Summer Fun

Yes, it's another lovely summer up here in Northern New York. I haven't blogged in forever--it feels weird to be doing it now. I have had such a busy summer, though--whatever happened to my days spent watching soap operas and basically doing nothing during the summer? Another bad part of growing up, I guess. It still stinks, though! I mean, I haven't been able to watch "Young and the Restless" or "the Bold and the Beautiful" all summer. This is prime TV viewing for those of you who don't watch soaps, though. Let me fill you in on what I've been able to glean from my weekly catchups in the Sunday newspaper. It's so funny! let's see--

On "Y&R" Nick cheated on Sharon with Phyllis, Sharon found out, initially wanted a divorce but then slept with her brother-in-law and changed her mind, then kissed him last week and decided that she does want a divorce. It's okay with Nick, though, because Phyllis is pregnant and Nick's decided to stay with her and raise the baby, forgetting about Sharon and Nick's 8 year old son Noah. Poor kid.

then, on "B&B", Taylor, who's become an alcoholic this year, got a call from her daughter Phoebe on a foggy night. Phoebe had gotten a flat tire and while talking to Taylor dropped her phone, and Taylor assumed the worst. She rushed out drunk to find Phoebe, but in the meantime Phoebe called her aunt Darla, who rushed to help her. Darla is Taylor's ex sister-in-law, and since we found out she was going to bite the bullet has gotten more airtime in the past week than in her entire 17 years on the show. Anyway, instead of calling Triple AAA on a busy highway Darla decides to change the tire herself. As luck would have it she wrenches a lugnut loose and falls backward into the road. This is the point where Taylor conveniently drives through the fog and hits Darla head on. Their eyes meet!...and the screen fades to black. Quite a hook, huh? Oh--and Nick and Brooke are married! Finally--it's time to Ridge to find his soul and move on without being attached at the hip to his mother. Not that I'm the best at my job, but I honestly do not know how the guy who plays Ridge ever got a job as an actor. I cannot stop laughing whenever I see him on screen--he can't act! All the soap women swoon over him, and I just don't get it. Is it the girly necklace he wears?

Now that you've all discovered the compelling storylines of soaps, do you see why it's must-see TV? And I haven't been able to watch it all summer! As usual, the plans I make never end up happening. I planned at working all summer, but lo and behold--in order to graduate next May I needed to take three summer classes. I just finished my first one, and started my second and third one this week. Of course they're horrible, and I'm just praying that I pass. I am also a sucker, so I agreed to work--since I was up here anyway for my classes--on campus where I work during the school year. So I'm working and going to class here five days a week--and of course my class is at 8 in the morning. I leave my house at twenty after six, and I'm here by twenty-quarter of. So, in addition to this I am also working at my summer job during the week and pulling a twelve hour shift on the weekends. I spend my Sunday's doing homework, and I....am...completely....EXHAUSTED. This is what I've been leading up to. I am usually a person who can get up and do things, but getting up so early, then going to class, work, class, work, work, then home and homework, I'm not getting to bed until after midnight. I want sleep! I'm excited to get five and a half hours in...SO sad.

Okay--I promise I'm done complaining. I just feel like this summer has flown and I haven't done anything fun or productive. I'm glad I don't have to go an extra semester, although I almost ended up having to do so despite the summer classes...that's for another blog, though. I have to get started on my homework, but say tuned for some more family redneck evidence.

My uncle got married last week. Congrats to him, but...oh my. First of all, it was a weekday wedding. Monday night--he got the night off from work, so that was just the night they decided on. It was at their family barn, complete with bales of hay for us to sit on and farm smells. the bride and groom wore jeans and flannel shirts, and my uncle wore his steel-toe work boots. My now-aunt had on flip-flops, but I completely understand that. Sadly. Anyway, after the justice of the peace said "you may kiss the bride" both my uncle and aunt turned, went to the cooler next to them, grabbed beers, popped them open and then clinked cans, took a drink, and kissed.

Just wait--it gets better! We waded out through the muddy yard to the reception on the back porch. the porch will sit about five people, so we were free to wander throughout the house and around the yard and sit in the lawn chairs we were instructed to bring with us. (We were told this on our invitations, which were lined pieces of notebook paper.) There was music, I have to say--the local country radio station did a great job of playing such romantic love songs as "Honkeytonk Badonkadonk" and "Beer for my Horses." I know I'll never forget their first dance to "Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks. It was great.

I ended up being sick the next day from eating--it turns out Ho-Ho's can expire, so if they taste weird DON'T EAT THEM. My grandmother supplied the soda, and she gets it already expired from my uncle's store because it's free--also another story for another blog--but it had only been expired for seven months. So, yes, believe it or not diet soda can expire. We were lucky--I've had a soda that's been expired for five years before. Before we left we saw them off on their honeymoon. We stood on the front lawn and cheered as they walked onto the porch and into their house...he had to be to work at six a.m. the next morning.

And the really, really sad part about all of this? It actually wasn't that bad. It was like a family bbq in a really deranged sort of way. I was commending them for thinking of how to cut costs. Weddings are so expensive, but they proudly told us it cost them 75$ for the whole shindig--50$ for the justice of the peace, 15$ for...well, I'm really not sure what that got spent on. The beer, maybe?

Anyway, it was another lovely family wedding. There will be another one next June--my brother is getting married. Believe it or not this one is going to be outside, but on a beautiful gazebo next to the river. The reception will actually be indoors, though, and I think there will be a DJ. I am SO looking forward to that--it's going to be so much fun.

Anyway--just a small update on what's been going on in my life. If you've read this far I commend you--you must really have nothing to do. I'm going to get back my homework before I go to class and fail a quiz. School--why can't I get away from it? If I'm sick of it now...smart move deciding to become a teacher.

Summer Fun

Yes, it's another lovely summer up here in Northern New York. I haven't blogged in forever--it feels weird to be doing it now. I have had such a busy summer, though--whatever happened to my days spent watching soap operas and basically doing nothing during the summer? Another bad part of growing up, I guess. It still stinks, though! I mean, I haven't been able to watch "Young and the Restless" or "the Bold and the Beautiful" all summer. This is prime TV viewing for those of you who don't watch soaps, though. Let me fill you in on what I've been able to glean from my weekly catchups in the Sunday newspaper. It's so funny! let's see--

On "Y&R" Nick cheated on Sharon with Phyllis, Sharon found out, initially wanted a divorce but then slept with her brother-in-law and changed her mind, then kissed him last week and decided that she does want a divorce. It's okay with Nick, though, because Phyllis is pregnant and Nick's decided to stay with her and raise the baby, forgetting about Sharon and Nick's 8 year old son Noah. Poor kid.

then, on "B&B", Taylor, who's become an alcoholic this year, got a call from her daughter Phoebe on a foggy night. Phoebe had gotten a flat tire and while talking to Taylor dropped her phone, and Taylor assumed the worst. She rushed out drunk to find Phoebe, but in the meantime Phoebe called her aunt Darla, who rushed to help her. Darla is Taylor's ex sister-in-law, and since we found out she was going to bite the bullet has gotten more airtime in the past week than in her entire 17 years on the show. Anyway, instead of calling Triple AAA on a busy highway Darla decides to change the tire herself. As luck would have it she wrenches a lugnut loose and falls backward into the road. This is the point where Taylor conveniently drives through the fog and hits Darla head on. Their eyes meet!...and the screen fades to black. Quite a hook, huh? Oh--and Nick and Brooke are married! Finally--it's time to Ridge to find his soul and move on without being attached at the hip to his mother. Not that I'm the best at my job, but I honestly do not know how the guy who plays Ridge ever got a job as an actor. I cannot stop laughing whenever I see him on screen--he can't act! All the soap women swoon over him, and I just don't get it. Is it the girly necklace he wears?

Now that you've all discovered the compelling storylines of soaps, do you see why it's must-see TV? And I haven't been able to watch it all summer! As usual, the plans I make never end up happening. I planned at working all summer, but lo and behold--in order to graduate next May I needed to take three summer classes. I just finished my first one, and started my second and third one this week. Of course they're horrible, and I'm just praying that I pass. I am also a sucker, so I agreed to work--since I was up here anyway for my classes--on campus where I work during the school year. So I'm working and going to class here five days a week--and of course my class is at 8 in the morning. I leave my house at twenty after six, and I'm here by twenty-quarter of. So, in addition to this I am also working at my summer job during the week and pulling a twelve hour shift on the weekends. I spend my Sunday's doing homework, and I....am...completely....EXHAUSTED. This is what I've been leading up to. I am usually a person who can get up and do things, but getting up so early, then going to class, work, class, work, work, then home and homework, I'm not getting to bed until after midnight. I want sleep! I'm excited to get five and a half hours in...SO sad.

Okay--I promise I'm done complaining. I just feel like this summer has flown and I haven't done anything fun or productive. I'm glad I don't have to go an extra semester, although I almost ended up having to do so despite the summer classes...that's for another blog, though. I have to get started on my homework, but say tuned for some more family redneck evidence.

My uncle got married last week. Congrats to him, but...oh my. First of all, it was a weekday wedding. Monday night--he got the night off from work, so that was just the night they decided on. It was at their family barn, complete with bales of hay for us to sit on and farm smells. the bride and groom wore jeans and flannel shirts, and my uncle wore his steel-toe work boots. My now-aunt had on flip-flops, but I completely understand that. Sadly. Anyway, after the justice of the peace said "you may kiss the bride" both my uncle and aunt turned, went to the cooler next to them, grabbed beers, popped them open and then clinked cans, took a drink, and kissed.

Just wait--it gets better! We waded out through the muddy yard to the reception on the back porch. the porch will sit about five people, so we were free to wander throughout the house and around the yard and sit in the lawn chairs we were instructed to bring with us. (We were told this on our invitations, which were lined pieces of notebook paper.) There was music, I have to say--the local country radio station did a great job of playing such romantic love songs as "Honkeytonk Badonkadonk" and "Beer for my Horses." I know I'll never forget their first dance to "Friends in Low Places" by Garth Brooks. It was great.

I ended up being sick the next day from eating--it turns out Ho-Ho's can expire, so if they taste weird DON'T EAT THEM. My grandmother supplied the soda, and she gets it already expired from my uncle's store because it's free--also another story for another blog--but it had only been expired for seven months. So, yes, believe it or not diet soda can expire. We were lucky--I've had a soda that's been expired for five years before. Before we left we saw them off on their honeymoon. We stood on the front lawn and cheered as they walked onto the porch and into their house...he had to be to work at six a.m. the next morning.

And the really, really sad part about all of this? It actually wasn't that bad. It was like a family bbq in a really deranged sort of way. I was commending them for thinking of how to cut costs. Weddings are so expensive, but they proudly told us it cost them 75$ for the whole shindig--50$ for the justice of the peace, 15$ for...well, I'm really not sure what that got spent on. The beer, maybe?

Anyway, it was another lovely family wedding. There will be another one next June--my brother is getting married. Believe it or not this one is going to be outside, but on a beautiful gazebo next to the river. The reception will actually be indoors, though, and I think there will be a DJ. I am SO looking forward to that--it's going to be so much fun.

Anyway--just a small update on what's been going on in my life. If you've read this far I commend you--you must really have nothing to do. I'm going to get back my homework before I go to class and fail a quiz. School--why can't I get away from it? If I'm sick of it now...smart move deciding to become a teacher.