it's COLD. here. NOW.

wow....i never thought i would have such mixed feelings about cold weather!!
it is now currently snowing down here and we're in the middle of what the weather people keep referring to as an "Arctic Blast". stupid texans. whatever. anywho, the point is, is that in the last 24 hours we have gone from 79 degrees and balmy to 38 degrees and raining, which then turned into ice and sleet, which has now ended up as snow. SNOW, PEOPLE!!!!! that was a guaranteed NO down here!!! and in ONE day?? man, i thought MI was bad, but it is lookin' like a paradise compared to *this* place. (please note my disdain). well, i guess now my disgust with this place is COMPLETE. shooot, if this is the way it's gonna be, i might has well move back home. but then i would be out of a job. a sweet job at that. hmmm.....ok, FINE. i'll stay this one out and be a trooper. but that does NOT alter my disgust with this Spanish-speaking, hot-to-FREEZING, BORING state that is Flat and Ugly. and i mean, C'MON.....does anyone REALLY care that it's big? yep, that's what i thought. i hear nothing. well, at least the land is Flat and Ugly. the sky is the only pretty thing here. and that's nothing special because we share it with everyone else.

man, i'm so disillusioned.

i can't wait for Christmas.....at least i'll know what to expect!

Thanksgiving Memories....

ok, so it's a little in the reverse order. but enjoy!! and read below for the whole story.=)
as always....i'm thankful for all of you!!

Oh BOY am I Thankful!!!

Hey all!
first off, i would like to extend a VERY belated Happy Thanksgiving to you all! I hope everyone was with family or good friends and that you were all able to stuff your faces with good food. =)
now to get down to MY world....seeing as most of you are half a nation away, and the life up there is VASTLY (and that's in a good way) different from down here.
for example.....my thanksgiving was spent in Houston, where the whole weekend it was in the 70's and sunny! we actually spent the night after thanksgiving in the Syversen's hot tub. with wine. and good music, games and friends. and then we roasted marshmallows over a fire. i mean, really.....can you get any better than that? "I submit that it CANNOT!"

but i'm getting ahead of myself. allow me to backtrack.

Wednesday was a crazy day, with us trying to leave right after Sean's class at 6pm. it was also Meghan's birthday(HAPPY 23rd, O old one!) so i sneaked in a cake to take down with us(unbeknownst to her, and which no one really ate once we got there) and we picked up dinner and were on the highway by 7pm. Luckily for us, it was a straight shot down I-45 S, so we didn't get lost. *phew!* so, la-de-da....down the highway we roamed. we had to sidetrack a little to pick up John Fox from the airport, and it was soo good to see him again!! i didn't realize how much i actually missed him!

*a moment for everyone to appreciate John Fox's awesomeness*

anywho, so by the time we got to the Syversens' house it was around midnight. and then we had so much talking to do that we didn't get to bed until around 2:30 or 3am. and God bless them, the Syversens got up to go to 9AM Mass the next day (as was their tradition)....and we all slept in. it was funny because i had every intention of going to Mass with them, but my body quickly smacked some sense into me. i didn't wake up until 11am. which was early compared to everyone else.

Thanksgiving Day: the actual day was amazing. Dagny did most of the cooking because her mom had to take care of a cousin(whatever, long story). so i helped her make pies and mash potatoes and it was SOOOOO nice!!!! we had such a good time, just hanging out and talking over the food. believe me....there is NO better way to catch up.=) anywho, we ended up eating around 4:30/5pm and it was amazing. i wish you could have heard Brigid and Meghan and Sean. they were all so not used to real cooking that they were limitless in their praises. then came Scrabble and dessert. all in all.....a very amazing day!
the rest of the weekend was incredible too....it was one of those awesomely relaxing weekends that just kept getting better instead of slowing down. and on Saturday night after Mass(because we were leaving Sunday morning) Meghan and I went to visit my Aunt Celine and Uncle Mark and the rest of the kids went to the movies. it was by far the BEST weekend down here. (it might've passed even our girl's night!) anywho....my picture uploader is being really stupid so you guys will just have to wait. or check Facebook. whichever you prefer!

So...I've Been Thinking....

i know....quite the shocker, huh? but i have, so here ya go.

1). in spite of all the advances i've made(and we all know they've been "SOOOOO" many [insert sarcastic eye roll here]) i've found that there is still a very DAUNTING amount for me to learn.
2). i've been watching ALOT of movies and tv....i think i need to read more, any suggestions?
3). i never knew i could miss my family so much.
4). i am SO thankful that i'm Catholic and actually have traditions.
5). i wish i had taken more advantage of my dad when i had the chance.
6). good chats with friends are HIGHLY overrated too much and shouldn't be at all.
7). the shame of this Saturday's game is unbearable at times....especially with no kindred spirit to lean on.
8). has it already been 6 MONTHS since i graduated? wow.....tempus really does fugit.
9). go here: http://www.endofworld.net/ . it is a bit crass, but HYSTERICAL.
10). i think i think too much at times. and then not enough at times. *sigh* is there ever a medium that i can agree on with myself?

ok. i'm done. and way too emotional to be awake still. so good night.

"I like them FRESH."- Nov. 4th weekend

haha. i laugh just looking at the title. :-) anywho, you're all probably wondering why. well, i'll tell you and yes, you can consider this "special information". =)
Friday: friday was good. and i mean chillaxin-to-the-max good. probably the best good i've had in TX. (mind you, OK is not TX). anywho, it was all on account of a certain wittle bear who needed to celebrate a certain wonderful special birthday. so we did. oh boy, did we.
i picked up the girls(Meggie and Bwiggy) and we headed to downtown Dallas to the *POSH*(or at least, POSH-by-our-standards) Magnolia Hotel. since we had only gotten one room, megs and brigid went in first while i drove around. once they were settled in they called me and we got valet(!) service. oh man.....the luxury. at any rate....we snuck(or is it sneaked?) me inside and enjoyed our room for a few minutes and then set out to find some food. sidetracked in our search by the AWESOME plaza area, we took a break and shot some photos. gorgeous of course.
i had seen a bar and grill close by, so we walked over to it only to find out it was CLOSED. at 8PM ON A FRIDAY!!! who does that??!?!?!? needless to say....angry, frustrated, cold and annoyed we walked a little further on and discovered a quaint italian place. it was so charming! and the prices were right, so in we walked. i only wish the whole world could experience our waiter, Michael. he was definitely an enigma. as in a completely fascinating and hilarious riddle. he was just too.....him. you'll just have to go there when you come visit me. ;-) anywho, Michael was NOTHING compared to our crazy, Albanian owner guy. please see above. i think he was just VERY Albanian, which might include being intoxicated, or Albanian AND intoxicated. at any rate, he was very nice(poor Brigid, he kept touching her shoulder and crossing all of the brigid-boundaries) and gave her a free dessert. as you can see though.....both girls were a little more than uncomfortable. ;-)
after dinner we walked back to our hotel and then put on our bathrobes---and here i must digress to explain the title. our room was only for two people so to explain the need for 3 robes, Meghan told room service that she needed another one because she "likes them fresh". HAHA. oh my gosh, when i heard that she actually said that to them i just about died laughing. anywho, on to the rest of the story--- and proceeded to the sauna/workout room. now, we were kinda forced to use the sauna because our original plan was to relax in their hot tub. but alas....it closed at the stupid hour of 10pm. i mean, seriously....who does that? but whatever, the exercise room was fun and the sauna can only be explained as below:
Meghan and Brigid: "Mona, come on in!"
Mona: "ummm....guys, i'm a little claustrophobic"
*tries anyways* 30 seconds later....
Mona: *rushes out* "Ok, i can't breathe....i can't breathe." -tries to breathe deeply-
Meghan and Brigid: "oh c'mon....you get used to it if you'd only stay a little longer."
Mona: *big breathe* "ok, i'll try it for a little longer."
Inside the sauna...
Mona: *panting* "ummm...guys? i still can't breathe and i'm really hot and slightly hysterical because i can't see the door." -rushes out-
Mona: "ok.....i'm done."
Meghan and Brigid: -coming out- "ok....we're done too."

i seriously went in and out of that sauna about 4 or 5 times trying to give it a try. *sigh* sometimes people should just listen to me when i say i'm claustrophobic. that's the whole idea of phobias......they are NOT rational by any means, so there's no use trying to reason with someone who has one. nonetheless....the experience was fun overall.

anywho, it was fun and then we went back to our room and watched part of "Sin City".
*note to readers : DO NOT EVER, EVER watch that movie. there is NOTHING good about it and it's really ridiculously gross. and i mean RIDICULOUSLY grotesque. sick, actually. anywho, after we decided that it wasn't indeed EVER going to get better, we turned it off and i was so desperate to rid my mind of those images that i bought a movie from the hotel services and we watched "Step Up".....a much better movie in my opinion. and then we drifted off to sleep. hotel beds are nice. but not nearly as nice when you have disturbing images STILL dancing through your head. i dunno. ccchhh. whatever.
anywho.....the next morning we went down in our pajamas and bathrobes(heck YES we were gonna get ALL the wear outta those things!) and enjoyed our continental breakfast by the fire. *long and deep sigh*.....why doesn't EVERY hotel offer a warm fire? i mean, C'MON! they would probably double their guests in a heartbeat! it was glorious. and i mean glorious in a snuggle-into-your-robe-with-your-hot-coffee-and-muffins-in-front-of-a-fire glorious. alas......all good things must come to an end. and so we went out with a bang! woah....calm down. i didn't mean literally....we had valeted(can that be used in verb form?) our car the night before, so we had to wait in the sitting room or whatever you call it for the valet to drive our car up to the door! it was so.....POSH. i think we all drove away feeling like a million dollars and feeling like we had been there a week! by far one of the best weekends down here.
oh....and P.S. .......: Sorry this is SO overdue!!! Mea Culpa.