Top 10 songs I want to karaoke before I die/get too old to want to karaoke:

1. “Take Me or Leave Me,” from Rent
2. “Jolene,” by Dolly Parton
3. “The Underdog,” by Spoon
4. “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’,” by the Scissor Sisters
5. “Eight Days a Week,” by the Beatle
6. “Us,” by Regina Spektor
7. “Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy,” by Queen
8. “Always Be My Baby,” by Mariah Carey
9. “You’re So Vain,” by Carly Simon
10. “Have You Seen Me Lately?” by the Counting Crows

Because my dreams of karaoking “The Boy is Mine” AND “Like a Virgin” have already been fulfilled…

I had every intention to write about this weekend and what I did the entire time, but when I sat down to write tonight, I got a text from a friend stating that her crazy ex is following her on Twitter. She asked, “When you block someone, can they see your profile anymore?”

Of course, I didn’t have the answer and told her not to be shaken up by him or his craziness because she has moved on and is better than stooping to his level. I also asked her if she wanted me to track him down and him up.

She laughed, then responded with something that TOTALLY freaked me out. (And I can almost guarentee you’ll be freaked, too).

At some point when they were dating, he mentioned that the three of us have a ménage à trois.

Ack! And totally, completely awkward.

OK, first off, I’ve never done that and have no intentions of ever doing that, especially with one of my good friends. Secondly, I’m not into girls. And it pisses me off that he assumed if she and I were drunk, we would be down with that. With him. And that thought makes me want to throw up a little.

He apparently forgot about how I have a boyfriend and was with him before they dated.

He also apparently forgot he had a girlfriend at the time.

Learning about this months later really upsets me for her because he said it and apparently mentioned it whenever she and I were going to hang out. And since we were neighbors, we would get together at least once a week to bake or cook.

They broke up after these comments started (and he went BSC — bat shit crazy), but seriously? What kind of guy thinks his girlfriend would EVER want to hear that?

Granted, we have to have the bad experiences to appreciate the good, but in my book, my friend gets bonus points for putting up with someone so ignorant, even for that short period.

Her next boyfriend has to be a keeper because Lord knows she dealt with this one long enough.

… Needless to say, I won’t be going to smack this guy. EVER. And I’m OK with that.

Hey y’all. Just wanted to let you know that I’m posting over at Tea and Cake Time today, so go check it out! I am fairly positive half of you will want to disown me, but I bet the Southerners will understand. Or maybe I’m completely wrong. I hope so.. Just click on the link. Please?

And I woke up to this fabulous little award from Dana this morning:

Yay! Thank you, ma’am! You make my day, too.

So, I am passing this along to the following folks who definitely make my day most every day:

• Alexa at Cleveland’s A Plum
• Ben at No Ordinary Rollercoaster
• Maxie at I Hate So Much..
• Megan at Tea and Cake Time (even though she’s out of town)
• Renee at A Beautiful Day in the Reneeborhood

Hooray!

I’ll be back tomorrow, hopefully, with a life update. I’m heading to another Louisiana city tonight to shoot the state softball tourney for the newspaper there, and it apparently spans most of Friday and Saturday. I don’t know how much time I will have, though. Hmm. Time will tell.

I hope everyone has a lovely day!

I have a folder in my school e-mail account labeled “Ridiculous.”

This is the place where I put any e-mails I think are obscene — whether they are hilarious or scathing — and I look back at them from time to time to get a good laugh and to see how far I have come.

The boy and I were talking about a while back, and I mentioned to him how I once received an e-mail from my ex (who also happened to be my boss) basically telling me I wasn’t doing my job, my section was OOC and I was horribly irresponsible because I left work early and no one knew what to do without me.

Uh huh.

This e-mail, without a doubt, resides in the “Ridiculous” folder.

The boy and I, of course, laughed about what was written, and I decided I was going to read through it again for another laugh because it had been a while.

While I got a few chuckles out of it, more than anything, it angered me. Not because what he wrote was anywhere near the truth, but because I let myself be victimized while I felt like I had no voice for an extended period of time.

And this one e-mail made me remember how miserable he made me feel about myself for that entire year.

And as I look back on it, instead of being bitter about those times, I am thankful for the experiences I had. I learned how to treat people and saw how kindness reaches farther than harsh words and snarky e-mails. I learned that being a good manager is more than just yelling at your subordinates. And I learned that I am stronger than I think I am.

And as I look back on it, I am thankful for the laughter, friends and good times because they made that year bearable.

… It’s funny how, almost a year after my tenure ended, re-reading that note offers such a fresh perspective. And it’s funny how something as heinous as it appeared at the time makes me smile now because I have moved on and gained so much since then.

For the past week, I have been budgeting my life. And by that, I mean weighing what I can and cannot afford when I am a grown-up.

I officially become a ‘real person’ in less than a month. And understandably, I am freaking out.

I never realized how much you have to allot into the budget. Yeah, I knew I would pay rent for an apartment and for all the utilities. What I didn’t realize was the smaller, less noticeable things like insurance — car, renters AND camera insurance — and cell phone bills and a car emergency fund, for whenever my car, Felicity, dies. And while my parents are going to help me while I learn to stand on my own two feet, the task of taking on all these new things is daunting.

I’m sure it will be OK, but right now, it seems overwhelming.

I woke up this morning from a nightmare. I was living in NYC and had to share a one bedroom apartment with five other people. We all had to pay more than $1000 for rent there, and I called my father at some point in the dream and basically said, “It shouldn’t be this way! It shouldn’t be this expensive to live!”

After that, he apparently came to pick me up from my hell-hole of an apartment, and we decided to drive from there cross-country to Memphis. And while driving over a dam in the middle of nowhere, a rabbit ran in front of our car, my father swerved and we plummeted into the water.

I awoke gasping for air and fighting my comforter.

And needless to say, I’m a little frightened about being on my own for the first time in my life, even though I won’t be completely left to my own devices.

… This is going to get better, right?

I have been tagged by Megan AND Kristen for the “Six Truths/Facts/Quirks About Me” thing, so here goes nothin’…

The rules are:
* Link to the person that tagged you.
* Post the rules on your blog.
* Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
* Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
* Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

1. I have an irrational fear of being hit by baseballs. However, I am not afraid of any other kind of sport ball. (And, to be completely honest, I would much rather have a basketball player fall on me while photographing instead of being hit by a baseball). I am so ridiculously afraid of being hit by a foul ball that whenever I got to a baseball game, I cannot enjoy myself because I am always on the edge of my seat watching and ready to duck whenever a ball comes my way. This fear springs from my sophomore year of high school when I was playing on the church softball team. One of my friends went to catch a pop fly, and it hit her in the face, cutting open the skin under her eyebrow, shattering her brow bone AND giving her a concussion. Understandable? I think so.

2. I am extremely OCD about having a clean kitchen. If the dishes are dirty, you can put money on me cleaning them up before I cook. And after the feast is done? You are going to help me wash and dry the dishes so they do not pile up and stink since we do not have a dishwasher.

3. I have a HUGE shoe collection, so large that they no longer fit into my closet. My favorites are any kind of heel. The problem? I have a horrible sense of balance, so I cannot wear heels to work.

4. As a journalism major, I have NO qualms about calling random people and asking questions, whether it is for an article or something in my personal life. Example: I am the one who always calls the landlord because my roommate feels uncomfortable calling our landlord to tell her things need to be fixed in the apartment, so this task falls on me. And I thoroughly enjoy calling and listing everything that needs to be repaired. Sad? Possibly, but I like to think this is a good quality to have because I get things done. Uh huh.

5. I was never one of those college students who took a nap every day, and as my college career dwindles, I am realizing I missed so much valuable nap time.

6. My favorite breakfast is chocolate chip pancakes. I have enjoyed these since I was a child and would only ask for them, not the regular ones. And I eat them plain — no butter or syrup for me. (This somehow makes me feel like I am eating something healthier even though I know I am not). My sorority fam and I used to make these AND watch The O.C. every Thursday evening at my house back in the day. And, as my roommate put it, “For some random reason, I always associate chocolate chip pancakes with you.

Awesome, no? OK, maybe not. But still. I bet you didn’t know these about me.

I’m tagging:

1. Renee
2. Dana
3. Angela
4. Maxie
5. Alexa
6. Ben

Happy blogging, folks!

Spending time in Memphis this weekend was lovely. We got the chance to go to some of my fave restaurants, visit some old friends, see both ‘rents and just relax.

And it was really nice to chill, though my mother’s dog made things interesting.

Callie the Golden Retriever is about 3.5 years old. I helped raise her during my Christmas break right after we got her. I won’t say that I am the reason she is potty-trained, but I did play a role in making sure she made it into the backyard whenever she needed to pee.

She’s a sweetheart who loves everyone. She has never bitten anyone and is always nice to guests — we are convinced she thinks they are HER new friends, not ours. She even knows when people are are not feeling well. But I learned something new about her this weekend — she is extremely protective.

My mom goes to bed most nights around 9:30 p.m. The boy and I, obviously, stay up later than that and would hang out in the den watching TV and talking.

It was all good until Callie decided that she was going to monitor us. (Yes, you read that right).

Friday night, we were sitting in the couch watching Fantasia and she kept barking at us. Usually when she does this, she wants attention, but she wouldn’t stop. And when she finally calmed down, she sat at the foot of the couch. Whenever one of us would make a noise — whether we would speak softly or I would kiss his cheek — she would pop her head up and look at us, clearly taking inventory of the situation and sometimes growling deep in her throat.

When the boy got up to go to bed, Callie stood up less than a minute later and made her way back to my mother’s bedroom, her job done.

We laughed about it yesterday morning and didn’t think much about it until last night, when we were hanging out in the guest bedroom after the wedding. We were sitting next to each other and chatting and had closed the door so Callie wouldn’t jump on the bed. Well, she stood outside of the door and whimpered until we let her in a few minutes later.

Once in the room, she hopped up in the bed and curled up next to me, barking whenever I would stop petting her. We both paid attention to her while still talking about the wedding and quite a few other things.

And when I leaned over to give the boy a goodnight kiss? Callie made the weirdest noise I have ever heard her make — it sounded like a growl, but it was more threatening. And the boy thought she was going to bite him.

I immediately hopped up and tried to get Callie to come with me into my bedroom, and after a little convincing, she finally hopped off the bed and followed me into my room.

More than anything else, it was really strange seeing my dog being ridiculously protective of me. She didn’t do this the first time the boy came to visit. And she never does this whenever my sister has her boyfriend over to the house. So why me and why now?

I guess I will never know for sure, but I am positive this will make future visits home with the boy interesting.

The boy and I have escaped to Memphis for the weekend so we can attend the wedding of one of my childhood friends.

Driving up yesterday was no fun in the rain, but the front moved through as soon as we got in, and it has been absolutely beautiful today. And it’s the perfect day for a wedding — it’s not too miserably hot/humid but not too cold.

It’s strange to think that I am now the age that friends will be getting married. And some of these friends are a year or two younger than me. Weird, huh?

The wedding begins in less than an hour, and I still need to straighten my hair. We’ll see what it feels like — hopefully it’ll be straight and smooth, not wavy and frizzy.

So far, it has been a lovely weekend, and I am positive the rest of tonight will be the same. I expect lots of food, drinks and dancing with old friends. And a good time will be had by all. And I’ll be back in Louisiana tomorrow, so y’all have a wonderful evening!

EM: “It looks like a square. Or maybe that is the shadow?”

ME: “It does look square-ish.”

EM: “She’s carrying a cube!”

Top 10 things that are making me happy right now:

1. There are TWO weeks left of my journalism class! And a month ’til graduation!
2. The boy and I had a double date with my roommate and her BF at the Thai Kitchen. It was delish!
3. I just downloaded some fun music from Maxie and am totally jamming out as I write this.
4. I perfected my portfolio and actually feel GOOD (and somewhat confident) about showing it to someone else.
5. I interview for a real person job in 12 hours!!!
6. After the interview, I will spend the afternoon with an old friend who is going to show me around town and take me out for lunch at one of her fave spots.
7. I have a brain-twin.
8. It feels amazing outside. The high today is 68, and the humidity isn’t anywhere NEAR 100 percent.
9. Strong Bad e-mails. I watched some tonight for the first time in at least four years.
10. I have the most incredible, supportive, amazing friends in the world.