My favorite Time of year

It's beginning to become my favorite time of year. Winter. I love the scarves, mittens, and hats. Big warm coats. The smell of wood burning. And most importantly the smell of frost in the air. I LOVE it. The smell of cold and winter is what I live for all year. I currently am preparing for my final days of the semester. I have final projects due, essays to write, speeches to give, and exams to take. My friends have affectionately named the next two weeks "hell week" because they will run over and into each other causing all of us to become zombies from lack of sleep and proper food. I know that if I just step outside and breathe, a few deep breaths, I will be fine. The winter will renew my soul. Now only if it would snow.... oh well, as a southern gal I know there is a slim to none chance of that. I will just bask in the cold air of winter and dream of falling flakes.

I am going to host a contest. I have 25 questions for you all to answer. I will post some everyday from now till Christmas. The person who answers the most questions correctly will get a guest post on the Ali-oop or Music to my Muse. Hey I may even give you a post on both!! So come on have fun. Take a guess!

Here is your first question:

In "A Charlie Brown Christmas", what is Charlie Brown's main complaint about Christmas?

until the fates let us,

Ali

The Odd events of Thankfulness

I am not the type to want to celebrate thanksgiving. I have nothing against being thankful, believe me, I am thankful for something every day of my life. I just have no desire to sit down to a meal and over indulge myself because the Pilgrims finally had a bountiful harvest and defeated those pesky Indians. Now if you were to tell me that Roosevelt just wanted Americans to take a day out of their busy lives to remember what their lives were for then fine, I am down with Thanksgiving. Instead it is a holiday to represent how well our ancestors survived and how we should be thankful for that among all our other things.

So how are you spending your Thanksgiving? Are you really just in it for the turkey and stuffing or some other favorite side dish? Come on, I won't be mad. I personally love a few of those myself. Yet is that really a reason to have a holiday? Thanksgiving can be (despite its deplorable beginnings) something good for all. Take this day to remember why you are happy with your life. Or to find a way to make someone else happy. I am quite sure that you have a lot more to be thankful for than others. So take this time to show why/how you are thankful then by just stuffing your face.

I currently am spending Thanksgiving in the hospital. My father fell down his driveway Sunday night and broke his hip. He had to have an emergency partial hip replacement. So my family and I will be spending "turkey day" eating cafeteria food and laughing at the morphine talking through my Dad.

You know what though? I am perfectly fine with that.

Yeah sure, I would much rather my father not be hurt and in the hospital for thanksgiving. Or for any day on that matter. But my family will be acting like a family. We will not be concerned with if we are having a bigger bash than the Jones. We will not be worried if we miss that last minute ad for the 4 am sale Friday. We will just be thankful that we are all together.

Nothing more, Nothing less.

until the fates let us,

Ali

Settling In

So here I am. Five months since my last post. I bet you got a little worried for me. It's ok. I am fine. I just had to take time to get adjusted and settle in. So here is my new life.

• Monday= Class 10-12 4-6
• Tuesday= Class 12:30-4:30
• Wednesday= Class 10-12 Lab 3-6
• Thursday= Class 12:30-3:15 Work 4:30-10
• Friday= Class 10-12 Work 1:30-10
• Saturday= Work 10-10 (some shift in there)
• Sunday= Work 12-8.

Wow. That sounds awful.

You know what though? I LOVE it. I love the fact that I have to study to get by. I am enthralled with the concept of sitting in the library between classes and going over my notes or writing my next story for creative writing. HELL even just reading my textbook is amazing to me. Here I am back in the saddle again. I haven't actually learned anything in at least three years. Except how to be an excellent sales clerk.

I know the ends and outs of how to run a store. I ran the damn store most of the time. I took inventory properly when others couldn't, I knew how to diffuse a customer, I even knew the best route to ordering things. I fucking ran that store. I was who was called when anyone was sick. I was who was called when something needed to be fixed or built. I opened and closed. I did bank runs. I was everything an assistant manger should be with out the money, benefits, or title. The month before I left I had to train four different people to do my job. FOUR! It took four people to cover what I could do alone. So now I am a month and a half in to my new job and new store. I have missed making my goal for the day once, yesterday. And no one made goal yesterday. I came in to my new job with according to my new manger more experience in the product than anyone here. I am the go to gal for if something is suppose to be that way or not. I do none of the extra jobs I did at my old store. Yet I am getting paid more. If I were to leave my current job tomorrow, they would miss me yes but I am replaceable by just one person. I am good with that. I am not going to leave my job, I love my job. I will get more knowledgeable at it. I got this job because I am capable of doing so many things and holding so much information. So I am happy.

As far as school goes, well I have yet to fail at anything. I have had two exams and passed them both. I have had two speeches and only gotten one grade back but passed that one. I am settling in. I have made a few friends, I have my fellow Labrats. They however deserve their own blog one day. I also am making friends with semi like minds in my creative writing class. We have our own corner. ;) All in all, I am doing well. I have to work on budgeting. But things come and things go. I am proud of my choices and my options. Here comes a whole new world!

until the fates let us,

Ali

Bust the Bubble....The Big Move

A few months ago I posted about stepping out of my safety zone. As drastic as that can be, for me it is a necessary shift in my world. I have taught myself to live in this small bubble. A bubble that does not encompass half the worldly experience I have. I am the product of a Transition Manager. By the time I was 12 I had seen 30 out of the 50 states and 11 countries. My father's job carried him all over the world so we followed whenever we could. Yet here I am, afraid to leave my small protective bubble.

"POP!!!"

....I busted the bubble....

I have been accepted to College. I am once again moving on. Moving up, out, and Forward. In less than three months this blog will be coming from a new venue, with a new lease on life. I am proud of myself. I am terrified. I am all around ready to live life again. As of tomorrow I will have a class schedule, paid my dues, and be completely official.

I will no longer be in a odd sort of limbo, with people walking on eggshells around me like I am Broken Shards of Glass. I will stand strong and walk with confidence. I will shout from the rooftops all the things my safety zone would never let me say. I will no longer have anything to hide. And Have no one to hide from. Maybe just maybe I will gain some confidence in other areas of my life too. ;) Hey, you never know what change can bring, so baby bring it on!

Do you want to know what I find most intriguing about this endeavor? IF I had stayed in college the first time, I would have graduated this past weekend. Along with all of the people I went to High School with. Yet here I am basically starting over. Well I never did follow the crowd.

until the fates let us,

Ali

A Whole New World.... With Health Care!!!

So today was the BIG DAY. Today the House Voted on the New and Improved Healthcare Reform Bill. So as of approximately 10:45 March 21, 2010 the bill PASSED! 219 to 212!!! The requirement was at least 216 to pass.
The next step in the Process is to be looked over and either signed or vetoed by the President. Since this Bill was created at the hands of Obama by Obama people then it should be guaranteed that it gets signed.

Here is the process in which it takes to get a bill passed into law:

So after all of this we are looking at a future of healthcare for all Americans. No matter income or disability. Nothing to prevent you from getting the help you need. There are thousands, No Millions of Americans who are going to benefit from this Bill.

As a country America seems to be selfless, we are the first to help in any given situation. We give more in money to other countries than we do to the poor and homeless of our own. We have no problem showing the world that we are prosperous, even when that prosperity is what is dragging us under. Please don't read what I am saying wrong. I am glad and proud of the fact that as a country we support other countries. This is what we are suppose to do. BUT. We have been lacking in the selflessness towards ourselves. We take what we believe is rightfully ours and leave the others around us to fend for themselves. With this new bill we are going to have to fend for each other. A concept drastically different than what we are use to. As Americans we should be supporting each other and supporting ourselves at the same time. I Understand that I am idealistic, but who doesn't want to live in a better world? This bill, this life altering, debate starting bill, is a step in the right direction don'tcha think?

until the fates let us,

Ali

Type of Girl

I often wonder what type of girl I am.

I always feel the need to speak my mind, but often quiet myself for fear of offending others. My opinions don't match those of the status quo. I am Feministic, Brutal, and Ungodly. I am very Passionate on any subject I feel kindred to. I will defend my side to the apocalypse.

My opinions on highly sexual women is quite odd. Unlike most who think they are loose, whores, sluts, and the like....I am just Jealous. Jealous of the fact that they have no fear of their sexual personality. Jealous of their ability to be who they are. Jealous of the fact that I am not. I fear rejection and embarrassment too much to let myself be free enough to hit on someone, and be willing to have sex that easily. It is an odd bout of low self esteem.

I do think highly of myself though. I catch myself looking down on others in my thoughts that don't use proper English. I DO NOT mean use slang words when speaking, I mean flat out need to pull out a translator to understand what they are saying, type people. I have no idea how they expect to get a higher paying job when they speak incomplete sentences. I have issues with baggy clothes that make you look unkempt. Be it pajamas in public or jeans down to your ankles I really have no desire to see them. They are fashion faux pas in my book.

I have found that I would rather sit at home and read a book than deal with the real world. This is a habit of mine from childhood. My punishment when little was not the disbarring of the television or friends but being banned from my bookshelves. It was agonizing. I love to lose myself in a world unlike my own, where I can Sail the Seven Seas with Rudyard Kipling, or deal with the supernatural with Charlaine Harris. I love it so much I want to create realms for others to enjoy someday.

I discover I want to dress up. I like pretty things, High Heels and Dresses, Make-up and Jewelery. I feel pretty. Then about halfway through the night I am ready and willing to beat the shit out of somebody for some unknown reason. I still feel pretty, but I am a bitch through and through. I will not take anything lying down. I may look like a Princess but I throw a mean left hook. My brother taught me well.

I don't particularly believe in any religion. I believe in the concept of God, yes. BUT I am more holistic and drawn to Nature than Christianity allows. I hold a lot of Wiccan values to be true. I find some smaller aspects of Buddhism and Hinduism amazing as well, I enjoy Yoga and its meditative purposes. There is actually a label for people who think the way I do on religion. I am not quite sure I like it, Christopagan. Being a Christian while holding Paganistic values. Look it up. It is real.

I often wonder what type of girl I am. Then I remember, I am not a mere girl anymore. I am a Woman. I am a Feminist, Gutsy, Brutally outspoken, Sexually Jealous, Bookworm, Bitch of a Christopagan Princess. But I am not one to put a label on things...

Until the Fates let us,

Ali

no longer taking safe choices

I have made some decisions in my life. I am no longer going to be living the safe choice. I have been hiding for two years. i have made the safe decisions and played it safe the whole way. i was going to go back to the college i left a couple years ago. why? why did i want to go back there? i had no reason besides my thought that i should go back where i left... that i should play it safe. I knew who i would be there. i knew what it was like there. i was making no sacrifice by going back. so i am applying to other schools. maybe i will go to the school i left. maybe i wont get accepted elsewhere, after all i dont have the best track record. but i am not going to do something just because it is the safe choice. I am giving myself the opportunity to excel elsewhere. to move on and up. i am no longer going to be the dreamer thinking of what could be or what might have been. i am going to start taking care of myself instead of others. i am going to be my own unique individual.

I am ready. I am ready to stop living the safe choice to stop dreaming about where i want to be and what i want to do and to go ahead and do it. I am ready to scream to the world My name is Ali, I am here to be me, not to clean up after you or take care of your mess but to be me!!

one life to live

I have decided to create a bucket list of sorts. Now I have always had things I have wanted to do, like skydiving and other death defying feats. i just have decided that you guys can follow along on my list and see what i have done and haven't done along the way!

ONE LIFE TO LIVE...

• Learn to drive a Manual
• See Norah Jones in Concert
• Dye my Hair blue and purple
• Learn to speak Italian
• See Dropkick Murphys In Concert
• Go to Greece
• Complete my list of Tattoos
• Lose weight... be the correct weight for my height
• be able to run a mile without stopping
• Make a Difference
• Visit Ireland
• To actually read Withering Heights
• To go Skydiving
• To see a Ballet
• To see an Opera... Carmen
• Write a Book
• Get a degree in English
• Take a Course on Fashion
• Learn to throw a Pot
• Go back to Paris and visit the Fashion houses

So how is that for a nice list to start? Keep up with it.... it will be over here on the side. I will find a way to mark off what gets done. So here is to life!! Live and let live!

until the fates let us,

AAli

• 
  

The New Year

Well... I have to say this year was a very good year. There were some family issues, we had a death scare for my grandmother. I lost some friends and grew some closer bonds with others. I have gotten my head together to an extent, I now can actually choose a path for myself instead of be lead blindly down one. I now feel like I can move on with my life. For someone in my situation, that is a big deal. but it takes time to heal the broken, and sometimes you just must let yourself live. So here is to the New Year, 2010. Here is to new beginnings, fresh starts, and continued growth. To living life without regret and sorrow for the past. No resolutions for me. Just the promise of life, peace, happiness, and hope.

until the fates let us,

ali