Saturday, March 31

throw backs and pancakes

so they were selling tshirts from past races for super cheap...i got last years half marathon shirt... i liked it because it had leaves on it. (oh and my ipod is NOT on at this point, it's just still in my ear, forgot to take it out)




i also got an AMAZING (free) pancake with granola and some mini choco chips!
those are the only pics that are somewhat interesting, but i think i will do something tonight so that you can have more pics :) hmmm

have you seen my mind?

i think i lost it somewhere around the starting line...
so today was my half marathon!!!
you know, i've been having some people ask me, so have you been training?
actually, ya... i've been training at the convent...
(curious) what kind of training do they do there???
nun

haha
okay, c'mon, get it??? nun... none... can i at least get one of those fake pity laughs??
haha

anyway, tis true... i haven't exactly been training, which caused me to think at the moment the gun went off this morning, "uh oh, i am about to run 13.1 miles... what in the world have i gotten myself into???"
however, it was actually a LOT if fun... crazy, but fun. about 3/4ths of the race is actually on a kind of rocky trail in chesebro canyon... and do you know what trails in canyons have??? HUGE HILLS!!!!!!!!!
first major hill came right after the 8th mile marker... in fact, you see the 8th mile marker, turn the corner and see this massive hill that you have to go up. and this hill was not only super steep, but it was long. it was like 8th mile marker at the bottom of the hill, and then once you level off at the top, you see the 9th mile marker. the moment i saw it, i said to myself, "ok stina, pick your battles...dont you dare go trying to sprint up that hill... you will die and roll off on the spot." so i walked up most the hill because walking actually was faster than running in this situation. (it was actually i think something like 840 feet of elevation gain in two miles)
there was another massive long hill at about the 10 mile marker. so ya, back to back death hills, with a nice downhill in between and after.
all in all it was good, and it totally was not that bad. plus it was beautiful weather (helped that most of the trail was shaded).
so, for the amount of massive hills that there were, and counting in the fact that there was about a mile of narrow trail where no one could pass eachother and if one walks everyone walks, i TOTALLY surprised myself with my time. i don't know if i was joking, but i went in to this thinking, okay, under 3 hours would be sweet. well, i trotted in after 2 hours 20 minutes!!! not only did i surprise myself, but my parents too, who didnt see me finish because they went out for a little breakfast (no hard feelings parent, i think its quite hilarious)
so i am walking like an old woman, my knees are killing me, but i am going to stretch like crazy and try to prepare for tomorrow... my goal is to be able to get out of bed so i can at least get to my tennis match... we'll see from there :)
picture will be coming tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, March 29

my cousin alessio!



this is my baby cousin!! i have to say that i just love his outfit...

someone remind me, why don't we get to wear cool stuff like that???

ok, so i took the time to journal out everything last night about all that happened yesterday.
it's kind of long, but i figured the best way to let you guys in on this stuff is to just transfer it to the blog... i got the chance to tell some friends the story today, but i wanted to get it out to all of ya since i probably won't see most of you in person anytime soon...
...
...
nearly speechless.. i can't even imagine how to begin this... but i guess i can give it a shot.
yesterday in land culture book, Mr. Bex told us that if it were to rain that night or the next day, we should be prepared to go out into it. he told us to pray for some rain, and we thought for sure there would be some rain that night because the skies were cloudy and grey.
next morning (tuesday) i woke up, put on multiple layers expecting a rainy day, and stepped outside a little bit before 7am and nothing but clear blue skies. i was so bummed, but i remember thinking, "although it's not likely, i know you could changet he weather in an instant Lord." i kind of sent up a little prayer.
as the day went on, it was chilly, but not a single cloud in sight. after lunch we all walked to land culture book observing the sky, still not a cloud in sight... bummed. i'm sure everyone sent up a little prayer at that moment.
two minutes to go in class, and someone noticed there was a big black cloud... we all looked through the window and thunder sounded. i asked if we could go outside to look and mr. bex went outside to look with us. the wind had picked up majorly, and it got really cold. the bell to go to 6th period rang, but we just stood there looking up at one of the biggest clouds i have ever seen. mr. bex joked at first, "anybody have important 6th periods?" nut then the wind picked up more, and the cloud was jsut about engulfing our school... mr bex turns and says "come follow me," and then took off. without hesitation, we followed...
followed him down dumont, past king kelly's marmalade factory, to the bridge over the river bed. on the way there, mr bex said with a chuckle, "i am breaking so many rules right now."
on the bridge, cars whizzed by, and the wind picked up so much, that none of us could stand on our own. the wind picked up so much dirt and debri that we couldn't see the next bridge down the riverbed. we had all huddled close together to avoid the flying dirt and dust and to gain stability in the strong wind. it was then that mr bex started his lesson, which i will do my best to retell...
GENESIS 1... in the beginning, there was chaos. mr bex pointed down to the rushing riverbed and explained how a flooding river was an eastern symbol for chaos. so in the beginning, when the world was a mass of raging water, it was chaos. however, God seperated the chaotic waters and brought ORDER into the world. then comes genisis 3... after God brought order, satan decides to disorder and bring back chaos in the form of temptation and sin... and he is successful.
Jesus' Baptism... Jesus goes into the river (the chaos). the skies open above and God brings order back through Christ. not long after, Jesus goes in to the desert where satan tempts Jesus... SAME CYCLE...
so today, if we saw someone in the riverbed below, in this chaos, would we just yell down to them, "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?! GET OUT OF THERE!!... oh ya, and WE'RE PRAYING FOR YOU!" would we?
NO!
our class would go down there, link together for stability, and get that man out of the river, out of the chaos.
keep in mind that as mr bex is saying all this, the wind is blowing over 40 mph, rain begins to pour down, slushy hail starts to come down, wind was so loud and bex is practically yelling... chaos was all over.
the feeling was amazing... i lifted my eyes to let the rain fall on my face and take in all that i was hearing, learning, seeing, feeling... it was overwhelming. bex would ask us questions and we would shout them over the wind and cars. and although we didn't know at the time, trees were being twisted and broken by God's wind (check out psalm 29).
within 5 minutes of us getting to our 6th period classes (about halfway through), the storm was over.
looking back, when people talked about the storm, i can't help but feel in my heart that that storm was ours. God gave us that storm... He did it for us... He answered our prayers in His amazing way...
I experienced a miracle today, and i will never forget it.
...
...
so there you go, thats what happened yesterday.
that was a long post... i best leave it at that :)

chow chow

Wednesday, March 28

so i got an email today...
"The Dole Great Race of Agoura Hills Chesebro Half Marathon is this Saturday. Here are some last minute tips to guarantee a great morning. "
i think i need a little more than a few last minute tips... and it looks like i am going to be arriving at 5:30 am in Agoura Hills (parking isn't actually at the location...) and packet pick-up starts at 6am. the actual race starts at 7am. and hopefully, the my race will be over by 7pm
haha
i struggled to open a bear canister at rei today, and so did my friend. it took us about 10 minutes to figure out how to open that thing... there is no way a bear could open it.

i had a good day, how bout you guys?

Tuesday, March 27

wet muddy flip flops, soaked jacket, and frizzy hair

this title seems to lead you into what you'd guess would be a post about a bad day...
however, these things are the result of one of the most amazing things i've ever experienced. you know that 30 minute massive storm we had today (which downed four large trees on 183rd between my house and chick fil a)? well i've got a story for you.
however...
i seriously feel that there is no way that reading about this experience will do justice... honestly, i am so filled with crazy excited emotion that i have to tell the story, not write it (shi slow, would you agree?) it's impossible to convey my feelings in words... i have to use hand gestures, jumping up and down, that kind of stuff, to help tell the story.
so, i'd love to share it, but you're gonna have to hear it straight from me.
big black cloud,
40 mph winds,
pelting rain,
bent trees and flying dirt,
chaos,
then order...
one amazing God!!!

honestly, just reflecting on today's happenings nearly brings me to tears of joy and wonder.
i will let you know that this all started with us following mr. bex in our land culture book class (when class was actually over) to the bridge over the river bed in midst of a storm, as he proceeded to say "I am breaking so many rules right now."
i do hope to talk to you guys about it soon!
i think if you give me a day or two, i will have it up posted here...
right now the emotions haven't found their ways into words yet.

check out psalm 29

Monday, March 26

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-L9JRo5U2UI

i know, it's tough

my friend (whose name startes with a 'B' and rhymes with Seth) once said (about 10 minutes ago) in regards to life...
It's really unpredictable, which makes the stability of God even more wonderful.

it really struck me and just made me think and ponder a bit.
so, i guess i am posting it because maybe you might be struck by it and cause you to ponder a bit (i know, its monday, you don't want to ponder, but just try it).

don't you hate it when you can't figure out what you are thinking about... you know somehting is on your mind, but you can't pinpoint what that something is? i have that right now, and its confusing me...

my amiga (whose name starts with a 'J' and rhymes with Denny) got accepted to UC Shamoo Diego. congrats... that deserves a happy dance!

did you guys have invisible/imaginary friends when you were younger??? i hear about it all the time, and people say its so common, but i never did... i kind of feel like i missed out. however, one of my best friends in third grade was this puppet i had in third grade... Max... he's a monkey puppet that actually goes over your entire arm and its really cool. i talke to him all the time...
umm
actually, to be honest... max is sitting on my beanbag right now... i found him a few weeks ago, and well, we've been catching up a bit.
sad
but true
i should introduce him to you guys sometime

Friday, March 23

chick-fil-a does NOT offer more than chicken

so tonight i figured out why they usually have me bagging food...
today was finally a day where i got to do register my entire shift... i register mainly because i actually get to talk to people rather than talk to myself as i repeat the order that i am bagging. so, tonight, one good thing and one bad thing happened. i'll start with the good because the bad will distract you from the rest of the story.

GOOD: i had a customer that had lots of questions and wanted to do weird things with their order and coupons, but somehow, i made it work. she must have seen all the mass of confusing that i worked through with her order, because after she ate, she came up to me to ask for a pen and as i gave one to her, she looks at my name tag and starts writing my name down on the "customor sevice review form" that rates todays service for the customer and asks questions and stuff. at first, i was like, uh oh. but then as she wrote my name down she says, "cristina, i am going to tell your boss how grateful i am for you." big grin as i felt all warm and fuzzy inside, "thank you so much.." what a nice lady.

ok, BAD: our chicken strip combos come in either 6 or 4 pieces. so, towards the end of my shift, a guy comes in and orders a chicken strip combo. so normally, my next question would normally be whether he wanted 6 or 4 chicken strips. however, what came out of my mouth (this is SOOOO embarassing even just writing it) ... "would you like sex or four strips?" !!!!! my hand clapped over my mouth immediately, and the guy just laughed hysterically, especially at the fact that i was so embarassed. i quickly corrected myself and am pretty sure i turned red. that's rough, man.

Thursday, March 22

alright you guys... i'm going to be daring...

so i've been keeping a little secret from you guys...
I've got this other blog that i have been kind of experimenting with. actually, i've been experimenting with what i am writing in it. i don't exactly know what to call the posts, but i guess you could say stories with a connection and a lesson. now, over the months, i've only finished about 5 of them, and you guys have actually seen one of them on this site already ("bud momby, i'm dot sick") but i wasn't quite sure if and when i would ever make it a public site...
so i guess now is that time...
they're all experiences i have had that kind of spark something in my mind as some lesson to learn that i want to share... so i hope you enjoy.
http://thoughtfull44.blogspot.com

:)

Wednesday, March 21

the numbers

i've had a little extra time, and so i have randomly spent some of this time counting...
counting days to be exact. so if you hate numbers, stop here...
this is post 403.
okay...
so, 19 days until i am a legal adult
85 days until graduation
103 days until i leave for michigan
160 days until i move into the dorms
166 days until my first day of college classes...
oh ya
and one day until tomorrow, and two days til the day after that
with all these numbers, i have discovered that it's best i just keep my countdown limited to how many days until today.
i guess today is a good thing to look forward to.

Tuesday, March 20

see stina run.

see stina run 13.1 miles. see stina run and then get very sore. see stina get very very sore.
see stina run and get sore and get tired, and then see stina play in a tennis tournament the following day.
see stina's opponent. see stinas opponent (the number one seed) laugh at stina while stina hobbles to the baseline to serve.
stina is very grateful that stina's first opponent withdrew so that stina doesn't play the same day as stina runs. that would be bad. that would be very bad.

now, i'm not that stupid. yes, all of what was told above is going to happen, but that is not how i planned it. the tournament was originally this weekend, but since our draw was so small (again) our rounds don't start intil the 31st (day of my half marathon). i would have had to play THAT day at 4pm, however my opponent withdrew so i will be playing at 10:30am the next day. anyone who watches me hobble around the tennis court that day will have a prime example of an april fool. haha

well...
see stina go.
see stina go to chick-fil-a. see stina in a cow suit.

haha, okay, enough of that!

ciao

Monday, March 19

well i would walk 500 miles...

and then i would post 400 times.
oh well, i tried to be clever, but it didn't quite come out like i thought it would.
anyway, i was trying to say this in a clever way, but i'll just say it how it is:
THIS IS MY 400TH POST!!!!
what a fun day to post too... although it was another boring monday, a few things hepled it along and added some humor to life :)

senior play parts were posted today, and from now on i will be answering to the name of Mary. i am a tourist (who's not quite all there in the head) and i get to speak swiss in one of my lines! that's all i will tell you. and it's not a huge part (i'm in two scenes, one in the beginning and one in the end) but its a fun part. so you'll have to come see the senior play in may.

other fun stuff... oh! i called my work after school to find out my work schedule for the week. before i get into this, let me just say this: the managing staff at chick-fil-a.. they're totally cool people, a lot of fun, but they haven't been the best at the actual managing parts, especially when icomes to knowing labor laws and your employees availability... back to the story...
i called in today because they post schedules on saturdays (when i don't usually work) and i don't work mondays, so thats when i call in to see what time i need to come in to work on tuesdays.
so this is the conversation goes once i call and ask for my schedule...
"uh, cristina, looks like your supposed to be working today... actually right now..." (keep in mind i am calling at 2:45, when school got out.)
i reply, "um i don't work mondays, what do you mean i am supposed to be working right now?"
"it says here, cristina stavro, monday, 2pm-6pm."
?!?!
"um...(long pause) that's not possible. first of all, i don't work mondays. second of all, uh, even if i did, i don't get out of school until 2:45..."
"well, you're supposed to be here at 2pm today."
"i was in school at 2pm today. and i don't work mondays."
she actually got a little angry with me! so i took a moment and explained to her how i talked with my boss (who makes the work schedule) about not working mondays. and then i explained that i didn't need to explain why i couldn't be there at 2pm. finally, after a little bit of discussion, we finally got to the point about me coming in tomorrow at 4pm... the usual.
i hung up and was just amazed.. 2pm, you kidding me???
3o minutes later, i get a call from a co-worker (who is actually someone that i played soccer with when i was about 7 or 8 years old... isn't that crazy!?!) and she had a schedule conflict and wanted to trade shifts, so she tells me, "i'm working friday 4-8, but i can't, so will you switch with me for your wednesday shift... it says here that you are working from 6-10 on wednesday... wanna switch?"
hmmm... 6-10 on wednesday. first of all, i switched because it actually worked in my favor. second of all, my availability sheet clearly says that i WILL NOT work past 9pm on a school night... plus, i think labor laws say that i can't. hmm, another thing to talk to my boss about.

that story was longer than necesary.

wow, 400 days of posting... thats pretty crazy...
i will end this memorable post with a few quick questions/things i learned about mormonism today...
questions:
does a fish get cramps after it eats?
why does your nose run, and your feet smell?
if Barbie is so popular, why do you have to by her friends?
could it be that all those trick-or-treaters wearing sheets aren't dressed up as ghosts, but as matresses?
mormonism:
one of the goals for mormon women (as learned in a video today) is to, once they die and go to heaven as a god, be eternally pregnant and populate their own planet with one spirit baby after the other.

being eternally pregnant doesn't sound like fun to me.

have a jolly ol' tuesday

here's a freeze frame from our government movie...


doesn't it look like fun? :)

Sunday, March 18

happy saint patrick's day...
sad saint andy's day...
that's right, andy is out as of todays semifinal match against rafael nadal (who is a player i actually like, but would rather see andy win... of course). it stinks because andy didn't even play well... yes, rafa played VERY good, and Andy didn't get a chance to get in his groove. bummer of a match. i was so bummed that i almost decided to just not watch the women's final, but then i hung in there because lindsay davenport was commentating... and it was fun to listen to her. the gal i rooted for was the one that won, so i was a little bit happier.

so we made our government movie this afternoon, and i have to say that when wigs and coats are involved, a lot of fun can be had, even if you are talking about how a bill becomes a law (boring). we had fun with it, and others may think we are absolutely stupid, but we don't care, because we think it's funny.

i think it's something like 90 or 89 days until graduation...

hmmm, yup yup

bring it on

Friday, March 16

honestly, i'm not staring... just observing...

i have this fascination...
i love to observe people. before you add a few notches to my weird-o score, hear me out.
whether stranger or friend, at the forcery store or in the car, i love to just watch and observe. i often find myself thinking questions about them and wondering where they are going and why, or where they've been... two of my favorite places to observe are 1) the grocery store and 2)on the road.
at the grocery store, i tend to wonder... what's their story? is it just a quick trip to the grocery store, or do they regularly go on thursday nights. are they shopping for a party? what are they thinking in their heads right now? are they okay? why red apples instead of green?
on the road... its weird to think everyone on the road has a destination of some sort. haven't you ever wondered where the person one lane over was headed? or why? what are they thinking, what music are they listening to... are they headed to home, or from home... do they have some place to be.. are they late? what's their story.
in general, i just want to know everybody's story. and it's crazy, cause you may not think of these things, but every single person has a story of some sort... everyone! and don't you ever wonder what it is?
so, i am going to make an effort to hear the stories. first, to my friends, i'd like to hear your stories if you'd like to share them... long or short.
and then from there, maybe expand a bit. shi-slow and i are scheming a bit with an idea we heard, so i will let you know if we end up doing it some time soon, but until then, i won't dive in to the details.

i know i am being really curious, but it's okay since i am not a cat.

sorry if this is a random post, but it's just that i was talking about this to my friend, and i kind of wanted to share it with y'all.

have a good friday...
spread the love, give a hug

:)

Wednesday, March 14

you're so vain... you probably think this post is about you

hahaha
i can't get over this.
so on my way back from palm desert (where i was not playing hookey), i was listening to the traffic, and for a sec i switched over to the good ol oldies station. i heard this song that i really liked... i dunno, i just liked the beat, and i thought the lyrics were funny...
so now, about 45 minutes ago, the beat came back in to my head because i remembered i wanted to find it on itunes, but i could not remember the lyrics for the life of me... i wanted to look up the lrics online so that i could find the artist and name, but i could only remember a string of two words at most... the furthest i got was that part of the song went "i've got ____ in my _____, ____ in my _____."
unofrtunately, that doesn't do much when you search that.
then i rememebered that it went "you're so ____"
this wasn't helping at all.
then after 45 minutes of searching different little strings of words, it finally came in to my mind, and i couldn't stop laughing at what the words were:
"you're so vain..."
that's the title!!!
so then i went and got it on itunes and listened to it, and discovered that my other incomplete was "i've got clouds in my coffee, clouds in my coffee."
so ya, the chorus is "you're so vain, you probably think the song is about you.."
if you ask me, it sounds like it is about him... after all, she keeps saying "you are..."
anyway, the day is finally over.
maybe i can get some more sleep tonight...

clouds in my coffee... haha

Tuesday, March 13

so have you ever wondered...

well i have--watched a butterfly fly

it's interesting how you had no idea...

because it really did taste like chicken

why in the world would...

go find a wishbone but don't wish on it

it is 10:03 pm

now 10:04

have fun

or don't

hmm

i know exactly what you're thinking.

I once heard a story about the origin of the word procrastinate. It seems that there was a Roman general by the name of Procrastinatus who was notorious for not engaging the enemy. When the enemy tried to fight him in the valley, he moved his forces to the hills. When the enemy pursued him to the hills, he fled to the valley. Pursued to the valley, he moved his troops to the forests to hide. In the end, however, when his enemy was worn out from all of the chasing, he would attack and defeat his enemy and return to Rome victorious. Hence the definition of procrastinate - to put off intentionally and habitually.

so procrastinating makes you a winner.
do you think my homework will get tired of being due?

i know what you're thinking still...

Monday, March 12

oh, go ahead

"oh, you're with the press, go ahead..."
it was quite a funny sight...
you see, i decided to bring my videocamera with me to the tennis tournament because i wanted to mess around and have some sweet tennis footage to edit...kind of wanted to make my own fun tennis reels... anyway, so i brought my vid camera with me, and my dad, as usual, had his big photo camera and monopod. so when we were walking in to the tennis gardens, i opened up my vid cam bag (which is actually kind of big) to have it checked, but the lady looked at me and my dad standing next to eachother, and seeing his big camera and my big bag, she came to the conlusion that we were with the press, and she just waved us by!!! it kind of looked like i was caddying all my dad's gear, but not true... i didn't carry the bag around all day by the way... i left it at my seat with my grampa and then walked around with just my camera (the bag gets heavy). here's a pic from this morning.. this guy was walking around on stilts!




before i get to some crazy stuff, i just have to say that i was SOOOOO excited to have my camera with me... i had SOOOO much fun with taping, and i felt so professional, especially when at andy' autpgraph session (which i chose not to stand in line for just so i could video tape) one of andy's video guys who must have been making a short film on him or something had the same exact camera as me. sweet stuff.

anyway, i filmed a ton, and i am SUPER excited to edit it and make some fun stuff...
so, crazy news for today is that today was an upsetting day.
now, if you actually read the paragraphs above, you would know it was not upsetting for me. There was a ton of AWESOME tennis... long rallies, drop shots, passing shots... all in the blazing sun (which fried me and re-awakened my flip-flop tan lines).

however, i witnessed the de-throning of a king. brace yourselves, but Roger Federer lost in the first round tonight! to a nobody who is now a star! i personally am super happy and could not believe it while it was happening, and i was so excited afterwards that i got goosebumps. it wasn't that federer played bad, because he played really well... this other guy, canas, came out of no where.
in other upsetting news, lleyton hewitt also lost in a 3 set struggle (also first round.)
crazy stuff.

the weather was beautiful tonight... i wore shorts and a tshirt ALL day and night... and they weren't uniform shorts! oh comfy days.

here's andy!

Sunday, March 11

refined like sugar

what a day!!!
so much fun stuff... i did a lot today... i went to a baby shower this afternoon (which was at a tea house that had delicious scones and tiny sandwhiches... i like tiny sandwhiches... fun stuff) and then from there i was off for palm desert... why to palm desert? well, for tennis of course!
can you believe it??? it feels like yesterday i was posting my pics from the tournament last year, but here we are...
so i got here in time for the two night matches... and who was playing in the two night matches???
ANDY RODDICK!!!
i tell ya, watching him play in person is a whole other experience.
i could go on and on about andy, but i have some funny things to tell.
my grampa introduced me to some of the people who sit next to them, and one of them was this guy... at least 70 years old... so my grampa said this is so-and-so, so-and-so this is cristina...
as i put my hand out to shake his hand and say nice to meet you, i look at his hand which he also put out, but in the form of a clenched fist... with my hand open in hand-shake form, i looked at his hand confused and puzzled... i looked at him, and he smiled and said, "pound it." maybe you older folk don't quite understand what went down here, but all yall that are my age, you can appreciate the hilarity of this! i pounded fists with an old man! and he started it! he smiled as if he knew the missing link of communication between senior citizens and senior high schoolers.
hilarious.
there was this other guy who was interesting... i had an interesting conversation where i thought he said something and i was soooo confused, but then 5 minutes later i worked out in my head what he really said... i'm not going to repeat that conversation.
but something else... he was rooting for the guy who was playing andy, and he knew that i was rooting for andy. this guy roots loud, and at one point, a point where i was tired and sleepy, he turns to me and says, why aren't you rooting loud for andy, i thought you wanted him to win? i replied with a "i'm not the loud-rooting type," but then he tells me it's because i am refined...
i am refined?
i took it as a complement, but then the rest of the night all i could think in my head was, i am refined...like sugar... sugar is refined... i am refined sugar.
i dunno, it was funny to think about in my head.

i am sleepy
oh so sleepy
as sleepy as sleepy can be
and i pity, anyone who isn't as sleepy as me
duh nuh nuh nuh nuh

-) the cyclops is sleepy as well

Thursday, March 8

beCUZ

before i get to the BIG news, here are a few highlights from the past few days...
in the realm of chick-fil-a, i had my first customer that made me nearly cry last night... she was , so hard to understand, and she kept on changing her order and then trying to split it in to two orders after i could no longer do so and she got mad at me for not listening to her (even thought i was trying my hardest). haldway through the order, i thought it might be easier to communicate in spanish...
"habla en espanol?"
she stares at me and replies very angrily, "I DON'T SPEAK SPANISH. you think i speak spanish?"
i understood those words... oops.
we continued the order and after i repeated her order back to her one more time, she frustratedly answered, "good enough." i kept on apologizing for the confusion and through the frustrations and stresses of the order and the relief of her finally being gone, she came back a minute later. "where are my drinks, you didn't give me my drinks!"
i was so caught up in getting her her food, i forgot to make the drinks. again, i apologized and made her drinks and she finally gone for good...
i felt so bad!

we took a spelling test in english today, one where we wrote sentences that had the "easy to mix up" words in them... i love spelling tests, haven't had one since 4th grade.
yue see, i think that my spehlling is just fine. i no how to spehll, and too actually stoop down two the point of giving us a spelling test... well, i wus insulted... what in the whirld was this test four? it was sew lame. their are times when tests are appropriate and times wear teachers should just let it go. maybee thay are trying some knew method or something. i don't no. lets just say, eye luhv two spehll.

BIG NEWS TIME>>>
as of sometime yesterday, i am now proud to say that i OFFICIALLY have a cousin!!! my baby cousin boy name Alessio (very italian) was born yesterday... he actually came four weeks early of his due date, but he is a healthy baby!
aww, i have a little cousin!
by the way, i make a big deal out of "officially" just because i have "cousins"... relatives that i call cousins, but don't necesearily fit the definition. however alessio is a true cuz!
fun stuff.

gewd knight!

Sunday, March 4

i looked down at my hands and told myself, i sure hope that red stuff is my blood.
i closed tonight at chick-fil-a, meaning i worked until 11pm (actually, it ended up being 11:30pm... that's almost midnight... that's almost tomorrow!) anyway, when you find yourself stickind your entire upper body into a trash can to clean it out, you know you are experienceing something different. and when you take a moment to look at your hands afterward, you really do hope that red stuff is your blood from scraping yourself on something. for me, i just believed it was my blood and left it at that.
todays shift was way better than yesterday's... first of all, i had some friends come in and even though i wasn't working at the register to take their order (i worked in the back bagging food for the drive through the entire night), it was refreshing to see a few familiar faces amidst the dinner time rush... gracias amigos!
secondly, there were less of those "grand opening staff" people, so it was less crowded and easier (and funner) to work.
9pm rolls around, and i hadn't been given my 30 min dinner break yet... so when it slowed down, i went to my boss and she quickly told me to go on break because i should have been an hour ago. so i was on break while no one else was, meaning i got the break room to myself.
do you guys understand the concept of 30 minutes??? i don't think i have ever appreciated a time frame of 30 minutes where all i do is catch my breathe... a 30 min break can do SOO much for you, at least in the fast service (not fast food) business. so ya, 30 minutes means more to me than it ever has before. so during my break i whipped out my dinner that i packed, pulled out my bible, and just had 3o minutes to myslef. it was pretty sweet.
well, i am all gross from closing (which includes trash taking out, mopping, squeegying, wiping, furniture moving, restocking, more trash taking out... tons of the dirty work) so i am going to go take a midnight shower. oh, and i popped 101 ballons tonight too... i counted because i have never held and popped that many balloons at once before... that was fun.
oh, and our big spender of the night spent $56.00 in one order in the drive through... gotta love the chicken... ?

Saturday, March 3

ai chiuahuah

first day on the job, and i have to say, i nearly did it all.
3pm to 9pm was my shift today.
i was on the frontlines, working the register with a smile plastered on every single second. it wasn't that hard, and i enjoyed it. however, i was working on the farthest register, and people never come there because they are too lazy to walk 5 registers down.
anyway, i then got moved to drive through (not on the headsets, just register and giving the food to the driver at the window). it wasn't long before i made a mistake with the change, and i was bummed and embarassed... but then 10 seconds later when the next car came up i was over it. then i was back at the instore register, which we not only take the order but make the drinks as well. i was getting annoyed with the soda orders, because you know how when soda pop fizzes and it splatters onto your hand? well ya, all over my hands. grody... anyway, i was quickly moved to the milkshake machine. first of all, no shaking is involved when making milkshakes... just buttons, counting, dispensing, and mixing with the machine thing... and of course, a cherry on top. after two milkshakes, i look down at my pants and it looks as if Pollock (splatter painter dude) dipped his paint brush in a milkshake and got to work on his latest project with my pants as the canvas. white specks ALL over the front of my pants and belt. (it's because the mixer thing is an ultra fast spinner that sprays milkshake everywhere.) milkshakes were fun to make, however, they were temptimg to eat!
speaking of eating... my lunch/dinner break. now you must understand, i am NOT a fan of chick-fil-a food. so i wasn't planning on eating, however, i got super hungry, so when it came time for my 30min break, i asked to order a chicken wrap... healthy enough. you need to know that any regular non-health-conscious worker gets all of the following for their break meal: chicken sandwhich, fries, ice cream, drink... all for free... i try to get JUST a wrap...NO. i was kind of thrown off, so i asked if i could just get a fruit cup. they were about to say no, but then they realized it was the fruit cup or nothing, and they didn't want me to eat nothing, so they let me. so from noon to 9, all i had was a fruit cup. i had a snack in my car that i brought from school, but i totally left it in my car and din't remember til it was too late. lets just say i am packing dinner for tomorrow night!
so i said i pretty much did it all, right? well it's definitely not "all" if the cow suit isn't included!!!
yup yup, two more shifts of the cow suit, and this time was hilarious!!! the lady (who is part of the training staff for the opening) was the one who took me out to gridley where i, in her words, did my thing. let me just say that this lady had a blast. she was cracking up, and singing so i could have a tune to dance to. she nearly started beat-boxing (sp) when i broke out the break dance moves. she kept on telling me, "you have no idea how much the these people's faces are lighting up when they drive by right now!" then halfway through, she asked, "you must be a dancer." i nearly fell over laughing.
"no ma'am, only when nobody's is looking, or in this case, only when i wear a cow suit."
she sang the macarena, and even made up her own rap about chicken and how we need to eat more of it.
at the end of the first shift, she took me inside the resturaunt where there were tons of kids and she walked me through.
hilarious side note, while walking through the resturaunt in the suit, i saw my middles shcool art teacher eating there and i waved to her... but she just saw a big cow waving, not me.
anway, this part in the resturaunt made me feel slighty like the pope... holding kids, kids running up and hugging me, me getting down on a knee to take pictures with the itty bittiest of kids... fun stuff that pretty much melts your heart.
second shift was just as fun...
tons of honks and moos... gotta love it...
it was a welcomed break from the heat of the drive through, however, i did have to go back. i did get to go back to the store registers though.
at 8pm i hit the wall... my legs were ready to die, and some more people i knew from school came in.
8:30 and i was nearly done. i learned that you can get your chicken nuggets well done... bet ya didn't know that one.
9pm and i was outta there and on my way to get dinner... i ended up just going to baja fresh.
anyway, i am exhausted and need to sleep.
this post is long, but hey, all first time stuff deserve long posts.

adios amigos

Thursday, March 1

is it friday yet?

the past few days have felt like friday, and it's been driving me nuts...
lets see... tuesday felt like friday because i hung out with an old friend and also had that little birthday party to go to... totally friday stuff.
yesterday, i went out to see to kill a mockingbird (which i have learned that, according to the play, it is a sin to kill a mockingbird, so i must lower my gun and find earplugs) and we didn't get back until very late, so again, felt like friday. today, i woke up and thought that i have done soooo much stuff this week, that it has to be friday... alas, i was at school at 6:45 am on a thursday morning... no friday.
today was painfully long and slow... especially knowing it wasn't friday.
to top it off, when school was finally over and i was just about to get to my locker, a little cherry was placed on top of my thursday shake (figuritively speaking)... i got elbowed in the eye socket by a boy who was putting his sweatshirt on by his locker (which is next to my locker) and this boy did not even notice. i stood there with my hand on my eye and then next moment he shut his locker and left. okay, time travel may not be possible, but invisibility is. then when i got home, i saw that it's starting to bruise... how in the world does he not know he nailed someone in the face?!?!
boys are stupid
i think its hilarious, though :)
did i mention that i really did forget how many days are in a year??? let me explain... and i am being totally serious. my teacher mentioned that in california you can wear shorts 350 days of the year... and i don't know why, but then i wondered to myself, so how many days is he saying that it rains in california? so when i went to do the subraction i said to myself, okay, subtract 350 from... uh, 350 from... is it 352 or 362... and then i realized i didn't know how many days there were! it was the same exact feeling as when you try to remember the name of someone you know... someone you totally know, but then their name just slips your mind, but you know you know. so i turned around and asked my friend how many days are in a year, and she tells me 365. i freaked out because 365 didn't even cross my mind...
wow, it's been a long week.
oh, and i forgot to say, good ol' mr. horse (that is charlie horse) hung out with me all day in my calf.
what a good friend.

tomorrow is finally friday, and it's my first day of work at the register!!! i love this whole register get-up... it's all touch screen and really easy to follow.. nothing confusing. i can't wait to take orders, it's gonna be so much fun!!!

i'm off... well, off to no where really, probably my room to go play with my camera...
:)
adios amigos
ciao for now ya crazy people