On fireworks in the middle of the afternoon.

Well, I do have to break off into a deeper version of my writing every once in a while- but here, I'm back! With a much happier and light-hearted post. 

Justin came over yesterday with a box of fireworks he had in his apartment and, of course, we chose to light some of them- right in the middle of the afternoon! The regular explosion-type fireworks weren't as fun to watch in the daylight, but my most favorite were the little smoke bombs we lit. They were such vivid colors and left cute little colored burn marks on the road in front of our house. The firework fun had to end eventually, and we decided a good time was when we lit a firework which flew in the air over our heads and zoomed around while we all franticly ran around trying to avoid it.

 Okay, who am I kidding? It was when we were shooting roman candles and little neighborhood kids started riding their bikes into the line of fire. Anyway, it's nice to have a little fun in the midst of stress and craziness sometimes. 

On drowning (an example of sorts?)

There’s dirt on my feet,

from trudging on the ground I revered.

You don’t have to tell me twice-

It’s not as endearing, now that I am grown.

Pick me for your table setting!

[or,

place me in the compost, if you’d prefer.]

My hands are tired of holding tight;

too tight for my fingers to respire.

My lips are so dry,

from the salty water rushing past the bridge of my nose.

Don’t worry, I see it too-

a seemingly hopeless struggle to tread above the surface of my sad excuses.

Throw me a raft!

[or,

push me towards a waterfall, if you’d prefer.]

My heart is feeling terribly heavy now-a-days,

too heavy to hang above my weary lungs.

My arms are sore and trembling,

from trying to embrace a disappearing sense of comfort.

I know, I know-

It seems I’m grasping at air with my eyes closed tightly.

Feed me a loaf of encouragement!

[or,

give me a poison apple to slay my sense of wonder.]

My attempts at grace are feeble,

too feeble for your fleeting soul to see.

On finally having a cool president

It's taken me a little longer than anticipated to upload photos of this and make a post, but Happy Inauguration Day! Better late than never! Alison and I made Obama shirts and attended an inauguration party- after crying all day long while watching the live footage- we even made a change cake! (Complete with Obama logo and awful icing-lettering done by yours truly.) It was a really, really great day. The air even smells sweeter, don't you agree?

On being born in between holidays.

It's a bit tedious; having your birthday, Christmas, and the end of the year fall in so closely to one another. No matter how cliche, you cannot help but reminisce, picking apart and dissecting your year as it played out. The bad, the good; old habits die hard. Among all of the self criticizing comes the pressing realization that i’ve yet another year to add- another decade to conquer; another building block on my [somehow] faithfully sturdy structure. I’d like to think that i’ve learned some things this year, that i’ve grown from what i’ve done. No regrets, no takebacks. I can’t pretend to have an idea of what my life is going to hold, or anticipate what mess i’ll make of this seeming “blank slate” everyone hopes to start out with on January 1st. I don’t know much about what impact i’ll make on this next year, or what it will mold me into. I’m not sure what tastes i’ll acquire, or what lives I will change. Not knowing is so humbling and exciting at the same time. Right now, I guess it doesn’t really matter if I know the answers. 

I do know this,

There are still people out there who love me.

I still love avocado & tomato sandwiches and reading fiction.

Last night I fell asleep watching James and the Giant Peach,

and tomorrow is my twentieth birthday.

Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Bring it on, 2009. 

On attempting to not be a scrooge.

Lately, i've really had some difficulties getting into the holiday spirit. It's been hot outside, which has made my frantic Christmas shopping experiences all but enjoyable. I felt like I needed a little somethin'-somethin' to cure me of my slowly-turning-scrooge syndrome. My mother suggested we have a day full of baking; we each picked a cookie and took turns in the kitchen. I got right onto the Food Network's website, naturally and picked out yummy pumpkin cookies with cream cheese frosting. After all was said and done, and after somehow getting pumpkin on my face only twice, my grumpiness toned down and the cookies turned out sooo tasty! David, (who for some reason, despite my mood volunteered to be my assistant in the kitchen for the day) helpfully offered to help clean up my mess.

Post-Script:  I have way, way too many! Open invitation to anyone who would like to help me finish 'em off :)

On spending an afternoon at the park.

It's good to have days off. They have been seeming so few and far between these days. Today I woke up early, went to the park with my sister and nephew and read in the beautiful "Florida winter" weather. Did I mention I love reading? Well, I do. A lot.

On being a reader of [good] books most of the time

These past two weeks have been times in which I was in dire need for distraction from my life. Naturally, when my sisters recommended a book series, I was all ears. Four books could keep me busy all month! [Perhaps more, I thought] Little did I know how amazingly similar to a heroin addiction they would turn out to be for my brain, and how fast it would devour them. 

The Twilight series started as my really great guilty pleasure. I was hesitant to tell people I was reading the first book, seeing how I pride myself in being an avid reader of great books. I didn’t want my impressive taste to appear as any less. I couldn’t help myself, after about the fifth chapter- I was hooked. I read whenever I could fit time in to read, and when I wasn’t reading; I was anxiously watching the clock and counting down the hours until I could. I was helplessly addicted. [Forgive my understatement, those who had any contact with me in the past two weeks.] The characters and scenarios were all I could think about, all I wanted to talk about- and I am ever so grateful that I wasn’t alone in this obsession. 

My older sister Kimberley [who’s book taste is even better than mine] and I talked about it whenever we could- our every three day sleepover turned into Twilight talking sessions. When I was at work, she would call to tell me she had reached the part I was up to, and it made me anxious and upset that I couldn’t answer her every phone call- ( though sometimes I made frequent trips to the “bathroom” to quickly discuss it with her and get my fill of the eerily drug-like addiction.) We had many laughs and shed many tears over the story we continued to read. It was clear that this was so much more than a guilty pleasure to me. These were really, really good books. 

After two weeks (after finishing the first two books in two days or less, I stretched the last two out as much as I could) of being completely and hopelessly involved in every character and every aspect of the story, I am not ashamed to say that was the most enthralling book series i’ve ever read. (Even after countless eye-rolls and negative comments thrown my way when I struggled to find words to describe what the books were about) After reading all of the books (and seeing the movie, twice- for which I am also not ashamed to say) I can definitely and proudly say I am- in all aspects of the word- a “twilighter.” I will not hide that fact, or be shamed by it, and I suggest you go read them! Now! Guaranteed- you, too will regress into pre-teen obsession, and it’s not so bad of a feeling. :)