Song of the Moment

So, every once in a while I like to update my readers on the song that I just can't stop listening to at the moment. The last song I wrote about was "Diamonds and Rust" by Joan Baez. This time around, the winner goes to The Arcade Fire's "Wake Up". You might recognize it from the previews for the Where the Wild Things Are movie. It is such a cool song and totally up my alley. The chorus just kind of lifts you up and there's a part about 3/4 into the song that just makes me want to dance and run around like a little kid when I hear it. You can hear the song here.
Nothing else much here. The weekend was a pretty party-tastic time when I should have been getting stuff done but who could ever refuse a good time? I should probably do some paper writing and bedroom cleaning tonight after school but I think I might go shopping...I need new running shoes SO BAD. The sole on one of the shoes is seriously hanging on by about an inch of material. And I'm totally going running before practice today in them. lol

Birthday Party for Aimee

Last night we celebrated the day Aimee was birthed by going out to Jam's and then to The Green Onion. I went over to Aimee's before hand to help her make red velvet cupcakes and let me tell you, those were the best cupcakes I've ever had probably due to the fact that the cream cheese frosting had MARSHMALLOW CREAM in the recipe. Holy balls.
Well, I pulled a typical Amelia moment when making the cake by dropping the egg container, cracking 3 eggs on the ground, catching one with my knee and saving 2. It was a container of 6 and we needed 3 eggs so if I hadn't caught the one with my knee, all would have been lost. It was definitely a baking spectacle.
Jess came over a little later then we all made our way to Jam's in Ben's spaceship of a car. Jam's has tasty food (I had a crab cake salad that was reallllly good) but terrrrrible service. I mean, it's bad. It was bad this time and it was bad the last time I was there. But they can get away with it because the food and atmosphere are such a cut above the rest. Ugh, I hate that. I have to work my TAIL off at Chang's for my money and then I go to get served at a restaurant by a snotty server who couldn't give a shit because she knows she'll walk out with hella good tips for the night because the prices on the menu are higher.
Anyway, after dinner, (which was really fun, btw. I love Aimee's new Bonefish friends. They're really cool) we went to The Green Onion, a bar notorious in Omaha for making their drinks extremely strong. Aimee, Jess, and I would go there all the time after work when we were all at Chang's but it was never as busy as it was last night. We had to stalk this one table we saw getting up so we could snag their table when they left. It was really fun though, and many Malibu and Pineapples were consumed. ha...
It was a really fun night, we capped it off eating the cupcakes we made and playing Guitar Hero. Happy Birthday, Aimee!

The Drive to Bennington and a Reunion

Yesterday, I drove my mother and I to Bennington High School for the swine flu vaccination. Bennington is six miles away from north Omaha and it is a really small farm community. We drove there around 3 in the afternoon and I was just blown away with how beautiful it is out there! The drive was so scenic with farmland extending into the horizon, cute barns, lots of horses and a pumpkin patch. The drive into the town has one road with trees lined on the side. While we were driving down the road, we saw some people riding their horses, you know, just everyday stuff Bennington residents get to do. I had no idea! I want to live in Bennington now. The wait for the shot wasn't too bad but we were in front of and behind some real characters. There was a Jordin Sparks "Got Milk?" poster on the wall and my mom asked me who that was. I was all like "Jordin Sparks, duh!" and she was all like "Oh yeah, duh" (not really, no one actually talks like that) And then the guy behind us goes, "She's bootyliscious." My mom proceeded to crack up while I looked for an escape route. Anyway, it was pretty quick and only a little painful (the whole experience, not the shot itself) and we went and got dinner after.
Tonight was a little Jobie reunion. Many people don't know about this part of my life but I was a member of Job's Daughters International, a wonderful organization for young women. I absolutely adored being in Job's. I made some great friends, had a lot of fun, and found something I was really good at. I just think the Order is really beautiful and special. Well, we had some problems at home during the years I was in Job's, and I had to pull out before I wanted to. Ever since then, I've wished I could have stayed. Tonight was my opportunity to participate in a meeting again. It was just like old times except there were different girls. It really felt like I never left. I am very grateful there is an organization out there for girls; building self-esteem, respect for others, philanthropic work, and friendship. <3

Weird Dreams, the Swine, and a Spark

I had the. strangest. dream. ever last night! I have only ever been prompted to look up what a dream means in a book one other time in my life, and that was when I was working at Barnes and Noble and there was no one in the store and I was supposed to be dusting the Dreams section. Yes, we had a Dreams section.
Anyway, sparing too many details that are disturbing, I kept dreaming that I was coughing up bugs. EEW, right? I can't even type this without cringing.
While there was no exact definition for "coughing up small insects" in the dream search engine online, the interpretation for coughing makes some sense. It said to dream that you are coughing a lot means you have a fear of or dissatisfaction of the future. Interesting. I must have an extreme fear or dissatisfaction if creepy crawlies are involved.
Of course, reading that, I could apply that to many aspects of my future. The most prevalent on my mind, however, is student teaching and the career path I chose. I find myself at a sort of selfish, dissatisfied, crossroads when it comes to being an educator. I don't want to tie myself down in a classroom for years. I want to travel, meet new people, do wild and crazy things. The last thing I want is for children to depend on me. That comes later when I've met my dream hunk. On the other hand, this is the path I've chosen and I KNOW I am good at teaching. Many a classroom observer for me has told me so. And we have such a need for qualified teachers. But, gross, I don't wanna! That is why I'm applying to grad school for Speech Language Pathology, but still. Can't I just be an astronaut or foreign diplomat or something?
The fear part of the dream probably factors into the fact that the advisors for the SLP program at UNO HAVE NOT emailed me back after the hundredth time. They just keep telling me to come to the Open House with my questions. What is wrong with a world where a prospective student cannot sit down and have a face to face convo with someone? Robots!
So while my subconscious is telling me I suck at being satisfied with my future, my parents have been scrambling to find a swine vaccine. My doctor's office is supposed to have it but my dad calls everyday and they don't ever have it. As I am student teaching next semester I have to get a shot. So, tonight I have to skip practice, and wait in some damn line for hours to get a vaccination. Stupid piggies.
A small highlight for today, however, is using Spark People. My roommate showed it to me and it is AWESOME. It's a free site that lets you track your nutrition, exercise, and weight loss. You should check it out here. As I've already lost so much weight, I think it's a great tool to help me lose those last unwanted lbs. Well, I better get off and make it look like I'm actually working (I'm at work study right now and Boss is sitting right behind me)

Where in the World is Amelia Sandiego?

Wow, it has been a looong ass time since the last time I blogged. The only excuse I can come up for myself is that I am just lazy as can be. Or maybe really busy. Nah, just a lazy pile.
There has been much that has gone on since I last blogged-the whole month of October to start.
Halloween was a highlight. I dressed as Amelia Earhart (which, btw, I also saw the movie "Amelia" with Hilary Swank and I am just fascinated with this aviatrix) It was a lot of fun as we had a good old fashioned crew ice cream social. You might be able to guess my favorite type of ice cream...hint: it contains no dairy but has a lot of ice.
Entering November has been busy, busy, busy and kind of stressful. We still don't know our student teaching placements officially although I did receive a heads up from a fellow education major that I am placed at Minne Lusa elementary school in a fourth grade class. Needless to say, I freaked out just a little bit when I heard this.
We started erging again. Gotta love winter training for rowing. Ian and I have been very busy as captains making the workouts and organizing the meter challenge that is in effect. I won last week's challenge for varsity women and as I am hyper competitive, I hope to keep it that way. The last fall regatta in Wichita was another highlight of October. It was actually the Sunday after Halloween, go figure, so it was just a great weekend. We finished out the season really strong with two boats medaling. My boat had the best race I've ever had and I couldn't have asked for a better last fall race or regatta. So much fun!
Work is work, gotta love serving people and bending to their every want. But I guess I can't complain as I am also a person that gets served. Thinking about it, working as a server is a very strange job. I may have to serve people and it sucks, but it is one of the only jobs where the server turns around and does the same thing to another server. I may always tip 20% and be nice, but I'm still perpetrating the circle. Oh well, I make hella good money in tips.
No such luck in the game of love here. I'm pretty used to it by now but it does get really lonely. I go out all the time and LOVE meeting new people. I feel I give off a good impression and people like me...but that's the thing. I'm everyone's best friend but no one's girlfriend. To quote Queen, "Can anybody find me....somebody to love?!"
Well, that's been about the last month in a very, very short summary. I promise from today on to be better about updating. Peace, love, and ergs.