Last year, a month or so before my sister's birthday, she sent me a link to an L.L. Bean bag that she really, really wanted. Because I know when to take a hint, and because I'm a good sister, I got her the bag as a birthday gift, and kept the travel coffee mug that I had originally gotten her to engrave with the name of the college that we went to for myself, and actually, this year, I use it regularly. Anyway, I opened my campus mailbox on day and found that I had a package, from Heather, and it was a cloth-covered mead notebook with a ribbon for a place holder. Inside the front cover was a simple note that read:
Molly Louise
Just because. You know how it goes.
By the way - I ADORE my new bag!! [There is a smiley face made from the exclamation points.] It Rocks.
See you soon.
LOVE YOU!
Heather
I taped that note inside the front cover so that whenever I opened it, I would see it, read it, and know that my sister is always with me. As for the notebook itself - I debated having it for a poetry book, and instead, actually, because it seemed fitting, settled on using it for a journal. I don't remember to empty my head every day; there are some things that need to rattle around for a little more, ferment a little better before they get dumped out. There are occasions when I update regularly [much like the blog, if you could see that comparison] and there are times when I forget that it's there. There is a side of me in those pages that is deeper, and a little more personal than the blog that I'm currently typing [and you're currently reading]. And that's the way it should be.
However, there are times when I bare as much of myself as possible [not in that sense, thank you very much] and give people a little more depth to me that I might otherwise not let you see. Then again, that's probably just me.
I actually got this idea from Connie, over at The Young and the Relentless, which was inspired by her Connie Diaries, which are snippets of her younger days from (I'm assuming) her diary.
I've given you snippets about what happened in Philadelphia last summer, but I haven't actually given you the whole story. And, as a prelude to a post that's still rattling around in my head that might take a little while to actually hash out, I wanted to share with you something more personal, and slightly out of the archive. So, instead of me telling you what happened in Philly, and making it all nice and pretty and snarky in places, I'm going to give you the "original" version. Which, for the most part, is nice and pretty and snarky in all the right places naturally. But you get the idea.
And maybe kickstart a new series in the process. No idea about that, though, because I don't censor my language as much in the journal as I do on here, mostly because I should be [except on occasions like this] the only person who reads said journal] and I try to keep the blog as family-friendly [teenie-bopper-and-up-friendly] as possible. I try, which isn't the same as succeeding, but I do try and for the most part, haven't failed epically yet. Yay! Points for the home team.
Oh, and anybody playing with the idea of keeping a journal or a diary? Do it. Find yourself a comfortable place to write things [I'm talking about the book or notebook, and if you're like me and can't write on a blank, lineless page without slanting, then get one with lines, there's no shame] because it's a marvelous thing to have to track your emotional and personal trials, tribulations, and growth. Also, those vacation memories you have, the stories that don't necessarily correspond to the pictures, this is how you remember them. Sometimes I wish I had done a better job of writing about things while I was in Hawaii, New Zealand, and Australia, but, I was twelve at the time and it didn't seem like that big a deal. And who knows? Twenty years from now, if I ever have kids [or grandkids, which is a really scary thought] they can read about the adventures [the good ones and the no-so-good ones] that I had when I was their age [or a little older]. Might even be a trip down Memory Lane worth strolling someday.
The Point: Keep some sort of journal or diary. Trust me, it's a good thing.
So, [trying to get back on topic here and failing miserably, as usual] here's the low-down on Philly, and maybe the start of something a little different and a little special. Just because, well, you know how it goes.
This was written the following morning from when I was actually supposed to fly home. Names of the airports that I should have been flying into have changed ['cause, you know, I'm slightly paranoid] but everything else has been left the same as the original entry. And I think that's all the stage-setting that you'll need.The name of my job has been abbreviated. And that, I believe, is the last service message that you should need. And yes, usually the morning after a stressful, oh-my-goodness-am-I-ever-going-to-get-home-I-just-wanna-see-my-mama-and-sleep-in-my-own-bed night is brighter and a little better. It also opens a period of time for reflection. Or sufficient ranting. You pick.
August 1, 2009 8:11 am, Philadelphia, PA
As you can see I never made it home. There's a reason.
The woman at the service counter never took my name and put it on the Ipthama list. So that wasn't an option. I go back to the Epthama gate and they keep moving that back. Now, instead of leaving at 8:50, they leave at 11:15. And I'm not guaranteed a seat. After all the people with seats have sat, she starts calling [names] mine. She not only butchers it, she doesn't say the entire thing. So I go and tell her this, and she says go. There were 2 people ahead of me, and they sat and the flight attendant looks at me and says, "Sorry sweetie, I'm out of seats." I get off the plane and they realize that someone got on who wasn't supposed to. I was not about to pull someone, already sitting, off a plane. I have more...no idea what I have but I couldn't. I wouldn't feel right. Even though I just wanted to go home.
I got a distress form from the airport, took a shuttle to a Holiday Inn, stood around some more in line, and got a room.
So, now I'm writing from the 10th floor of a Holiday Inn in Philly. I probably look like shit, I'm most likely not awake, and I'm hungry. My flight now leaves for Ipthama, at 12:15 this afternoon. I don't know how long I'll be in the air, don't know when I'll land, and I definitely don't know if I'm going to work tonight. My mom has to call C.W. and tell them I'm still in Philly.
And since my stomach is making noises, I'm going to feed it. And I don't care if it's white bread.
Still no idea WTF my luggage is.
Did I mention that I can throw a stone and hit the stadium of the Philadelphia Phillies?
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label summer. Show all posts
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Rewind
I'm well aware it's Wednesday and I haven't added one of these things in pretty much a week. My bad.
Saturday (four days ago) was the first day that I went back to work for the summer. It was a rather uneventful dinner cruise. Sunday was much better. Now, between this summer and last summer, there were a couple of really remarkable cruises - some good, some bad - and Sunday's was the best of the best. We had a big group on, about 100, and they were all a choir. No, this wasn't some old-ladies Church type thing - they were from parts of the UK, lived in Canada, and were doing a tour of sorts. They played in a town not far from mine the night before and were celebrating. And what a way to celebrate. Not only did they have kickin' accents because they were mostly from overseas, but they also drank. It was one of those nights for me where I had hit every table of mine for drinks before I made it downstairs to get the first round. The result was returning with basically half the bar and handing it out. Two of my tables, at the fact that my name is Molly, burst into rounds of "Molly Malone" which should have clued me in for the mayhem to come. Now, Sunday night dinner cruises have live entertainment (live singing) and, toward the end of the cruise, when the paid music took a break, the folks we had on deck, namely, the people in the seats paying for the cruise who were also in a choir, started singing. I heard one of the best versions of "Sloop John B." that I have ever heard in my life. They were SO GOOD! Not to mention, about 50+ in age and holding their beer remarkably well. Before we had even set sail, they had taken the napkins from the table and fashioned hats out of them. My six-top, before we'd even left, had taken the spoons off the table and started playing the spoons. Needless to say, it was the most fun I have had on that boat from a cruise ever. There's big shoes to be filled this summer if another "3 Hour Tour" is to take over first.
Monday was a day off, of sorts. I went to weightlifting at 6 in the morning and when I came back, crawled back into bed and snuggled in with the dog for a few hours. The cat being in the chair in my room, it was like I had a small zoo in my room. And there's still on the piles of stuff from college - clothes and such - that I haven't had any desire to deal with and therefore haven't. Monday was very uneventful. We did laundry.
Tuesday I slid back into a sort of routine. When I came home from weightlifting, I didn't go back to bed. I stayed up, made myself some breakfast, and watched SportsCenter. Yeah, I watch SportsCenter. Used to when I was in high school, before I went to school. Before that, I watched CNN. And then basically just killed time before I had to be anywhere, thinking that before I went to work I would go down to the parts store and get a heater knob for my car. My car is missing its heater knob. No idea where the hell it went, but it's not in the car and because I don't have a knob, I have neither heat nor defog in the vehicle. Not that I really had heat before but the defog is kind of important and I do kind of need that. Well, I left my lights on trying to get someone to turn in front of me because otherwise they were going to hit me in the rear end if I turned first and then turned into my driveway, and it drained the battery. I opened the door and didn't even get a dome light. So, my dad had to come home, jump the car, and then I went for the part. They didn't have one, but sent me somewhere else. Of course, I have twenty minutes before I have to be to work. I'm almost stopped at a stop light, I'm the first car there, and my phone rings. Damn good thing I looked up because there was a State Trooper in the other lane on the other side of the intersection practically staring me down. He was a couple cars behind the first one, but he was giving me the stink-eye. It was great.
Work that night wasn't bad. Except that we had on a bunch of college kids on their Senior Week and I had a tab sheet (drinks) that I couldn't find at the end of the cruise. They took it. And then proceeded to argue with me over the price I had charged them for drinks. So, I had to drop the overall total by $6 to please them (after talking with my boss who then talked to me about the fact that it wasn't so much that the tab was out, but that you thought it was in and paid) and the night just really didn't end the way I thought it was going to. Other than that, it was a great cruise. Walked away with $42 in tips so it wasn't all bad.
And now it's Wednesday. And my entire body is pretty much sore. See, lifting yesterday, it seemed like a good idea at the time to use a 25 pound weight and do declined crunches. Today, not so much. But sore is apparently good and I do feel stronger. Tomorrow I'll test my max's on my squat and my bench. This is almost hysterical - My benchpress maximum is 85 pounds, bar included. For my fitness test in August, I have to benchpress 140 pounds. My squat didn't really change much. 165 isn't that far away from my body weight, which I did last year, so I should be good to go.
I've already decided I'm going to resemble either a football player or Ahnold by the end of the summer. I'm strangely comfortable with that.
And considering that I have some errands to run after I vacuum the stairs, it would be wise for me to get off my ass and be productive. But I am definitely stopping at Dunkin' later. Most definitely.
Saturday (four days ago) was the first day that I went back to work for the summer. It was a rather uneventful dinner cruise. Sunday was much better. Now, between this summer and last summer, there were a couple of really remarkable cruises - some good, some bad - and Sunday's was the best of the best. We had a big group on, about 100, and they were all a choir. No, this wasn't some old-ladies Church type thing - they were from parts of the UK, lived in Canada, and were doing a tour of sorts. They played in a town not far from mine the night before and were celebrating. And what a way to celebrate. Not only did they have kickin' accents because they were mostly from overseas, but they also drank. It was one of those nights for me where I had hit every table of mine for drinks before I made it downstairs to get the first round. The result was returning with basically half the bar and handing it out. Two of my tables, at the fact that my name is Molly, burst into rounds of "Molly Malone" which should have clued me in for the mayhem to come. Now, Sunday night dinner cruises have live entertainment (live singing) and, toward the end of the cruise, when the paid music took a break, the folks we had on deck, namely, the people in the seats paying for the cruise who were also in a choir, started singing. I heard one of the best versions of "Sloop John B." that I have ever heard in my life. They were SO GOOD! Not to mention, about 50+ in age and holding their beer remarkably well. Before we had even set sail, they had taken the napkins from the table and fashioned hats out of them. My six-top, before we'd even left, had taken the spoons off the table and started playing the spoons. Needless to say, it was the most fun I have had on that boat from a cruise ever. There's big shoes to be filled this summer if another "3 Hour Tour" is to take over first.
Monday was a day off, of sorts. I went to weightlifting at 6 in the morning and when I came back, crawled back into bed and snuggled in with the dog for a few hours. The cat being in the chair in my room, it was like I had a small zoo in my room. And there's still on the piles of stuff from college - clothes and such - that I haven't had any desire to deal with and therefore haven't. Monday was very uneventful. We did laundry.
Tuesday I slid back into a sort of routine. When I came home from weightlifting, I didn't go back to bed. I stayed up, made myself some breakfast, and watched SportsCenter. Yeah, I watch SportsCenter. Used to when I was in high school, before I went to school. Before that, I watched CNN. And then basically just killed time before I had to be anywhere, thinking that before I went to work I would go down to the parts store and get a heater knob for my car. My car is missing its heater knob. No idea where the hell it went, but it's not in the car and because I don't have a knob, I have neither heat nor defog in the vehicle. Not that I really had heat before but the defog is kind of important and I do kind of need that. Well, I left my lights on trying to get someone to turn in front of me because otherwise they were going to hit me in the rear end if I turned first and then turned into my driveway, and it drained the battery. I opened the door and didn't even get a dome light. So, my dad had to come home, jump the car, and then I went for the part. They didn't have one, but sent me somewhere else. Of course, I have twenty minutes before I have to be to work. I'm almost stopped at a stop light, I'm the first car there, and my phone rings. Damn good thing I looked up because there was a State Trooper in the other lane on the other side of the intersection practically staring me down. He was a couple cars behind the first one, but he was giving me the stink-eye. It was great.
Work that night wasn't bad. Except that we had on a bunch of college kids on their Senior Week and I had a tab sheet (drinks) that I couldn't find at the end of the cruise. They took it. And then proceeded to argue with me over the price I had charged them for drinks. So, I had to drop the overall total by $6 to please them (after talking with my boss who then talked to me about the fact that it wasn't so much that the tab was out, but that you thought it was in and paid) and the night just really didn't end the way I thought it was going to. Other than that, it was a great cruise. Walked away with $42 in tips so it wasn't all bad.
And now it's Wednesday. And my entire body is pretty much sore. See, lifting yesterday, it seemed like a good idea at the time to use a 25 pound weight and do declined crunches. Today, not so much. But sore is apparently good and I do feel stronger. Tomorrow I'll test my max's on my squat and my bench. This is almost hysterical - My benchpress maximum is 85 pounds, bar included. For my fitness test in August, I have to benchpress 140 pounds. My squat didn't really change much. 165 isn't that far away from my body weight, which I did last year, so I should be good to go.
I've already decided I'm going to resemble either a football player or Ahnold by the end of the summer. I'm strangely comfortable with that.
And considering that I have some errands to run after I vacuum the stairs, it would be wise for me to get off my ass and be productive. But I am definitely stopping at Dunkin' later. Most definitely.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Hallelujah!
Just kind of realized that most of my posts have exclamation points at the end of them. That is unintentional, really.
Anyway.
My first year of college is done! Not only did I not flunk out completely, but I managed to keep my GPA over 3.0 (barely, second semester) but it's still over 3.0. Which, considering how badly I did on some Chemistry tests, I'm quite amazed. It could have been better, yes, and I was a hair's breath away from making Dean's list second semester (if you didn't count said Chemistry grade) but that's okay because I know what I did wrong and I'm fully prepared to not only do better, but keep on doing better. Part of it, a big part, was time management and my lack thereof. It's actually better to be in season during the year because that MAKES you have time management or everything sort of slips sideways and before you know it you're upside down and semi-drowning. Hindsight's 20/20. Live and learn.
So, I've been sitting home for a few days. Well, okay, I haven't exactly been completely sitting on my ass. Wednesday I got up and went with my mother down to my dad's work to get the truck so I could have a vehicle, my own car not running (and I just realized that yesterday was Wednesday - not getting up and going to class screws with my sense of time) and at the shop for a number of reasons. So, then it was coming back and sleeping until about 11:45 and then actually getting up for the day. Since I had to go to town and see my boss, I decided to swing by my old high school. I was feeling...I don't know what I was feeling but it was kind of fun. Awkward and a little weird, but fun. I'm not one of those, I have to go back because I didn't want to leave people, but it was good to see some good friends and some teachers. And that's about it. Most likely that's the only visit that I'll make before school gets out for the summer. Then it was a quick trip to see my boss who already has me on the schedule for both Saturday and Sunday. Three cruises in two days. =] I'm happy to go back to work. I'm a waitress, plain and simple, and I really enjoy what I do because, believe it or not, I'm a people person and I enjoy working with tourists. And when you live in a tourist town, that's who you make your living from. It helps to be local. But, it's a little annoying when someone asks you, "Where's the waterfall?" and you automatically say, "Which one?"
Not to mention when the boat goes cross-ways across the lake on a choppy day and you almost spill a full drink tray on the first unlucky table at the top of the stairs on the upper deck.
Which reminds me that my one and only true heart attack moment last summer was almost dumping a tray of strawberry bulinis on some Asian tourists camera case as it sat in a chair at the back of the boat. Disposable plastic champagne glasses are NOT that sturdy, despite what the packaging may say.
So, now that I'm home and I have a phenomenal amount of time on my hands, my creative ability has taken off with my focus. Focus forgot his helmet and the creative ability is along for the ride as they hide among the piles of stuff I brought back from college. I'm not really worried; they'll come out eventually but I really would like to get the last few pages of the typed Part VII written. I've only got seven pages left of it, before I start Part VIII. Not to mention I need to seriously put some time and effort into looking for publishers this summer, maybe an agent or two. The only downside is that if an agent takes it and runs, I have to come up with the cash to pay for it. Agents are expensive. Which is why I generally look toward trying to win over an editor but the manuscript mostly ends up in the slush pile, never to be heard from again. And my beginning isn't that strong, either. But, as previously mentioned, my focus and my creative ability ran off for the moment.
And that's about it for me, for now. I get to get my car in about 45 minutes, with dad. Yay for the return of Fred!! Now, he just needs to run all summer so he can come with me.
Anyway.
My first year of college is done! Not only did I not flunk out completely, but I managed to keep my GPA over 3.0 (barely, second semester) but it's still over 3.0. Which, considering how badly I did on some Chemistry tests, I'm quite amazed. It could have been better, yes, and I was a hair's breath away from making Dean's list second semester (if you didn't count said Chemistry grade) but that's okay because I know what I did wrong and I'm fully prepared to not only do better, but keep on doing better. Part of it, a big part, was time management and my lack thereof. It's actually better to be in season during the year because that MAKES you have time management or everything sort of slips sideways and before you know it you're upside down and semi-drowning. Hindsight's 20/20. Live and learn.
So, I've been sitting home for a few days. Well, okay, I haven't exactly been completely sitting on my ass. Wednesday I got up and went with my mother down to my dad's work to get the truck so I could have a vehicle, my own car not running (and I just realized that yesterday was Wednesday - not getting up and going to class screws with my sense of time) and at the shop for a number of reasons. So, then it was coming back and sleeping until about 11:45 and then actually getting up for the day. Since I had to go to town and see my boss, I decided to swing by my old high school. I was feeling...I don't know what I was feeling but it was kind of fun. Awkward and a little weird, but fun. I'm not one of those, I have to go back because I didn't want to leave people, but it was good to see some good friends and some teachers. And that's about it. Most likely that's the only visit that I'll make before school gets out for the summer. Then it was a quick trip to see my boss who already has me on the schedule for both Saturday and Sunday. Three cruises in two days. =] I'm happy to go back to work. I'm a waitress, plain and simple, and I really enjoy what I do because, believe it or not, I'm a people person and I enjoy working with tourists. And when you live in a tourist town, that's who you make your living from. It helps to be local. But, it's a little annoying when someone asks you, "Where's the waterfall?" and you automatically say, "Which one?"
Not to mention when the boat goes cross-ways across the lake on a choppy day and you almost spill a full drink tray on the first unlucky table at the top of the stairs on the upper deck.
Which reminds me that my one and only true heart attack moment last summer was almost dumping a tray of strawberry bulinis on some Asian tourists camera case as it sat in a chair at the back of the boat. Disposable plastic champagne glasses are NOT that sturdy, despite what the packaging may say.
So, now that I'm home and I have a phenomenal amount of time on my hands, my creative ability has taken off with my focus. Focus forgot his helmet and the creative ability is along for the ride as they hide among the piles of stuff I brought back from college. I'm not really worried; they'll come out eventually but I really would like to get the last few pages of the typed Part VII written. I've only got seven pages left of it, before I start Part VIII. Not to mention I need to seriously put some time and effort into looking for publishers this summer, maybe an agent or two. The only downside is that if an agent takes it and runs, I have to come up with the cash to pay for it. Agents are expensive. Which is why I generally look toward trying to win over an editor but the manuscript mostly ends up in the slush pile, never to be heard from again. And my beginning isn't that strong, either. But, as previously mentioned, my focus and my creative ability ran off for the moment.
And that's about it for me, for now. I get to get my car in about 45 minutes, with dad. Yay for the return of Fred!! Now, he just needs to run all summer so he can come with me.
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