Monday.
I woke up and went to the zoo for free Monday with my parents, my sister Mary, her husband's nieces and our niece and nephew. UM...free monday is NOT the best idea in the summer. Holy CRAP. My dad actually said he would have rather paid a hundred bucks to not have to be there on free monday. YIKES. It was packed. I mean, it was awesome. We had a good time....even if Maddie always wanted to be held (that kid is getting heavy! it was worth it to be holding her when she saw a polar bear for the first time or a giraffe though. the looks on her face were great. DJ was great too. Such a little man!). But everyone was exhausted afterwards. Especially the adults. It was hard enough to keep track of four kids with four adults....no idea how my parents kept track of five kids with just each other. I mean, i was always a responsible kid. I would yell at my sisters if they climbed a tree because I was afraid they would get hurt. they were kids, for crying out loud. And I was a kid too! But instead of climbing up there with them, I was always worried and pretty much acted like a mom. Maybe it's because I'm the oldest, I don't know. My sister Kathy and I decided that it all stems from when i was almost lost in Niagra falls when i was little. I was scared, I couldn't find my parents....and I think i walked up to a booth to tell someone I was lost. My parents were freaking out and found me....and this all happened in a matter of seconds or minutes. So we decided that along with me being the oldest of five, the getting lost thing was one of the reasons I always looked out for them and acted responsible even though i was only a kid myself. I also decided that it's why I went crazy after college and was the opposite of responsible for a while. Heh.
Anyway, blah blah. Okay, after the zoo, we went to McDonalds and then they dropped me off at home and I sat down and closed my eyes in my quiet apartment for about twenty minutes before doing anything. Unfortunately they didn't have that luxury. AGAIN, I loooooove those kids and I had a really great time....but it was nice to have a moment of peace. Then I found out I was hired, got a free replacement phone from verizon, and drove out to akron to meet my buddy for dinner and drinks at mariachis. I haven't been there in AGES. love that place. so yeah, zoo time with the family, a job (even if temporary), a free phone AND margaritas from mariachis? in one day? good stuff.
Tuesday.
Slept in, then rode my bike to the gym and enjoyed the nice weather. I also did some shopping for work clothes and came home and made couscous with almonds, peppers, cherry tomatoes and onions and also turkey, provolone and jalepeno melts. YUM. Rachel Ray would say "yummo" and that makes me want to punch her in the throat. I actually don't mind her, but there a few things she says that make me INSANE. Yummo and sammies are two examples. YOU ARE NOT A FIVE-YEAR OLD.
Wednesday.
Went to the driving range with my dad. It was a great sunny day, and I haven't picked up a golf club in years. I worked on a golf magazine for two years and did not golf that entire time. What?
Also, my swing SUCKS. It's like i forgot everything. I blistered my hand and probably embarrassed my dad (who is awesome by the way. he was hitting them out there! i had no idea he was so good).....but it was worth it. I love golf and driving ranges on sunny days. Especially when everyone else is working :)
Then I met Nikki and we drove to the rock hall for a free concert. The band was okay (I think it was Man Man or something)...but it was nice to be outside drinking with friends. We met a bunch of people up there and it was such a nice summer night. Also, they had a choice of either Miller Lite or Dortmunder for 4.50. UM....seriously? is there a choice there? If someone came up and ordered Miller Lite when dortmunder is the SAME price....I think I would have slapped them. That's insane. After the show, Nikki and I stopped in some hotel bar where we parked on Lakeside and drank a few more beers before calling it a night. We were actually home at a reasonable hour. Go us.
Team Insanity representin' at the rock hallThursday.
Ahhhh, thursday. It started off with my parents and my sisters Kathy and Mary coming to my apartment in the late morning. my parents haven't been here in a while so they checked it out a little, I finished getting ready, and then we went down the street to check out some Lakewood/Cleveland shops. We went to Big Fun, which totally lives up to its name, and also to Flower Child...which is just an insane amount of stuff. Overpriced thrift store stuff, but pretty cool. There are endless rooms and cool displays. Definitely something to check out if you haven't. Then we walked to the diner on Clifton and had a great lunch. My parents and mary left, then kathy and i bought a bottle of vodka and some vitamin water. Like a mad chemist, I mixed up our drinks, and kathy made the remark that people are actually mixing things together like that at that very moment, but they are mixing things to save lives and create new forms of energy....i'm making cocktails. I take my drinks very seriously :)
glorious.Then we packed my miracles of science into a cooler, and headed to the beach. We got to edgewater and got all settled, and then my sister screamed. A bird shit right on her arm. It was so funny I almost cried. Those birds are INSANE! It was like being in the middle of the alfred hitchcock movie. every time they would decide to swarm over, we would be jarred out of our intense relaxation pose to cowering under our towels screaming, "are they gone yet????" Besides that though, the beach was great. Hot, sunny, not a cloud in the sky.....and spending time with kathy and some vodka.
After we spent a few hours at the beach, we got to my apartment where her husband was waiting for us and we got ready to go get some TEN CENT TACOS at reddstone with Genny. TEN CENTS! Actually, if you want cheese they are sixty cents...but, um, sixty cent tacos??? and they are much better than the dollar tacos at johnny mango. they make the shells and they are so crispy and amazing...the beef is great and it was just awesome. Also, we had really great three dollar margaritas (even if it seemed to be a hassle for them) and got pretty drunk. Well, kathy and i were pretty toasty already...so it didn't take much. Although it did not stop us from having FOUR margaritas.
I was home by 8 and watched tv and went to bed. A GREAT day.
Friday.
Slept in, and woke up with an insane headache. I wanted to go to the ingenuity festival downtown with my friend Paul, but I just couldn't get motivated with the pain in my head. I did finally ride my bike to liquid planet for a key lime pie smoothie, and then rode to the gym for one last workout during the day. i am going to have to find other times to workout now that i have an 8-5 gig. It will probably be after work because it is going to be hard to adjust to getting up early again. UGH! I mean, seriously. I have to get up for work on monday!!! at like 6:30....AM! i did NOT miss that.
It's okay though. Like i said...i need a schedule. as fun as this week was, it will be nice to have structure. Plus, I felt so pressured to "have fun" this week and half the time all i wanted to do was lay around. I think that when you work, you tend to appreciate the nice days, and the days you have off a little more. It will suck not to be able to ride to the beach when i want, or walk around town all day....but i still have the weekends :)
After my workout I got some Giant Eagle sushi and a movie from Redbox. I got Revolutionary Road, because I am in LOVE with Leonardo DiCaprio (because of the Departed, NOT titanic) and I am in LOVE with Kate Winselt (because of Little Children, NOT titanic) so I figured I would get it. IT WAS SO DEPRESSING. Pretty good, but depressing. Not the best movie to watch alone on a friday night.
I sort of related to her character, but also to his. It's weird....you think you are going to do all these crazy things when you're young....become a rockstar or whatever, and you don't want to settle for the mundane. the whole husband and kids thing feels like a trap, or an inevitable obligation. You think your job is just a shit job that you are temporarily putting up with until you become a famous artist or something. But then, you realize you are already thirty-years old and you start to get accustomed to the fact that you are good at being a designer for trade publications or an inside sales rep for a medical supplies company, and you like cooking and planting a garden and want to have a house and another human being to grow old with. It's not necessarily horrible that your goals change. I don't think people should throw away dreams and settle....but sometimes the relationships you have with other people are enough to make life worth living.
She obviously didn't see that. Then again, maybe she thought she missed her chance at really living. how do you know when it might be your only chance to break out of the mold and do something great, even if you have to take a leap of faith to do it? It is terrifying to change things up sometimes. When you have children though....your life isn't your own anymore and you can't always just do shit like that. I thought she was being sort of selfish.
it would be hard enough for me to pick up and move to france, let alone a couple with their three kids.
But whatever...yikes. What the fuck. I'm getting a little too serious. Am i still writing??? GOOD GOD. I'll stop. See, i should write small things every day instead of one novel twice a week. Jeez.
The thunderstorm stopped and it's suddenly a beautiful day. I need to get out there :)
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