Friday was the beginning of what I thought was going to be a decent weekend.

It wasn’t all bad. I guess I should specify that first. Because there were some good parts.

I spent a lot of time with the boy. That was lovely. I worked, and that was good (because I am broke as a joke). I watched A LOT of movies, and that was good and (somewhat) relaxing.

But then, there were some bad parts. Even though none of these negative things dealt with me directly.

I don’t want to get into it, but a lot of people I know are hurting. This, understandably, makes me hurt for them and makes me sad. So I felt a little off in hearing the news.

And Sunday afternoon, I had an assignment that I was going to be light and fluffy. But no, the radio host was talking about domestic abuse. And the guests on the show? Family members of women who were killed by their boyfriends/husbands/etc. … Talk about heavy stuff. I nearly cried a few times in the booth.

So when my roommate asked about my weekend this afternoon, I stated, “I feel like it kicked me in the jugular.”

Oh, and the cherry on top is the AC isn’t going to be fixed until tomorrow because the repair company “lost our paperwork.” This is almost as believable as the pizza guy not delivering my calzone because he couldn’t find the boy’s apartment, mm hmm.

So tonight, I’m sleeping underneath the fan. It’ll be like camping.

Here’s to hoping this week ends better than it began.

… The pity party ends here.

I’ve been lurking in the blogosphere this weekend because I have taken up residence at the boy’s home. He kindly took me in when the heat became unbearable.

I was checking my Google Reader this morning and found out the lovely Tipp had bestowed this upon me:

And I’m super pumped about the fact that I get to give out some of these babies to some of my fave bloggers.

So, without further ado (and in no particular order), here are some of my fave daily reads:

Emma at Cloudy Day
Anne at Anne’s Chit Chat
Dana at Just Talk
Ben at No Ordinary Rollercoaster

Check out these folks. They’re all fabulous, and I really enjoy their writing.

That’s all I got for now, so happy blogging! … I’ll be around tomorrow and will be sure to update you all about this weekend — it’s been an interesting one.

Today has been a good day. The weather was beautiful — it is finally warm — and I was happy to be outside for a few minutes before darting into the courthouse for work.

I spent my time in Lafayette doing all sorts of journalism work and recently got back in town.

While the drive isn’t too long (though sometimes I wonder how many people accidentally drive off the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge out of sheer boredom), traffic is never pretty.

I worked for about 8 hours in Laffy before heading back to the Red Stick. No biggie. But three miles from the Mississippi River Bridge (and about four from my exit off the interstate), traffic came to a dead stop. And I sat there for a good 45 minutes.

When traffic picked back up, I understandably was excited. I began thinking of all the things I could do when I got home — take a shower, lie around, watch basketball, have a beer, hang out with friends. The thoughts were amazing, and I was genuinely excited when I pulled my car into the driveway.

However, when I opened the door of the house, I was hit by a wave of humid air. And as I walked up the stairs, the air got warmer and more stuffy.

Turns out, the AC is broken. And the AC repairman can’t come until Monday.

The thermostat upstairs says it’s 85 degrees. IN. THE. HOUSE. I’ll take a stab that the humidity is at least at 75%.

Awesome, right?

I know, I know. I shouldn’t be complaining (especially since some of you saw snow yesterday). But if you knew what Louisiana weather felt like, you’d understand. Especially since it feels like the Louisiana spring INSIDE MY HOME. And it’s going to feel that way all weekend. *dies*

Thank goodness for that new bikini, cold brewskies in the fridge and the fact that I have nothing too terribly important to do this weekend. Because if I did, it surely would not be done here.

THE BOY: “Quack, quack. Are you a duck?”

At this point, my roommate begins laughing.*

ME: “Umm, no.”

THE BOY: “Why not?”

ME: “… Because I don’t waddle.”

* Em and I had a conversation earlier in the day where one of us compared moving to be with a boy to a duckling following its mother. It turns out neither of us know where we stand YET. Of course, I didn’t think of this conversation when the boy asked the question, and if I had, my answer might have been a little different. Maybe.

This afternoon at work, my co-workers and I digressed during our planning meeting to talking about my revelation last year after shooting numerous ’sketchy’ assignments.

I have learned that having a professional camera with a flash at a restaurant or bar (or anywhere else except anything politically-related) will cause a commotion. The camera and flash seem to draw people to me because people normally don’t come up to me and randomly chat whenever I am somewhere without them.

Folks will inevitably want to chat about what I’m doing, who I work for, etc. And I can deal with that — I’m a nice girl. Most of the time.

Then, after I answer those questions, some start asking personal questions. That is where I draw the line. Because these people haven’t picked up on the fact that I’m not looking for a friend, I’m just looking to get the hell out of there.

Obviously, this gets annoying. Especially when it happens numerous times on one assignment. Because sometimes, I just want to photograph the assignment so I can have some time to myself afterward. And sometimes (OK, most of the time), I don’t feel like being hit on by sketchy 40-somethings from weird Scandanavian countries.

So what did I do?

I went out and bought a fake engagement ring.

I know that it sounds ridiculous, but the band has worked wonders.

I absolutely love it because it oftentimes lets me get my work done without being pestered by numerous people.

After I finished telling the story, my boss looked down at the list we were going over and said something along the lines of, “Note to self: Send E.P. to ____ to shoot the sketchy 40-somethings.”

And needless to say, we all had a good laugh after that.

I hate when people ask about my exes. And by exes, I mean ex-boyfriends, ex-roommates, ex-friends, etc.

It’s not that I don’t want to think about these exes because one can assume we had some good times before the bad. And it’s not that I don’t want to talk about it — I’ll give you a few facts. I just don’t want to give everyone the nitty gritty because it’s not fair to the other person.

I just hate when people pry in an attempt to create drama. And this seems to happen all too often.

An ex-boyfriends worked with me at the student paper. It was a short relationship, and we broke up the semester he became ENC and I was photo editor. Needless to say, we clashed numerous times, and I think some people found it amusing to pit us against each other.

I will admit I wasn’t the nicest person during that time. I struggled with the truth versus lies. And I said a lot of things that I shouldn’t have because I felt betrayed. But being asked if I heard about this or that didn’t help, either. Because whenever people asked me questions about him, they inevitably involved his new/ex girlfriend.

One day this past fall, a co-worker asked if I knew that he had a 30-year-old girlfriend. I said, “No, I hadn’t heard that. He and I aren’t in touch. But I hope you’re telling him things about me since I’m getting to hear all this about him.”

I didn’t feel like it was necessary to tell the co-worker that he and I broke up more than a year and a half ago, and I have understandably moved on with my life.

Recently, some people have asked me about a former roommate. Did I hear about him and so-and-so doing THIS? What about that time when they did that?

He said he couldn’t be my friend if I moved out and, well, I did. So he and I aren’t in touch.

After I got myself out of that situation, a lot of people I thought were friends stopped calling or even talking at me whenever they see me. And the sad part is that I am completely serious — I have class with a lot of his and my mutual friends and have gotten the cold shoulder from many.

Some friends, huh?

News flash, folks: These petty things don’t matter in the scheme of things.

I wish people would understand that not gossiping about these exes means I am over the drama, the hurt and pain they caused me at one point. If I wasn’t over them, I would want to talk.

I have successfully picked up the pieces and moved forward, knowing all these failed relationships have helped me grow into the person I am today.

And I am pleased with where I am now.

I wish we all would choose to see the good in this life. The negatives pale in comparison to the good, so why shouldn’t we focus on the blessings we have been given?

I know I am guilty of dwelling on the bad, and I am working on changing my focus because life wasn’t meant to be led with a negative outlook. And while I know I will still complain and inevitably clash with people in my life, I know the world looks a lot better through a clean lens than a cloudy one.

Top 10 things I love (and already miss) about Spring Break

1. I don’t have to go to school, work OR be responsible, in general.
2. The inevitable outlet mall shopping trip that ends with me lugging around a HUGE shopping bag full of somewhat-needed clothes and other goodies.
3. Sleeping late. Going to bed early. Drinking by the pool.
4. Having enough time to do some pleasure reading.
5. When my boss calls me, he says he feels “bad” to bother me with work stuff because he knows I’m out of town.
6. Sebastian (the drink!)
7. Catching up on incredibly horrible reality TV.
8. Indulging in MANY types of food without feeling like a pig.
9. Laughing, living and having a relaxing time.
10. Spending time with people I love and NOT being bogged down by work or school.

This weekend was absolutely wonderful.

Some of the highlights:

• The nail technicians at my nail salon calling my mother “Mom” after they asked who she was. It was so cute.
• Shopping with my mom and realizing that she has always been a more adamant/avid shopper than I will ever be. And realizing I’m OK with that.
• Heavenly calzones.
• Watching basketball ALL DAY and not feeling bad about it.
•  Drinking “pink” (aka strawberry) beer with my mother and hearing that she actually DOES enjoy it.
• Finding my Easter basket, and watching the boy dig through his. It was really cute that my mom made him one.
• Cooking with the boy and my mom, and not completely screwing up the shrimp etouffee we made.
• The random conversations we had as the weekend passed.

All in all, it was a lovely Easter weekend. And now, I just need to catch up on sleep. After being out of town for a week and coming home to sleep on the couch, I am going to be SO excited about sleeping in my bed tonight.

My mother sent this — Peep Show! — to me last week, and it is now my desktop photo. While it could be considered a little racy (maybe?), I think it’s hilarious.

Continuing in the Peeps theme, I just found out the Washington Post held a Peeps Diaroma Contest. Photos can be found here. I think my favorite might be “Dream Peeps.”

Happy Easter! I hope everyone has a lovely day with friends and family!

I am back in the state of Louisiana after six days in the land of Tejas.

I hate to say it, but I’m actually glad to be back. The combination of HORRIBLE drivers, random interstate land closures/merges and weird weather did me in.

However, I DID have a fabulous time with the fam and friends.

Last night, the cousins and I went to a Mexican restaurant, may or may not have tried to climb the fence of their apartment complex to get to the said restaurant (because it was just on the other side), drank some ‘ritas, played Scrabble where dirty words were double points (I scored 50 points on ONE word, uh huh) and called our mothers after contemplating whether or not to call our grandmother around 11 p.m. (We decided she would disown us all). It was awesome, and I am really happy I was able to go.

I got home today around 2 p.m. My mother arrived around 6. She, the boy and I went to Chelsea’s — one of my fave restaurants (located beneath an overpass) — to celebrate the beginning of a lovely weekend. Then we came home, watched basketball and drank strawberry beer.

All in all, it was a wonderful evening.

Tomorrow, it appears we are going to brunch at La Madeline, then will have an adventure. What kind, I’m not sure, but I am positive we will be wherever the wind takes us.