets a massive bottle of Tylenol on my dresser and tells me to catch the next flight to Texas. They leave. Tylenol only made the fever go away. After 2 days of feeling like a bus hit me. twice. I decide to make a doctor's appointment. Random selection of doctor. After many phone calls (no one wants new patients) I find a doctor and have to get directions which goes like this:

"Are you coming from the Boulevard or the Shore?"
"What's the Boulevard?"
"Umm...Virginia Beach Boulevard"
"Oh, I dunno. I'm in a house...in a neighborhood.... Cypress Point. I think.... There's a golf course. Ummm"
"What's the name of your street?"
"Uh....good question...let me go check the mail. Actually I'll just mapquest this."
"Good idea."

So I get in a car that I've never driven to a part of town I've never been as I'm coughing up a lung and it's pouring down rain and 30 degrees. Dr. Wadell was cool. He walks in and we start talking and I realize that he's Australian. So I wanted to say something, but what would I say? "So...you're Australian." That'd be like him saying..."so you're sick." Maybe I could ask what part of Australia he's from. But I don't know anything about Australia. Keep your mouth shut, Melissa. I had to keep telling myself this over and over. We chatted for over an hour, partly because he had a good sense of humor, but mostly because I was his only patient the day after Christmas. All of a sudden, I realize that he's not Australian. Not even a little bit. He checks me out and determines that I am need of several medications:

1. Z Pack. BOR-ING. Ok, Dr. Wad-DULL, don't be so obvious.
2. some kind of nasal spray from outer space. This stuff is ridiculous. It's like snorting Vaporub. He told me that people get addicted to it and gave me a lecture for about 15 minutes. I really don't want to go to rehab for nasal spray. How embarrassing.
3. Cough syrup. No no no. I don't do cough syrup, Dr. Waddell. When he assures me that this cough syrup is laced with Vicodin, then I knew he was the greatest doctor on the planet.

After setting off the car alarm at Walgreens(while I'm in the car) I told the pharmacist that I would wait for my prescriptions so I don't have to come back here and get lost again. I spent over $100 on prescriptions, soup, and vitamin water.

So I get home to play with the medication. The cough syrup looks like what I kept coughing up. NASTY! But I pour it in a shot glass to psych myself up and chant VICODIN! VICODIN! and chase it with Vitamin water. WOOOHOOO!!! I was ready to PAR-TAY!

Needless to say, I'm feeling alot better today. Not totally well, but much better.

Are we still in high school??

I just have to ask. Due to all the latest drama I need to know....are we adults living in adult world? or is this high school part 2?

by the way, my mom sent me a text a few days ago that said:

"ideas for christmas gifts. HSM2?"

YES!!! I love it. I love HSM and even more HSM2, but I don't want to be in high school again. ever.

Killarney

Ummm...not sure what to say about this town. It was cute. Maybe my favorite town. Not alot going on, but very quiet and quaint. We took a bus tour of the Ring of Kerry, walked around the town a little, and hung out at the cutest hostel ever made called the Sugan.

Inside the Sugan.

On the side of the road. Stuff like this is everwhere in Ireland. Random remains of castles.

We had lunch here.

Blarney....not baloney

What they don't tell you about the Blarney Stone is that in order to get to it you have to put your life in danger and climb a 30000 year old castle that is falling apart. It was pretty scary at some points. Being the clumsiest person alive, I'm very thankful that I didn't fall. And yes, people have fallen and died. But it's all worth it to kiss the stone and receive the gift of eloquence. Which I obviously didn't need to do.

I'm glad I didn't fall.
Yeah, try walking on that.

All for this stone. It looks like I'm crying, but I'm really laughing. I think. Maybe I was crying.

View from the top.

You think you know...but you have no idea.

Let's just say that we had a little plumbing issue early this morning. New carpet will be in order for tomorrow for just about 1/2 of the apartment. As I was standing in 3 inches of water this morning, I was wondering what is God trying to teach me? (Actually, let's be honest. I was thinking 'what is God doing to me?') So I did what I always do in a stressful situation. Called my school for a sub. Went to CVS and overloaded on peanut hershey kisses and diet dr. pepper. Life is a little better now.

The craic was mighty!!

That means that I had a good time in Ireland. Craic= good times, fun. So you could ask "where's the good craic?" and they would tell you. And yes it's pronounced like "crack". I was only there for 7 days but I saw most of the country. There's alot to tell so I'm going to try to go in sequential order.

Arrived in Dublin. Took the bus to Cork. Hid my camera and tried to act like I wasn't a tourist. Sorry no pictures to display at this point. However, I did encounter a little culture shock. At the airport I was walking through baggage claim and there was an Irish lady pushing a cart and shouting "RUDE!" and pointed at each person she was passing. I tried desperately to get out of her way, but of course I jumped right in her path of craziness and she pointed and shouted "RUDE!" at me. I'm thinking, wow, are all the Irish like this? Luckily, I got out of Crazy Town and several nice people helped me find my way to the bus station and even one lady let me use her phone when I couldn't figure out how to use my phone card to call my sister.

So I get on the bus and it's pretty nice. We stopped along the way for a restroom/food break at a place that would be equivalent to a gas station but no gas. As I am leaving the restroom, I run into another Irish lady. She stops me and says, "teeelets." ummm, okay. So I smile and say hi. And she looks very confused and says, "do you know where?" Umm. "Excuse me?" "Teeelets?" "I'm not sure." She looks very angry at this point. "Teelets??!!" "I'm sorry, I really don't know what you are asking. Are you asking for the restroom? Toilets?" "NO! TEELETS!!" Oh, my gosh. I'm obviously not from here. Doesn't my obnoxious American accent tell you anything? However, this doesn't seem to deter her from getting louder. "Well, if you are looking for the toilets, it's right there." I point to the massive sign that says "Toilets". She says, "are you sure?" "YES. Very sure." So toilets is what you say instead of restroom. But it's pronounced Teelets. We definitely speak the same language. This is going to be harder than I thought.


Imagine all the stereotypes you have about the Irish and what Ireland is like and that is what it is. The men look like rugby players, they curse ALOT, they say inappropriate things ALOT, there are A LOT of pubs, everyone looks the same, Feck is their favorite word (yes, that is how they pronounce it), there are lots of red heads, old men walk with canes and little Jack Russell dogs, all beer comes in a pint, it's rainy and/or cloudy most of the time, there are random old castles on the side of the road everywhere, potatoes are served with every meal.

This is Katie. She is the youngest of the kids and she is obsessed with pink. She also came into my room and told me that it was messy and proceeded to pack my suitcase for me. Her favorite game is "what's this". She asked her mom what color I was, hoping that I would be pink. As you can see from the picture, she's a little diva.

Here are some pics of Cork.

To be continued......

I have a few hopes and dreams for Ireland. These are the things I want to accomplish while there:

1. Capture a leprechaun. Ok, or just see one.

2. Learn new Irish words and phrases. That won't be the hard part. But using them correctly might be.

3. Have someone refer to me as a lassie. hahaha I dunno.

4. Find a pot of gold.

5. Kiss the Blarney stone.

6. Go to a real Irish pub.

7. Go to mass at St. Patrick's church. I've never been to mass before so I'm not sure what to expect.

8. Not get robbed or stabbed.

Dear Hershey Chocolate Company,

Stop making new delicious flavors. You are ruining my life.

Melissa

my boring life

So I was thinking about how boring my life is and how I want to move to a new and exciting city. But then I realized that I was at Target buying items to make a karate costume for a pig.

Maybe my life isn't as boring as I think. I'll explain more on Friday about that. There will be pictures too if I can remember to bring my camera.

What I'm obsessed with...

Most of you know that I get really obsessed with certain things for a short amount of time until something new comes along and needs to be obsessed about. These are my latest obsessions.

1. reading biographies...mostly about missionaries that lived a long time ago like William Carey, Amy Carmicheal and Patrick of Ireland (yeah, took me awhile to figure out that was ST. Patrick. He was really interesting.)

2. the candy corn pumpkins! I dream about these all year long and now it's the only time of year when I can justify eating an entire bag of them. you know it's an obsession when caroline and i break into nicole's classroom just to steal some of these pumpkins from her estimation jar. oops! your class might need to re-estimate that.

3. running. I feel really weird when I skip a day. so I even ran the 1/2 marathon with a fever yesterday. probably why I'm home sick today.

4. Jimmy Eat World's new cd. "Chase this Light" I listen to it about twice a day. I think that justifies an obsession.

5. Looking up international schools and then researching the city and getting obsessed about it. Currently I am obsessed with Cairo. I just go over my obsession with Madrid.

6. My trip to Ireland!! Yes, it's really happening. 20 more days!

"Keep Austin Weird"

I think the photos pretty much sum up the trip. Good times had by all.

my burfday

Thanks girls, for celebrating with me!

Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat??!!! Best idea EVER!


This might be why I am single.

Thanks Em, for putting this all together. I know those hostess chicks gave you a hard time. Maybe next year I'll just celebrate at Taco Bell and we can bring our own cotton candy on fire.

My heart belongs to.....

The concert last tuesday was amazing. As usual. This was the 3rd or 4th time to see Dashboard and he gets better every time.

More Birthday Cards

"You are totally perfect excpet for nine or ten things. Definitely 10. Happy 27th! Send me an Asian!"

--(I'll let you figure out who sent this one. )

birthday card

"Happy Birthday! We love you! Come to see us when you can. I bake chocolate chip cookies."
--grandma and grandpa

I'm glad my grandma reminded me that she bakes chocolate chip cookies. Just in case I forgot.

what I want for my bday.....

Oh whatever.....

So I'm supposed to fill this thing out or whatever. Thanks for picking me, Em. This is all for you.

1. What were you doing 10 years ago? Let's see...starting my junior year of high school. oh joy. Probably doing the same thing I do now....only instead of being in school, I teach it now. My best friends were Jay and Courtney Hunt. Weird.

2. What were you doing 5 years ago? That was my first senior year....loved it!!! I hung out alot with those crazy boy neighbors upstairs. Loved them! Best year of college! Wait, no. 2002 was when I lived with Steph and Caroline and started dating Thom. Not my favorite year. But it was fun. My best friends were Hanna and Greg and Charlie. Hmmm. interesting.

3. What were you doing 1 year ago? Teaching 4th grade at a different school. My teaching partner just quit and I was super stressed about work. I had the worst kids on the planet and ran out the door every day at 3:15.

4. What did you do yesterday? Ran 4 miles at 5AM. Taught 7 year olds about self-control and subtraction. Stayed late at school organizing everything until 7:45pm. I need a life.

5. Snacks I enjoy ... pretty much everything that is edible. That chocolate cake I had yesterday was pretty good. I really like apples too. I dunno.

6. Things I would do with $100 million dollars ... honestly?? I would probably waste it just like I do with all the other money I had. But if I was being responsible....give lots away to good mission organizations like Door of Hope and Compassion International, etc. Pay off Reba's med school debt. And build a bigger orphanage than Oprah did in Africa. Not really, I'd just buy alot of cute shoes.

7. Locations I would run to ... Greece, Antarctica, Australia, Switzerland, South Africa, Peru.

8. Bad habits I have ... not calling people back. sorry! and procrastination in general.

9. Things I like to do: run, read, sleep, laugh. basic stuff. oh, and I LOVE snowboarding and wake boarding. The beach. Traveling. Having really good conversations with really good friends.

10. Biggest joy of the moment: Grace

18 more days until my birfday..... yay!