Wednesday of Thanksgiving Week

The day that changed the way we celebrate Thanksgiving.

Mom and I had a ton of baking to catch up on, so we started bright and early and baked until about noon.

I took Berk to the park. Can you see her?

As soon as I got home, the phone rang, and it was Aunt Carol! They were a few minutes away! Four hours earlier than we were expecting them!

We went outside to wait for them, and boy was that exciting. Serra jumped out of the car first then the two dogs, Penny and Copper followed. Soon, Aunt Carol, Uncle Paul, Serra, Paul Frederick, Mom and me were in the living room visiting and celebrating our resilient family.

We didn’t do anything thrilling, it was mostly just a day to play with new toys that Mom had bought the kids and the adults talking. It was relaxing.

 

 

Everyone was in bed early so we could be up early for the Thanksgiving Day Parade!!

Tuesday of Thanksgiving Week

Mom and I had planned on spending the entire day baking. Here is the story of why that didn’t happen.

After staying out late the night before, I didn’t get the sleep until around 1 a.m. Well, around 7 a.m. I hear a man in the hallway outside my room. Apparently, mom forgot about an energy audit that she was having completed before the winter. The BGE man was here for a few hours looking at all of the ways we could be saving energy. Yes, this was a great idea. No, this was not a great idea at 7 a.m.

So after the BGE man left, mom and I went to grab breakfast at where else, DD. We went through the drive-through, ate our sandwiches and drank our heavenly coffee from the comfort of the couch, then decided to nap. My nap lasted until 2 p.m. so much for baking all day – I had a dinner date with my Towson loves! So we hung around the house, not being productive, then I headed out to Bateman’s.

I was so excited driving there. It felt like I never moved – even though I was talking to Meredith on the phone while I was driving there. It’s crazy when two worlds collide. 

Now I know Bateman’s isn’t the classiest place. I know Bateman’s isn’t the most amazing food. But I do know that I wanted someplace homey and Bateman’s fit the bill. Well, traffic was horrendous. Absolutely horrible. Everyone was running late. So since I was already there, I thought I’d see what my on-campus friends were up to. Mark had wanted to see me, so I texted him. He was just about the close the building, so he was in the lobby. Perfect.

I walked over to Tower A, and wouldn’t you know it, the whole TA staff was in the lobby! I wasn’t prepared for that. So again, Mark covered my face is kisses, picked me up a few times, and stood holding me for a while. Oh, Mark. Since the whole staff was there, Sean was there too! We talked for a little bit, then slowly other staff members started noticing I was there. Rich, Darlene, Jew Jew and Kaila were all there with hugs.

Oh man, you could feel the love.

So after crashing their staff-time, I headed back to Bateman’s. It was really perfect timing. I had just sat down on a bench outside, and Amy walked up! Oh, Amy, I am so thankful for you. Amy and I hugged for a while then went in to get a table.

Are you tired of the word “hug” yet?

We were later joined by Meg, Jen and Lauren. What a great table of ladies. I can’t believe we all started as residents in Richmond or members of URG and now here were are, six years later and stronger than ever. My friends are so successful, happy, smart and loving. We were sitting in a place where we all celebrated our 21st birthday’s, celebrated countless birthdays and held many a reunion dinner.

After dinner, Amy and I hung out a little longer as we waited for her brother to get out of class. Catching up was in order. Mission accomplished.

I came home that night and Berkley was waiting for me. Coming home after moving away is such a crazy feeling. I know it’s my home, but I feel different. I think I’ve changed. Hopefully, I’ve changed for the better.

Towson reunions are exhausting. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Monday of Thanksgiving week

After my flight on Sunday, I was pretty excited to get the week started. I seriously could NOT WAIT to see all of my Towson friends.

Monday  was really just a day of errands, starting of course with Dunkin Donuts. Mom and I went to the pet store to look for a little sister for The Berk. Mom wants a miniature, long-hair dachshund. The pet store had miniature short-hair and miniature wire-hair, so it was easy to say no to a new puppy. Perhaps we will go to the Harford County Humane Society when I’m home for Christmas and get Berk a big dog sister instead. Who knows.

Around 3:00, I headed to TU to start my reunion! The HRL office was my first stop. I rounded the corner of Newell and as I got to the door, Bryan was there to greet me!! It was fantastic :) Biggest hug ever (well until I saw Courtney, Niki, Marc and Sean later that day). I got to visit with Gail, Jeannie, Judy, Jayson (some things never change haha), Jerry, Ron, and Lisa for a little bit. Then I saw Laura! We walked out to my car together like we were never separated.

I then headed over to the Glen.  I walked to Tower A first, naturally, and Mac and Cheese were reunited and it felt so goooood :) I talked with Joe for a few minutes, met the new AC, Kristen, and then continued my journey to Tower B. I knocked on the door to Lisa’s office, and guess who answered the door?? Craig! My Prettyborough buddy!! Oh how I missed him. We talked while Lisa was in a meeting, and when her meeting was over, guess who walked out of her office? John! Another wonderful surprise! As I was talking to John and Craig, guess who walked in the door? Megan from the Building Council of the Year!! I didn’t think my day could get any better, but somehow it did!

I decided to walk down to Laura and Courtney’s office to see if I could catch them before they left. Craig and I walked down and the office door was open. First Craig walked in and Laura was not at her desk. We walked around the corner and Courtney was there! She looked at me and said a casual, “hello”, then realized that she hadn’t seen me in a while and wrapped me in the longest and greatest hug of my life. It was almost like she couldn’t believe it was real. What a great moment.

Courtney and I visited for a little bit, then Joe was picking me up for dinner. I said my good bye to Becks, then went with Joe to dinner.  As we were walking to his car, Joe turned to me and said, “prepare for the biggest hug of your life.” I didn’t know what he was talking about until I saw Mark in the distance, walking towards us while carrying enough two-liters for an army. Then he saw me. Then the screaming began. Then the kisses began. For those of you who are lucky enough to know Mark, you know he is… affectionate. I think he kissed every square inch of my face. He tried to hug me, but the two-liters kind of got in the way, haha. Love you Mark!

After recovering from the Mark-Attack, Joe and I continued to his car. We went to the Cheesecake Factory with Laura, Greg and Bryan – my buddies. Fun dinner with great people.

After dinner I started my rounds in West Village. I was going to Tubman to hang out with Kyle, or so I thought. I walked into Tubman, and it was a mini TA Building Council of the Year Reunion!! Kyle – you are amazing. So we staked our claim in the Tubman lobby and caught up on each other’s lives. Yay Rachel and Steve! While we were chatting, guess who walked out of the MPR? Sean!! That was one of the hugs under review as the biggest hugs ever. Then Dan and Sam stopped by to visit, too! Oh man, life is good :)

We then moved the party to Becca’s apartment. Sean and I walked into Millennium and Becca was there to greet me. So glad we are pen pals! As I walked around the CC, guess who was in the lobby? Niki!! She saw me and kept saying, “but you’re in Pennsylvania!”. Such a great reaction. Apparently as we hugged her eyes were wide in disbelief. That was another greatest hug ever contender.

So we hung out in Becca’s apartment for a while, when to RA Emily’s program and talked A TON about CAACURH. I miss those conversations. Becca – YOU ARE ON A FREAKING REGIONAL BOARD. Be proud :)

I couldn’t keep my eyes open as it neared midnight. So we called it a night.

I wish I had better words to describe what an amazing, loving, feel-good day this was. I am thankful for each and every one of you and your hugs and kisses :)

Baltimore Sweet Baltimore

I’m here.

I’m sitting in my living room looking at the Christmas tree and listening to Berkley snore. Life is grand.

I flew by myself for the first time today. I was super nervous. There was no hand to hold. Those who have flown with me know that I’m not the greatest flyer, but I have to say, I think I did a pretty good job today. It wasn’t a full flight, so I actually didn’t have anyone sitting next to me.

The flight was only an hour, but I wanted to do something that required a lot of focus so that I wouldn’t think about the fact that I was 30,000 feet in the air. So to busy my mind, I completed 43 KenKen puzzles. My mind was sharp today.

As we started our decent into Baltimore, the pilot said “If Baltimore is your destination, welcome home. We missed you and we’re glad you’re back.” I just about lost it in row 16. My eyes just got a little teary and I realized how amazing it felt to know I was going home.

The flight arrived 8 minutes early. I was at baggage claim just as Mom was parking. My suitcase was the 4th one on the carousel. That was awesome. We got to the car, and Berkley was waiting. She jumped out of the car and rolled over, right in the garage.

As soon as we got off 295 and onto 95, the Baltimore skyline came into view. I was just telling Bekah on the way to the airport how much I missed that. The building with the green signage is M & T Bank Stadium, home of the Baltimore Ravens.

So we came home, had a quick dinner, then I took a much needed nap. It was so homey – napping on the couch, under the lights of the Christmas tree, all snuggled with a Christmas blanket and the Berk.

Now just gearing up for tomorrow – A TOWSON REUNION! Mac and Cheese, roomie love, and old-side friends, together again!

My crazy week and my poor thumb

Oy.

I need a drink.

This past week has been absolutely insane. And bizarre.

Monday – Steelers game. Bri got engaged!

Tuesday – Free night. Only one duty call that I did not need to respond to.

Wednesday – Psych premiere with Meredith and Bri. No duty calls.

Thursday – Ravens game at the Fox with Meredith. One duty call. 70+ empty beer cans found in a bathroom ceiling.

Friday – New professionals conference at Slippery Rock which may or may not have ended with a trip to the outlets on the way home. Bekah’s birthday dinner downtown. Met Meredith’s friend Annie. One duty call.

Saturday – Slept a lot of the day. Hope I’m not getting sick. I must have been in a fog because I did something really stupid. I was closing my window and the window only locks if you slam the window down. Well, I slammed the window down and consequently slammed my thumb into a potted cactus on the windowsill. OWWWW. This is not my hand. But imagine this with big and little spikeys.

There were 12 big barbs in my thumb. There were tons of little ones. I got my eyebrow tweezers and got the big ones out, and most of the little ones, but about 8 little ones are still in my thumb. They went under the skin. It looks like I have red freckles. It’s always something.

Didn’t set an alarm for my nap and overslept through church. Four duty calls. Got to sleep around 3:30.

Sunday – Grocery shopping. Cleaned my apartment from top to bottom. Planned on hosting a Steelers party tonight – but we were all too tired to be social. Go figure.

Here’s hoping for a sleep-filled, friend-filled week before Thanksgiving.

Poem

I came across this poem and just really liked it. I think since moving to Erie, I really have tried to live with no regrets, try everything, meet new people and test my comfort zone.

If I Had My Life To Live Over

Nadine Stair

I'd dare to make more mistakes next time.
I'd relax, I would limber up.
I would be sillier than I have been this trip.
I would take fewer things seriously.
I would take more chances.

I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers.
I would eat more ice cream and less beans.
I would perhaps have more actual troubles,
but I'd have fewer imaginary ones.

You see, I'm one of those people who live
sensibly and sanely hour after hour,
day after day.

Oh, I've had my moments,
And if I had it to do over again,
I'd have more of them.
In fact, I'd try to have nothing else.
Just moments, one after another,
instead of living so many years ahead of each day.

I've been one of those people who never goes anywhere
without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a raincoat
and a parachute.
If I had to do it again, I would travel lighter than I have.

If I had my life to live over,
I would start barefoot earlier in the spring
and stay that way later in the fall.
I would go to more dances.
I would ride more merry-go-rounds.
I would pick more daisies.

daisy growing on my patio

Residence Life Retreat 2010

The Penn State Residence Life Retreat was at Penn State Beaver this year, right outside Pittsburgh.

Every Assistant Coordinator, Coordinator, Associate Director and Assistant Director of Residence Life at Penn State’s 20 campuses attends.

It was awesome. I got to reunite with my ‘class’ of new coordinators and meet others that I hadn’t had the opportunity to before. Our department went, except Bekah who was out of town. Meredith and I were roommates. It reminded me so much of student leadership conferences. Good times.

Here is my team, minus Bekah.

Kelly (my supervisor) and Jess in the back. Meeghan, Meredith and me in the front.

Let’s just say everyone knows when Behrend walks in the room.  We were the only staff dressed alike – per Meredith’s request. We definitely have the reputation of being the ridiculous group. I fit in so well :)

Me at a Steelers Party

This is what I have to wear to blend in at a Steelers Party.

No complaints here :)

This is Meredith by the way – the first one at the hospital after my accident.

And yes, we are wearing leggings and jerseys. It was Halloween, and I was on duty, so this is as costumey as we could get, haha.

The past week

What a crazy week.

This week was the last week of our United Way fundraising. The winning building receives a voucher for custom tshirts for the building, and an extra $300 in programming money. That’s a big deal when $300 is a semester hall council budget.

The beginning of the week – not so bad. From Thursday on was a hard hill to climb.

Thursday was a stressful day. Lots going on. Senat held Pie your RA/Hall Council Member/Coordinator as well as the end of Penny Wars.

The program itself was fun! And we raised over $100! We took a lot of pies….

Oh and whip cream pie was $1, but for 50 cents more you could add toppings. We had chocolate syrup and sprinkles. My pies started at $2. All of my pies had all three ingredients. Yipee for United Way! Not so good for my hair, haha.

So after this program, Meredith calls me to vent. Earlier in the day I had taken her to drop her car off at the mechanic, thus leaving her with no car. Well, she promised a resident she would go to the hospital with her, so the resident didn’t have to go alone. This is actually policy here – anytime a resident goes to the hospital, a coordinator goes too. So this was not an unusual promise.

She called because she forgot that she didn’t have a car. I was still trying to brush sprinkles out of my hair, but agreed to take her to the hospital to see her resident. Meredith seemed to need a friend.

Well, we had to call Bekah, the coordinator on duty, because that is also our protocol. So the three of us went to the hospital til close to 2 a.m.

We bonded. We were delirious, but still realized that Bekah was the only one that needed to actually be there. We all stayed anyway.

Started Friday with 3 hours of sleep. Didn’t get anything accomplished because my brain stopped working. I did room inspections with Housing (like Towson’s health and safety inspections, but we do them while residents are still here) then took Meredith back to get her car.

Then the night of duty hell began. I responded to calls until 5 am. Slept til noonish on Saturday. Went to follow up with each incident, then went to church with Bek and Mere.

Then, game night! SO MUCH FUN. Bekah and I proclaimed ourselves “eternal game-night partners”. We might have lost the game, but we ROCKED.

Sunday was laundry and cleaning, mixed with accompanying another resident to the hospital.

Sunday night Bek and Eric had a Steelers Party. Details posted tomorrow!

Feeling nostalgic

 

 

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In other news, I tore my meniscus. It’s in my knee. Going for an MRI and x-ray later this week. Hoping it’s nothing worse.

This weekend

What a wonderful weekend :)

Saturday started uneventfully. I slept in (much needed), cleaned the kitchen, then went to get new glasses! You have no idea how incredibly exciting this was for me. I have not gotten my glasses prescription updated since…high school. I can’t remember when in high school, but they are old nonetheless. When I went for the exam, the optometrist asked how I was even able to walk and see where I was going. I had no idea it was that bad.

So I just wanted new lenses. However my prescription had  changed so much, and gotten so bad, that the new lenses would not have fit in my current frames. They would have been too thick. Yea, if it weren’t for the latest technology in lenses, I would have coke bottle glasses.

Picking out a new set of frames was very difficult. I’m not very decisive. I finally had 5 frames in my hand and just asked the guy helping me to decide for me. Here’s what he/we decided on.

There are rhinestones on the sides – I love them :)

So after my eye glass extravaganza, I went to church. I went to church for the first time since moving here, and really for the first time since last Spring semester when Sean and I would go for Holy Days. Sean was my church buddy at Towson. I have already informed him that I found new church buddies here – so this is old news thankfully.

Meredith and I were talking about religion one day and we realized we were both Catholic. Meredith was very excited with this. She loves going to church but seemed to lose motivation easily. Well, now that I’m here I have taken on the role of initiator (for most things we do) and rounded up the gang for our first church service together. Meredith, Bekah and I went to St. James Roman Catholic Church for the Saturday evening mass. It was the quickest mass of my life! It had to be 40 minutes or less. Crazy.

We will be returning next week.

After Church, Meredith invited me over for a movie night. I’ll spare you the details of the movie, cough cough Predator 2. Yea. Meredith was very intent on watching all of the Predator and Alien movies, so I happened to catch her in the middle of the movie marathon. Not quite my movie genre, but everyone knows I like hanging out and talking, so that’s just what we did.

Then I met a new friend. Officer Mook is an officer for campus. Her and Meredith are friends, so she stopped by on her campus rounds. Long story short, the three of us wound up at a new bar a few hours later for a fun girls night out. Totally impromptu and it was awesome!

Sunday! Football Sunday! First thing this morning, Meredith and I went to get my new glasses (yay!) then headed over to the Fox and Hound to get our table ready. We were expecting 8 people for the games today! I really love our Fox Sundays. Today we had Nicole, Mook, Bekah, Eric, Jess, Meredith and me. Luci decided not to come. What a nailbiter, Ravens!

After the game we went to Jess’s place for dinner. MMMM homemade pizza. It was great, Jess!

I had a Hall Council event tonight in Senat to round out my weekend. Pretty successful I think.

I went into this weekend with just plans for football Sunday, and it turned out to be a fun-filled, friend-filled, beautiful Erie weekend.

iPhone pictures

 

I finally downloaded my iPhone pics to my computer, so yes this is a very random post. Let’s start with my scar.

Day after accident

A week after the accident

A month after the accident

 

Three of my RAs having a whipped cream fight.

A daisy growing on my patio

And the pup

 

The end.