A lot of stuff has happened and life overall is pretty good right now. At work we got our new cell phones today, and they're really cool and fun. Because we got them for free, we don't have a great plan for minutes, so I can't really use the phone except for business use, but that's alright. It's a camera phone, woohoo!
I was going to drive to MD this past weekend, but I was dead tired on Friday night and then I started sneezing, sniffling, etc. on Sat. evening so it's just as well that I didn't make the trip. Joe and I hung out on Friday night for a long time and ended up staying awake until 3am. That wouldn't be too bad except we were both up again at 8am for garage sales. I didn't find anything worth buying, but Joe got somewhat lucky. No lego, but some other stuff at a really good price. "It's my favorite price... free!"
Then we went to the Smash-a-thon. It's the fundraiser that the Marist Computer Society does every spring. They get donations of old computer parts and people pay a dollar to smash them with a sledge hammer. I beat the hell out of a poor defenseless keyboard. They're the most fun because when you set one across two computer towers and smash the middle with the hammer, all the keys go flying everywhere. I probably got a good half-dozen swings in and the keyboard was completely obliterated. Well, I'm still unsure of how exactly this happened, but either I hyper-extended my middle finger on my left hand or something came up and hit me on the finger right below my knuckle. Instantly my finger swelled up and turned blue. I could still bend it so I knew it wasn't broken, but it hurt kinda bad. After a couple hours the swelling went down, but it was still very sore and discolored. Now it's no longer sore except when I push against the knuckle, but the bruise has spread throughout my whole finger and there's a hard knot below my middle knuckle. There was no point going to the emergency room to spend $100 to have them tell me that it needed to be splinted and iced until it healed. I can do that myself.
Saturday night I saw Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy with Joe and Sherri. Joe and I were cracking up (I love British comedy) but I think Sherri was bored and not really into it. But she's way too nice to admit that she didn't have fun. I think I caught Joe's allergies because I started sneezing like crazy and my throat was sore from the sneezing.
For Mother's Day, Joe and I went to his parent's house for brunch. It was really really nice because everyone was there and it was so good to see Joe's mom excited and happy. Steve and Christine drove up from MD so they could be there even though they were sick, Karen and Mr. Evangelista did all the cooking (except when we couldn't keep Mrs. Evangelista out of the kitchen), Grandma Voltaggio was there too and she also seemed really glad that the family was all together. Apparently Karen thought it would be a good idea to keep it a secret that we were coming, so Joe's mom was super surprised when we showed up. It was all really nice. Since I couldn't see my own mom on Mother's Day, this was the next best way to spend it. Joe and Steve raced to see who could finish their building projects first... Joe and his Lego airport vs. Steve and his Impreza transformer. Both worked very hard at their own projects, and at sabatoging each other. At the end of the day, I think Steve won. And Joe had pieces left over that we're still not sure where they go.
Last, but certainly not least, Nate came visiting yesterday!! BTW, Nate is my most favorite person in NY after Joe. No exaggeration, he really is one of the kindest, sweetest, nicest, and funniest people you will ever meet. And he's just an all around great friend. Too bad that since he graduated from Marist last year he's been living in Albany, 2 hours away. So Nate, Joe, and I all hung out for a few hours... ate dinner, watched so 80's TV series clips, and played some pool. I do believe I played the worst game of pool of my entire life, and that even rivals the time that it took me and Barbara 2 hours to finish one game! ;)
Well, until next time... ciao!
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Thursday, 5/5/2005
Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!
Hey, I'm good for any excuse to go out and party. Who cares if I'm not Spanish. ;) Anyways, last night I came to the realization that I'm not as versatile an eater as I used to be. Damn you UMBC and your cardboard food! Damn you picky-eater ex-boyfriends! Point is, I went out last night with the work crew to celebrate Corinna's birthday. We went up to Kingston to a Puerto Rican place called El Coqui. I got a roasted pork sandwich with garlic sauce and FRENCH FRIES! How American am I? And for dessert (btw, when we all go out, we order a couple different desserts and then we all share) I suggested chocolate cake! Of course, not flan, not trembleqi, but good ol' down home chocolate cake. I'm so not culturally well-rounded, it stinks. Where's Paul when I need him? He would drag me to a Vietnamese restaurant and tell me to eat the sugar cane and quail and like it.
In the spirit of my Maryland-ness, I took the liberty of researching our annual high stakes horse racing events. This coming Sat. 5/7 is the Kentucky Derby, 5/21 is the Preakness, and 6/11 is the Belmont. The irony is that the Kentucky Derby runs in Louisville, KY., the same weekend I'll be in MD for Mother's Day, the Preakness runs in Baltimore, MD., the same weekend I'll be in NY for Joe's graduation, and the Belmont runs in NY, but there is no way I'm going down to Long Island and battling that traffic by myself. But... Pimlico is hosting a Microbrewfest this weekend in conjunction with the "Run for the Roses" so if there's enough people interested in going, I might just check it out. Let me know if you're interested.
5 friends are graduating this month... it's kind of nostalgic because I either remember them before they started college, or I remember them as freshman when they first came to college. Now it's been 4 years... time really does fly. Even Joe I first met when he was a freshman at Marist but was on his spring break, so he met up with Dave, Barbara, Jason, and I in the Poconos where we were having our spring break. We've all changed, some of us a little bit, some of us a lot, but I'm not sad. I know they are a little bit, but it's life, and it's meant to be lived so that we and the people we come in contact with are lifted up and made happy... so that every morning we feel like we have a reason to get up and do something... so that every day we can find something to make us smile and laugh, even if there's so much in the past that makes us want to cry, or scream, or just give up. It can never be the way it was, but we can either sit back and lament the end of the "good old days" (which btw, always seem better in hindsight than they actually were going through them) or we can go out now and make good of right now. That's what graduating has taught me, that's what moving to NY has taught me, that's what my family, my friends, Joe, and God has taught me... live for today and tomorrow because the past is gone and only makes for good, side-splitting stories. (Though reminiscing with a significant other about how you met is always a good romance kindler *wink*) So for all of you that are graduating, have recently graduated, or are still struggling with the lingering traces of the "good old days" syndrome, I'm here to support you, love you, and tell you, it'll be ok. Just like college, life is what you make it... so let's have some fun!
Ciao :)