& that's the way life goes

When is the last time you laughed like this?

Thanks to these two ladies: Jenni & LP,

I almost died from laughter.  Best way to die, just fyi.

There were a couple crazy nights at the local bar.  One night included a creepy guy that wouldn’t leave poor Jenni alone.  But she’s hot and awesome so I guess I can’t blame him.  But dang…he was gross.  We are all Beaver Certified. If you care to know, it’s called a beaver for two reasons: It has fur & because it eats wood.

The tubing adventure was all about A LOT of beer, new friends, Jenni getting stuck in the tube and no one actually helping untangle her, branches smacking people me in the head, Jenni getting a bruise from her awesome waterproof box, jello-jars, sex talk and most of all FUN.

There was a lot of noming and cheek kissing going on

Shotgunning beer FAIL

I can’t wait to do it all again next year!

xoxo

You know those conversations you had that you keep going over in your head.  For no other reason than to drive yourself crazy.

Yeah I’m there.

Part of me laughs because it is so ridiculous.  Another part of me is a tad mortified. And a third part of me is beyond mystified of the things that come out of my mouth.

“I took 3 sleeping pills and drank half a bottle of gin….Sing me a Filipino lullaby”

“I’m not singing you a lullaby”

The next day…

“You know you sang to me.”

“I did not.”

“You did, I wouldn’t sing you a Filipino lullaby so you made one up.  Then I asked you to sing it again and you did, the exact same way.  It was cute.”

“Shut up.”

“You better be careful with those sleeping pills, you might start singing to people.”

Also on my mind is the ridiculousness of the trip with LP and Jenni. I still can’t believe that some of that shit happened. Phone calls at 5:45am resulting in me buying breakfast is classic. Also, everyone was “naked” at some point. Oh yeah. *blush*

“Why do they call it a Beaver?”

Thank you Google.

This past weekend was and will be my longest vacation of the summer.  The weather couldn’t have been any better.  Sunshine, blue skies and warm temperatures.  Mother Nature must have been trying to make up for the chilly summer we had last year.

I’ll just tell you that there was a lot of:

• † Laughing
• † Beer
• † Sun
• † Boating
• † New Friends
• † Jell-O Shots

There wasn’t a lot of time for

• † Cleaning
• † Arguing
• † Cooking
• † Reading
• † Sleeping

[View with PicLens]

It was a pretty great weekend.  Definitely a 4th of July to remember.

Thank you for all your comments in my last post.  I went to the new school with my dad yesterday and I’m 90% sure he’s not going to get the keys on Friday.  He has to have a final inspection done and I think they only do them 2 days a week and it looks like there is still at least 5 days of work left for the contractors to finish.  I’ll know for sure tomorrow.

I never finished telling you about the rest of my trip with LP.  I guess all I can say is that I shotgunned my first beer ever.  Yeah, you read that right, I think I’m a bit behind.  Pretty sure most of us have done that already.  But at least now  I can cross it off my list.

And I’m not really sure about the last one I just thought it was hysterical.

Can you believe that next weekend is already Labor Day?  This has been the coldest summer ever and it makes me sad.  We took the boat out 3 times.  3.   I know most people do fun things Labor Day weekend but C and I have agreed we need to get the Man Shack finished and the back bedroom painted.  It is a must!

And OMG I start my class on the 14th.  I don’t know how I feel about that.  It’s on Monday’s from 6-10pm.  Can we say hella long day?  I get up at 6:30am to go to work.  Yeah.  Pretty sure I’m not looking forward to that.

So how are you doing?  Any good plans for September?

I”ve been in a bit of a funk.  Pretty much wondering when the last time I was genuinely happy.  I know boofuckinghoo right?  It’s ridiculous really.  I have so much to be grateful for.  I had some Filipino food with my dad in his temporary school (you know since they couldn’t get his building done in time, theyonlyhad2monthstodoit) and got some good sleep last night so I think I can stop feeling sorry for myself now.

I also got some clothes from Misplace Momma that I adore and I cracked up when she gave me back a pair of pants and a long sleeve shirt I gave her years ago.  Obviously we don’t clean our closets out much   And I got to hang out with her daughter AMC (I’ll need to think of something else to call her) for a little bit Monday night.  Um I don’t think M has put any pics of AMC up but she should because everyone would adore the babyface.

Anyhow this weekend was perfect.  Seriously the weather was picturesque for up north.  Few clouds, lots of sun and warmth.  Lord how I love the warmth.   We did everything we said we would: paddleboat, ride bikes, canoe and relax at the beach.  Of course we had drinks too.  But surprisingly we didn’t overindulge in the alcohol.  Booorrrriinnnggg.

LP has a hard time relaxing but we’ll stick with the positives, shall we?

where we stayed

the first night. um no we didn't eat all 63 that night though

Enjoying the last of the sunshine after a day of canoeing

LP’s pictures are all nice in the fading sunlight. I’m rocking the paddleboat and making a really funny face in the bottom left corner. For no reason at all except that felt like the right face to make.

pizza is delicious and even better with miller lite. can i say we had jello shots and half a 5th of rum canoeing?

Have you had Dragonberry Rum?  It’s delicious in Lemonade.  I can’t get the 2 canoeing pictures off my phone right now and it’s kind of pissing me off. I should mention that we rode our bikes to the canoe place that was approximately 2 miles away. Carrying an 18 can cooler and a backpack stuffed with other things we would need (sandwiches, towels, water camera, etc. I’m an overpacker ok? I can’t help it). LP almost hit a pole on the sidewalk while riding to the beach afterwards. Fun times.

More tomorrow, this has taken me longer than I thought!

Foote Pond Overlook - one of my fav places

I fell in love all over again.  With the  little northern town I talk about way too much.  If it was up to me I wouldn’t have come back.  I haven’t watched tv since Wednesday.  I haven’t been on the internetz since Thursday.

Instead I canoed down the clear water of the AuSable.  Dipped my feet into and swam in the transparent waves of Lake Huron.  Watched people and dogs share a beach.

I’ve been many places in Michigan.  On both coasts and central cities.  None of them make me feel like I did this weekend. Rested, relaxed and at home.

I’m pretty sure LP had a good time too

I laugh but on the inside I find this absolutely adorable.

It’s also the place where legends are made. In 2006 the Michigan Legislature declared Oscoda the “official home of Paul Bunyan.” Resident Ed Glotfelty said the proclamation recognizes Oscoda as the literary home for the giant legendary logger based on the fact that the first printed story about him was written by Oscoda Press writer James MacGillivray in 1906.
Glotfelty, a history buff and man of sizable stature himself, portrays the lumberjack during the annual Paul Bunyan Festival, set in 2009 for September 18, 19 & 20. Events include a classic antique car show, children’s activities, a Lumberjack Show and a crowd-awing Chainsaw Carving Championship with participants coming from across the nation. (http://www.oscodachamber.com/)

In truth Oscoda isn’t where I spent my early childhood, that would have been at my Papa’s cottage in National City.   Maybe it’s because I only have vague memories of Island Lake and going to my Great Granny’s and that’s why I don’t find it that special.  Or maybe because it’s tarnished by events that happened in my teen years that I remember all to well.  Regardless,   my heart holds a special spot for Oscoda.  Beginning more specifically Old Orchard Campground.

© rialeilani 2006

I’m not good at making friends.  I’m ridiculously shy and I don’t break out of my shell until I get to know you.  Every summer at Old Orchard I made a new friend.  I became a part of a group.  The friendships didn’t last after I went away to college but for those summers  I didn’t feel awkward.  You ran into some of the same people every year.  Some you remembered, some you didn’t.  I’ll never forget being in the camp store and someone yelling my name.  I turned around and stood face to face with a boy.  And I asked, “Do I know you”.  He told me his name and it came back to me but it was still a little funny that there had been so many people the summer before that I honestly couldn’t place him at first.

I used to want to live up there.  I always wanted to live somewhere different.  Looking back it’s probably because where I was I never felt like I fit in.   Luckily, I had a couple close friends but never a group of people.

Years later I still find comfort in visiting.  Every year LP and I decided we are going to go at least once.  I love girlie weekend.  It’s a time to destress and get away from daily life.  We’re open to new people joining us.  We can’t believe that for the second year  it’s just the two of us.  I’ll be doing a lot of paddleboating, canoing, drinking and bike riding.  Don’t miss me too much (haha).  I hope you have a fabulous weekend!

*the title has nothing to do with anything, i just suck at naming posts and He Loves U Not was on

This is the time of year I get mega nostalgic. I think way, way too much about the past.  I spent the last 5 weeks or so convincing myself that no one thinks about those times as much as me. That everyone’s lives have moved way beyond those memories. MC has a child now and we are all grown ups.

I was wrong.

I’m not the only one that still holds those memories close and that makes my heart lighter. I have a smile on my face that no one can take away this weekend.

In memory of that 4th of July night here are some things you maybe shouldn’t do on the 4th of July (or maybe you should cuz that was a night I sure as hell will never forget):

• ditch the people you said you’d hang out with to hang out with cuter guys
• use a vacuum attachment for drugs
• imitate MTV’s triple kiss
• share chips not using hands
• do cartwheels down the beach
• give feathers “to keep forever”
• spin too close to the fire
• drink 7 beers in an hour on an empty stomach
• get kicked out of a party possibly before the fireworks start (we can’t remember)
• jump out of a slowing car to head for the woods
• name a bug in the dashboard
• have a first kiss with someone special
• throw up out the car window
• passout in someone’s backseat

So that bastard little tape I found?  Has more on it then I realized.  I was so enthralled with the first part I didn’t get to the rest of it.

It’s amazing how people really don’t change.  Well you know they do change, but their core values and the way they interact with one another usually don’t.

Our 2 guy friends from the past were talking about girls at one point and it’s so funny because 8 years later and they still argue their same sides.  I’ve had the pleasure of hearing them talk about it again not too long ago.  This is seriously cracking me up.

Wow I miss them…I wish we could hang out like we used to.  Sometimes it sucks to grow up

I was unpacking some more stuff for my office today.  I ran across some more unflattering pictures of myself that I thought about burning.  However, I did not.  I moved on and found little things that the bestie had made for me over the years, cards, pictures with our sayings and memories on them and last but not least something that made ever little effort I’ve made to let the past go come back and bite me in the ass.

Sometimes when life gets me down I focus on the happiest time of my life.  It helps me get through the day.  Well I’ve been thinking about this one particular time a lot lately.  I’m thinking that I should probably stop looking back so much and look forward a little bit more.

I read awhile ago that when you are obsessing over something, to diet from whatever it is.  Every time it crosses your mind you purposely think of something else.   I don’t remember all of the article just that they suggested thinking about auditioning for American Idol.  I don’t know why that one sticks in my head but it does.  So I’ve been trying out for American Idol a lot lately in my head.

Today in box buried under some old McDonald collectible toys (yes I still have a few from the lion king), a green plastic dinosaur from a Chicago museum and a painted rock I used to have under my pillow I found a tape.  I thought the tape had mysteriously disappeared years ago since I had looked for it, knowing it did exist.  But I had moved from Michigan to Florida and back to Michigan so I had lost hope.

That little bastard tape.  I can’t wait to get it on my laptop to send to the bestie.  She is going to laugh her ass off.