Just Checking In

Hi! Yeah...I'm here. I am in Georgia with SMF's family and whoo doggy have I got sum storees fer you. Yeah buddy!

Much love,
Cass

Ummmm.....So, Yeah??

Hi! How are ya? Hi! It's your favorite girly girl...Cass.

So, usually I consider myself on the up and up with technology but....BLUE RAY DISCS????

WTF?!?!? Lucy!!! You got some splainin' to do!!!!

Holiday Meme

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?
Hot Chocolate all the way! I have some terrible experiences with egg nog.....**shudder**.

2. Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them under the tree?
He wraps them, yo! And I have the paper cuts to prove it. He averages about 3 or 4 hours a day the three days before Christmas. (I've seen his time card. **wink**)

3. Colored lights on tree/house or white?
On the house? White for sure. On the tree? Colored but I prefer one solid color. Blue is my favorite.

4. Do you hang mistletoe?
No way! We don't need MORE excuses to smooch on each other!

5. When do you put your decorations up?
Some time before Christmas Eve. There's no set date.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish (excluding dessert)?
I'm a pretty picky princess....I HATE ham and sweet potatoes!! I guess I'd say, cinnamon apples or green bean casserole.

7. Favorite holiday memory as a child:
I don't have any. Tragic childhood, supression of memories...yada, yada, yada. Moving on...

8. When and how did you learn about the truth about Santa?
Again...don't remember.

9. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?
We open all our gifts on Christmas Eve. With the divorce and all, the kids had to be out the door on Christmas Day @ 9am. It was always easier to open our stuff the night before.

10. How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?
Ummm...I stand on the floor and hang ornaments on it??

11. Snow! Love it or dread it?
Ugh...not gonna lie, I want to move to a location that allows me to decorate a palm tree for Christmas!

12. Can you ice skate?
Of course! It's a requirement to keep your White Suburbanite Chick membership card!

13. Do you remember your favorite gift?
Ugh!!! What's with all the "Do you remember" questions?!?!? No, no memories!

14. What's the most important thing about the Holidays for you?
My answer hasn't always been "seeing my family" but after some significant healing, I can say I love being with my family.

15. What is your favorite holiday dessert?
Chocolate pie. Hands down...no questions.

16. What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Cookie baking! The women of my family have always gotten together to bake cookies. At times there have been up to three generations in the kitchen. This year was the first one in which the college aged girls were allowed to bring their favorite cookie recipes....this is a huge honor, trust me.

17. What tops your tree?
An angel and a big ass bow.

18. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?
Both. Really! I got some really great gifts for people this Christmas and I can't wait to give them. On the other hand, one of Mother Figure's elves might have leaked what I'm getting...maybe. And I'm really excited to get it!!

19. What is your favorite Christmas song?
I like when Sleighride is played by an orchestra.

20. Candy Canes.
Love them!! I'm not a big fan of the peppermint ones though. Again...I'm a picky princess.

So....Yeah.

There's so much to blog about today, I just don't know where to start. I think I'm going to go sleep on it and check in later. Have a great night. Tip your waitresses and GO TO BED!!!

Wedding Wackoness Take 2! (Edited for Content)

The other night was my cousin's wedding. Yes, FRIDAY NIGHT!! Who does that?!?

With all the wedding stuff going on, naturally the conversations between the female siblings turned to Dream Nuptials. Each of us have our own weddings planned out (for the most part) and each girl's wedding is unique and speaks volumes about the woman she is and is going to become.

The Baby Sis dreams of an Island Diva style wedding. She wants all eyes on her and her alone. Her basic plans include very few details because she wants to be the centerpiece of every room she walks into that day. She plans on having a silk sheath dress, long flowing hair and a pink hibiscus to accent it all. She wants elegant simplicity with a touch of quirky funkiness that is uniquely her.

The Older Step Sis plans on a very quiet, private wedding. A traditional Catholic mass with only her nearest and dearest. Afterwards she would prefer a family meal together at someone's home and then a quiet departure to her honeymoon. She wants her wedding to be the celebration of a new beginning. She wants nothing more than to be surrounded by people that love her and that want to wish her and her husband the best. She wants to feel loved by and connected to each of her guests.

And then there's me.....The Princess. I believe Annie Oakley in the musical Annie Get Your Gun said it best during her duet with her love interest Frank:


"I want a wedding that's surrounded
by diamonds and platinum
A big reception at the Whaldorf
With champagne and caviar
I want a wedding like the Vanderbilt's had
Everything big not small
If I can't have that kind of a wedding
I'm not getting married at all"


That's right kidlets, the custom-made gown, the tiara, the six foot train, the flowers, the candles, the steak dinners, the flowing champagne, the men in tuxes, my groom in tails, the lush fabrics, the gold rimmed china...that's what I want people. And Special Man Friend and I will work till we're forty if we have to in order to get it!

I think I surprised my mother with how much Special Man Friend and I have planned for our wedding! SMF and I have set a goal of $25,000. That's how much the two of us are bringing to the wedding budget...each of us that is, for a combined total of $50,000! Seeing as how he has a head for numbers and I have a head for STUFF, we work well together. He's not the type of guy to think I'm silly to be looking for deals on reception sites this far out. He genuinely participates when I make him look at eleventy billion different paper options for invitations. He likes knowing all the details and even more so, he likes knowing WHERE the budget will need to go when we do finally get serious about planning.

Alright...I know. Most of you are wondering WHAT THE HELL we're going to do with 50k. Here's the deal, both of us have divorced parents who have since remarried. Each of us has EASILY 200 family members we need to invite. That number is not including our friends and co-workers.

My mother about fell on the floor when I quoted the total goal. But when she really thought about it she realized, I have always been the princess in the family. Not only is our wedding going to be huge just because of the sheer number of people that are going to be there, it's going to be huge because I've grown up with images of celebrity weddings. *shrug* That's just how I am. (I'm already talking to one of my Mom's flight attendant friends about going to Hong Kong and picking up silk swatches for the gown and Maids' dresses)

SMF and I are both on our way towards the goal, I own my own business selling cosmetics and he works for one of the biggest medical supply companies in the area. $50,000 is perfectly within our abilities.

***Here's where it starts to gets sentimental and a little heartfelt. ;-)***

We're both really excited to start our lives together, on the other hand...I'm jealous of this personal time I have and I guard it like a pitbull. I wouldn't trade any of this time I have on my own for more time in married life with SMF. I couldn't imagine starting a life with him before I had a chance to do all things I've ever wanted to do.

I plan on doing a Missions Trip to Haiti to spend some time digging wells and working in our church ministry there. I'm also doing my internship in Montana on a farm that uses horses as a therapeutic tool for abused and traumatized women and children.

But all of my futures plans are not solo, I also have many plans that INCLUDE Special Man Friend; kids, home, church...you know the deal. (Espcially the Kids part....little tough to do all by your lonesome!) SMF and I have spent many nights talking about our future life. We love daydreaming and imagineing.

Where is all this 'word vomit' going?? Essentially, nowhere. I guess I've just spent alot of time thinking about the future lately. I'm getting excited to see where Life takes me.

It's All About the Numbers

9...............Personal Record of Mocha Fraps consumed in a 24-hour period

48.............Number of Excedrin Tablets Popped in Groups of Three's (Yay for apostrophe abuse!)

78.............Number of Pieces of Printer Paper (I hear the forests crying.)

6...............Number of Hours Spent Sleeping (I'm whimpering....)

10.............Number of Medium Pizzas Ordered (God Bless the men and boys of Domino's)

72.............Number of Hours Spent in Front of Books (Do straight A students REALLY do this all the time?!?)

4...............Number of Hours Spent Actually Taking Finals!!!!! (Seems a little unbalanced, no?)



What am I trying to say?? I'm done!!! Three semesters down, five semesters left until I'm handed my B.A.!

Best quote of the week, "You know? All this schoolwork is really hindering my College experience!" uttered at 3:31 AM on Tuesday morning.

This is one of the hardest Finals Weeks I've ever made it through. Reason?? POSSIBLY because it was the first one I've ever ACTUALLY studied for. Of course, this is just a theory!

I'm leaving for the Mother Figure's house tonight where I will spend my break until I leave on the 27th for GEORGIA!! I'm meeting the Special Man Friend's family for the first time this Christmas and everyone involved is very excited.

I'm sure I'll be touching base with all of you with updates on my loony family and Holiday Madness 2006! When you smash 2 overbearing parents, 4 adult children that are about as different as they could get and 2 dachsunds that make potatoes look smart, you are bound to get some great blogging fodder!

Have a great holiday. Spend some time lovin up on your own loony family.

I'm going to go crash...for like a week!
Cass

Two Down....One to Go

Alright...so I told Bob over at bobbarama I wasn't going to post till Break starts, but I knew most of you must be writhing on the ground in withdrawal induced tremors.

No worries my lovies! I have your hit of Sass right here. I'm cool, yo!

Last night was another night of sleeplessness aided by the Wing Giver and the Headache Medicine. The Friends and I spent a good portion of our night jamming out to 'old school' pop tunes. Backstreet Boys?? Britney Spears?? Blink-182??? Yup...good times. The soundtrack to our high school years.

And yeah, that's about it. Look, I never promised EVERY moment of a college student's life was going to be scintillating!!!

But there's no hiding it people, like the song says, you guys "love, love me do!"

***Update***

I have come down off my high.
I'm going to limp off to bed and sneak in a cat nap before my final @ 9AM!


This is the EXACT text Special Man Friend has waiting on his cell phone:

"I will cause you severe bodily harm if you don't call me and make sure I'm awake when you get home from work!"

Finals 2006! WOO!! Show Us Your Boobs!!!!

Hi! Hi! Hi! Welcome! Hi!

It's finals week!!! Woo!!! Yay for Red Bull!!! (For some reason it ONLY tastes right with vodka but what are you gonna do?!?) And Excedrin!!! And my life source....heavenly, heavenly Mocha Fraps!!! Woo!! Caffeine!! That's right people, my only source of caloric intake since Sunday has come from CAFFEINE!!! Woo!!! And the trembling!!! And the energy!! Woooo!!!

The hours are ticking away before I walk into my first final whereas that blessed hour of freedom after my last final seems decades away!!!! And I can't seem to stop with the exclamation marks!!!! And the suitemates can't seem to keep up with my ramblings!!! And did I mention that I've been consuming caffeine?!?!?!?!

Have I also mentioned that I am a delicate, delicate flower and with only a SNIFF of coffee brewing I become the love child of Speedy Gonzales and the Roadrunner?!?!?!?!?

Have I also mentioned that the Student Government here at Tiny Christian University have decided to have Red Bull reps on hand from 10pm till 6 am in the cafeteria?!?!? And you know what these beautiful, beautiful people are doing?!?!?!? They are handing out FREE FREE FREE Red Bull!!!!! Wooo!!! Red Bull gives you wings!!! And tremors!!!! Wooo!!!

Yup yup!!! Alright!!! Back to the books!!! Woo!!! Yay for finals!!! Woo!!!

*sigh*

My "give a damn" is busted.


And those are hard to come by, yo!

RE: HELP! HELP! HELP!

I decided to email the file back to my professor and let her know that her final may have 'leaked'. I assured her I didn't read it and that I just wanted her to know that it was out there. I then deleted the file off the computer before I could have a chance to email it to myself.


Her response....and I quote, "Thanks."


*shrug* Whatever. At least I can sleep easier at night and I still like the face I see in the mirror, and that's what matters in the long run, right?

HELP! HELP! HELP!

I found a copy of the final for my Adolescent Psych class. My prof was absent minded enough to save it to the public computers and not delete it.

I haven't read it, but it's there...singing it's siren song of Guaranteed A+.

It's not MY fault she left it there! I wasn't SEARCHING for it!!! I've gotten A's (sorry for the apostrophe abuse Mrs. Chili...it just looks better!) on all of her other tests! I wasn't even WORRIED about this final...in fact I was sure in my ability to get an A. I'm drowning in review groups and study guides from my other 15 credits...I could use the break!

On the other hand, I've never cheated in my LIFE! This is soooo immoral I don't even know where to begin!




I wish Jiminy Cricket was around!

Today's In Class Writing Assignment

Today in Biblical Interpretations, we had an in class writing assignment. We needed to write our reaction to the book, Blood Brothers by Elias Chacour. If you have never read it, I would highly reccomend it! It's an easy read intellectually but mentally and emotionally it could put you throgh the wringer.

The prof wanted our responses straight from the heart and honest as we could be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The response I had to Elias Chacour’s story was tremendous. My gut reaction was that of anger, anger at my disillusionment in my country’s portrayal of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. My more secondary response to the story was my deep connection with Elias and his struggle regarding his identity in God and God’s plan for his life. Lastly I spent a significant amount of time wrestling with my own sorrow and ache for peace in the Middle East. Blood Brothers helped me realize there are ALWAYS two sides to every coin, regardless of what I had been told my whole life.

Like a radio turned on while working, the conflict in the Middle East had become background noise in my life. I have grown up with this war. Ever since I was little girl, every night on the six o’clock news, there has been some tidbit of information regarding something in the Middle East. I was quickly taught the key players in the drama and believed wholeheartedly what I was told. The Israelis were the underdog and the good guys. They were being ruthlessly slaughtered for a reason that was so miniscule there was really no reason to ever mention it. The Palestinians are the bullies, killing innocent Israelis and refusing to agree to peace. And lastly, our brave American heroes were sent in to fix all of their problems. This cast list was simple enough for even the youngest of minds to follow.

My biggest struggle with Chacour’s story began in the first few pages. My image of the ‘typical’ Palestinian had been produced for me my whole life. When he began his story with a glimpse into his family life, I recoiled in horror.

“A family?! Surely Palestinians have no family, there is nothing human about these cold-blooded, rebel terrorists!” I suppose somewhere in the back of my mind I realized Palestinian people do not grow out of the ground and have parents, grandparents, and siblings like myself. After the first chapter I set the book down refusing to believe Chacour’s lies. Not only was he a Palestinian, but he was a Christian! He believed in the same Savior and God I did. This new truth stood in stark contrast to my former image and had no place in my reality. I began the hard lesson that truth and reality don’t often line up.

By the end of the story I was disappointed in my country, a feeling that does not sit well with a Conservative Republican Farmer’s Daughter. I wrestled with the truth that my government, MY true blue American heroes were in the wrong. Not only were they wrong in their approach to the problem, they were in fact PART of the problem! I began to realize that much of the conflict was surrounded in smoke and mirrors and that more disturbing was the fact that I clung to those illusionary tricks like my own life depended on it.

The first of the mirrors came down when I began to find myself relating to Elias in a very real way. I pushed against this idea and wouldn’t accept it until the last few pages of the story remained. I began to see a man relating candidly his struggles with where God was taking him and what his role was in God’s plan for his country. I have often found myself feeling as if my identity in Christ is on a continuum, it’s never set in one place and it continually grows and changes with me. I began to realize everyone experiences growing pains as they grow in their Christian identity. Certain truths are adopted easily and with very little distress to the believer. There are others that force the believer to face things in his life that are shadowy and contain many gray areas. Often times, I found that in each instance in which I related to Chacour on a personal level I was sent on a personal journey through doubt, conflict and resolution. Reading his struggles in black and white helped me realize that I do not have all the answers, nor am I ever going to have all the answers.

When it comes to answers I wish I had at least one that would sound reasonable in resolving the conflict in the Middle East. For so long I have been hearing about war and terrorism. So many lives have been lost over the years it makes my heart twist with sorrow. Israeli, Palestinian and American blood has been shed in what seems a hopeless cause. I was encouraged to see that people like Elias were fighting for peace, without picking up a gun. It is difficult to justify killing people in the name of peace. My heart hurts for the turmoil my brothers and sisters are enduring. All three militaries are war weary and ready to be done. The call for peace has been unanswered for too long and yet I see the harsh reality of the fact that there might never be peace.

Peace is a strange creature. When seeking peace, conflict always arises. As new information is entered into a person’s sphere of reality, that which aligns with a person’s personal truth is adopted. Information which contradicts or condemns, is railed against and wholeheartedly denied access to our cocoon of comfort. As truth keeps presenting itself, a person begins the long, sometimes arduous, battle for inner peace. As the battle rages on in the Middle East, peace remains a distant dream. There is hope one day the dream will be realized, but for now battle must continue.

I don't know what it is about winter and its insistence on sucking all things fun out of life, what with the empty bank accounts, short daylight hours and horrendous traffic, winter makes life dull and dry.

It also happens to make my skin dull and dry as well. (Creative transition, no?) By the time Spring decides to come wandering back to the Midwest, I have used three times my body weight in lotion, moisturizing body wash and damage repairing conditioner.

Also by that time, the typical Midwest farmer's daughter has also found eleventy billion creative ways to layer her clothing so only the most NECESSARY amounts of skin are visible (vulnerable) to the dry, nasty winter air. Except.....some of them, the heartier of us farmgirls, forget (don't care) about their feet!

Ladies...if you are going to insist on wearing flip flops all the way into the cold season, you better commit yourselves to the same maintenance routine you had in the summer.

No one should wear flip flops without first doing some sort of paw grooming! Feet. Are. Gross. I don’t care who you are! This means regular pedicures with special attention to cracked heels and dry skin.

On the other hand, guys should never walk around with their feet visible in public. EVER! Not once! NEVER!!! Guy feet are particularly nasty. I know this seems brutal, but I’m just trying to stop men from committing a crime against humanity (mainly offending others with your Tyrannosaurus Rex-like feet). I know you guys are between the rock and the hard place. You’re saying, "But Cass!! They make flip flops and open toed shoes for men!!” I know they do sweetie.[insert head patting here] It’s so tempting! Cruel even. I feel for you.

But let’s look at why open –toed shoes came into existence in the first place. Women spend ridiculous amounts of money to look as good as they do. Surprisingly enough it doesn’t come naturally...I know, I hear bubbles bursting EVERYWHERE!

This means that we even spend money on beautifying our FEET!! Those nasty things attached to our ankles that keep us from falling over when we stand...yeah, we scrub, lotion, trim and paint them. So naturally after all this, WE WANT YOU GUYS TO SEE THEM!!! (I don’t know who thought this was a good idea in the first place, but I’ll admit I have my fair share of strappy shoes.)

Guys generally do NOTHING to maintain their feet. Your opinion is, they’re feet…they’re supposed to look gross. And while I do agree about the grossness, GUY feet go beyond the realms of gross. So please, for the love of all things holy, keep them covered!

And please don’t fall into the trap that girls have laid out, oh so cunningly. Do not allow any amount of eyelash batting or hair flipping convince you a man looks manly with a pedicure! This is a lie...watch out for women and their wily ways.

"Lots of other guys get pedicures" is a lie that was started by salon owners and fed to women to pass along to their unsuspecting significant others. Men should not have trimmed cuticles, smooth heels and glossy toenails! It is unnatural and it throws off the entire molecular balance of the species.

Guys, resist the urge to get a pedicure in order to wear a nice pair of river trek sandals (nice river trek sandals don't exist anyway, so it shoudn't be a peoblem). No, no pedicures on men...not even for Birkenstocks. (I'm still hoping that one day the United States will come back to its senses and banish Birkenstocks and Crocs to the fiery pits of shoe hell in which they belong!) ladies keep schlepping over the frozen tundra to the nail salon. If you are going to insist on wearing flip flops through the snow it needs to be done!

Of course, there IS a simpler solution.....PUT SOME REAL FREAKING SHOES ON!!

YAY!! YAY!! YAY!! YAY!!

LOOK WHAT I WOKE UP TO THIS MORNING!!!

I went to bed last night without a flake in the sky and woke up to over 10 inches! That's right....I MIGHT be located in one of those cities that got hit by blizzard-like conditions last night. I just MIGHT!

Classes are cancelled b/c profs aren't trekking out in this crappola. I'm totally excited b/c I'm going to crawl back under my blankets and sleep till lunch!!! Mmmmmmm....sounds heavenly!

Later I'm sure there will be some sledding on illegally 'borrowed' cafeteria trays. And it's all going to be done in my NEW winter coat...YAY for Moms that love to spoil their daughters!! (I would be freezing my tushy off without my Mother Figure that May or May Not Have a Favorite Child She Enjoys Spoiling!)

HAVE A GREAT SNOW DAY PEOPLE!!!!