Caught up in the whirlwind

I think I could write a book about this week. Literally. From start to finish and it could be about 200 pages. ONE WEEK. Sheesh. I told my dad that I feel like I've been swirling around in a hurricane and I have finally been spit out. Fear not friends, it has been a pretty happy hurricane...but a hurricane none the less.

At the beginning of the week, I dropped my phone in a pool which was awful because it is my lifeline. (Don't we all say that about our phones). Its own life was uncertain for a time but it was miraculously resurrected after drying in a bowl of uncooked rice. I had very little sleep on Monday night, thus bringing me to a very tiring Tuesday. Of course this would be the day I get my new office mate and apply for my job with Project Rainbow and lead prayer with Connie and Stephen for all the American, visiting German and visiting Tanzanian Sisters. I don't know how I survived Tuesday...but somehow I did. My new office mate is incredible, our prayer moved the Sisters which was great and I have never been so happy to shower and crawl into bed in my entire life.

On Wednesday night my phone regained life! I actually said if God fixed my phone I'd go to confession. Well..that's what I did Thursday.

Thursday was also the day in which I "interviewed" for my position at Rainbow and by interview I mean "here is your benefits, here is your salary, you start July 26th, congratulations!" So I have finally been granted gainful employment (And yes, I went to confession and Mass that day just to say some extra Thank Yous to the Good Lord above.) It was also the day I was planning my bestie at work's suprise birthday office gifts. I was trying to get up early, cook bacon (she loves bacon) and get to work where the maintainance man would help me break into her office and leave cooked bacon, brownies, a photo frame, a card and some other stuff on her desk and then decorate her door with "Happy Birthday Baconator!" Well...I woke up at 8:30am, the time I was supposed to be decorating her door/breaking into her office. So I got to work at 9:15am...and tried to surprise her. I failed even though I got the exclaimation point on the door before I heard her coming down the hall. Oh well. She loved the surprise. Get this, I wanted to take her out for pizza for lunch but no, SHE took ME out to a nice Mexican place for lunch to celebrate me getting the job. Additionally she told me her birthday present was getting to work with me for another year (and more)! I have great friends! I ended my glorious Thursday by watching some trashy Jersey Shore.

Friday morning I got up and went to get all my FBI/child abuse checks for my new job. As I was driving to work which is near the place I had to get fingerprinted at...I rearended the guy infront of me. So yes, I got in a fender bender the day after find out I got my job. Welcome to my life. Fortunatly everyone was ok, my car was fine and his car was only suffering minor damages. I think the thing I am most proud of is the fact I was able to remain calm. Usually I flip out and shake and cry over the smallest mistake, but I was able to be cool and calm throughout this one. Thank God. (again) I still feel like a dumbass though.

So here I am, Friday night, with a job and a working phone and a pretty undamaged car. I'm supposed to go out with the guy of my dreams tomorrow but I fear he will not call tonight (he said he would). Honestly I couldn't ask for anything more at this point. I'm alive and my future is pretty stable. The rest can wait!

Until next time...

A Walking Trashy Romance Novel

Hello America! I have been nicknamed a "hurricane of excitement" and told I should try to get my own reality television show or write my crazy escapades in the form of a book for all to enjoy. I truly believe my adventures are quite ordinary compared to the rest of the world's happenings. However, the trouble I manage to get into tends to bring about laughter, smiles, and shaking of the head. In light of these affirmations...I now I want tattoo of a hurricane and am contemplating a book idea. My first meeting with the Philadelphia Writers Group is in July and I need some works to showcase. haha As for the reality tv idea....well...that isn't going to happen. I think people lose respect for reality tv stars and I need to hold onto all the respect I have left.

Where to start...well...lets see...last weekend I was at Sea Isle for the "end of the year" retreat for my volunteer program. It is so hard to believe that this year is rapidly coming to a close. I feel like it was just yesterday when I was counting down to my interview. The retreat was a wonderful experience. I spent all my free time in the Atlantic Ocean...as a Shore Baby typically does. I boogie boarded like crazy, catching some serious waves. Of course "sophisticated" bikini clad bitches and tanned guidos looked at me like I was 5 years old. Sadly they don't realize there is more to the beach than walking up and down it hoping someone looks at them. As for the retreat part, I suppose I left with two revelations. Both were common sense but you have to truly hear something from inside of yourself in order to believe it. The first was 'be yourself.' That is, if people can't accept you for who you are at that moment then they are not worth your time. Yes, people have told me this my whole life, however, this weekend the message was magnified and resounded inside my head. I hope it lasts. The second revelation was also common sense but it was basically confirming that I need to write. By need to write, I need to seriously commit to a project, write, and attempt to be published. My life's journey involves writing and in order to start living, I need to write! I hope that makes sense. So I'm trying to figure out what or who God wants me to write about. It is a tricky decision. Overall the weekend was great with plenty of time to reflect, pray, relax, and just have candid fun with Connie, Stephen and our director, Maryellen.

The week was crazy though. Holy crap.

Some point during my retreat weekend I heard a voice in my head that said "soon you will be dealing with more guys than you can handle." I didn't believe it until sure enough a guy from one of the Internet dating sites I'm on texted me Sunday morning and asked me out for dinner! I was stoked. So Tuesday night I had dinner with this guy in Philly. The dinner part went great. Then he took me behind the airport to this spot where you can watch the planes fly right over your head as they prepare to land. It was really neat. However, as luck would have it, this guy became way too forward in an inappropriate manner. I'm not a prude by any means, but he almost offended me. I really didn't think we had a lot in common anyway. I wasn't feeling it. So, figuring I might not see this guy again, I reached into the trunk of my car. He said "what are you doing? Getting your gun?" I laughed and said "Nope, I'm getting my anti-biotics." Which I totally was. How is that for being forward? haha It was the least I could do.

So I let that fizzle but in the mean time I happen to get a text from a friend that works at a restaurant by my work. This was a guy I was casually talking to about two weeks ago. He kind of dropped off the face of the earth but now he is back. It is nothing serious, we're just talking about random stuff. Then another Internet guy seemed interested in me but in fact he keeps wanting to know if I wear a bikini...anywhere. This isn't a turn off for me, the poor guy just wants to know. He is probably being flirtatious. However, I'm ashamed to admit I don't wear a bikini, ever, for the fear that I might scare small children. Therefore, I have to admit that I am indeed gaining weight again. I'm not sure how much but it is enough to make me realize I am slowly sabotaging all the hard work I did during the beginning/middle of the year. Now I'm just gaining the weight back to the point I could look just as fat as I did during my opening ceremony picture. This thought literally disgusts me. I wish I could just purge my lard and be good to go. Granted, I need to find time to work out and be diligent about it again. Also, limiting the sweets...and sadly...the beer. This was a year of self improvement and I'm not about to lose everything I worked so hard for at the end of it!

So why the raunchy blog title? Well, I feel like I'm a walking, living, breathing romance novel with drama and excitement. The Sisters have demonstrated their usual compassion and have interest in my crazy love life. This has made the drama and the ups and downs even more enjoyable. However, I fear it has now come to a close. The guy I'm crazy about isn't really a factor anymore. I think his life is too complicated and it can't handle me. It as in his life, not him. I've written off my Internet dates. The guy from the store is just a friend who texts/calls me at random. So it kind of was a hurricane of boys for a week. The after effects are ever so present. I had to work today, but after work I was overcome by exhaustion. I literally passed out and slept for 3 hours. I wanted to get up and swim but I couldn't even open my little eyelids. I'm STILL tired even though I slept. So I think all the excitement finally got to me. I'm crashing just as the crazy love life comes to an end. It is sad to let all the attention, fun, expectation go...but for now I need to focus on ME because clearly I have been neglecting my health.

In other news, I had the best day ever yesterday. We had our employee recognition party at work for the whole staff. I helped decorate. We had a "Rockin the Rainbow 1960s" theme. It was so much fun. I wore a flowing pink skirt and a blue tie dyed shirt with a purple ribbon around my head. Several co-workers commented that I looked like I had rolled out of that era. "Are you sure you weren't born during that era?" Um, yes. haha MA-Circa 1987 We had amazing food and dancing and fun all around. I laughed so much! Then we gave awards to everyone and I received the "Collaboration" award. The best part was when we raffled off 5 pairs of Phillies tickets and I scored a pair! I was so excited. I said "I am going on a date!" To which our director said into the microphone "I hope it isn't with the guy from the other night." Which sparked a lovely chorus of "oooooooooooooooooooo" among the staff. It was classic.

After work I went to the mall to look for this shirt I was interested in only to find that it didn't fit quite that well. I left the mall, changed into my swim suit and went to the Provincialiate to swim for an hour. It was beautiful. The weather was cool but not cold, the water was nice and clear, the sun was shining behind some clouds and the bells from the chapel were playing a pretty song. I was so at peace in that water, just like how I was on retreat. It felt great. I had an amazing day.

Today was just so so. I woke up and went to Rainbow to work a special event from 1-3. Got home and crashed. Woke up and ate. I'm hoping I'll get to get in the pool tomorrow but if it thunderstorms all day I might have to settle for a nice run in the rain or something. We'll see.

Until next time....