10 of my pet peeves

1) Guys in trucks who think that the louder their engine, the cooler they are. GET A MUFFLER!! seriously...
2) People who feel the need to bring their personal problems to work consistently
3) The guys who live above me, who I swear to god, perform a ritualistic human sacrifice every Monday night, and then celebrate drunkenly for the rest of the week.
4) People who try to be klever by spelling things that start with "C" with a "K." For example : Al's Krazy Kitchen. I'm sorry Al, but it kan't be that Krazy if that's the most klever thing you kan kome up with. (ok I realize that was lame to replace all the c's in that sentence with k's, but I was making a point)
5) Bridal shower games. No one, and I mean no one, likes to sit and watch a bride fumble around hopelessly with a blind fold on while trying to pick up pink cotton balls with a spoon. No one.
6) People who replace the "cks" sound at the end of words with an "x." Example: It rox that these blox are made out of Jello and sox. Thats right, Jello and socks. gross huh? It's even grosser without "cks."
7) Messanger-ese. Just spell out the dang words already. Does it really take any longer to type "was" than it does to type "wuz?" We could do with a few more people with proper typing/spelling/grammar skills (or I'm sorry, skilz).
8) Christian rock. I know it has a good message and all and its supposed to be uplifting, but its just SO CHEESY! Seriously, at least try to be somewhat musically original! I read an article once where the author drew a creepy connection between most Christian rock and a lot of cheesy pop love ballads. So true, so true.
9) The writing in most men's/women's magazines these days. Pick up a Cosmopolitan or a Men's Health and flip to one of their quizzes and you'll see what I mean. "What do you do to make your hot hunk feel like he's the King Kong of his jungle?" What does that mean?? It doesn't even make sense!
-also, along with this one: people who believe that what's written about in these magazines actually happens in most people's lives. Wake up and smell reality!
10) The way most girls act in relationships. They play stupid mind games and have all these crazy expectations that just don't happen. I've learned. If you want something to happen, state it explicitly and thoroughly several times in small, easy to remember phrases.

Jack Kerouac

First of all, I'm fairly certain I didn't spell Kerouac right, BUT that doesn't matter. What matters is that people understand the reference. He's the dude who wrote the book "On the Road" during the 60's. I thought of that, because while I was in the shower, I realized that this weekend my sisters and I decided to take a trip to Colorado in March, so I figured I'd make a quick addendum to my last post. Just wanted to mention quickly how excited I am for that. Of course for the obvious reason that it'll be the first time I'll have seen Marvin in almost three months, BUT also because taking a trip (whether it be a road trip or a plane trip) with my sisters seems like an awfully fun thing to do. We've never travelled with just the three of us before, so it seems fun to me. Maybe Corey and Luke will come along too. I don't know. Regardless, it sounds like a good time. Maybe we can make it an annual thing, or a tradition of sorts. Just thought I'd mention that quick.

This is Captain Luc Picard signing off.
(I haven't had much sleep, excuse my weirdness)

It's a blog-splosion!

So, I've got Marvin hooked on blogging now too. It's a blog-splosion! And I finally found his blog. It's here: http://marvinolberding.blogspot.com/ if anyone is interested in seeing what he's got to say about whatever is happening in the world. He's a pretty opinionated guy, but he backs most of his thoughts pretty well with evidence. Beware sport-o-phobes though, it could be pretty sports filled. In any case, it'd be a great way to keep updated on his life in Colorado. I must admit, his last post made me get a little misty. Although I'll attribute a lot of that to my ass being up way too early in the morning, it's further proof that I picked a good one ;)

So, Thanksgiving weekend was certainly an interesting one. Wednesday I spent with Marvin's family and stayed up way too late playing Catchphrase with his sisters. We had a pretty good time all things considered. I'm pretty sure I made his dad happy by taking some "country eggs" home for my parents despite scoldings by his mom and older sister. This shall hence forth be known as the "country egg incident." I don't know why I felt like I had to name it. Seemed like the thing to do.

Thursday was a day with the Clarke family, during which I spent a great deal of time explaining Marvin's internship to different family memebers. Interesting. It was good to see them again though. Now that all of us cousins are getting older it's kind of cool that we get along so well.

Friday: HOMEWORK DAY...blah. I did homework homework and more homework. On the plus side, I'm feeling a lot better about the 20 page paper I've got due on Thursday. That was that for that day.

Saturday I went with Courtney and most of the other bridesmaids to get sized and order our bridesmaid dresses. Thankfully the dress is far classier than I originally feared. It's actually pretty flattering to everyone. AND I got the pleasure of buying a 180 dollar dress for $80. I figure, since I'm covering the bridal shower and bachelorette party, as well as doing a bunch of planning, a discounted dress is a nice thing. After that, MORE HOMEWORK. Then, out to visit Josh's folks for a while and go out for a drink at Hop's Haven.

And that was the excitement. Now aren't you all glad you got a play-by-play of all of that? Doubtful. It was cool to see so many people though. Seeing Alyssa again was nice too, since I'll be standing up in her wedding too. AND I saw my old friend Becky Kirchenwitz, whom I haven't heard from for almost a year. Hooray!

Now, since it's 8 in the morning and I've already been up for 2 and a half hours, I'm going to shower and grab some grub and get going to class. Blah.

If it weren't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college.

Yay I have readers!!

Ok, so just Corey and Nate so far, but that's better than I expected. Oh yeah, maybe Laura as well. I figured I'd just end up babbling without anyone really taking much note or really caring. I suppose my demise was actually responding to other people's blogs. Damn my opinionation. I don't think that's a word.

I was amused that other people decided to take up the debate between the Gingerbread Man and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. It sure sounds like a good tasting battle. Although, it did initially start out as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man and the big Happy Chef statue, but that was before Shrek 2 came out. Now it makes much more sense to me to have the Happy Chef battle the Big Boy, and let the two food based humanoids duke it out. As far as the Happy Chef and the Big Boy go, I think the Happy Chef has totally got that one clinched. He has a huge wooden spoon after all. Although, if it was the Big Boy from Austin Powers, he'd have rocket powered feet. Hmmm.... Either way we'd be getting a tasty yet economic breakfast. Mmmm...breakfast....

Ok enough of that ridiculousness....on to more important topics...my favorite comic: Get Fuzzy. Makes me smile on even the darkest of days. Check out their most recent gem.
http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/archive/getfuzzy-20041113.html
I've gotten people hooked on checking the daily Get Fuzzy comic on comics.com. Hooray for Get Fuzzy!! If you don't know what I'm talking about, most definately check out that link. There's nothing better than a smart ass cat trying to put his owner and his roommate dog in their place. And no, it's nothing like Garfield. Far FAR more funny. Trust me. Or don't..check it out for yourself!! HaHA!

Well..one more class and then its good good eatin' time. Turkey, green bean casserole, cranberries, bread, mashed potatoes...mmm....droooolll..... Sounds like my mom and I are going to be doing homework quite a bit this weekend too, which is really ok, because lord knows I've got enough. Sounds like Josh will probably be home this weekend too. That's cool. He initially wasn't planning on coming home. So hopefully I'll get to see him too sometime although I doubt he'll be coming along to do bridesmaids dresses. Seems like a silly place for a boy to be.

Ok enough ridiculousness for now. Happy Turkey Day!

Vroooommmm....

Ok..so I don't really think airplanes go vroom...but I'm not entirely sure what sound they do make and since I'm in the process of buying an airplane ticket as I type..I figured it was appropriate to at least try to emulate an airplane. Wahoo Sun Country. Aren't they like the cheapest cheap cheap of airlines? Probably. Oh well, at least it'll guarentee that I'm not stranded in Colorado Springs until further notice. In case you haven't figured out by now, I finally decided to drive to Colorado with Marvin in early early January to help him settle in at the US Olympic Committee. Wahoo. A 14 plus hour drive followed shortly after by an early morning flight back. Thanks to Liz and Corey though for agreeing to pick me up at the airport and transport me elsewhere. Hooray for big sisters!

Hmm..other news. Well, I'm completely buried under a pile of homework. I've got a 20 page paper due next Thursday, as well as a project sometime next week. Then the week after that, I've got a one hour presentation due. This of course on top of the normal weekly double two page papers for my Political Science class and the one page response for anthropology as well as about 100 pages of reading. FUN!! :)

Thanksgiving this week is kind of exciting though! Wednesday I'll get to see Marvin's family for a little bit in the afternoon and then Thursday morning early early, I'll take off from Dunnell to see the Clarke family in Onalasaka for dinner. Then Friday I go to Manitowoc with Courtney and the other maids of the bride to pick up bridesmaids dresses. Saturday is homework day and then Sunday is back home to Mankato! Talk about an action packed weekend!! I am excited to see family and friends and boyfriend family. They're all fun people. And I'm starting to realize the (cough cough) joy...of trying to appease two families for holidays. Luckily even though the Olberdings seem to view me as one of their own already, technically I'm not, so my presence isn't neccessarily required ALL the time. I'm practicing stretching my belly out to fill myself full of good good homecooked food this weekend. What good fun that will be :)

This past weekend was actually a pretty good one :) Friday I got to go hang out with Laura Mac, who I don't see nearly often enough. We saw a pretty good improv show and hung out and had a really good chat. Unfortunately I missed Kristen, who was the one who originally invited me up there. Sad. Hopefully we can connect sometime soon to hang out.

Saturday I had a standardized test way early in the morning to ensure my entrance into the college of education at MSU. Apparently all they really require of teachers nowadays is basic math knowledge (like being able to add and subtract and multiply...) basic writing skills, and
some small semblance of reading comprehension. I'm so in.

Sunday was Marvin and Sarah's fun day for the week. We went to the Mall of America to walk around. We realized when we were there that we really never actually buy anything when we go. We just people watch. Which of course is entertaining enough in and of itself. There were certainly enough people there to watch. And a bunch of little kids too. Yikes. I'd be afraid to bring my kids there if I were a parent. I did end up buying a neat green rayon scarf that was 60 percent off. I like it :) After the mall we headed to Marvin's older sister Tina's place for dinner. She cooked us up some salmon and green been casserole. MMM.. We heard about her trip to Vegas with her husband for her birthday. Sounds like they had a good but very expensive time.

Hmm...I think that's all of the news now. Plane ticket is bought, travel plans are underway for now. More to come for March. Homework calls. Off I go!!

Colorado Springs won't know what hit them

So, after being repremanded by Corey via blog, I figured I'd better get in here and post again. Not a whole lot new going on here. I got my car worked on last week. The brakes were being moody, so I took them in for an attitude adjustment. Worked like a charm! :)

I think the biggest news around here is still Marvin's internship. Surprising how a little thing like an internship can require so much preplanning. Like for example, I may buy my first plane ticket on my own soon, so I can drive to Colorado Springs with Marvin in January and help him move in. And, I may invest in my first travel package for Spring Break. I've decided that six months is too long to go without seeing Marvin, so I suppose that means a Spring Break trip. That should be fun. Maybe I'll get a sister or two and maybe a brother-in-law and a sister's boyfriend to come with me. If they want of course. Could be a fun trip.

So after reading some of my previous blogs, they all seem pretty depressing, which isn't really an accurate representation of how things go. I actually have quite a bit of fun during the week. For example, for one of my classes, I'm required to work with a group of middle school girls with a program called Public Achievement. This is a program that tries to teach youth about public action and how to accomplish goals within the system. So anyways, my group of girls is probably the smartest group of seventh grade girls I've ever seen. They want to work on getting middle school students more politically active and educated. They all have pretty advanced political philosophies for kids their age, and one of them is actually reading a philosophy book (Sophie's World) I didn't read until my senior year in high school!! They're geniuses I tell you!

Marvin and I made dinner this week and watched Shrek 2. I thought it was a really cute movie:). But now, I'm wondering, if the giant gingerbread man and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man got into a fight, who would win? I think I'd have the Happy Chef ref. My personal opinion I think is that the Marshmallow Man would win. He seems much more evil. And gooey.

Well, I've got a big long list of things to do this week. I have a meeting with an attorney on Tuesday to see what my options are for this conflict between me and my old land lord (who's trying to screw me out of a bunch of money). That should be interesting. I've also got a big long standarized test to take on Saturday for the college of education. Feels like I'm back in high school taking the ACT.

So, off to work on homework. Have a good week everyone!
Sarah

Well..it is as I feared

So guys, I'm disappointed, but not surprised. I was SO hoping that the American people were smarter than I feared. But, they're not, and at least I can say that I didn't give them too much credit. But now, I'm afraid of what's going to happen these next four years. I'm afraid of what my working conditions will be like when I finally get into the classroom, because of stupid No Child Left Behind. I'm afraid that my dreams of joining the Peace Corps are forever squashed because of our continuously deteriorating foreign relations. Soon, it will be too dangerous to travel anywhere outside of the US, and by the time foreign opinion of Americans has improved again, I could very well be in the middle of raising a family. So, there goes that dream. Thanks Dubbya.

On also depressing news, I found out today that my boss's husband committed suicide on Monday night. He'd been battling severe chronic back pain for nearly 10 years. My sympathies are extended to her and her family. I can't imagine the rough time they're going through right now. So, I've got a visitation to go to tomorrow. What sad sad news.

And now, for something completely different...10 reasons why having Dubbya in office again could be a good thing:
1) After this, he can never ever come back again.
2) A good excuse to move to Canada for four years.
3) A better excuse to move to Australia for four years.
4) This is probably the lowest we can go..there's got to be an upswing soon.
5) More fodder for Michael Moore propoganda, which while it's annoying it's certainly good for conversation topics and conspiracy theories.
6) More conspiracies to make theories about
7)Bad political environment=great music (Anyone ready for the next Bob Dylan??)
8)Once we completely run out of oil because of his lack of desire to invest in fuel alternatives, Cheney and Halliburton will be bankrupt, and we'll have to find alternative fuel sources
9)Umm....have I mentioned he never comes back again??
10) Umm....ok I give up..I can only think of 8

So, it sucks having an emotionally volitile roommate. Whenever she's home, I feel like I"m walking on eggshells. I don't feel comfortable in the living room with her, so I confine myself to my room. I just hope she gets over whatever slump she's in soon. I don't know if I'm going to be too keen on signing up for another year with her if this is what it's going to be like.

Well, that's about all I've got for now. Take care all!
Sarah

Voting Day for Sarah!

So, I experienced my first vote today. I feel like I've done my civic duty! Although, I did have a moment of panic when I left the polling area. I thought chose Bush/Cheney instead of the Johns, but I'm sure that even on my worst days I wouldn't do that. Now the only thing to do is hope that the rest of the nation is as smart as I am! Just kidding. Well, not really ;) I do wish I could see the results throughout the day instead of sitting here pondering the well being of the country for the next four years and working myself into a frenzy worrying about what could happen should Bush return to office. I wish I could say that I have faith in our country to choose what's really best, but I'm afraid that a good majority of Americans don't really have the social conscience that I wish they did. I'm afraid that most Americans would rather have thier kids attend failing schools and doom their grandkids to a lifetime of smog and gasmasks than give up their right to drive SUV's and have our military smash the crap out of other "different" nations. And really, as far as our military goals go, why are we fighting for foriegn oil sources when we have scientists that could create other forms of energy?? Isn't anyone the least bit surprised that our cars get the same crummy gas mileage that they have been for years? With all the scientific breakthroughs in computers, and the food industry, and the clothing industry and almost every other industry in the world, why can't we create more fuel efficient cars? Or why not create cars that can run on other forms of fuel? Why aren't these hybrid cars being better developed? And why do you think they're so ugly? Thats right. The oil companies. Do you think they'll work with car manufacturers who are developing cars that don't need their product? Of course not!
I could go into quite a few conspiracy theories that I've stumbled into as of late. For example, about a month or two ago, a friend showed me a short flash video from a site called ebaumsworld.com about the 9/11 pentagon attack. It was claiming that the pentagon wasn't attacked by a commercial flight at all, but rather a missle. There was no plane wreckage as far as I can see around the pentagon. And of course, now that I'm looking for the video to show other people, it's mysteriously been removed from any site that previously hosted it. Hmm... kinda makes you think doesn't it? If you're kinda curious like me, check out this site, if it's still up. http://home.earthlink.net/~flight77/flight77.html
Well, whatever, that's enough scary conspiracy theory crap for now. My weekend was pretty interesting. Marvin and I went to Madison for Halloween for probably the last time. He had never experienced a Madison Halloween before, and I think he liked it. He really enjoyed seeing the spectacle on State Street. While there, Alyssa, a good friend from high school, asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding. I'm totally honored. :) Alyssa and Mike make a great couple, and I'm really excited to support them in their wedding. They're getting married two weeks after Court and Josh, for whom I'm the Maid of Honor, so it's going to be a busy month for all of us! I also got the chance to clean up a bunch of drunk-guy puke, which is gross, but it was really my own fault. If I could just get it into my head that I'm not personally responsible for everyone who drinks too much and pukes, I wouldn't get stuck doing that crummy job all the time. Well, whatever.
Now, it's time for another week. Well, I suppose it's already been another week for two days already. Ugh. I just can't wait for this semester to be done and over with.
Well, I suppose, homework calls. Off I go to await the results of our nation's decision making.
Later
Sarah