kindasortablonde's Xanga

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Sat, 14 Jul 2007 19:41:26 GMT

IT'S OVER. . . .

whatever shall I do?

I'm losing my identity...

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 23:31:25 GMT

Slowly but surely, everything i seem to relate to and consider "me," or "home," is falling apart.
I guess I have always wanted to imitate my parents - marry very young, populate the earth, have a rewarding if insanely chaotic life, etc. I revel in our eccentricity and uniqueness...and it's dissapearing...

Mom was married at 17. Dad was 21. They dropped out of school, yet dad is now working on his master's and mom is finishing her bachelors, and we live quite comfortably. I'm incredibly proud of them.
I'm nineteen with no prospects within any fathomable amout of time.

Mom quit her job to take care of us.
She's working - part time now, full time eventually. Granted, it's as a teacher at the kids school, but still.

And thats another thing. She homeschooled us for 11 years.
I'm in college and the kids are in Christian school.

We moved all the time. It was rough. It sucked. It made us strong.
We haven't left the area, really, in seven years. Too many memories here. It's time to go.

"And he's talking with Davy, who's still in the Navy And probably will be for life..."
I take pride in the fact that my dad is in the navy. I take pride in the fact that we have lived 3 1/2 years without him, and are still a strong family.
Two days ago he put in his retirement papers.

Is it just me, or is everything I identify myself with falling apart? I LOVE freaking people out: "Yep, they dropped out of school to get married, mom quit her job to homeschool us (by the way, all SEVEN of us), dad's an XO on ships, been gone for years, mom does it ALL on her own. And yes, I want at least four children. Preferably seven."
The way their mouths drop is amazing, and oh so funny. I love pushing peoples buttons. I love my family. I'm proud of the struggles, the sacrafices, the silliness, and the insanity.

I JUST FEEL SO RESTLESS AND OUT OF PLACE! I need to go trot the globe for a year and just go DO something before I come back and aquaint myself with all this normality....I feel like I'm somehow missing my calling, like it's somehow passed me and I'll never be able to grasp it.

Ok, fine. enough of that. if anyone's still reading, I'm sorry.

Someday I will be able to sing this....
When you look into my eyes
And you see the crazy gypsy in my soul
It always comes as a surprise
When I feel my withered roots begin to grow
Well I never had a place that I could call my very own
That's all right, my love, 'cause you're my home

When you touch my weary head
And you tell me everything will be all right
You say, "Use my body for your bed
And my love will keep you warm throughout the night"
Well I'll never be a stranger and I'll never be alone
Whenever we're together, that's my home

Home can be the Pennsylvania Turnpike
Indiana's early morning dew
High up in the hills of California
Home is just another word for you

Well I never had a place that I could call my very own
That's all right, my love, 'cause you're my home

If I travel all my life
And I never get to stop and settle down
Long as I have you by my side
There's a roof above and good walls all around
You're my castle, you're my cabin and my instant pleasure dome
I need you in my house 'cause you're my home.
You're my home.

"You're my Home"
by Billy Joel

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Sat, 06 Jan 2007 22:33:15 GMT

...A heart is not a PLAY THING,
a heart is not a TOY,
but if you want it BROKEN,
Just give it to a BOY.

Boys, they like to PLAY with things
To see what makes them RUN,
But when it comes to kissing,
They do it JUST for FUN.

Boys NEVER give their hearts away
They play us girls for FOOLS,
They wait until we GIVE our hearts
And then they play it cool.

You will wonder where he is at night
You will wonder if he's TRUE,
ONE moment you will be happy,
One moment you will be BLUE.

If you get a chance to SEE HIM
Your heart begins to DANCE
Your LIFE revolves around him,
There's NOTHING like ROMANCE.

And then IT starts to happen,
You worry day AND night
You see, my friend, you're LOSING HIM...
It NEVER turns out right.

Boys are great, though IMMATURE
The PRICE you pay is high,
He may seem sweet and gorgeous
But remember...

HE'S A GUY.

Don't fall in love with JUST A BOY
That takes A LOT of nerve.
You see, my friend, you need A MAN
To get what you DESERVE!

So when you think that you're IN LOVE,
Be careful, if you can...
Before you give your heart away

...Make sure that he's a MAN.

cwsc food

Thu, 07 Sep 2006 11:55:31 GMT

for all you CWSCers...i am now in charge of scheduling my employees (our restaraunt is remodeling) to work in the CNU cafeteria....now how's that for irony?

EDIT
****And I hear the food is fantastic!!!!*****

Pictures!

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 17:46:56 GMT

http://s103.photobucket.com/albums/m130/heatherinireland/Northern%20Ireland/

It’s Northern Ireland, you dodgy republican!

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 14:45:50 GMT

Sunday, July 30, 2006 9:47PM

mmmm.....so Tuesday blended into Monday, as I already wrote...so Wednesday morning we hiked up into the glen to Cranny Falls for our devotions - which was incredible! The glens are deep valleys carved out by glaciers, and waterfalls often frequent them.

On the hike back down to the caravan, Melissa met the love of her life: Connor. Connor was rather young, and had mottled, spotted skin of both black and white. He immediately lavished Melissa with kisses, and wouldn’t let go of her hand. This is her and Connor.

We also distributed handbills for the Carnlough Holiday Bible Club, and Jen and I walked halfway to Cushendall. Jonathan Reid (the funniest man in N. Ireland) sent us to distribute up the Largy Road, and didn’t tell us where to stop.....meanwhile everyone else had stopped and had tea with Robena, and experienced Sloer (sparkling grape juice - sorta) and biscuits (cookies). That’s so not fair!

Went to the Newtowncromellin Club again (Joe taught the lesson), and went to the Galley, our new favorite restaraunt for chips and other things....

Thursday we hiked up in the Glen again, but along the cliffs, for devotions. Fabulous view!!! We found a cave, but were rather disappointed to realize it was a manmade dead-end. We were running up and down the hills on the way back, and I was being rather cocky when there was one Danielle didn’t want to try....so I did, and it was too steep. So I threw myself on the ground and rolled the rest of the way, landed in something prickly, and broke out in hives. Talk about the judgement of God. AND NO ONE KNOWS WHAT BENADRYL IS AROUND HERE!!!!

We distributed more flyers down in the southern part of the village, in Beachlands, and Molly had us in for tea. She’s such a dear old lady. She and Jonathan are good friends, and chatted nonstop.

At club that night, William had Trevor Shaw (19) and I volunteer for the quiz....boys against girls. If a team answered a question right, they got to shove two marshmallows into either his or my mouth, and we couldn’t chew or smile. After each round we had to say "chubby bunny". Once fourteen of the blasted things were in my mouth, I couldn’t say it for laughing, and Trevor’s team won... :(

Friday was a rather chill day...we finished up the last of the flyers, talked to George all about William (he wants us to distract him from his girlfriend, a.k.a. "Charasmatic Chick," and so he has been throwing him at our heads nonstop. We had tea with Mary and Norman, and when we walked in she instantly asked if any of us wanted a man, and offered her son Ryan (22). I swear these people are more interested in the marriages of young people than their own! They would have us all married before we leave!

For example: Pastor Johnston can't stand William's girlfriend, aka "Charasmatic Chick", so he's throwing us at William's head....it's pretty crazy.....

So....yah....I was curling my hair, but plugged my hair into Linda’s adapter. Unknown to me, she didn’t have a power converter in hers. Danielle asked what was cooking, and I took the curling iron out of my hair...with black charred and melted chunks all clinging to the iron - I melted my hair in the back! I felt so like Meg in little women.....*sniff* I was so unhappy!!! But fortunately it was on the underside, so you really don’t notice...

So we had the last club at Newtoncrommelin, and Jonathan taught the last lesson, which was excellent. We invited the parents to come in the last night for tea and biscuits, and had the kids say their memory verses, sang songs, and talked to them, which I thought went very very well. They seemed interested, and I think we may see some in church next week! We went back to Pastor Johnston’s house for dinner (tea) of burgers, and he pulled the mini grill into the house since it was raining! Rather smoky, but yummy :) Got to call my mum and dad, and had fun teasing Trevor and Elizabeth, William and Sarah. We decided last minute to go back to Carnlough to the sea...since all the spides (in Scotland they were NEDS, Non Educated Delinquents, and they wear trackies all day and cause trouble) were in the harbour, we went down to Beachlands to the beach...William and Jen and Danielle went all the way in...I only put in my big toe...Allastair, Sarah, Melissa, Elizabeth, Trevor and I all stayed up on the rockway, and then we all went to the park. The park/playground had awesome stuff! If only parks in America were half as cool!!!

Sarah and I stole William’s peugot and drove around Carnlough....

Saturday we were supposed to go to Belfast, But George was poky in getting here, and our blue jeans weren’t dry yet, and we wanted to see Beth Bogue! She was bringing a group of kids from Airdrie here for a camp, and returning to Scotland in the evening. So we went to the ferry port of Larne, where she came in, and while we were waiting for her we ran into P. Andrew Quigley, his wife Heather, and their kids: Carla, Connor, Calvin, Caitlin, Cathryn, and Campbell. We only got to talk to him for a minute, as he was on the next ferry out, but it was brilliant. Beth arrived with the kids and we joined them at Rathmore House, where we visited for about an hour. Then Pastor (George) Johnston and his wife Margery took us to Junction One, a big outlet shopping place. We had Subway for lunch, and shopped at places like Adidas, Nike, Mexx, Nexts, etc... and met back at Starbucks for dessert :) No repeat Edinburgh Starbucks incidents :( but we did run into Sarah’s first boyfriend. George wanted us to go flirt with him, but we didn’t share the same desire.

We went back to The Johnston’s house for tea (dinner), and fellowshipped with them and Trevor. William had to go to work, he works the 8pm to 8am shift at a nursing home, poor thing. Played Dangerball and watched ridiculous British gameshows. Went home and watched Hitch, but most of us fell asleep in the living room and didn’t see a half of it.

Oh yes, George tried to kill me. We were replacing the propane tank on the caravan, and he accidently connected butane, and at a much higher pressure. So he had me light the stove....and POOF!!!! A huge fire started on the stove, and we couldn’t get it to go out. It singed the hair on my hand/arm, melted the bread bags, and freaked us all out. Now you see, we are continually getting locked out, half the party that arrives first at the caravan. NEVER has the key. As a result, we have gotten excellent at breaking in through the windows. The strange thing is that the door ONLY unlocks with the key, you cannot unlock it even from the inside. So George is stuck outside, and I’m inside trying to deal with this fire. Meanwhile the other girls are just busy screeching and screaming, not offering any insight at all. George finally disconnects the butane, and I took the pan off the stove, and somehow got the fire to go out. Caaarrazy

Sunday we attended church in Carnlough. Pastor Johnston preaches there, and then heads immediately to the church in Newton Crommelin. He took Jen and Danielle with him, as we have limited car space, but unfortunately, they had the key to our caravan. We seem to continually get locked out, half the party that arrives first NEVER has the key. As a result, we have gotten excellent at breaking in through the windows. The strange thing is that the door ONLY unlocks with the key, you cannot unlock it even from the inside. So Melissa, Linda and I got in, but Joe couldn’t :( We had tea (dinner) at the Johnston’s again and had excellent crack with them and Trevor. (Crack is fellowship).

Well, George has got it in his head that I should marry Trevor, and would thus make an excellent farmer’s wife. Well, Trevor had to leave in the pouring rain to feed his sheep. Sarah instantly started throwing clothes and rubber boots at me, declaring that I had to help him....blah. So eventually, after enough insistence, I went. We went out to his farm (the closest of his three) and fed sheep, and then he took me out on his quad (ATV). The girls decided to follow us, and laughed and teased me something fierce. Trevor took me all around his farms (we had to fix an electric fence while we were out), and kept showing off, going down super steep slopes and leaving the ground....fun stuff :) He took Jen, Melissa and Danielle out too, afterward. He took us out to the farthest farm later in the jeep, and Sarah’s car broke down (we thought), but it apparently wasn’t the case. Lol, she’s a blondie at heart, even though she’s truly brunette. She looks like Avril Lavigne, but sweeter.

Went to evening service at Cushendall church. Pastor Johnston interviewed Jen and I up on stage, asking us about ourselves and our work here. A bit nerve-wracking, but it was fun and went well, thank the Lord. Mary and Norman McMurran gave us a ride home, and we had great fun.

More later!

me...

Ireland has no snakes!

Fri, 04 Aug 2006 14:31:54 GMT

Tuesday, July 25, 11:32 PM

Posh! So here I am in Carnlough, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, Europe, the World. We had a rather uneventful flight to Newark yesterday (we left at 5:15pm), although in truth it still feels like this morning, as I haven’t slept. We wandered about Newark Intl Airport, ate McDonalds for the first time in years, and played rummy. Seeing as our flight was to Belfast we figured some of our flight companions must be Irish flying home from Holiday, and sought to identify them (it’s really not at all hard, just look for hobbit-like little people with fine hair and maybe an upturned nose.)

Well I must put in the part about Colin, or Melissa will have a fit, so here it is. We noticed a good-looking (similar to Orlando Bloom, but less girly) fellow at the gate, and laughed at the possibility that one of us would sit by him, as we were not sitting together on this flight. Well, lo and behold, a woman sits by me, and a few minutes later, she got up and moved (I was looking out the window and didn’t realize why she left), and down sits Mr. Good-looking-from-the-gate. He had asked the girl to switch seats, which brought about vicious looks from the other girls, and much amusement from me (especially since the lout flirted viciously for five minutes and then proceeded to sleep for the next seven hours. So ladies, beware of good looking twenty-eight year old Irishmen named Colin, because they’re incredibly retarded and pointless. I’m sure my dad, who will read this, will agree with me.

So we arrived in Belfast at like 8:15am, 3:15am home time, and were picked up by Jonathan, George Johnston, and his son, William (18). We tried to leave the airport parking lot (Jen, Danielle and myself rode with William in his peugot) and Mr. Johnston had forgotten to pay the parking ticket ( it had to be prepaid inside the airport), and William had no cash, and we had no sterling. So that was an exciting adventure...nothing like trying to reverse a standard through a crowded booth...

We had breakfast at Café Nobel, and ate the fry, also known as a heart attack on a plate. Joe got blood pudding, and Jen tried it, but as for the rest of us, we shall have to wait.

Went shopping at Tesco, couldn’t find manwich, but bought lots of Twix biscuits and McVitties!!! and finally got to the caravan park where we are staying. There we took MUCH needed showers, and about an hours nap each before we girls (minus the eversleeping Melissa) went into Carnlough and sat on the rocks at the sea’s edge, and wandered the village, etc. Then we went to the Newtowncrommelin Holiday Bible Club. We have these crazy red collared shirts with our names on the back that all the leaders have to wear. It was really weird, because in Airdrie, Scotland, we were the ones running the club, and here we were more observers, but I think that was only because it was the first night. When we do club in Carnlough next week it will be different, I think. William has a darling sister, Sarah (20)After Club, William took us girls down into Carnlough again and we bought dinner, I had a steak pastie, but most of the others had chicken nuggets and chips. Cowards.

We went back down to the water (by this time it’s 10pm, and not even dark!!!) and thought about jumping into the North Sea/Atlantic, but opted out and went home, whereat we are now trying to sleep and unpack. In the opposite order.

Good Night,

me!

Friday, July 28, 2006

Fri, 28 Jul 2006 17:14:55 GMT

`well, we haven't any internet access or phone access, but `i am at `rev. `johnston's house, and he does. so i just wanted to say, i haven't forgotten you all and moved to `n. `ireland permanently - - - i should have internet next week at which time i will post all the wondrous posts i have written and stored on myc omp.\

love you all!!!\me

Get ready, Ireland, cuz here we come!

Mon, 24 Jul 2006 12:04:59 GMT

Hey everyone, I'm off for Ireland today with our church mission trip! I don't know how often i will have access to the internet, but when I do, I will be sure to post!
Love yall
me

I'm Coming Home!

Tue, 04 Jul 2006 12:13:11 GMT

Well, first of all, Happy Fourth of July to anyone who reads this. (And night crew says horay for early closings! - too bad i won't be with y'all!)

Since I left I've seen friends I haven't seen in 6 years, met family i've never met before, lol, gone to Lake Tahoe, gone tubing, waterskiing, boating, swimming, swallowed half the lake, white-water-rafting, ridden on a motorcycle, toured Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary in San Francisco, gone to Chinatown there, ridden the cable cars, gone on a boat tour around SF Bay, tried Clam Chowder, eaten lots of seafood, and gotten a new boyfriend (my 8 year old diiiistant cousin, Riley - don't flip out anyone!)

After all that crazy and wackily looong family reunion, I am finally coming home tomorrow. We have to leave Cousin Bill & Linda's at 4:15PST in the God-forsaken morning tomorrow, and then get to the Sacramento Airport an hour+ away, turn in our rental-suburban, and get on a plane by 7am. Thence to Atlanta and a 2hour layover, and to Baltimore by 8EST. Then we get to fix our suburban that nearly died on the way there, and hopefully drive home, sleep, and go to work the next day....oh the joys and excitement.

Well, I have to go pack us up out of Camper city, Bill and Linda put up our 43person family in like 10 campers...woohoo.

Love yall, CAN'T WAIT TO COME HOME!!!!

crazed from lack of sleep,