All I want for Christmas is...

I have been a serious slacker when it comes to blogging. What has it been, over a month now?

With the new job, holiday parties and facebook addictions who has the time for blogging?

Anyway, this time of year brings back a lot of memories. Some are good, some are bad but it always gets me thinking. My Grandma passed away when I was only 17 and my Mom never really kept up the relationship with her side of the family. For years I was not able to celebrate Christmas with our family because I chose not to keep in contact with them either. It was never a conscious decision on my part or my Mom's we are both just horrible at keeping in touch with people.

After my Mom passed away I really started thinking about her side of the family and it occurred to me that if I don't start keeping in touch with my cousins now, I am not going to have much family left once I get older. I don't have any grandparents left, my dad is already getting up there in age, and my siblings are all much older than me. To make a long story short- er... for the last couple years it has once again become a tradition to enjoy the holidays with my family.

Growing up Jewish (my Dad is Jewish and my Mom converted) I was always torn between what I should believe and what I do believe so I chose not to believe at all. To me the holidays are about celebrating with family, enjoying what life has to offer, being happy and sharing with others. However, when my Dad found out that I was getting into the spirit of Christmas by stringing up lights in my bedroom a few years ago....he flipped out!!!

Now that I have been living on my own for a while, I have been contemplating about putting up a Christmas tree but I feel guilty because I know it would upset my dad. I am all for mixed relationships, and I have always said I want to meet a guy who makes me happy regardless of his religion but I don't want to feel the guilt that goes along with having a family that my father does not approve of.

My parents chose this life for me so why should I feel bad for trying to enjoy the best of the "cards that they dealt me"?

The Imperfect Storm

I just wanted to say to all my friends and family in California

I hope those fires stay FAR, far away from you and please stay safe!!! My thoughts and prayers go out to all of you and keep in touch if you can!

When life throws you lemons...

Well, it has been a couple weeks since I have posted and I am still not working full-time. The company that I was so psyched to be working for kind of screwed me because they had me go through the orientation and many hours of training and then proceeded to tell me that they had no clients anywhere in my area. The closest one they have right now is over 2 HOURS AWAY!

I have been working odd jobs here and there, pet sitting, and lots of babysitting but I am getting discouraged! Our economy is so bad right now and I have made a lot of mistakes in my 30 years that have severely affected the way my life is now. When my Mom got sick I was in school, taking at least 3 classes a week and when she really started getting bad, I had to cut back on my work hours and quit school altogether. It was a combination of wanting to be there as much as I could (which I regret I did not do as often as I wanted to because it was just too painful to see her like that.) and the financial burden that her illness caused. I loved my mom very much and I was happy to give all that up if it meant her getting better. Once she passed away I was forced to work too many hours a week to go back. Now I am finally ready to take that step towards bettering my future and I can't get financial aid! At least not until I pull up my GPA which I had no idea had anything to do with getting help.

It seems like I have exhausted all my options and all I want to do is get back to school, become a nurse and take care of people!

Not to mention the paycheck wouldn't be so bad either!

Nothing new to write about so....

While wandering around the mall today (I didn't buy anything. Can you believe it?) I decided to stop into the pet store.

I have always been told not to buy pets in a pet store, especially dogs and cats.

Usually they are not purebred and although this place seems to take excellent care of their animals, I don't think I would buy a dog from them. They were all so cute though... I just wanted to take every single one home with me.

Anyway, after staring at all the puppies for what seemed like hours, I went to hold the bunnies. The dutch rabbit

was so cuddly he just curled up under my chin. Another rabbit I have never heard of, called the lionhead rabbit actually sniffed my hand and licked me.

Next I decided to go check out the birds. I'm definitely not a bird expert and that is probably why the signs on all the display cases say you must be at least 18 to touch the animals.

No one was around but I have gone there before and never had a problem with any of the animals. Today was a different story.

They had a new breed of bird. I don't remember what she was but this bird was absolutely gorgeous. She was bigger than a parakeet but not by much, with the brightest green, yellow, red, and orange feathers I have ever seen. I slowly put my hand in, let her smell it. She climbs up on my finger and starts walking up my arm. I didn't want her to climb on my back where I couldn't reach her so I tried to get her to climb on my finger again and... SHE BITES ME!!!! HARD! She even drew blood!

I am such an animal lover, It really didn't bother me to much and I'm even thinking about working there one or two days a week just to spend more time with the animals. I could stay in that place for days.

TAG! You're it

I have now been tagged twice, so like Mike I suppose I'd better do one of these too. 10 YEARS AGO, I WAS…

1. A year out of high school and trying to figure out what to do with my life
2. Going to school for Early Childhood education
3. Taking acting classes
4. A new driver (only had my license for 2 years..barely)
5. You're typical 20 year old

5 THINGS ON TODAY’S TO DO LIST

1. Laundry
2. Watch movies
3. Clean my Apartment (gotta love those chores)
4. Return some calls
5. Continue with the Advil for ear infection pain

5 THINGS I WOULD DO IF I WERE A MILLIONAIRE

1. Pay off debts
2. Donate to charities
3. Travel everywhere (overseas, all over the US, Cruises, etc..)
4. Buy a new sporty car (not sure what kind though)
5. Buy a house

5 PLACES I HAVE LIVED

1. Franklin, MI
2. West Bloomfield, MI
3. Huntington Woods, MI
4. Kents Hill, ME
5. Farmington Hills, MI

5 JOBS I HAVE HAD

1. First ever job- Babysitting
2. Extended hour Day Care center
3. STAPLES
4. Marshall Fields
5. Sunrise Assisted Living

Ok, I'm tagging Josh, Jaime, and Sarah!! (I know some of you have already been tagged,sorry, I don't know enough bloggers yet)

Insomnia...Gotta love it!

I can't sleep so I thought I would give you all an update.It has been quite a while since I have posted but I have been busy working sporadically, while trying to find either another full-time job or a full-time case with this company. I love the work but it is a bit frustrating that they have all these cases but none of them are anywhere near where I live. Anyway, enough complaining... On the 11th of this month my cousin got married. The wedding was absolutely fabulous. The centerpieces were gorgeous, and she had the most spectacular wedding planner I have ever met. My Aunt and Uncle live in commerce on a lake, and my cousin decided to have both the ceremony and the reception at their house. They rented a huge tent, hired a caterer and the wedding planner...and left it in the hands of professionals to make this a night they would never forget. I'm sure all of us will never forget it either! That's all for now. Enjoy the pictures! As you can see, my hair chose not to cooperate at all that night but I'm sure the professional pics will be much better. Hopefully!

Writers block at it's finest

I know it has been a long time since I've posted but to be honest nothing new has happened, or at least nothing I want to write about.

This weekend is going to be very hectic. My birthday was on the 14th and I am having a huge party at my place on Saturday night. However, on Saturday afternoon we have our local LPA chapter meeting. I just don't have much time to spend on a long creative post right now.

Actually, I have been thinking about taking a break from blogging for a while because of some things that have happened over the last couple weeks regarding my blog. There are some people out there who saw a post I really did not want anyone see.

Even though I deleted the post, I guess I wasn't quick enough and word of mouth travels way to fast. Especially with the Internet!

I need some time to think and figure out what I want to do with this blog, and if I really want to continue divulging my personal life knowing that it could come back to haunt me. I will be back once things settle down for me...and I have something interesting to say!