July 16th comes once a year

So today is my step-mom's birthday. Her name is Janelle. Hi Janelle! I felt like I wanted to do something sort of special for her because, well, she is amazing. Everything she does is amazing. She works hard and plays harder, so I wanted to surprise her with a little something for her birthday. This is how it went down:

Last night I was trying to be all covert about the plan. The plan being filling the living room with balloons. I convinced Cody to go to Fred Meyer with me after much arm twisting (the All Star game was still on, in the 11th inning). We went to buy a 144 pack of balloons that I saw when I was there earlier in the day to look at shoes. Cody and I, being Komenda's, got side-tracked awful fast. I wanted to show him the shoes I almost bought (but didn't) and he just had to look at t-shirts. We actually found one he loved. It said "WARNING: You may be addicted to video games when you ask the doctor how many lives you have left". He just had to have it, and luckily it was 50% off, so it only cost $9. Nice! Then we headed over to the party supplies. We found the balloons, but quickly decided to get streamers and a birthday banner beacuse all party supplies were 25% off. Score! Next Cody and I looked at TV's, because that's what we do, get sidetracked.

We came home to the parents asleep upstairs and the All Star game in the 15th inning, wow! Jackie and I started to blow up balloons when I got the bright idea to fill Janelle's car with balloons. Jak and I lifted her keys and sat in the car for about 20 minutes while we filled the back of her Saturn with balloons. Needless to say, we were very proud. We came back inside and blew up the rest of the balloons. There was some sort of powder on the balloons, which I think is typical, but it began to burn pretty badly after 72 balloons each. Then I taped the balloons to different surfaces in the house, like light switches, windows, and even the microwave. Then I strung streamers about the living room and hung the banner.

I was all jazzed up afterward which was bad seeing as I had to get up at 6:30 to take my dad to work and then babysit my cousins Enzo and Lilly from 9:00-4:30. I stayed up a little too late watching Family Guy and Superbad.

In the morning, I woke to find dad and Janelle in the living room. I think she was excited, but she missed the card I taped to the doorframe of the stairs. I thought she would. I know she's not the best morning person (no offense Janelle!).

I drove Dad to work. We talked about golf. It was fun. Once I got back home I quickly began to make breakfast for Janelle, consisting of pancakes and eggs. Of course I had to scarf two pancakes before taking off myself.

Anyway, I had a fun day and I hope Janelle had a special birthday. I think she really liked our gesture because I have asked to help take down the streamers and balloons at least twice today and she keeps saying, "I'm not done with them yet". I take that as a good sign. On her way out for dinner with my dad I heard her ask if they could stop by Loew's to get some lawn and garden bags for the decorations, ha!

"A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age." -- Robert Frost

There's no such thing as too much Law & Order

I suppose that statement isn't completely true, but I sure can't get enough of it. This post really has nothing to do with Law & Order really. Unless I were to do some clever play on words to describe my life, but I'm really not that motivated.

Nothing much is new in the life and times of yours truly, a lot of the same old same old. And by that I mean closing shifts at work (suck) and late nights out with friends (not suck) and then sleeping in well past nine (sorta suck, but it feels good). Now for the low down:

Work: It's actually been decent. It was a flawless transition from going to classes everyday to working everyday. I have enough seniority at work to never have to do the range, so that is a big plus for the summer. A bunch of college kids came back too, which is nice that I have some people my age working there. I also genuinely appreciate them; people like Jimmy, Zach, Cole, Bryce, and Sarah. I sometimes feel like I have been working in the bag room for entirely too wrong. Which was proven to me when Brenden (one of my bosses) asked Jimmy for one of the member's bag and I rattled off the number, E1, like it was common knowledge. He was like, "How do you know that?" No mystery there, I have been at Fircrest WAY too long. You also know you've been in the bag room too long when you can have in depth discussions about your favorite couples, the best tippers, and the progression of E7's tipping habits. Any way, beside that horrible epiphany, things are good. The bosses are good. The staff is good. I finally have some good midshifts coming up so I won't be closing EVERY DAY. I don't know, I just appreciate a little variety once in a while. Oh, I also got electrocuted yesterday at work. Then come to find out, pretty much everyone in the bag room has been electrocuted by the ball washer, but nobody has told the pro shop. I decided that perhaps this would be a good thing to report. We don't know if we actually solved the issue, because Brenden and I were way to scared to test it.

Home: I like being home. A lot actually. I haven't really gotten to the point where I miss being at school. I think this might be attributed to the fact that all last year I never really reached the point to where I felt like my dorm was home. I always felt like it was more of a sleep away camp feel. Don't get me wrong, I loved being there with my roomies and friends 24/7, but it never felt like home. I miss my parents and siblings (and pets) more than I hoped I would. Hopefully that will change next year if we move into an apartment (pray to the real estate god of the Seattle area). But anyway, home life is good. I like waking up and being able to have a sit down in the living room with a cup of coffee, not having to be quiet for my still sleeping roomies. I haven't spent much time with my parents though. By the time I get off work, my dad is already in bed. I haven't had the chance to go on any of their ocean trips because of work. I think I am so stressed out about making money, that I haven't allowed myself any fun breaks. I cannot wait to get to the ocean property. I requested a weekend off to go down in a few weeks. Hopefully that will be the break I need so I can spend some quality time with my family. I also realized how much I miss Jackie and Cody. It's always nice to have someone you can talk to about ANYTHING sitting across the living room from you. Jackie is so tolerant of the people I bring over, cool about everything, and not to mention makes me laugh like none other. Cody is the little brother all grown up. We used to fight like mortal enemies, but now things are so great! We golf together, work together, and sometimes even go out to dinner. It's awesome.

Friends: I LOVE SEEING MY FRIENDS! I never realized how much a miss them until I see them. I never want to not see them because I don't want to miss them. I hate that Jimmy and Josh's time here is almost up. Josh is leaving early for athletic training and Jimmy is moving into his apartment in Pullman. I guess I just need to cherish the summer time I have left with them. I love being able to just call Gwen up and having her come over. It's so great to be in that comfort zone 24/7. Then there are the friends I left. I saw Kimberly ONCE this whole summer and it's killing me. She seriously kept me going those last few weeks in college. And Madeline. I LOVE HER, RUTH! I don't know why we have not spent more time together, she lives only 20 minutes away... Anyway, the summer is not even half over for me and I just want to live it up before classes start up.

All in all, life's been good. I am excited for the rest of the summer and even starting to feel the excitement for school. I hope all is well with my readers! Quote of the day:

"If you're going to kick authority in the teeth, you might as well use two feet" --Keith Richards