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Thursday, July 28, 2005 - 1:19 PM

Time to get a little serious with me for a moment.

This past Sunday was my birthday, my 28th birthday, something I had been dreading for awhile. I know, it's not my 30th, and that's what I should be dreading, right? Well, my 28th is close enough. But it's not that I'm getting older that's bothering me.

It's that I'm getting older and going nowhere.

Ever since my grand master plan of law school was chucked out the window, I've been in limbo. Or at least felt that way. I like where I work, don't get me wrong. But being a legal assistant has never been my idea of a career. I had always imagined that I would be set in a career by the time that was 30. It didn't matter what, as long as it was something that I could see as a career.

But since I've decided to not go to law school, hanging around in the world of law is a little torturous. Especially with a cocky summer file clerk that chatted with me on his first day about how he got into Baylor law school and why didn't I? That's right, hit it where it hurts, you little... grrrrrrrrrr. It's even more so torturous, knowing that the only reason why I became a legal assistant was to see if I wanted to go to law school.

Well that's out, right?

This isn't a new development. Ever since I got SMU's rejection letter and I decided that no, I didn't want to go to law school so badly that I would move elsewhere in Texas, this has slowly been crashing down. Since the beginning of 2005, the roar has been deafening, but I kept myself in denial anyway. It's a nice little town, but I wouldn't want to live there.

I realize that things could be far worse. I could absolutely hate my job and the people I work with, have a terminal illness, family problems, or issues with drugs and alcohol. In all those aspects, I am extremely lucky. Still no broadband internet, but I can't have it all, right?

Didn't mean to depress anyone or bring everyone down. I just wanted to get all of this off my chest, and for me, the best way is to write about it.

posted by Keri
1 Comments

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Wednesday, July 27, 2005 - 2:14 PM

I always joke that Lowes is Shawn's kryptonite, but now I have found my own kryptonite and it ain't pretty. Every time I have gone to Michaels or Bed, Bath and Beyond, I have not dropped less than $100. I had no idea that these places were so evil. Barnes & Noble doesn't even hold a candle to them! Thank goodness for birthday money...

posted by Keri
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Wednesday, July 20, 2005 - 10:29 AM

WE'RE GETTING DSL!!!! THANK YOU, SPEAKEASY!!! WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

posted by Keri
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Tuesday, July 19, 2005 - 9:33 AM

Forgot to mention that I received and read the new Harry Potter book over the weekend. I didn't stay up all night to finish it in one sitting this time, and I'm glad I didn't. It was probably the most depressing thing I've read in awhile, and you should see the other fantasy series I read. But that being said, it was still a very well written book and I highly enjoyed the little subplots in the background. I just wonder how much darker the last book could possibly get.

posted by Keri
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Monday, July 18, 2005 - 5:09 PM

Well I'm totally sold on Colorado. Now I know why my in-laws were so hot to get the hell out of Texas. Aside from the fabulous summer weather, the scenery is to DIE for.

This past week my parents took us and my sister and Joe to the Crisps' new condo right on Beaver Creek mountain. I'd be more accurate in saying that it's right on the resort itself. If you look out their balcony, you can see a ski run that runs right back the lodge. I have a map of the resort that shows where we were, and I'll upload that once I get all the pictures in.

Must interject with a little story here, first. Shawn was not to come to Colorado until that Tuesday, with all of us landing on Saturday. The usual military stuff. After we unloaded our luggage and took the obligatory trip to Wal-Mart and the liquor store, my Dad pulled into the lodge and my Mom said, "Oh look, Andrew, you need to talk to that young man there." There was a guy in an Air Force dress blues uniform at the front porch of the main office. I said, "So? It's an air foce guy. What are you going to talk to him about?" Everyone turned around and stared at me. Lisa asked if I had any clue who he was. I gave her a cocky look and said, "Uh, no, should I?" And about this time this guy started walking towards our rental. So while I'm thinking, who's this freak, Lisa cried out, "She really doesn't know who it is!" It wasn't until Joe opened the van door that I realized that it was indeed Shawn. Somehow, all five of them had kept it a secret that he was getting out of his school four days early and came up to surprise me. Well, mission accomplished. You all did a good job in not slipping at all.

As usual, we planned our days around eating. We took the lifts up Beaver Creek and hiked to Beaver Lake. I haven't hiked in years, and that plus the altitude about killed me. But I didn't do as badly as I thought I would. It was great fun, and I would definitely do the hike again. Unfortunately, as it is custom on trips with the parents, I absolutely fried. And I did put on sunscreen. I also haven't really seen the sun in about a year and I haven't tanned in over two. I went from a white ghost to a lobster. So when we went hot-tubbing afterwards, my skin wasn't happy with me at all. On one of the days, the guys went fly fishing while we toured Aspen. Cute little town. Very expensive. The gondola ride up to the top showed me that I will probably never ski Aspen. No greens there, and most of the blues should be considered blacks. I'll stick to admiring it in the summer. And of course one day we went white water rafting down the Colorado River. My parents booked a level 3 trip since we had never gone, and I was very, very nervous about it. I just knew that if anyone was to fall out of the raft and hit rocks, it would be me. But it was so much fun. Too bad the rapids were only for the first twenty minutes. The rest of the trip was all level 2s and was kind of boring. We're going to schedule a level 4 trip next time. My only beef with the whole rafting trip was the little punk kid that sat behind me on the bus and his not-paying-attention father. If that little brat gave me a second wet-willie, I swear I would have broken his fingers. I almost did when he poked me on the back of my neck, right on my sunburn. What was his father doing? Talking on his cell phone. I'm now a captain in the anti-spawn army.

Shawn and I had to leave on Friday so he could go to work (drill weekend) on Saturday. Since our flight was so early in the morning, we had to catch a bus back to Denver in the evening. We decided to spend our last day up on Vail, since Lisa and I had never been there. And of course, since we're on a time crunch, that was the day that decided to have a thunderstorm and trap us on the mountain since the lifts couldn't run in lightning. Lucky for us, we were only stuck there for a couple of hours before the management decided to download everyone off the mountain before things got really bad.

Being on the mountains all week really brought back my desire to ski again. Of coursee I want to go back as often as I can now in the summers. Nothing in Texas compares to the gorgeous green mountains in the summer. If Shawn and I could move there, I would in a heartbeat.

But I'm back here, in the sweltering heat, working instead of lounging on a balcony looking at the wildlife in Beaver Creek, and still without internet. And I better get used to not having broadband for awhile. Tuesday we get a land line and dial-up service. Stupid, lazy, sbc and comcast for not providing me with broadband. Helllooooooo modem screeching.

posted by Keri
1 Comments

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Friday, July 08, 2005 - 9:26 AM

I've been meaning to update all week, but I've had little surfing time at work and I still don't have internet at home. Yes, I am getting close to insanity.

I did have a nice Fourth of July weekend. It just started and ended rather poorly. I hitched a ride to Houston with my Dallas family, since Byron was going to paint Lisa's kitchen for her. We were supposed to leave bright and early on Friday. I was told to take off the whole day of work so we could leave early. I called my aunt Friday morning and told her I had a quick errand to run and I would be right back. That was followed with an, "Oh, didn't anyone tell you?" Turns out that we weren't leaving until 11. Nope, no one told me. That turned into 1 p.m. So we didn't get to Houston until after 6, so Byron couldn't start painting. On Saturday, Byron decided that he was also going to paint Lisa's living room to match the kitchen. He started to faux finish the living room in a paint color called "Pumpkin Pleasure" and I watched my brother-in-law's eyes get bigger and bigger in fright. They were thinking French bistro. It was looking like New Mexico. Well the end product does look like French bistro, and it does look very nice even though I would never have it in my house. Byron isn't finished, but as soon as he does, I'll have to take pictures and post them.

Lisa and Joe then got on a painting kick, and decided to paint their bathroom and dining room. I wasn't there for the bathroom painting, but I did help paint the dining room. I love painting rooms in a house. It was tiring, but I did have fun doing it. Shawn should let me use the rollerbrush more often instead of whining about me wasting paint. I think I did a damn fine job.

On Monday, Byron wanted to go to Old Town Spring to this antique store, and I had absolutely no desire to go. So I treated Dad to see Star Wars Episode III. I liked it just as much the second time. I think Dad really liked it, because he, of all people, actually said I was being too picky about the parts I didn't like. Byron didn't finish painting until after 6, so we rolled into Dallas at 11 that night. And I learned that the moron and self-righteous factor is really high on the Fourth late at night. Countless people were freaking STOPPED on I-30 so that they could get a free view of the fireworks show at Fair Park. There were not enough police to give them all tickets. I personally think that since they pose a danger to the traffic around them, they should all be arrested. Apparently they tried that one year and stupid Dallas city councilmen whined that the police were oppressing the poor. So glad I don't live in Dallas. But anyway, I was very, very tired when I got in. I just wanted to crash. But I also knew that I needed to clean out Guinevere's litter box. I walked back towards the utility room, and I splashed into a puddle of water. One of the hoses on the washing machine was not on tight enough and water dripped all weekend long. It was one of those moments where I wanted to sink down into the floor and cry.

But it was an easy fix, and the laminate floors were not ruined at all, so in the end it was not a big deal. But that late at night from a long drive, it was a big deal. This week I have been running around like mad trying to get ready for trial and leave on my Colorado vacation tomorrow morning. I am sooo looking forward to that. Whitewater rafting, hiking, and I'll get out of this damn Texas heat!! Just less than twenty-four hours...I can make it...

posted by Keri
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