one more thing

I forgot to send a shout out to Ed. Ed, a good bud of mine since high school, just got accepted into UNT. Ed started working on his undergrad degree a while back, then got a great job and decided to focus on that for a while. Now, he has decided to head back to school. I am so proud of you, Ed. I wish you all the best of luck.

Technology is so great!!

I just set up my new computer (thank you, Jason!) It is so fucking fast. I love it. I have made an executive decsion. I am no longer going to go to any of my classes, work, or my internship. i am going to become a full blown nerd and hang out in front of this computer forever. I will find a way to make money to support myself by playing on this computer. Did I mention I love this thing? I love this computer so much, I think I might actually give it a name. If any of you have any ideas for a name for my new friend...I mean computer, please let me know.

Well, last night was a pretty good time. After an 11 hour work day (which included a few trips to GP, one in rush hour traffic), I headed right over to Jay's house to hang with him. We got some dinner, then headed out to Denton to see a couple of friends. Dan and Jordan just moved to Denton to start classes, so went to warm their new apartment. I was pretty tired, I slept in the car on the way down there and then I pulled a Nam :) and slept through quite a bit of the party. I was totally exhausted. We got back to jay's at about 2 in the am. I slept the whole way back home in the car. Thanks for driving, Will!! The party was pretty fun, i was just way too pooped. I think I really pushed myself a bit too hard this week. I will do better next week especially since all I plan to do is eat, sleep and play on this computer. :)

jenn is coming into town tonight and a trip to the velvet hookah has been planned. YEAH!! then, much girl fun back in the nook at our apartment. Pictures will be taken. :) well, i am off, I think I would like to spend more time playing on this computer, then off to jay's for some swimming, then the evening of fun begins. Peace out!

it's almost the weekend!

Just got back from GP (Grand Prairie). Picked up 13 year old twins. They rock. We had some good conversation. they are about to start their visit and then I have to take them back to GP at 5 (right in the middle of rush hour traffic!! grrrr). oh well.

My wednesday class went well. Seems very interesting and I really like the prof. After class, I went over to scott's and hung with him, Denise, and Dominic. It was a good time. Smoking the hookah and talking. Much fun. I saw my first few clients at my internship yesterday. It went pretty well. I made a few small mistakes and I was very nervous, but it went well. It is really cool that everytime I sign something at my internship, I sign right next to where it says therapist. I am almost there. YEAH!!

Watched Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers last night. I own it now. YEAH!! that is such a great movie. i am looking forward to seeing jay tonight and then hanging with jenn tommorrow night. We are going to head to the velvet hookah and then hang out in the nook forever. Well, I have to run. Hope you all have a great labor day weekend.

quotes from "Antwone Fisher" that I am quite fond of

this is some navy talk, I talked with Jay and he said it was pretty on target.

the navy psychiatrist (Denzel Washington) was talking with Antwone Fisher and Antwone was telling him about a girl he met recently. the girl is also in the navy and the psychiatrist said "that's good, keep it in the navy." I liked that.

also, antwone and this girl were setting up a date and the girl said to meet her at "the female barracks after knock out at 1700 hours". How great is that? I bet that is how they set up dates when in the navy.

good times

hump day

yesterday was insanity. Drove out to Forney at 6 in the am to pick up a kid, then I supervised the visit with his biological parents, which did not go so well. It really PISSES me off to see how much shit these kids have to deal with and yet the courts still allow these parents (if you can call them that) to see their kids. Not only do the courts allow it, but it is required. I acutally get paid to go pick up these kids just so they can come see their shitty ass parents. Anyway, this kid is only 4 years old, sweetest boy i have ever met, and yet his dad treats him like crap even while in the presence of CPS (Child Protective Services) workers. I read the case on this boy and because of confidentiality I cannot share, but it broke my heart.

Anyway, after all that, i jetted to Arlington for a 2 hour orientation about my internship, then I had my 2-5 class. It is a policy course titled Socially Oppressed Groups. The professor is amazing. I have worked with many professors in my life and this professor had my attention and my respect from the moment she began. first thing she asked us to do was to go around the room, say our name and a statment about what we think of discrimination and oppression. It was completely amazing to hear what everyone had to say. There were about 30 students in the class and the backgrounds and thoughts and ideas that each had to share was truly spectacular. Throughout the class, the prof said things like "I want you to be critical of everything I say" and "it is ok to ask questions and challenge me, I want to keep my mind working also". She was just wonderful. Every book that she assigned for the semester sounds so interesting. I am a bit scared of the grading because 70% of the grade is a minimum 20 page term paper. Scary. But, we can do the paper on just about any topic dealing with socially oppressed groups that we would like. Another part of the class I found very interesting was the statements the men had to make. Social work is definitley a female dominated field, but there were 4 guys in this class and the things they had to say really impressed me. Very open minds in this class. I am looking forward to it.

Well, between my 2-5 and 6-9 class, I had dinner with one of my good friends who is in both of these classes with me. We had some great conversation, it was good to catch up with her. Then, we headed to our evening class titled Violence in Families. The prof seems cool also. The first thing he did was have 3 people in the class read different case studies and police reports dealing with violence in families or domestic violence. Then, he had us go around the room and say a short statment about what stuck out for us while hearing the case studies. It was a very powerful excercise. Many people addressed concerns for the chlidren involved. then we went over the syllabus for the course which is very overwhelming. There seems to be lots of work involved, but again the readings sound really interesting. Well, after that, we watched a very uplifting (sense the sarcasm) video entitled "Death of a Bride". It was about a Dominican woman who was shot on her wedding day by a posessive ex-boyfriend. It was a very powerful video, a true story. It showed her life before the boyfriend, after the boyfriend with her fiance, the trial after the shooting, and how all this affected the family members. It was very sad and hard to watch, but also very educational. After the video, there was much discussion about what everyone thought about the situation and how we might help the surviving family members if they ever came to us for help.

On monday, i was not ready for this semester to begin, but after those two classes, i remember again how much I truly love learning. The drive home yesterday was pretty bad, i was very exhausted, but I made it. YEAH!! today, I started my internship. It was pretty great. I met with my supervisor and she showed me around and filled me in on all kinds of things. I just kind of familiarized myself with the agency and the people there. My supervisor told me I could head out early today (about noon) and just get myself ready for tommorrow. I see my first few clients tommorrow. I am so petrified. I hope that I have the skills and trust in myself to truly help these kids. I came home and Leslie, Andy, and I watched Antwone Fisher, which is a great movie. gives me hope that I really will be able to help the kids that I will begin working with. It is based on a true story. It is amazing to me how resiliant the human spirit can be. Antwone had so many hardships in his life and no one to guide him past those and yet he turned out to be an amazing young man.

I am about to head out to arlington for another class tonight. I am heading out early so as to miss some traffic and to make it to the campus computer store to buy really cheap (academcially priced) copies of windows xp and norton antivirus for the computer jay sent me. This weekend, i will set it all up and have myself a kick ass computer. I am so excited. well, off to another class. peace out.

goodbyes suck

Just said bye to Chris. probably wont see him till thanksgiving at least. That sucks. Maybe I will make a trip down there sometime before then. Anyway, I am going to try and sleep off this depressing feeling I am having. Wish me luck for tommorrow.

It begins

So, Saturday was superb. I slept till about 12:30, which I have not been able to do in quite a while. It was so nice. i lounged around for a while after that, then I hung out with Chris in the evening. I kicked his ass in darts. It was nice to spend some time with him. He is leaving tommorrow for Florida, he's moving there for a job building bridges. I wish him the best and cant wait to go visit. sunday, I slept in a bit, then headed down to Central and Knox for the best damn Lebanese food I have ever eaten in the states (excluding homemade food of course). We went to Fadi's, it was so good. I met my parents, sis, bro and his girlfriend, and his girlfriend's cousin. It was a great time. The food was so delicious. All of you need to try this place out. The conversation was great. It was nice to hang with my bro and meet his new girlfriend.

After that I jetted back up to Plano and hung out at Chris's place with him and Dennis. Dennis and I had a really great conversation. A little background on Dennis: Dennis and I have been friends since high school, but we have had a few falling outs. for the past few years, Dennis has been an alcoholic and so all his friends and him have had to deal with all the b.s. that comes along with being an alcoholic. But, as of yesterday, Dennis has been completely sober for 4 months now. he is a different man. I talked to him about a friend I often worry about and he gave me some advice or at least told me how he used to feel about things and how he feels now and how those two feelings are so far apart. We talked for about 2 hours, it was really great to hear such a different perpective on things. It was also super great to have such a good friend back in my life and in such great spirits. After that, Chris, Dennis, and I went cruising around in Dennis's new '86 Pontiac Grand Prix. It was awesome!! We checked out Dennis's new apartment, did some more cruising in Chris's '72 Pontiac Le Mans, which might I add sounds better than it ever has. Chris has been working on it pretty hard lately because he is about to drive it to Florida. It sounded so beautiful. Anyway, we hit Lovers Egg Roll and then Dennis took off to hang out with his woman and Chris and I hung out again.

Today, I drove out to Argyle, Texas for a transport for work. It wasnt too bad. Now, I am going to veg out for a while before we head out tonight. Chris and I are going to meet Dennis and his girlfriend tonight. We both havent met her yet, but Dennis is definitley smitten with her.

tommorrow begins the craziness of school again. i have to be at work by 6:00 to drive out to Forney, Texas, then I take off to arlington for an orientation followed by 2 three hour classes and then a drive back to plano at about 10:00 in the pm. I am not looking forward to it, but this is the price one pays for a higher education. Just kidding, I am sure it will be fine.

I am completely pumped about this weekend. Jay comes into town on Thursday and jenn is crashing at my place on Saturday. I see a trip to the Velvet Hookah saturday night, Jenn totally wants to see it. I also have monday off for labor day. How great is this? Yeah!! anyway, i am going to go relax for a bit. My roommate has been gone for a few days and she is still in College Station. It is kind of nice to have had the place to myself for a while.

Oh my god!!!!

I cant believe this, but Chris just got our router working for Leslie and I's computers. Now we both have internet. YEAH!! I have spent many an hour working on this router and I could not do it. There have been 4 other people that have tried to make it work with no luck. chris did it in less than 3 minutes. He is amazing!! just thought I would let you all know.

Great news!!!!!!!

I just talked to my cousin and he is doing just fine. He was in surgery yesterday for about 10 hours, but all is good now. He will be in recovery for about 3 months, wheel chair and stuff like that, but he is going to be ok. Best news I've heard in a very long time. Thanks for everyone who had him in their thoughts. I appreciate it.

good times

lots to tell, Thursday was a nice day. Lunch with Jenn was nice, then Pirates was fabulous. I believe that Pirates is ALMOST (let me say again, ALMOST) up to Princess Bride caliber. It had so many components, rivalry, brotherhood, love, action, honor, loyalty, honesty. It was so great. Thursday evening started off slow, i was a bit upset about my cousin. Will, like the good bud he is, took me over to Mike and Erin's place and a bunch of friends, Will and I played sand volleyball for a while. It was a great way to take my mind of my cousin and it was also a completely substance free evening. YEAH! I was actually supposed to work Thursday evening, but the visit got cancelled, so i did not have to work. Yeah for that.

Friday, I went to the Turning Point to finish up the training. It was so wonderful. They were all so appreciative and since i am so cool :), we finished the training on Friday. I was supposed to go in on monday and train them also, but now i can actually get some more hours at work on Monday instead. in the afternoon, leslie and I had some quality roommate time. We spent much time shopping for a few more things for our place. We bought a nice blue rug, a new clock and a cool gold body pillow for the nook. It was a good time. Then, we cleaned up our place and got all ready for the big party. Before the party, i jetted over to my parent's house to meet my brother's new girlfriend. They are in town for the weekend. I didnt get to talk to her long, but she seemed really sweet. I wish my brother the best. his new girlfriend actually has a bit of Lebanese blood in her (one of her grandmothers is Lebanese), so that gets her in the door real quick with my parents. :)

well, the party was amazing!! it was such a good time. At one point, there were actually 13 people sitting and talking in the nook. Isnt that wonderful? there were several times in the evening where I just took a second to look around and all i saw were people talking and interacting and having a good time. It was such a great feeling to see so many good friends who work so hard all the time take a little break and just have some fun. Deb bought us a lazy susan and a cool little table for our nook. We actually named the lazy susan slutty susan because she gets around. how cute is that? I have to give props to Mike and Leslie for coming up with such a cool name. Overall, the evening was superb. Also, our stuff from hookah-shisha.com came in yesterday so scott was nice enough to bring it up with him. we got to use the new rose tobacco and the new bowl screens. The bowl screens were a bit tough to figure out at first, but hookah master mark saved the day. It was so great. there were many great quotes said throughout the evening, but i do believe one of the best deserves some mention here. You have to imagine mark saying this with the amount of excitement that a 5 year old boy would have. He is sitting in the nook and out of nowhere he sees leslie with an otter pop (a little popsicle) and he says, "You have otter pops, can I have a Mr. Orange?" It was the damn funniest thing i have ever heard. It was completely priceless. well, I have to run.

good morning

I think I am ready to get back to my million hour work weeks. This has been fun, but i feel myself becoming lazy and that will not be good come Monday. Well, my cousin is still alive. He went through 3 surgeries well and they gave him some blood yesterday and they want to wait till he is feeling a bit better before doing 2 more surgeries. After those surgeries, so probably Saturday, he will be in the clear. I am so worried about him, I hope so much that he makes it through all of this.

Yesterday was pretty nice. I didnt work at all, i woke up pretty early and got a lot done. I set up our phone line yesterday. We decided instead of always going over our cell phone minutes and paying lots of money to them, we should just get a regular phone line and use that when we are at home. I like the idea. We also had to decide if we wanted to switch from cable internet to DSL. The DSL people were going to give us a deal for $30/month. I called the cable people to tell them to cancel our service and he offered us $20/month for 6 months then back up to $40/month after that. We decided to stick with the cable service. I also watched Bad Boys. I had never seen it, it was a good movie, i liked it. then, Andy, Leslie, my dad, and I moved my couch. YEAH!! It is nice to have a couch again. I had dinner with the fam. Then, Will, Leslie, Andy and I watched Adaptation. I liked it, i thought it was a really well set up movie. It was a nice day overall.

Today, I am going to lunch (Pei Wei, YEAH!!) and to see Pirates of the Caribbean (I still havent seen it) with Jenn. I am so excited. After that, I have to head into work for a few hours. No plans for the evening yet, but i am sure something will come up. I'm out.

Let the game begin

well, since last night was not so good, i was up pretty early, so I decided to work on my interview questions, so here you are.

interview game
here's how the game works:

THE RULES
1 -- leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2 -- I will respond; I’ll ask you five questions.
3 -- you'll update your website with my five questions, and your five answers.
4 -- you'll include this explanation.
5 -- you'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.

My questions came from Scott. (damn good questions, Scott, they really made me think. Thanks!)

1) You’re very pro-women and active in a lot of different areas of women’s issues. If you could deliver one message to every woman on the Earth, what would it be?

Find yourself and be yourself! I feel that this statement definitely applies to everyone, but I have known so many women in my life that get lost in all the other people in their life that I think this statement is truly important for women to remember. They begin to forget who they are, maybe they never even knew themselves to begin with. As women, we are often told to always be there for others. Often times, women get their self worth by helping others or by making sure everyone else is ok. I would want all women to know that it is ok to take time to find out who you are and be that person. Not only is it ok, but it is necessary. Everyone needs to take the time to find out what makes them tick. What they like, what they dislike, what they believe, their opinions, what they want to do for a living, who they want to love, etc. Many women seem to find a man to attach to because they think that is what they are supposed to do and yet they never really find out who they are. I’ve seen too many amazing women that get lost in the background of a perfect relationship. Take time to know yourself. Don’t let what others say or think about you affect your journey of self exploration. Know that no matter what others say, you can do or be anything you want to be, you just need to get out there and make it happen. Know that you can be whatever you want. Anything, a politician, a police officer, a mother, an astronaut, a race car driver, a teacher, a nurse, a lawyer, a doctor, even president. No one is going to take care of this part for you. No one, but you, can figure out who you are and where you want to go in this world.

2) I know you’re clamoring to get the hell out of the Dallas area. What are some of the things you’ll miss though? And, conversely, what are the things you won’t miss at all? What are you looking forward to somewhere else?

The more I think about leaving Dallas, they scarier it gets. I have lived in Texas most of my life, either in the Dallas area or in Austin. I like both cities, but I guess I feel like I want to see more of what the world has to offer. I have even thought about moving back to Lebanon for a few years after I graduate. Maybe help them set up some type of prevention education/therapy program at the AUB (American University of Beirut). I just don’t want to ever settle on a place to live just because it is comfortable.

Having said that, if I ever leave Dallas, I will miss many things starting with my family and friends. It is so wonderful to have my family and friends (that I consider family) all living in the same area. I do have several wonderful friends that live out of state, but I also have many wonderful friends that I feel like I can really depend on here in the Dallas area. I will also miss the Velvet Hookah!! I will miss hanging out at mark and natalie’s place with a few good friends and just talking the night away. I will also miss the convenience of this area. Everything is so convenient, all the stores I need anything from are right near my apartment. I think to some extent, I will also miss the gay ghetto (Oak Lawn). I think I will also miss the few connections that I made as far as my career is concerned. If I move, I will be starting over with that aspect.

As far as what I wont miss, I certainly wont miss the fakeness of people in parts of dallas. I would like a few more granola people around, like up in Cali or even Austin. I wont miss living in a conservative state. I wont miss meeting people with such conservative views. Now, I understand that there will be people with views different than mine anywhere I move, but I would rather there be more people who agree with me than less people as I feel now.

I am looking forward to a more progressive area. I want to be able to freely discuss my views with people who may not have the same views, but are at least open to learning something new. I look forward to being near a coast. If I decide to raise children, I want them to be raised in a more progressive area and around people who are open to new ideas. I look forward to being able to see and learn new things about a new area of the country or world. I guess the whole idea behind wanting to leave Dallas is so that I can see what else is out there.

3) What would your ideal living quarters (house, apartment, loft, etc.) be like, inside and out?

It depends on the time in my life and on my financial situation. Well, if we are talking right now, I really love my new apartment. Now, lets pretend that the finances do not matter and we are talking about a few years down the road. I would love to live in a small home by the beach. I think it would be amazing to wake up every morning to the sound of the waves crashing against the beach. I would also love to go out on my balcony with a warm cup of coffee and sit and watch the waves. It would be so peaceful. The inside of my apartment would have a black couch and a red love seat. A modern glass coffee table with a pimp entertainment center. Surround sound, the works so that movies can be watched in the best of conditions. I would want my home to have lots of color, the primary colors, reds, blues, greens, yellows. I really like the modern style of decorating.

4) You’ve got $2,500 and three days with no responsibilities. What do you do?

I wish I could say that I would do something totally crazy and unselfish, but with the level of exhaustion I am usually feeling and the level of selfishness I dont usually allow myself, I think I would just treat myself to all the things I do not normally let myself have. I think I would take one day and have a whole spa day for me and my sis. Massages, manicure, pedicure, facials, the works. Then, I would take my sis and we would go buy all those things that we want, but don’t have the money to buy. Then, we could come back home and enjoy all the wonderful, material things we just bought. It would be so perfect.


5) Describe your life as you see it 25 years from now. Do you have a family? What do you do for a living? For fun?

Wow, tough question. Well, I see myself still working as a social worker in some way. Maybe still working with adolescents, maybe even teaching at a high school or college level. I think I would like to have a family someday, but I really can’t plan that all out. It depends on if I meet the right man and the time is right to start a family. My career is very important to me. I feel that I have the skills and motivation to help others and that is very important to me right now. That all might change in the future. I think I would be happy still single and pursuing my career surrounded by wonderful friends and family 25 years from now. I think I would also be happy married with a family, while finding time to pursue my career. I think I would still spend much time traveling and seeing the world. At that point in my life, if I can afford it and can find the time, I would like to do all the things that I said I wanted to do in my life and never got the chance. Skydiving, swimming with dolphins, traveling to all kinds of amazing places, own a phat old car that I can take the time to work on (since I will have learned much more about cars by then), if possible fall in love again and do all these things with the man I fall in love with. This is a really tough question when I am not sure if there will be that one significant person in my future. I want to find him, but I also know that I can be happy with my life if I do not find him. Again, very deep and tough question, I like it.

last night was not so good

After I heard about what happened to my cousin, I got pretty down. I tried calling a few friends, but i really didnt talk much, so they really couldnt help much. I basically went to bed around 8. I fell in and out of sleep several times thoughout the night. I got some calls and made a few calls around 10:30 or so, but overall not the best night ever. I talked to my cousin, he was on many drugs, didnt sound too good. i talked with my aunt and she told me he had been through several surguries and has two more before he is in the clear. when the other guy swerved over the median and hit him head on, my cousin's truck flipped over several times and he was pinned under it for about 20 minutes. Finally the ambulace came and he had an hour drive to the hospital. Man, Hadi (my cousin) is such a trooper. well, please keep him in your thoughts.

shit

I just got woken up from a nice afternoon nap by some very bad news, so i thought I would write about it because people say that helps. I feel myself kind of flipping out. I hate it when people get hurt, especially people you care about. My cousin in cali (my dad's sister's son) got in a car accident. He is about a year younger than I am. Someone fell asleep and hit him head on and his truck rolled several times. He is in the hosiptal, he is alive, but he is not doing so well now. This just brings back floods of memories of people I've lost in my life. My mom was on the phone crying and telling me to be careful because I spend so much time driving. She said it is not your driving, but what about the other person. this just makes me so angry, people falling asleep at the wheel, drunk drivers. They dont care about other people. my cousin got hurt because some jack ass didnt get enough sleep and decided to drive anyway.

too early

Well, i was up at 5 this morning to make it into work by 6. This early morning working is crazy. I am not made for this. The drive to Forney wasnt too bad. The visit at the center was quite eventful. The father was a full blown asshole, but i stood my ground and all worked out in the end. The boy I pick up today is so great. He is four years old and he talks nonstop. He reminds me of the little boy in Jerry Maguire. :) anyway, i am about to leave work right now for two days of pure nothingness. I have no work left today and I dont work at all tommorrow. On top of all that goodness, I dont work till 4 on thursday evening. Man, I wish this would never end, but next week begins the craziness of school and internship again. I guess I will enjoy it while I can.

Yesterday was nice. I was done with training at the Turning Point at about 2, went to hang with my mom for a bit, then headed home. Leslie, Andy and I moved the brown couch out of my place. All I have left to do is find someone to help me move the new couch in. YEAH!! Yesterday was a day full of movie watching. We watched Good Will Hunting and Moulin Rouge. Both great movies. It was a nice day. I hit the sack around 12, cause I had to be up so early. Anyway, I think I might just be rambling right now. I am pretty tired. I think I am going to head home and take a nap. I believe Chris comes into town today. YEAH!! i'm out.

Such pretty cars

I am actually at my old place of employment, the Turning Point, right now, but the trainees are watching a video I have seen at least a million times, so I decided to play online. :) I saw the most beautiful car this morning on my way to the training. It made my day. It was a beautful fire engine red Belair. I dont know the year. It had chrome in all the perfect places and there was a nice combination of red and white paint. The interior was white leather. Amazing. There were even white fuzzy dice on the rearview. There was even a kid (maybe 18-19 years old) driving while wearing a plain white t-shirt. I felt like I was in the middle of American Graffitti or some other movie like that. Anyway, got to run, the video is amost over.

another great piece of information to share, my good bud Jenn is coming into town from Cali on Labor day weekend. I will have two best buds, jay and jenn, in town that weekend. I anticpate much fun and at least one trip to the Velvet Hookah!! Man, jenn is such a blast to hang out with. It is like the Friends episode with Fun Bobby, that is what I think of Jenn. Fun Jenn, except she is not an alcholic like Ridiculously Dull Bobby. Anyway, I'm off to do some more edumacating. :)

The housewarming/Leslie's birthday Party!!

the housewarming/Leslie's birthday party has been scheduled for this coming Friday, Aug. 22. I hope you can all make it!! Man, i love parties!!

I watched Signs tonight. That is a scary movie, I like it. I am pretty pooped, so I dont have much to say. I am off to bed. gotta get ready for another week. I'm out. oh yeah, I figured out how to add links on my blog today, so I added links to all the blogs i read. Enjoy!!

Yeah for Netflix!!

I just joined netflix, i have been meaning to join for quite some time now and I finally sat down and did it. I put City of God in my rental que (this is the technical term for the place you select the movies you want them to send you :). I REALLY want to see this movie, it is not released yet, but as soon as it is, they will send it to me. this is so great. The deal is you pay $20 a month and you can have up to three movies at your place at the same time. As soon as you are finished with a movie, you drop it in the mail and they send you the next movie on your list. What a deal. this is also a great way to stop supporting the corporate monster known as Blockbuster. :) The movies that are coming my way on monday are Adaptation, Barbershop, and About Schmidt. :)

Last night was totally great. I had a great conversation with Jason. It is not often that you can just talk on the phone for hours about nothing. Best friends are so great!! I hung out at home, smoked the hookah, watched Finding Forrester (which is an amazing movie), and sat on the couch with Charlie (my cat). Leslie was out last night, so the place was mine. It was so nice to have some down time. I was in bed by midnight. it was so great.

yes, I can be responsible

I am proud to say that I finally bought Charlie (my cat) a collar today. He is officially a domesticated cat. He has a collar and tag with his name and my phone number on it. If that isnt love, I dont know what is.

also, i bought a hands free headset for my cell phone today. I decided that since I am in the car so much and much of the time now, I will be driving children around, I might as well be a bit safer. This amount of responsibleness (is that a word?) is not healthy. :)

I am complete again

Well, I spent last night hanging with Nat, Mark, Denise, and Scott. It was a perfect evening. I have felt so incomplete recently and I think it was because I havent seen those guys in quite a while. It was so nice to just hang out with them. It was Nat's birthday, so we had cake and sang for her. I got to see mark, nat, and tom's new place. It is totally great. They have a red wall, what more could one ask for? I also got to hang out and play with Thomas. Scott and I had some great conversation. It was nice to hear what he thought about some things that have really been worrying me lately. had some great fun over there. It is always a good time to hang at mark and nat's. I love you guys. oh, buy the way, mark and denise have started a blog from their lab (place of work). Check it out at http://lablog.blogspot.com. I anticipate much funiness. :)

Well, this morning I woke up early to head to my old place of work (the turning point) to lead a training session. It was so great. I forgot how much I love education. It was so great to be talking in front of people and cracking jokes and educating on such important info. again. Good times.

Also, I checked my grades for summer online today and I got A's in both classes. YEAH for me!! This involves some celebration. I think I will enjoy some time in the nook today. No plans for tonight yet, which is so great. It has been a while since I have had an evening with no plans and my roomie is out for the night. It will be nice to have the place to myself. good times ahead. call me if anyone wants to help with the celebration.

oh yeah, I just wanted to mention I am a big fan of this whole afternoon nap thing. Yesterday, I left my house at 6 to head to work and I went to bed the night before at about 2:30. It was my roommate's birthday, so we stayed up celebrating. YEAH. anyway, I got home from work yesterday and took an afternoon nap. It was fabulous, best sleep ever.

lazy blogging

So, I havent blogged in a couple of days, but this one will be an update. :) Well, i have truly been enjoying my 25 hour work week with no school or internship. work is still kind of unorganized. On Tuesday, my transport is in Forney (about 50 minutes away from the center). I have to be leaving the center at 6:00 or so. Anyway, i get to Forney and it seems that I have the wrong address, so I drive around there for a while all the while trying to get a hold of someone at the center. Finally, I get a hold of one of my supervisors and she gives my the caseworker's cell number. So, I finally get in touch with her and she says, oh it seems that i gave you the wrong address. What?!! I drive 50 minutes at 6 in the am and you gave me the wrong address!! Anyway, i head back to the center, get a bit lost on the way back, but finally make it. the good thing is I still get paid for those hours.

Anyway, then I jet home really quick to get all prettied up for the Phi Alpha initiation ceremony. My parents swing by to get me and we head to arlington. It was nice to have someone else drive me around for a change. The ceremony was short and sweet. My parents were taking pictures like i was 12 years old again. It was so sweet. then, we hit Pappasitos for lunch. It was mmmmm good. Guess what I ordered? Yup, the chicken taco salad. Delicious. I told my mom that this is the first and probably last time I will ever have greek letters affiliated with my name. :) Well, we accompanied my dad on some work related stops in arlington, so he didnt have to make a special trip later on. It was a nice afternoon.

Tuesday night, nick, justin and devin (who we dont like anymore, i'll exlain later) came over to enjoy some time in the nook. It was much fun. We ordered some Lover's Egg Roll and drank some beers all the while chilling in the nook. Good times.

Wednesday was my first day off in the middle of the week in a long while. I slept in, worked out, took my sis to lunch. My sis started school this monday. She is a junior now, she has moved up to the senior high. she was a bit overwhelmed, but i think she will be just fine. I spent the afternoon putting some final touches on my room. It looks so great!! Then, I went to see Chicago again with Leslie and her parents. Such a good movie. Before we headed into the movie, I got a call from Devin (the guy we dont like anymore) Devin is a kid that has been living with Nick for some time now. He seems like a good kid, he just needs to be more forward. anyway, he calls and asks me if Leslie and I want to come to one of his friend's concerts. I tell him that leslie cannot go, but I might be in, I'll call him after the movie. So, I buzz him after the movie and ask him if nick and justin are also going to the concert. He says of course. So, i head down there anticipating a nice evening. Well, it seems that Devin really just wanted to hang with leslie and wanted another favor from me that he could have just simply asked for instead of being so darn sneaky. Anyway, it ended up that Nick and Justin were not going to the concert, so I didnt go and the three of us went to Two Rows for dollar beers. It was all right. The conversation was fun, but I was still a bit upset for getting duped by a 20 year old kid. Anyway, it just goes to show that I still need to work on that whole putting Nada first thing. :)

Well, that brings us to today (my roommate's birthday, yeah!!). Happy Birthday, Leslie!! I slept in a bit, it was nice. I have some more errands to run today and then i head out to work at 4. Then, around 9 or so, I am off to pete's dueling piano bar for Ted's going away shin dig. YEAH!! On a happy side note, Jay got some more leave, so he will be in town for the labor day weekend. YEAH!! Cant wait to see him again. Well, i have to run. Have a great day everyone.

Times are good :)

So, today was the beginning of my two weeks of pure bliss. Today, I start my 25 hour work weeks, no class, no internship. Beatiful. You know, sometimes I wonder how I am going to live my life when it doesnt rotate around semesters. i always talk about how ready I am to be done with grad school, but it is so great to always have a new schedule every semester. It makes work and school so much less monotonous. Enough of that tangent, like I said, let the fun begin. I actually do not have a single thing scheduled for this wednesday, no work, no school, no internship, nothing. fabulous. The only thing i plan to do is maybe head up to my sis's school and take her to lunch. She started her junior year today. I wish her the best this year.

today, I drove to flower mound and back twice to pick up and drop off a 2 year old boy. He was very sweet. It was a very easy day at work of driving around DFW. How great is that? Then, i did some quick shopping. I need to buy some clothes for work because we get to wear whatever we want. I can wear like sweats and a t-shirt. They dont care, it is so great. all I have to do in the mornings to get ready for work is shower, throw my hair in a pony tail, put on a bit of makeup and head out the door. It is so great. Anyway, I have an early start tommorrow. I have to be leaving the center at 6:30 in the am to head out to forney and back by 8:30. what a morning. Then, I am heading to arlington with mom and dad for the Social Work Honor Society initiation. I have never really been big on ceremonies (i didnt even really want to go to graduation :), but my parents are really excited about it, so why not. They are coming and then we are going to lunch afterwards. They are so sweet. Anyway, I am off to bed. Well, I cant wait to party it up during these next two weeks, maybe see some of my friends. I miss you all. good night.

why can't everyone I care about live within a 5 mile radius?

Wouldnt that be great, if everyone you loved and cared about lived less than 5 miles away. that would be so great, then you would never have to miss anyone. Anyway, Jason left this morning. It is always so hard when he leaves. We all know how bad I am at goodbyes, but I was pretty good today. I guess I am used to it with Jay since he is always coming and going.

Anywho, the weekend was nice. Friday after work, I headed over to Jenn's for a birthday shindig. It was much fun. They cooked hens on the grill outside. They were delicious. Also, I had the joy and privledge of eating some cornflake potatoes. They were so good! At jenn's, we had great food, great company and wonderful conversation. It was a great time. Then, I jetted over to Michael and Tommy's b-day shindig. it was also a good time. Then, Jay and I headed back to my place and just hung out for a while, it was nice.

Saturday, I attended a baptism of some friends of the family. It was very unique because the boys that were getting batpised were older. In our religion, you usually get baptized as a baby. So, it was really great to see that these boys had chosen to get baptised on their own. It was their decision, not their parents, which I think is great. Then, I headed home for a bit and Jay, Deb, Dan, and Ted came over to hang out in the nook. There was much relaxing, much hookah smoking, and a fiesty game of Friends Trivia (thanks, Leslie). Leslie and Andy joined us for a while in the nook. I believe this nook idea is pretty darn amazing. Well, it was a nice evening.

Today, I said goodbye to jay. :( Then, I spent most of the day decorating my room and running errands. It wasnt the most eventful day, but it certainly was productive. I am looking forward to 2 weeks of 25 hour work days with no school and no internship. Sounds like a good time. i might actually be able to see my friends during the week. :) I miss you all. Well, i am off to paint my nails. wish me luck at my first full week of transports at work.

CAC

So, I have a few seconds before I am off to a transport, so I thought I would blog a bit. About this new job at CAC (childrens advocacy center), it is pretty great. This week has been very chaotic, but I think it will all settle down in the coming weeks. I got my schedule for the future today and it seems very doable. It will be very busy, but when am I not busy? So, the job is basically picking up children from their foster homes all over the metroplex, bringing them back to the center, supervising their visit with their biological parents and then taking them back home. If we thought I spent a lot of time driving before, that is nothing. Here is what the future holds for me. Mondays I drive to flowermound and back twice (about 4 hours in the car). Tuesdays I drive to forney and back (another 4 hours in the car), then I drive to arlington for class. Good times. Wednesday, i only drive to my internship in plano then to arlington for class. thursday i only go out to wylie and back (about 2 hours in the car) after an 8 hour day at my internship. Friday i head out to fortworth and back, another 4 hours in the car. this is going to be craziness, but I think it will be good fun and it is really easy especially if you enjoy driving. you guys should check out some of the hours on these visits. I have to leave my house at 6:30 sometimes. Craziness. anyway, I am off to the colony to pick up a kid for a forensic interview. I'll write soon.

the nook is done!!

yesterday was quite a unique day. I went to work twice and it seemed that both appointments had been cancelled, so they really didnt need me both times. that kind of sucked, but i ran some errands and it was all good. Leslie and I spent most of the day finishing our nook. It looks amazing. We broke it in properly last night. It was a great time. Leslie and I had some amazing conversation. I feel like I am getting to know her in a different way than before. It is great. She is a great woman. I am so glad that we are roommates. I had a few friends ask me to come out last night, but I was just having such a great time chatting it up with Leslie that I had to politely decline. Thanks for the invite, Scott and Deb. I really appreciate it. whenever any of you get a chance, the nook is a must see. I think we are throwing a party in a few weekends, so get ready for some fun. Overall it was a fantastic day.

Today, I am working most of the day and then I am off to Jenn's b-day party and then mike and tommy's b-day party and then hopefully home to get some rest. Well, I am off to get to work.

Heaven in Hookah

So, some of my old buds and I hit the Velvet Hookah last night. the evening was much fun. there was a rocky start, but it was all good in the end. We tried the Bananas Bakers Hookah. It was amazing, pure ambrosia. It was banana tobacco with banana liquer, whole milk, and spiced rum instead of water. It was spectacular. Never had something so sweet and delicious. we also went to Z's cafe before the Hookah, it was nice. Got to love those shwarma sandwiches. We hung out in the spa again later that evening, but i was way sleepy, so I headed home around 12:30. Got some breakfast with jay this morning before heading to work. Have my last class for the summer today. Yeah!! Talked to my mom also and she wants to attend the initiation ceremony for the social work honor society i got in. How sad is that? You can bring one guest and i am taking my mom. Oh well, life goes on. This weekend is also crazy busy. I have a baptism and dinner (my mom has some lebanese man she wants to hook me up with, grrrr) to attend this saturday. I am not too excited. Also, on friday I have two b-day parties to attend. Leslie and I bought the stuff for our nook yesterday. Hopefully we can get it all set up really soon. Anyway, I have to run. I'll write soon.

feeling very introspective

Maybe its just me, but sometimes I feel like there is so much sadness in this world, it hurts me to think about it. Now, before I continue, this could totally be the alcohol talking, but i havent had too much to drink, so I think this is really me talking. i am just feeling like I spend so much time worrying about other people and their lives. I have so many friends right now that are not happy with their lives, it makes me sad. I remember when I was unhappy with where my life was headed. It is a shitty feeling. I wish I could do something to help my friends or even people I dont really know that well (like the kids at the advocacy center). We live in a harsh world. i know it is not all bad by any means, but there is definitley a lot of pain for people to deal with. I wish I could wave a magic wand and make everyone happy. I know it doesnt work that way, but this is my journal and I have the right to dream. Have a good night.

let's make this quick

I am actually at my new job right now. You know me, I can always find access to a computer. :) Well, I am waiting for the woman I am doing a ride along with today. We are going to Fort Worth to pick up some kids, watch their visit with their parents and then take them back to Fort Worth. Easiest $80 I've ever made. :) Well, tonight we were going to get sushi, but we have changed our minds and we are eating dinner at Z's and then heading to the Velvet Hookah. A lot of my old buds have not been there yet and since Jay is in town, that is a good reason for us all to get together. I am excited. I got a 93% on a paper I turned in last week for my Monday class. YEAH!! yesterday after class, I headed to Jay's and we all hung out in the spa for a while and then made our way to the Avenue. It was a great time!! Got to run, the lady is here.

1.5 hours of work on a Monday

days can be so great when you only work from 9-10:30 in the am. My first day at work was great. I didnt have to go through much training at all because I did my internship at this same place, so most everything was still the same. I basically filled out all the paperwork, talked with my old supervisor for a while and got my schedule set up for this week. I am only working 17 hours this week. YEAH!! Maybe I will actually have time to work on our nook. :) anyways, after work I headed up to the Allen Premium Outlets. It was much fun. I didnt buy much, but i love window shopping. Then, I ran a couple of other errands, had some pizza with Jay and now I am at home just chilling before I head off to class. I can actually leave early today so I dont have to hang out in rush hour traffic. Another resounding YEAH!! I like this part time work thing. I cant believe that it is 1:40 on a Monday and I am just sitting at home. I love this life. well, i am off to do nothing before I head off to class. :) Much love to all.

Dinner with the fam

Today was a good day. I was able to finish off my paper, hang out with Deb and Jay, and see my family. I just got back from my parent's house. Dinner was a good time. Man, all you have to do is get a bunch of lebanese people drinking and fun will be had. They were telling the damn funniest jokes ever. These jokes are almost impossible to translate into english, but they were very funny in arabic. It was so much fun. anyway, the new job starts tommorrow. Wish me luck!!

Queer Eye!!!

Brilliant! This show is completely fabulous. I have never really gotten into the reality tv shows, but this one is so great. I loved it. Ok, for those of you who do not know about Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Basically, there are 5 gay men (aka: the Fab 5) who help one straight man shape up his life for some special event. Like, one guy wanted to ask his girlfriend to move in with him, another wanted to propose to his girlfriend. So, basically these 5 gay men each have specialty and they help put this man together so that he can win over his girl. It is so damn funny!!!

Ok, a little bit about last night's date. It was another great evening with a great guy. That is really all I am permitting myself to share online. :) i'm off to finish a paper for next week (the last week of classes for the summer!!)

Saturdays are nice

Yesterday was a good time. I met up with Scott and Denise for a Friday happy hour. It was really great, I had the opprotunity to meet a lot of Denise's friends. It was much fun. I headed home pretty early because my roommate is out of town and Jason isnt actually coming into town till tonight, so I had some much needed Nada time. It was great to just spend some time alone. I actually went to bed pretty early and I was up at like 7:30. I couldnt go back to sleep, so I got up and started unpacking all my stuff. I am almost done. It was a very productive morning. Anyway, I am off to my sis's house soon to watch some Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Everyone has been telling me that this show is fabulous. Since I dont have cable, I cant watch it at home, but my sis has been recording them for me. I cant wait!!! I will let you all know what I think about the show. I am sure I am going to love it. Anyway, have a great one!!

Who has internet again? ME!!!!!!!!!

I just got my internet hooked up at my new place. It feels so nice. This is the first post from my new apartment. How does it feel? Man, it is so nice not to work (even if just for one day). I feel so happy and peaceful and calm. Not exhausted or running on empty like I usually feel. Anyway, I slept in a bit today (till 10:30) then I had to get up to wait for the internet people, who were coming between 11 and 2 and didnt actually show up till about 2:15. oh well, I had some time to do some more unpacking. i am also looking forward to tonight's happy hour. It is so great to go to happy hour when you have just been sitting around all day. I am really going to look into becoming independently wealthy so I never have to work again. :)

Last night was fun. First off, Nick and I hit the Velvet Hookah. It was so great, i havent been there in quite a while. Also, it was nice to have some good conversation with a friend. then, we met up with Scott and headed to the Billiard Bar (I think that is what it was called). It was ok, they had a good juke box, but it was so loud, we could barely talk. We had to scream just to hear each other. They did have some amazaing drink specials though (dollar drinks!!) Overall, it was nice to just relax and have a nice time with some nice friends. you guys are so great!! well, I am off to take a shower. umm...it is 3:30 in the pm and I havent even showered yet. What a great day!! I'm out.