friday thoughts

do you ever feel like everything is coming down on you all at once?
it doesn't even matter when it's going to happen- but when it does it's like the only person/people you can depend on can give two shakes of a rats tail about you.

and you know you're being unreasonable but you can't help it...you have nothing that you can offer in a conversation to someone who thinks they are above it all, or above you, or who won't listen anyway...

it seems to be the theme of this year. i started the year off with it, and i am ending the year with it.

that being said, I am not a miserable person. i like to be optimistic and see the glass half full so to speak.
i don't like to play games, and i especially don't like to be the one in the middle of someone else's game. i think more of myself and i expect more out of people. i like to be around people, and usualy when i don't have anything nice to say i don't say anything at all...

when people are scared, they tend to pick on you. YOU'RE crazy. YOU'RE miserable.
meanwhile and at least in my case: it's when you are at your happiest they begin this crap again.

what's the point, really? to see how far they can take you?
how much they can push your buttons?

how they can continue to hurt you in the future?

or it must be an astrological thing.

thankfully: i have had and will have time to think, and plan and go on the way i always have been. i don't care about the games, people can play them...and think what they think...and do what they do...

god's speed.

i am sorry to bore you lovely bloggie friends with my rant, but thank you for listening.
having a million and one things to complete today, i have gotten all that i have wanted to say pretty much off my chest.

the miracles of having a blog :)

much love to you all and have a beautiful weekend

love me,
the globetrotting gamine

magnet?

(image from cafepress)

i am almost 30...
and i still have to deal with
the babybullshit of drama...

why?
seriously?
people don't have enough to do?

people are worrying about what i'm doing?
do i look destitute and stupid?
unkempt? unworthy of *something*?

seriously, i am about ready
to tell people
to blow it out their asses.

i must keep people up
all night long
since they worry about me...
and make up things.

i know this isn't the first time i've complained about these issues...
but why do they still follow me?!

i'm going to be 29. i'm married. i have a life, a family, things to do. i don't need this.

i am never vulgar, and this is not towards the bloggie world so I need to vent:

FUCK OFF, ASSHOLES!

love me,
the globetrotting gamine

ah....ah....CHOO!

i don't understand.

it's june.

and i'm home sick like a dog.

not this dog. a mean nasty boogery one...

a big thanks to my nephew...

there he is. he started it and passed it on to me and LML while we

were a few miles away from this place.

thanks, man.

right now, i am home watching TV...

but just the Fit TV channel.

looking at what i should be doing. i couldn't even make it through a warm up.

pretty much all i want to do is this...

ok, no.

not the most flattering picture of me...

but probably what i look like right now!

(even though it was taken last year in the dominican republic)

my grandmother is still in the hospital.

they are still running tests to see what she's got.

nightmares have been running rampant through my head.

i've been taking my vitamins...

obviously they didn't help since i look like

the above picture.

step, step, step....says FitTV...

oh!

crazy ex-bff tried out for the jersey shore.

have i ever complained here about it?

that LML made me watch it once and

i yelled at him for making me lose an IQ point?

i don't remember.

see...

now i don't feel so mean and bitchy anymore...

for saying that she was causing drama instead of just listening to me...

and respecting my wishes...

that i just wanted privacy...

well, if she gets on the show, that's shot to shit...

don't you think?

oops. sorry...started to daydream about sleeping again.

i can't go back to sleep. i CAN'T!

i get crusties and goo coming out of my eyes and it makes me want to hurl.

ok.

have a wonderful day. enjoy the sunshine for me <3

and thank you for the comments!

love,

gg

home is where the heart is

(as always, all photography on this is site unless otherwise noted is copyrighted/created by me.

if you like it, send me a note!)

coming back from vacation inspires you.
it inspires you to be a better person, travel more...
clean the house, try new things...see your friends, spend time with the family...
to get rid of toxic influences in your life.

OH! speaking of...

did you hear about the one where the ex-best friend also starts congratulating family members about THEIR invisible babies?

oy.

are you serious?
now, not only am *i* the one who is pregnant, but so is a multitude of other people apparently.

also,
ex-best friend blaming people for *me* attacking *her*.

help.
please.

even though, at the same time (and thankfully) it does make you want to laugh.
um...

doesn't it?

travelling to bermuda and bermuda itself was beauuuuutiful. i will post pictures and stories soon.
today, i hit up a craft store, which i will also be blogging about tomorrow: since it seems like it's going to be a little slower than today.

hopefully.

my plan this week was to:

• garden- must plant flowers!
• send out letters
• create mothers day scrapbook
• post to you my scrapbook pages
• answer all the questions you've been sending me, because you're wonderful!
• tell you travel stories
• personal trainer- finally!
• create a travel scrapbook
• update to-pack list
• get doggie groomed
• more grocery shopping
• squeeze my doggie some more
• finish my story
• meet with publisher!
• read the last of the twilight books, after i buy it.

oh forget it. i can go on and on!

how was your week?

(i found scrapbook deals! yay!)


love,
mg

a million things

there are obviously amillion things the universe is throwing at me because I have absolutely no time to myself! no time to blog, especially next week :(
no time to yoga...shall ask eatsgrass if she wants to go to a class with me! or me with her...

the great thing is, since my whole ex-friend debacle- i have found so much more time to see MY *actual* friends! people who i haven't seen in a long while, people who i wasn't able to see because of said friend...
and i'm HAPPY. albeit exhausted, but happy.

thank the heavens.

i have been writing my books, looking for summer courses for july-september, and keeping in touch with the world, so to speak.
i have spent more time with family...and cooking!

i miss ghosting around blogs. namely:

Dragonfly Interiors

Suburban Yogini
Coffee and Paint Drips

and eatgrass

best. blogs. ever. hands down.

so love to you all on this beautiful monday morning.
hope you do everything you set out to do this week!!

more soon!
love
mg

re: frenemy article!

i love you, Good Housekeeping magazine.

Let me count the main reason this month (April 2010):

your article titled: The Friendship Fray

By Betsy Rapoport

It says this about the psychodrama friend

in the shell of a nut:

"You hang up the phone feeling as if you've just donated a couple of pints."

Yep.

The article goes on to say:

"Let a Too-Much-Information friend know your requirements, too.

Before you decide the fault's all hers, make sure you've been clear about what you

consider oversharing. 'Crossing boundaries may be a deal breaker- but have you really established that boundary explicitly? You know you have if you've said to your friend 3 times, "Stop. That's way too much" "

Hi. Hello. I've said that over 256 times.

Then, the article goes on to say:

"There are, of course, times when you should really head for the exit: You've made an honest effort

to communicate what you need, but your friend doesn't respond, or your caring and loyalty

aren't being reciprocated. It makes no sense to keep hanging out in a friendship where we feel diminished, misunderstood, or unfairly treated"

Thank you.

"...or where we've tried to heal the problem and our attempts to make things better go nowhere"

Seriously.

So case in point.

You say something to someone.

Your husband says something to someone.

Re: now ex-friend

The feelings and words are never respected

words are twisted,

there is talk behind your back,

but then you're the bad guy

and they're the victim

when all you really said to begin with was...

forgive the profanity:

FUCKING RESPECT ME AND MY PRIVACY!

then  you somehow need,

and i quote:

"to grow the fuck up"

How about they grow up?

How about they remove their head up out of their ass?

How about we stick to the topic of respect,

before having to be harsh enough to get

what you orginally asked for:

boundaries and privacy?

Was a text message to my family necessary when it says,

Happy Easter, I love you all even though MG hates me.

Wow, my Mommy is going to be mad at me now.

Geez.

Anyone else ever go through this crap?

Love,

MG

re: frenemy situation, help!

update

what do you do when you get this in an e-mail?

(names and such have been altered into blank lines or bleeps for discretionary purposes. is this person even friend material, let alone best friend? i am so sick over the circumstances right now and in need advice)

MG, I am not a mind reader and cannot understand what you are truly mad at me about but here are a list of things I have thought about that may be bothering you. You yourself were on the email with **and there is no where stated anywhere in that email of me explaining to her that you were definetely going to Italy or a date of departure. In regards to the hotel nonsense you have created, you yourself have been sharing that story for years of how I met your cousin playing hide and go seek in your ** property, if that bothers you now then that is really ridiculous because that is something we have told everyone for years and that is how I really met him. We even have journal entries about that story. There is no reason at all to be offended by that. In regards to Montreal I did not tell the people in the email what your fight with John was about I did say you had a fight with him and left it at that because an Adult is responsible enough to tell those that she is traveling with the day before a trip she planned with others (friend 1 and partner) that she will not be traveling with them instead of the people she promised to travel with being surprised that you would not appear. As an adult that is the appropriate thing to do. Being an adult means when you make appointments or meetings with people you try your best to keep them and if you cannot attend you tell all the people involved themselves. Also being an adult and a caring friend means trying to make time to see the people who come to see you instead of just attending events that are to your benefit because you do not like where they are being held or the time they are being held. It is one thing to not be able to attend an important event (and not I am not talking about *random person*) because of work or other business but because of personal preference of not liking a place is a little to much. That is childish and selfish on many levels to expect people to run for you to your events and places of desire and not to care about anything they do. Being a friend requires giving and taking. The moment you close off that door you are not allowing anything to grow in life. In your youth you were not like this but as you get older I have noticed these people that tell me this are right and as your friend I say you should reevaluate yourself in this respect. See what is causing you to be like this to others. Remember when you help others they will help you back one day, it is part of being Orthodox. You yourself loved the church so much and now the simple things of Christianity you are ignoring. I have also noticed your hatred of everyone and everything in the world. Since when did you become so negative? What is really bothering you to be so negative. You have been like this for months. Is it what *other ex best friend* caused with *her new friend* ? What has made you so bitter? I do not say this in regards to myself either I say this in regards to the many people you associate with who have come to me to share this information with me who have been offended and hurt at some point or other by this. Please tell me what the real issue is that is bothering you instead of trying to nitpick at me about nonsense. An adult can say what is really bothering them instead of nitpicking at nonsense because they do not want to say what the real issue is. And adult can also confront me to tell me in my face what is bothering them instead of hiding behind a computer screen like little children do when they have done something wrong they go and hide under a table. If this is about *acquaintance* the ongoing issue that you have with her and for whatever reason blame me for I am sorry. I really do not know how to solve that situation for you. I have told you time and time again you are my koumbara she is just a friend. I also do not understand what the issue is as *friend 1* sees and hangs out with *acquaintance* more then I do, two weeks ago *friend1* went to dinner and a movie with *acquaintance*. I agree with you in that situation that what she did was wrong regarding that wrestling night I even told her she was wrong in person. She did not clarify to anyone that it was a male only event and in that respect *acquaintance* was wrong. I also agree she is wrong about the email response she sent you on facebook. But so much time has passed and you yourself have spoken to *acquaintance* at *friend one's* party. Which leads me to my next topic of discussion, no one is perfect. I am not perfect you are not perfect and sometimes you might think I understand what you are thinking but sometimes I really do not. Your *family members* are not perfect but you love them and I love them which leads me to my final topic of discussion. If you are mad at me because *LML* does not like them and did not want to be in Montreal because of them I am sorry. I have not and will not ever say that to your sister or niece because a) that is not my business to take part of and b) I really do not understand why he hates them that much. I have known your *family member* from before she was born and honestly cannot understand how he can hate her so much as not wanting to spend time with her. I understand that *family member* calls you a lot but she is your *family member* and she has always been that way from even before you were married. It honestly, saddens me. In regards to your comment of I have a lot of growing up to do I agree with you but I also think this applies to you as well on this topic. Family is family and if you are pissed that they were with us in Montreal I am sorry, but I love them and I don't want to segregate them from my life. I know you love them more then I do and with this I say be mature enough to stand up for that. If this is in regards to your birthday in September with *acquaintance husband's* birthday party I have no comment for that. I asked you many times for weeks what you wanted to do for your birthday. You had said *random place* I said ok. You decided against *random place* and said you would let me know. You said *other place* then decided against *other place*. I made a surprise party for you at a place that did not require going out at a place you are ok with a Cafe and you still were not pleased because you were offended in some way that me and *friend 1* were attending *acquaintance husband* birthday party. I am sorry this offended you. But remember his birthday party wasn't even on your birthday. Your birthday is the 29th not the 26th. I was honestly offended that me and *friend 1* planned the surprise party for you and that you told me off again everything is only my fault then you went on to have a birthday party of your own without me and I find this out with pictures on facebook. I think that is beyond childish. I would never do that to you but that is your way of spiting me which also bothers me because I do not look to spite you in any way because I love you. I do not know where your anger for me stems from. I love you, you are my family and I am not perfect. If I offended you by being myself I am sorry because being myself is how I have always been. You of all people have known me 25 years and known how I am. You know me better then any other person on earth. You are more then my *best friend*, you are my sister. To not speak to me because of these petty issues I think is ridiculous. Life is short, we are here today gone tomorrow. Hating the world and everyone in it is not the way to view life. I just thank god you emailed me even though I know your mad at me so I know that your ok. Your health is the most important thing to me and your existence everything else are minor silly issues that can be resolved. I love you and I am here for you. If you want to see me and yell at me to make yourself feel better please do. I will just sit there and let you yell. Whatever this anger is in you it is not good or healthy to keep it in. It is best to let it out. See me and scream at me it will help you.




Love,

Me
 
this was the original e-mail I wrote that caused it all...
 
You've been talking to too many people about private matters (on my part) that i only tell you in confidence. I didn't want ** or anyone to know i was going to italy. now that i'm not going, i need to talk to you about respecting my privacy. i don't want random people knowing where i am just because i am not out in *random place*, asking me what's going on and where have i been. i also don't want people to know where it is that we have a house or a hotel or a skato (greek word for shit). there are things that i don't want advertised and you do that all the time.


you have to give me some respect. i'll do what i please and what i have to do but not at the expense of my privacy. if i want to tell the world when i take a crap, that's my business. when you tell me things and you tell me not to tell anyone, i don't. please do the same for me.
 
 
i will post the rest if you'd like...but if anyone out in bloggie land can help me...please do. Yesterday I found out that she's not only been telling people i am pregnant and depressed, she's been telling people that LML and I have been broke. BROKE.
 
God help me. Someone help me. Peez.
 
Love,
MG

Can you believe it?

When things are going so well in ones life, isn't there bound to always be a "thorn" there, somewhere?

I don't know why, but I always feel this way- in part because in my case, it always happens.

5 years ago, LML and I got married, moved in together, adopted our puppy, went to Greece for the first time together, I got a job in my "career"...and wouldn't you know it?

A thorn, aka, the principal at the school I was working at.

5 years later to present day, LML and I still married, very much in love with each other AND our puppy, relaxed...

and a thorn, aka, someone in denial of the *principal* of the matters at hand.

As the snow comes down outside, I wonder...is there really any reason for one persons negativity? Sure, a lot of people could take things to heart when there was nothing hidden between the lines...but what if all you really asked for was to be listened to by someone you've known basically your entire life-

and they don't give a crap to listen?

Does this make YOU crazy? Delusional? Depressed? Anti-social? Suicidal? Pregnant?

That's what it made *me* yesterday, according to this person. Why, you ask?

I asked this person to stop talking to people about my and my family's personal business, and to please be respectful of my privacy. Violations include:

•  the way she talks about me in front of my face to other people (about stuff that I don't care for anyone to know)
• wants to only go out to clubs and drink, which is not LML and I's thing. It was a few years ago, maybe when we just got married because we'd never done it before. But we're not 21, and we've progressed in things we'd like to do.
• how she balls me out and e-mails everyone we know to make me sound like i'm crazy...since I am not entitled to feelings
• not respecting my wishes with what i like to do and what i *don't* want to do.
• tagging me and virtual strangers in photos *strangers to me* because we're neighbors and we should talk...(really? what business is that of yours? did i force you to go to your next door neighbor and become friends?)
• and then, to be called all of these names AND upon "realizing that i'm pregnant because of mood swings" (which i'm not, but she said so- so she MUST be right, right?) offers to take me out to celebrate...
• because would i really go out and celebrate by drinking if i was pregnant?

Please note that I have always been aware of the differences between me and this other person. This person used to be very good to me and used to ask me how i was feeling...this person has stopped caring. This person has been focusing all her attentions on herself and petty things, not caring who she hurts in the process. But...upon being labeled all these things above, this person claims that they will always be there for me so that I should go to them with my problems since I have so many.

No joke.

My problem, once again...and maybe YOU have caught on...

is MY PRIVACY. SHUT YOUR MOUTH ABOUT MY PERSONAL LIFE, ATTRIBUTES, WHEREABOUTS, GOINGS ON!

Last I checked, I HAD a mouth. Still do. I can use it at will...apparently, this person has never had me use my mouth to defend myself to them, and now that I have I am mental.

My sister said it's the Jamaica in me that should have came out when I was young. My husband claims it's because I grew up and realized that I'm not a doormat.

Whatever the case, what would you do if...this person...was doing this to you?

Love,
globetrotting gamine

Frenemies

We've all had them. If you don't think you have- you're either the luckiest person in the world or you're not aware of it yet. A frenemy:

• will make you eat more if she knows you're dieting seriously...not if she's worried about your health.
• someone who only calls you when THEY want something.
• someone who only invites you out when they know you can't/don't want to go to a certain place
• in the same respect, someone who invites you out only if they need a designated driver
• she talks about you (nasty, uncalled for remarks!) behind your back.
• is all about themselves
• is interested a whole lot in your significant other, and not for YOUR well-being.
• single white female, anyone?

Yipes. I have, thankfully ridded myself of these people. They weren't worth the effort or the time or kind word. I had tried time and again to be there and be respectful, only to get a cold shoulder at the end of the relationship. Truth is, I realized years later that these people were only doing the above things...and never being a friend.

So don't wait for New Year's to evaluate your relationships. It's hard at first, and you'll vent all the time for a few months...but eventually, you were better off without them.

Love,
MG

Blast From the Past

What you see written below is a note that I received on March 24th, 1996. I am listing it here as a red flag example. This person was said to be my best friend back then, and reading this note recently opened my eyes in many ways. It will be featured in my [one day PUBLISHED] book, My Life in Letters (Copyright, Who'sThatGamine, 2009):

Dear MG,
Hi. I just hung up the phone with you and I don't feel like doing my global homework. I'm listening to Kiss From A Rose on Mix 105. It reminds me of my dickless ex-boyfriend, Albert (yuck, hurl). I always have to see him on the fucking bus with his stupid ass brother. Yucky! I can't believe I actually went out with him. YUCK.
Anyways, how are you? I'm trying to write as fast as I can so I could go do global homework so...I'm fine I guess. I think I really do like Kevin now, but I'm hesitant, you know? I finally figured out what was wrong with me...I'M AFRAID OF COMMITTMENT! DING DING DING! Hit the nail right on the head!
Do you know why? No? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway. It's all because of my second ex-boyfriend, spineless jellyfish Craig. Wouldn't it be just like me to slip and call Kevin Craig? That sounds like something that would only happen to moi! God forbid! I'm knocking on wood for that.
Anyway, we went out for two months and I was like totally infatuated with the little booger (I got that obscene language from YOU!) and I thought he also liked me, but apparently, according to my connection (which was my ex best friend, Robert) he only liked me for three weeks. Robert said that Craigy boy said that I was a stuck up dog who talked about being all that because I am (culture bleeped out to protect, well, me :)
Newsflash: I never even told him that I was (bleep). He kept up with that act for 5 weeks, and he was cheating on me with not 1, not 2, but three little ho's. One of which is blonde haired and blue eyed. Gag me, pleez?!?!?!
And guess what? This is a Craigy update: Alison (yack) told me that Craig's ex, the blonde, said he was a fast mover! HA! I practically had to force him to kiss me and when he did he kissed like a dog drinking from a toilet. I heard that he recites the ABCs when he's making out. So funny....
Anyways, back to Kevin. I really do like him. I'm just afraid that if I get too attached and close, he'll leave. I won't be able to handle that. I'll fall apart completely! I'm exaggerating just a little bit, but you know what I mean. Guys are weird like that. Just look at your Ex! AHAHA
I wonder how I kiss? It's something that I've alays wanted to know but I feel too stupid to ask it. Kevin kisses very deep, I know that. its like he wants more than kissing. I should watch out for that. But I don’t think he likes me. Guys never like me! Stop nagging me, MG! I know you’re shaking your head rattling off the “endless” (cough, cough) names of young chaps who” like” me.



I know what I’m going to do. I’m going to tell him that he doesn’t like me. He’ll protest and then I’ll ask why he likes me in the first place. Maybe that will cure and make all my insecurities vanish away like mist. Did you hear about the comet? I’m going to ask my mom if we could go out on the roof to see if we can spot it. I am now listening to “ironic”. just like my life. I like Alanis’s first song, “You Oughta Know”. I dedicated that to my first boyfriend, Vincent.
What happened on Friday? Well let me tell you then. Ben is such a joke- oh I’m listening to Circle of Life now! Ha ha- anyways he thinks he’s all that but he ain’t. he’s this overgrown deformed, dickless little boy who has no life!! He thinks he can beat me but he can’t. I’m more of a man than he is and I’m a girl! I just love to instigate fights with him. I call him “Gym Teacher want to-Be” and he likes it! It’s pathetic. What else? So at the end of gym class, everyone tells me how violent I am. Then, Ben turns around and tells me something really insulting. I don’t remember what it was, to which I retorted:
Well, Ben, you have no dick.
And then everyone just went “OOOooh” I laughed and left. Cool, huh? I feel like a woman! Grrr!
At the mall, I finally remembered to call my Mommy. I said I was at school and just finished speech. It was fine. We sat and talked about school and stuff. We walked around. He walked while I frolicked. He must think I’m so deranged. In the mall, he tried to kiss me but he couldn’t because of that stupid hat of his. I told him I didn’t like it because it hurt my head. We went outside and walked. He said that he was an exception to all white people because he listened to rap. I called him a want to-be. He admitted to it. I laughed and said I didn’t care if he was and I kissed him on the nape of his neck. Wow. We started to kiss but we were in the middle of the driveway so he stopped me before I got carried away. Ha ha. I just skipped around and we were walking by the gas station when a car almost an over me. Kevin had a fit but I was just laughing. I found it really funny. He bought me peanuts and walked me to my bus stop. I just missed my bus but waited for next one. I was resting at the corner of a closed down store and he was just watching me. I looked at him and said to him, “You want to kiss me.” he said yeah so I told him to take off his hat before anything. I took it off for him and we kissed. Make out, peck cuddle, whatever, we did it. You know, I kiss better when my head is tilted to the left. That’s weird, dontcha think? The bus came and he said that I should take the bus. I said I thought so too, and we kissed. I was about to turn around and leave when he took me by the hand and asked me if I was going to be home. I said that I thought so. He said he would call me and he wrapped his arms around me tight and snug and kissed me. Damn I didn’t expect that. Not that I’m complaining. His hands are so warm in comparison to my cold reptile like hands. His cheek is so smooth and his hair looks funny when it’s blowing in the wind. That’s probably why he’s always wearing that hat.
Well, that’s all. Read and be entertained, my child!

Please note that names and other things have been altered. Also, note that this was MY best friend, and the only metions of me in this note is that I was being laughed at. Note to all the young bloggies out there, if you have a friend like this now, she's only sticking around for her own benefit. I'm sure she's already using you and your name as a backup plan so she can sneak around with guys behind her parents' back.

Ah, now that I got that off my chest. Please warn your children or siblings that people who never ask if you're doing OK or are ALIVE probably aren't worth it in the first place.

Love,
MG

10 things

(shot by me, DR)

10 things I love:
1. sleeping in
2. shoppin'
3. LML
4. my puppy
5. cookin'
6. sushi
7. coffee
8. bookstores
9. cashmere sweaters
10. all things travel

10 things I don't love:
1. bitter cold
2. miserable people
3. copycats!
4. repeats
5. broken dishwasher :(
6. being home with nothing to do, and no good movies on TV
7. bad cooking
8. bad coffee
9. fast food joints
10. people who say they're dieting and then order the world...with a diet coke.

5 random things about me:
1.  i love buying my doggie clothes.
2. i am stationery-obsessed
3. i have known LML for more than half my life
4. my best friend is was (updated December 2010) Ms. New Jersey United States
5. i like to reorganize my wardrobe...and closets...when I am bored.

Love,
MG

Days. Time. Puppy.

This is a map out of what my days usually look like...well, what yesterday looked like anyway...

Get up. Get dressed. Hug puppy. Drop LML off. Come home. Make coffee.
Give puppy a hug. Blog. Facebook. Write. Lists. Feed puppy. Play with puppy.

 Get in car. Drive to bank. Get caramel light frap from Starbucks. Go to bank again. Go to craft store. Forget what I need. Buy other things from craft store. Leave craftstore and remember what I need.

Get stuck in traffic. Go to parents house. Have lunch with parents. Write in journal. Play with nephews. Gas station. Supermarket. Manicure. Pedicure. Eyebrow Wax. Massage. Gift certificate! Free!

Supermarket. Run into Ex Best Friend. Hug her like I saw her yesterday and flounce away after small convo toward the sushi section. Come home. Eat sushi.

Watch Ghost Whisperer with wine. Wait for LML. Talk with LML while hugging puppy until falling asleep.

More soon! Lots of interesting appointments today...will post later <3

Excessive-List Maker

You wouldn't be the first one to tell me that I have issues.

This past summer, when my best friend went on vacation for a month, I offered to clean up her house. *Note: I always knew that she was messy. I always had helped her clean her room when we were little, and it was never anything that I couldn't handle.

This time, I really couldn't handle it. I actually wrote 16 pages of the heart wrenching- ew ew experience that was my summer. There was so much. SO MUCH STUFF. In my journal, I wrote this:

Day 1, 3:30 to 7 pm with $60 cash
Horrible Mess. Used two bottles of windex because there is nothing else to clean with in this house. Stuff everywhere. Everywhere. Needs paint job, as to there are unmentionable species growing on the wall. New oven, since I can't even see what color it USED to be. New couch. Matching chairs that aren't lawn furniture. Bedframes. Need to throw EVERYTHING AWAY.

Note: When she comes back, teach her how to clean. Give her list of phone numbers for cleaning lady services.

Wanted to go home to take a bath immediately. Held my pee pee in until I drove 5 minutes to my parents house to do just that.

Need for tomorrow: clorox, bounty, red bull (or i'll die), air freshner, air deodorizers, dish soap, baking soda (10 of them!) brillo, comet, toilet bowl scrubber, gloves, contractor bags, mop, folders for organizing.

Then need to: paint the house, clean the floors, jewelry boxes to fill, put frames on walls, draw living room layout, coffee table, 4 matching chairs, place rugs, curtains for living room, vases, kitchen list, bed frame, twin sheets, wash clothing, throw garbage out, towels, sheets, to buy and then put in linen closet.

This has to be compulsive hoarding. Interesting that there is a show starting on compulsive hoarding.

The experience is still traumatizing to me. Sometimes I think about how before she left to go on vacation, she told me to let it all rot. So basically...20 garbage trucks later, one visit to IKEA, multiple visits to Target and Dollar stores later, she had this: