Happy Birthday to Moi!

Im legal!! Today is my 18th birthday, yay for me. :) I went this afternoon to see my great-gramma in the nursing home. We took her a new outfit that was for Christmas yet we seem to always forget to bring it. So my great uncle and aunt were there from Georgia so we all sat around and talked for a while. Of course Gramma didn't really register anything, just smiled and sort of dozed off after a while. Shes 92, shes allowed. lol

Then my sister called and asked where I wanted to go to eat, her treat. She mentioned a Thai restaurant called Teak that both she and my mom really like so I said we should go there. The food was fantastic, not as good as Indian food, but still tasty. We all agreed to get 3 dishes and split them. I got a tofu dish with pineapply, mini corn cobs, carrots and onions in a spicy thai sauce. I like a lot of spice but my mom reminded me that not everyone can tolerate so much so i should tone it down. I asked my sister and her friend what they usually liked cuz I guaranteed I would like it. On a scale of 3-10 they said a 6 was what they usually got so thats what we did. We also got a noodle dish with tofu, veggies, and eggs then another dish with seafood and veggies. The dish I ordered was my favorite, didn't have a whole lot of spice but enough to be noticeable. I think next time I go I'd get an 8 and see what that does for me. So I had a lot of fun, laughed so hard at times I felt like an idiot. Then, they would occassionally play happy birthday over the music system so I knew that was for me as well. At the end of the meal two of the gals brought out a cake for me which my sister had previously bought. It had the two candles on top that said 18, it was a chocolate and white cake with chocolate mousse and some creamy center that I couldn't place but was absolutely delicious. So theres my day in a nutshell, Im going to watch the ball drop tonight then hit the sack shortly afterwards. So happy new year to all, I hope everyone's upcoming year is even better than 2006!

Indian Goodness

I finally satisfied my cravings for some good Indian food. I hadn't had any for quite some time and was definitly missing it. So I called up my best friend who is home for break and told her we needed to get together and do something. Thats when she told me that for Christmas she would take me to any restaurant I wanted, her treat. So of course, I asked her if she liked Indian food. She said she'd never had it. I was aghast and told her of this awsome place which, in my oh so humble opinion, is the best place to get Indian food in the Cincinnati area. So her mom came along as well and she had never had Indian food though she said she liked Thai food. So we get there, of course its peak lunch hour but surprisingly, this huge group was just getting up so we waited less than 5 minutes for our table. Since I've been there many times before they asked for recommendations and I pointed out a few of my favorites, although I told them everything there would be very good. The previous night, before I knew we would be going out, I had actually had a frozen Indian dish of mattar paneer so the fact that I could get a double dose was wonderful. Since that is usually my preferred dish I went with my second favorite which is simply mixed vegetables with potatoes in a curry sauce. So my friend Brandi got the mattar paneer which is peas and cheese cubes in sauce and her mom got palak paneer which is spinach and cheese cubes. Then the fun part of deciding the spice level arose. Brandi likes very little spice so I told her to get a 1 (the scale is 1-6) and her mom likes a little bit more but didn't quite know how much. I told her it's better to have too little than too much so she got a 2. I usually get a 4 but remembered last time it seemed like very little so I decided to bump it up one to a 5. We ordered some naan, bread, to go with it. We talked and ate, the food was absolutely delicious (of course) and I realized I should have gotten the 6. The 5 was really good, had a nice kick, but still needed more. So I really had a lot of fun, it was nice to get some authentic Indian food, catch up with my friend, and just relax. Brandi decided Indian food is pretty good as long as it's not too spicy while her mom decided it was good but prefered Thai food. I could really live off Indian food, I think it's the best on the planet. lol

The Day

I think I can honestly say today has been one of the best days I've had in a long time. I had lunch with my three cousins and had such a blast. They are absolutely the sweetest women you could ever imagine. There is always that slight worry that things might be awkward when first meeting new people, but we didn't have any of that. Sarah brought picture albums and I was able to look at a lot of pictures. We had lunch at Applebees and just talked, caught up on things that have been going on in our lives for the past 16 or so years. lol I really enjoyed myself and hope it is something we can all do again soon.

Then tonight, my mom was in the mood to go see a movie so we decided on a 7:00 showing of Eragon. We went and saw my Gramma first who was doing surprisingly well and then hit the movie. I thought it was really good, my mom also enjoyed it. Well we were getting up and heading out of the theatre room and mom asked if I wanted to see another one which surprised me because it was so late. I asked her what she meant exactly and she said, well we're already here, lets do another one! So Apocalypto was showing at 9:20, it was only a little after 9, so we hung around and then just walked into the next movie! My mom never does stuff like that so that was really fun. This movie, was awsome. There is nothing like seeing a bunch of fit, muscled, good looking guys, running around in loin cloths with their asses hanging out. So setting aside the hot lead actor and bare asses, the movie was really good. Id definitly recommend it...gotta say the piercings didn't really do it for me but the rest was oh so nice. lol

Vanishing

I watched you walk out the door.
Tried to hold your hand but it simply slipped away.
Tried to hold you in my arms but you were already gone.
Simply stood, dumbfounded that I lost you in so little time.
Suddenly I stand, alone and unsure,
Questioning my every move,
My own sanity.
Should I have fought harder to hold on?
Or was it simply time to let go?
I told you I wanted you and I did.
I told you I needed you and I did.
And now I’m losing you and feel powerless to change it.
I may travel down other paths,
But I will never forget my first path.
The one that brought me both pleasure and pain.
So my dear, I may have already lost you or you might have decided to wait for me just ahead.
Either way, know this,
I will catch up to you.
One day I will hold you in my arms once again and never let go.

Doing the Unthinkable

I have now done something I never thought I would do in my entire life. I am actually connecting with the other side of my family. I was raised by a single mother, haven't seen my father, Tom, since I was about 3 (latest), and never heard from any other family members. Then, just a few weeks ago my sister called me and said that my cousin, Sarah, was looking for me via myspace but couldn't find me so she contacted her. Quite honestly, the first thoughts that passed through my brain were not of joy and excitement that some member of my family was actually interested, it was of shock and caution, a "what does Tom want now??" kind of feeling. Frankly, I was rather worried because I could see no good coming from anyone in that family. From what Ariel (my sister) told me, she seemed genuine and I decided to give it a go, meanwhile my mom cautions me about what Tom might be up to, I tell her not to worry because I already thought about that. :)

I did contact her through myspace and I must say, I have been truly surprised and really enjoying it. Sarah is married and expecting her first child. I did tell her some of my worries regarding the situation but she explained everything to me and said Tom knew nothing of our contact. She has been so incredibly sweet and I genuinely enjoy talking to her. I found out we even go to the same vet! How crazy is that?! I have probably passed her a few time because we are up there quite a bit with so many dogs and I wouldn't even know. lol So through her I also met her youngest sister who is just slightly older than me. Sarah has explained the family tree to me and even sent me a picture. I saw the first picture of Tom that I've seen since I was a little kid. Not quite what I imagined but I guess people can change a lot in about 15 years! So I told Sarah she could share our relationship with whomever she felt comfortable (mainly her parents and sisters) but that I would be very frank with her, I had no desire to be in contact with Tom. I don't think he'd want it anyways but I just wanted to put that out there to end any hopes or suspicions. So there it is, I never thought I would ever know any part of that family and yet here I am! I know I will eventually meet Sarah and her sisters, I would actually like to do that sooner rather than later, but I have to wonder if I will come face to face with Tom. Undoubtedly if our relationship stays open I know the rest of the family will be curious (at least based off what she's said) and then I will see him. I wonder what it will be like for us facing each other. Me, looking at a man that I have no respect for and have for almost 18 years referred to as just "Tom" and say hes really just a sperm donor; and with him having to stand there at look at his own flesh and blood that he has ignored for so long and missed out on so much. Will it be awkward or something mundane like a business meeting? eh for now I don't have to worry about it, I just wonder. I'm just happy to finally know something about the other side of my family!

Dinner and a Movie

After coming home from school, I was finally able to meet Bernt (sp?) from Germany (a friend of my moms). He brought with him the beautiful Lowchen boy Jonny. He's an international champion, tiny, blonde, and just a bundle of love. I enjoy both of their companies very much. :) So of course we had Thanksgiving, and my mom being the wonderful cook, made a fabulous dinner. There was me, mom, my sister Ariel, Malisa and her husband Tim, Bernt, and my Gramma Sharon from California. So we all ate a rediculous amount but it was delicious. We had the same thing today for dinner, I swear it's just as good and often better the second time around.

Today we went shopping at a jewlery store near my house. Bernt bought his wife a ring and my Gramma got herself a pair of diamond studs because she is finally deciding to pierce her ears! I got a friend of mine a small bracelet for her birthday and I got a medical bracelet that will have my medical problems engraved on the back. I have to wear something so if I ever have a problem, people will know what it is, and also the bracelet is stylish looking so I won't mind wearing it. Then this evening the four of us went out with another friend, Manish, to see the newest James Bond movie, Casino Royale. I loved it! The new Bond is absolutely gorgeous...well in my book anyway. My mom (even now) keeps saying, "What do you see in him? He's not that good looking. He can run but that's about it." I just tease her and say she is old so her tastes are different. I just say he is a well built, very athletic, downright hot dude with a killer British accent. I'm a sucker for accents...really am. So the movie had a lot of action in it, hot dude, and a reasonably attractive girl but I wouldn't say shes hot. Ooh, there was one instance where she was hot while wearing this gorgeous dress...see the movie and you'll definitly know what I'm talking about.

So I have wasted now 2 days having fun, I have not studied my arabic, I have not waxed my legs, and I still don't know when I'm getting together with my girlfriend Brandi to give her her birthday present, and I don't know when my partner, Jerah (from my arabic class) and I are getting together to work on our presentation. So another friend of mine wants to get together on Sunday but I had to tell him no until I know if Jerah and I are getting together. So, hopefully it will not take long with her or we can reschedule for a day closer to the presentation so I can have Sunday free to see my friend. I guess I just have to wait and see!

J

I am so glad it is finally time for Thanksgiving break! Thankfully my arabic class got canceled and I am able to go home early, although I do have to get up early to meet with my arabic partner to work on our skit. Oh well...

So my friend J and I were talking on the phone today, and I realized we actually do have things in common! lol He has this amazing skill to annoy the shit out of me simply by being him. Hes an underpaid workaholic, complains about his job but still goes in all hours of the night. It's things like that and his ability to twist anything I say into something perverted. I'd say we're on the same level there. :) So, setting aside our pervertedness and general pleasure in annoying the other person (well actually he annoys me more than i annoy him) we discovered we have some basic things in common. We both love to read. I'm not sure why this took me by such surprise, he didn't seem to be the type in my eyes, but he most definitly is, and we share a favorite author: Steven King. If you do not know who that is, you are seriously deprived and need to get to a library ASAP. So we actually talked about books for a while and I discovered he has hundreds at his place...literally. That and an awsome knife collection (yes if I were to have a collection that would be by item of choice) so I definitly want to go over and see these things. I told him I plan on raiding his book collection when he finally decides to take enough time off work so I could come over. My roommate was in as much shock as I was after realizing that he likes to read. She's never met him or officially talked to him but he manages to annoy her when she just hears my end of the conversations. lol He's the only one I know that can talk about chess, BDSM, books, sex, work, math, and politics all in one conversation. Definitly an interesting person to talk to, he knows just the things to say to properly annoy me and finds it amusing that I get so exasperated. I tell him hes lucky I don't see him very often or I'd be smacking him around. Thats usually the time for a perverted comment.

Jess (the roomie) asks why I even bother talking to him while she watches me sit on the phone wanting to strangle him, and the truth is that I don't really know. I think it's because he never does anything to me directly, it's something that affects him and him alone, yet it's still something stupid. Such as working 16 hour days, not eating enough, and then passing out at work, only to tell me this while laughing and asking if Im amused. Things like that which are stupid but have nothing to do with me. Im always guaranteed an interesting conversation and Im seeing more and more that he is very intelligent, but not so smart. (yes there is a difference, mainly girls will understand this) He can also dish out as much shit as I can, and we can both take it. I like a guy that can keep up with my sarcasm and quick temper and I think he definitly has me beat in the sarcasm department. lol So as annoyed as I can get, I genuinely enjoy our conversations. Hes up at all hours of the morning like I am and we've has some interesting chats. He's one more wild and crazy friend of mine that I often want to smack but still love talking to.

Soul Stealing

I have come to realize that arabic is taking over my very soul, whether I like it or not. My dreams aren't even safe from it anymore...

Last night, I attempted to get in bed early which I sort of did, 3:00 to be exact. Then, I couldn't even fall asleep. I sat there for 35 minutes while debating if I should just get up and do something until 4 or 5 when I could actually sleep but I was determined to sleep and then get up at a resonable hour, about 10. So I did get to sleep finally, and I did get up at 10 but of course felt exhausted cuz I haven't been getting up till 11 lately. I stayed up for a while, did a few things, still felt exhausted and decided to go back for a quick snooze. I was alseep for about a half hour and still managed to have a bizarre dream.

I dreamt that my mom and I were at some event and we were sitting at this big round table with a white table cloth on it. Next to us were 2 other girls, looked a little bit older than me, not by much, and the seats on our other side were empty. As I sat there looking around, I heard arabic and automatically zoned in on it. The girls next to us were having a conversation in arabic. I can't remember all that was being said but they were saying (I think) something about someone in their class. They were laughing and going at a pretty good speed. I figured they had to be at about my level, maybe one lower. So I sat there thinking I should be able to keep up with all of this but there was some vocabulary I didn't recognize so that made me think they might be one level above me...who knows. Then, of course, my mom had to look at me and kind of nod towards them like I should jump in. Just about the time I was considering it, I woke up. So now, my dreams aren't even in english. I listen to arabic music, talk in arabic, hell I sometimes even think in arabic, and now...I have to freakin dream in arabic! Is nothing safe from it?? lol So this language has taken over my mind and soul, its sad...and yet I still continue to learn it. I told my mom about it this morning and she said it was probably a good sign because it shows my brain is still working on it, even if the thought is rather terrifying. So terrifying or not, it slowly takes over, next thing I know Im going to be putting random arabic words in my every day speech with people...oh wait, I already do that too!!! ARGH!!!!!

Dumb ID!

So yesterday (yes technically yesterday since its 2am now) I managed to act like a complete moron. I have a half hour between my arabic class and my next class so I usually go get food and then go to class. So I go over, get my food, swipe my card and then walked over to a table so I could pack up my crap and take it back to the dorm. I was talking with another friend of mine as I did so and we walked out. I took a couple steps outside, reached in my back pocket where I typically keep my ID and realized it wasn't there. So I swore and told him I'd be right back, I must have left my ID on the table. I go back in and look on the table but it wasn't there. I recalled the girl had handed it back to me after she swiped it but I couldn't find it anywhere. It wasn't on the floor or under any trays or napkins. I was standing there thinking, oh shit what do I do now?

So I went back to my dorm. This is particularly irritating about not having your ID because not only can you not use your meal plan but you can't get into your fucking dorm unless you follow someone else that has theirs and can open the door. So I was on the phone, waited for a couple minutes before another girl came along and followed her in the building. So since my ID was gone, anyone could use my meal plan or get into the dorm or make charges, whatever the heck they wanted. So I did the most logical thing I could think of. I right away called the BuckID office and froze the card. It becomes completely useless, can't use any money or meal swipes on it and you can't get into the building. So I said a prayer that someone would find it so I wouldn't have to go through the hassle of getting another one. I came back from my last class at about 6:30 and felt exhausted so I told my roomie I was gonna take a quick nap. Of course I couldn't fall asleep so I was really just laying there when my phone started ringing. I picked it up and this guy asked if I was Leah Bennett. I told him yeah and he said he thought he found my ID. I was so relieved. He then said he could bring it over in like 5 minutes, he'd come to my dorm. So my rommate and neighbor wanted to go to CVS so I said we should all go since I was going down anyways. I went downstairs, started to walk out the door and I pass this guy who is just standing there looking somewhat lost. I thought that might be my guy but I couldn't tell. As I passed by him I saw him hold up my ID and look at my picture so I right away whirled around and said hey, thats me! He laughed and said he thought it was me but wasn't quite sure. My hair is a lot longer now than it was in that picture. So I said thanks and how relieved I was. He said that his roommate must have found it cuz he walked into his room and he saw it sitting on his roommate's desk. So he must have looked me up via facebook to get my cell number. Thank God for facebook! It's great for wasting time and the occasional good deed. So now the only problem is that I have to get it reactivated.

I called the BuckID office again and said I had found the card and asked how I could reactivate it. They told me that I have go to their office (across campus) and bring it and another photo idea with me. I said that I don't have another photo ID, that IS my photo ID. So she gives the genius response of "oh just bring your liscence or anything else like that with a picture". I once again told her I don't have another ID, I can't drive. She just said "oh" and told me to check the website and there might be something else I could use but she wasn't exactly sure. So later on I called the office again and luckily got a different person. I asked him the same question to which I got the same response. I said that I had my social security card and could I use that instead. He said no, I need the picture. "What if I don't have another picture ID?" I asked. He couldn't tell me anything besides, well you need a picture. So I'm going to go over there tomorrow with my social card and hopefully be able to get away with it if I tell them I can't drive. I figure if that doesn't work then I'll go into bitchy mood and lie saying that I had contacted the office and I was told I could use this instead and did I need to talk to a supervisor?! Usually when you start acting real indignant and forceful and especially when you threaten to get their manager involved in something this petty, you can get what you want. It could be slightly risky but it just might work. Otherwise I can't use it until this weekend when I go home and can bring back my freaking passport. I will be seriously pissed off if I have to do that and I will make sure they know that. So hopefully I can work this out when I go in there in the morning (well later this morning, w/e!).

Oh last random note: Britney Spears is finally divorcing that dumbass husband, Kevin Federline!! I saw that today and was like, about time! I feel bad that she actually married him and gave him 2 kids, both with his last name. But better late than never I guess!

Pet Peeves

Since I have been kept up through random hours of the night I'm a bit irritated and felt like writing a blog on my pet peeves. Somtimes it's kinda funny to actually sit down and think about these things because you can learn the funniest things...

-I hate to be called Lee...my name is not Lee. I can forgive for Lee-ah because thats how it's written over here but in fact my name is Lay-ah with European pronunciation...yes like Star Wars, I've heard that one a lot too, that joke is beyond ancient.
-I hate when people don't return crap on time. A family friend has had some of our movies for almost a year and STILL has not returned them. That is rediculous and a good enough excuse in my book to go for blood. Guarantee I could get them back real fast...
-I hate when my neighbors steal crap from my home garden. They find plenty of their things missing afterwards...and they will continue to find that for a while.
-I hate when people misuse the words "their" and "they're" or "its" and "it's".
-I hate poor grammar and poor english. "Ain't" is not a word, neither is "warsh" or my very favorite that just kills me..."axe" instead of "ask". Why?!?!
-I hate when I'm in the car and people leave their turn signal on after they've already turned. My mom will somtimes do this just to annoy me and everytime I feel horribly embarassed to be in the same car. I always make fun of people that do that and to be on the other end is just too much for me.
-I hate when people leave caps off pens. I'm not sure why this one is but I'm always walking around my house putting caps back on. That's why I love the click pens...no more cap, just click!
-I hate when random lights or tvs/radios are left on when noone is there. It's a waste.
-I hate bad fashion. IE: clothes that are waaaay too small for the person wearing them, socks with sandals, white socks with nice black pants, clashing color combos, or pairing 2 different prints and expecting them too mach no matter how bizarre they both are.

My biggest pet peeve however, is when people are late! That just sends me off the deep end. I absolutely hate to be late and if it's just me, I'm never late. It's when I have to start relying on other people to get me somewhere or I have to wait for them before I can leave, and then I become late. On my own though, I'm never late. If I feel that for some bizarre reason I would be, then I always call the person and say I'm runnning about 10 minutes late. I'd never be later than that unless some freak accident were to occur. I also expect when people tell me that they will be somewhere at a certain time that they will be there. Don't tell me one time, make me have everything together, and then decide the timing isn't good for you and that you're just going to push it back till it's conveniant for you. I had a friend do that to me this morning which is why I'm going on about it. I left something at his place and he told me he'd bring it to me this morning at 6 before he had to go to work. So, I get myself out of bed at 5:45 after less than 4 hours of sleep so that I can get dressed and meet him downstairs. I wait till about 6:10 (an eternity to me) and then call him asking where he is. He says hes sick and in bed but he'll still come and call me when he's on his way. Lovely. I wanted to scream over the phone but I was very good, although I'm sure I didn't mask my irritation very well. So I came back upstairs and just had to wait till it was conveniant for him to bother showing up. I went back to sleep for an hour, got a call saying he was on his way (big whoop), and then about 20 minutes later I got another call saying he was finally outside. So after almost an hour and a half from the scheduled time he finally showed up. The only reason I didn't blast him to kingdom come was because he was sick and I decided to show a little mercy. Had he not been sick, I would have been on him like white on rice. Nobody keeps me waiting for that long. The longest I wait is 15 minutes, then I call the person and inform them that I am leaving and they better catch up fast (assuming we're going somewhere) or I just tell them to forget about it and reschedule. However, seeing as my friend had something very valuable of mine I just had to smile and say thank you for finally coming. Don't keep me waiting...ever. I don't like it, it is my biggest pet peeve and I will not let you live that down for a while. I'd just keep reminding you, "don't be late like last time!!" It can get annoying real fast but it sticks with people. I don't make people wait so I expect that they won't keep me waiting. So there's my list...I'm sure there are more but those are the biggest ones that come to mind at this point...

Boredom

I am only writing this right now because I am so incredibly bored. So be warned...it will all be pointless and random rambling. So...what to write... I am preparing for my exams. I have arabic oral next week, the written part the week after and that same week I have my international studies midterm. So Im getting my outline together for that one and Im already working on my second sheet of paper (front and back). I'm essentially going to have a 4 page outline when I'm finished...lovely. Thats gonna be a bitch to write in the exam, there are 5 essays like this. So I got ragged on about doing work this late on a Friday night. What else am I going to do though? Might as well be mildly productive...

So I watched the show "House" with Jess and Toast. It was a good one...next week's looks even better. It is one of my favorite shows and I watch it every week that I can. Im going on 4 hours of sleep, I feel exhausted and yet have no desire to go to bed. I hardly ever go to bed before 2 (though the other night I managed to get in bed early...well for me anyway: 1:30) but now Im wondering if I get a shower and then just lay there in bed till after 2 when I can finally drift off. Then I think, nah I might as well stay up until Im absolutely, positively exhausted and then I'll sleep well. I visited a friend today, hes having some medical issues but it makes me happy that he knows he can count on me to be there for him. I am very good to my friends, I can be so incredibly pissed at one of them for quite some time but when it comes right down to it, if they need me...Im there, no questions asked. I may be perverted, sarcastic, and even at times somewhat mean, but I am always one that people can count on. I think this trust that I have with people is what makes it so easy for them to talk to me. They know I won't go blabbing all their secrets or rag on them endlessly for being stupid. Well...I do that to one of my friends regarding a certain subject but we are good friends and we put up with each others crap. lol

So now that I have wasted a sufficient amount of time, Im going to go and waste more time doing something else pointless...study, listen to music, play games online, who knows. Currently I'm listening to "Everything I Do" by Bryan Adams. It is one of my favorite songs of all time. To me, it is one of the sweetest love songs, it doesn't have to be all mushy to be great. It's just simple but powerful...I think anyways. I know people that absolutely hate it but as I always say...to each his own. Here is a link that you can hear it on: http://play.rhapsody.com/bryanadams/thebestofme/everythingidoidoforyou?didAutoplayBounce=true Hope you like it...if you don't...oh well!!

Giving Up

I have never considered myself a quitter. I have had many stressful situations and have always managed to pull through. However, I am at the end of my rope. I have been there once before and it was frightening. Well, apparently it wasn't that bad because Im right back there again. I hate my majors. I've realized over the past couple quarters that I have come to really HATE them. As in every day I wake up and wish I could simply sleep my days away without worrying about them. I can't stand arabic. I dread class, feel like a moron when I get in there, hate doing the homework, and would rather lose my arm than take the exams. Then poli sci I'm left falling asleep, getting theories confused, and generally being bored. So now I sit with 2 majors that I hate learning and wondering why the hell I do it. Oh thats right...I like the idea of what I can do after college, the only problem being I can't seem to get out of college alive. I want an exciting job where I make good money and generally enjoy myself. I can't stand the thought of a desk job but it's lookin pretty damn good compared to what Im in currently.

I hate the thought of having to face people and say I'm no longer doing what I set out to do. I can just hear the snide remarks and snickers. Most of all I will never hear the end of it from my mother. I will constantly be reminded of what a failure I am and I don't know how I'll handle that. But it won't be the first time nor the last I dare say so I might as well save myself a little bit of sanity right? lol So now Im thinking I'll go back to my roots, the last language I really enjoyed and was good at: german. I really do like that language, I liked learning it, I liked speaking it. All of it...I loved it. Then I'd have to pair something with it so the best I can figure is international business. I want something international where I can work with lots of different people. My current majors would have allowed me to do that but if I drop them I need to have semi-decent replacements. So thats what Im thinking, german and international business. We'll see...first I just have to survive this quarter.

The Wedding

A good family friend just got married this evening. You might have read about her from some previous posts, Malisa, very sweet gal. The wedding was small, only about 13 of us. She had a sit down dinner and the food was positively fantastic. Started with the appetizers which were crab cakes or this other little cake with sausage, ham, cheese, and somethin else. Both were incredibly tasty and had their own little sause. Then the entree that I had was a vegetarian pasta dish with veggies in it. Also very tasty. :) Then we had champaigne with chocolate-dipped strawberries...oh if those weren't to die for... Then came the cake, and now comes the heart of the story:

My mom was the maid of honor so we went and picked up the cake. We were hoping it could just get delivered but there was some other big event they were attending to and mom agreed that we'd just pick it up. We made it home just fine. We got all of our stuff together and had to practically race out the door. The cake was absolutely beautiful. Small 3 tier white cake with these small pinkish flowers and green leafy stems. Just perfect really. We put it in the back of the jeep and were trying to gently go along. We pulled out on the highway and the cake was wobbling so we pulled over, I put it on a flatter spot and we headed out onto the freeway. I kept telling mom to go slow, don't make any sudden movements, just concentrate on the road. Well, she spent so much time looking over her shoulder at it that she wasn't watching the road as closely as she should have. As we were rounding the cut in the hill (all you Cincinnati folks will know right where this is) she suddenly stepped hard on the break and I watched as the cake went tumbling down. I screamed, "OH FUCK!!!" and proceeded to jump into the back seat and over to the very back of the jeep. Mom meanwhile started screaming as I told her that the cake just fell. Not 30 seconds before, she has asked me if I should maybe climb back there and sit with it. I said as long as she drove carefully it should be fine. Yeah, thats when it went tumbling. I told her that she should have been watching the road instead of the cake like I'd said. She said someone nearly cut her off which was why she had to somewhat slam on the breaks. Either way, the cake was ruined. In some vain attempt to salvage anything I peeled off the top layer and tried to keep the other 2 intact. It didn't really work. By time we got there it was a complete and utter disaster. Mom called Malisa and was bawling her eyes out saying her gorgeous cake was ruined, and we didn't even have pictures of it. The people at the reception place said they'd see if they could salvage it, I told them there was no hope other than to just cut it up and make the slices look pretty. They did just that so at least the presentation was nice, and the taste was divine. Malisa said she didn't really mind as long as it tasted good, Mom still hasn't fogiven herself. I told her it's past, just let it go, but she kept mentioning it throughout the night (which drove me insane) and even now at home shes so upset. I can totally understand, Im upset as well, but theres nothing we can do about it so we might as well let it go and move on.

Overall, the night was nice. Mom and I got our makeup done at the mall before we went so we both looked very nice. I wore a black and white dress that went just past my knees. It has a very low V-neck so it shows off "the grand canyon" and my mother so lovingly puts it. lol Add some sheer black tights, black heels, and fake diamonds (except my ring which is most definitly real) and I was good to go! I curled my hair some then pinned half of it on my head so the curls hung down. I felt very pretty. :) When we had first arrived, I was sitting in the back of the jeep, icing/cake all over my hands, arms, and clothes (luckily I wasn't in my dress yet) so I went into the kitchen to wash up. There was a guy back there who started talking to me and walked me out front, I couldn't tell if he thought I worked there or was delivering something, have no idea but he walked with me out front where I found another girl who directed me to the room Malisa was in. I helped set the rest of the stuff up then changed into my dress. The wedding was supposed to start at 6, but hardly anyone was there so we decided to wait until 6:30 for the sake of those stuck in traffic. More people did turn up so that was good. I walked around downstairs in the main area for a while in case I saw more people wandering around looking lost. The same guy I had seen in the kitchen was then working the bar and asked if I would like anything, I told him no, I was just looking for stragglers. He laughed and I went back upstairs where we had the wedding and dinner.

After dinner and most of the people had left, Malisa, mom, my sister Ariel, and I all started to clean up. Malisa's new husband, Tim, went out to a movie with some of his friends. He was drunk, of course, but we were there to help Malisa so it was like, oh well. Afterwards we decided the 4 of us were going to go to the bar for a drink. In the dress I was wearing, no one in their right mind would guess Im only 17. So we had cranberry juice and vanilla vodka. It tastes exactly like a cherry cheesecake...it was divine! The same guy was at the bar still tending it and right away took our drink orders. He didn't card me and mom later told me that she thought he was going to so asked him where the bathroom was and that took his mind off it...smart woman. :) So we all sat around with our drinks, talking and laughing. Somehow we got a magic 8 ball and were asking random questions. The guy came over and said we could only use it if we asked the questions out loud. I told him that we had been and he just wasn't listening. We joked about that for a while and made small talk. Later as I was playing with it he said he was like a mind reader or something and knew what the ball would say. So I joked back saying he had to come up with a question, say the answer, and I would ask the 8 ball if he was right. He asked about a drink he was going to have later that night and the ball said, don't count on it, so I told him he was confused and pretty bad with his predictions. He laughed and gave me a funny look to which I returned a bizarre one. We both laughed and he continued down the bar. Then Mom, Malisa, and Ariel were all just sitting there staring at me. One of them asked (maybe mom?), "Where you just flirting with the bartender?!" I laughed and said no, we were joking about the 8-ball. So I don't know, maybe we were, whatever. He looked about early to mid 20s, not too shabby. I did notice that he got off work, hung around the bar for a while, disappeared (I assumed he went home) and then as we were leaving and walking back to Malisa's car, I saw him walking towards his. I saw him start it up and we helped Malisa with her dress, the flowers, gave out farewell hugs, all that jazz and I assumed he would have been long gone. Then, as Malisa was starting her car up and we were walking away, I saw him drive by, looking at us and pull onto the highway. But I thought, hey why wouldn't he look? 4 attractive women all dolled up and no guy in sight, hell I'd be looking if I were a guy too! So that was the wedding, the cake was a major setback but the rest was fabulous. Malisa looked gorgeous, I had quite a few guys staring at me (my sister didn't do too shabby either) and my mom looked great in her purple flowy dress that had this small train. Great food, great company, great drinks, all was well!

Pigeons and Goats

So once again I fell asleep in international studies class... I have yet to stay fully awake during one of them. I had my ipod on for a little while...fell asleep, then woke up and turned it off. According to the guy next to me the teacher had gotten irritated and said he was going to take a random attendence since so many people were falling asleep. It happens every week, Im surprised hes just now catching on...lol So I woke up, had nearly an hour left of class and needed to do something. So I decided to write my weekly arabic story. I have a lot of fun doing those because they can say anything and don't have to make much sense. So this week I wrote about a pigeon. I never sit down with any idea, I open my book, look at the first random word that looks interesting, a build a story from there, just totally random vocab words put into some semblance of a story. Anyways! This one was about a pigeon that I stole and tied in brown string. I brought it back with me and taught it to paint wood. It became very good and I opened a gallery, showcasing it's work. Many people came to admire the work and I was pleased with the pigeon. However, I soon after abandoned the pigeon to persue a blonde goat that could fix tambourines and play the flute. That was my story, no real rhyme or reason to it, just there for entertainment. Shows just how bored I was...lol

So, I have been doing some thinking...yes I do that occasionally...scary I know. :P A few things were said to me regarding my character or personality so I thought about those things for a bit. I was told that I am rigid and everything is either yes or no with me. Typically, this is true. I do have a few things where there are grey areas, but those are few and far between. I like being black/white. I typically think I am an easy person to read, you'll know when I'm happy or when I'm angry. While some see this as an extreme, I see it as an advantage. You will never have to question where I stand on something because it will always be right there. Yes or No, good or bad. Trying is good, but some things are better left to rest. I don't think I have ever been one to make a drastic decision either. It is obvious when I am unhappy and I would only turn drastic if there was no other way to get through to someone. Usually I try to be nice and patient, but as anyone can tell you, I am not a very patient person for long. I admit, I am not one for having serious sit down conversations about things that bother me. I try to let the person know but I hate having to spell anything out. Maybe thats my lack of patience coming into play again. I do try to bend and be flexible with other people, but I do have my limits.

I am very independent, that will never change. I do not need anyone and I pride myself on that. I was raised by a single mother so it has been ingrained in my very soul that need to be self-sufficient and independent. So, with that attitude, I hate to feel needed. I want to feel wanted, but not needed. There is a difference. I've been told by some that I am a bit of an odd girl because I am not overly affectionate, at least not usually. When I am at home, I am much more relaxed, much happier to cuddle on the couch with my significant other and be ms. lovey dovey. However, when I am in public, I am a very different person. The most anyone would ordinarily see from me would be the occasional hug or maybe holding hands. I don't typically like to be touched, or kissed, or really even giving me sappy looks. I know, thats strange coming from a girl but thats just one of my odd little quirks. I've never liked those things and seriously doubt I ever would. I don't need to be told I am appreciated, or how wonderful I am, or how much I am loved. I don't need that. I am just as happy with a "hey, whats up? just thinking about you" message as I am with 10 sappy ones. It lets me know that my guy is thinking about me, but nothing more. If I don't hear from him, I assume he is busy. I may drop him a note or I may just let it go till he has time. I don't get worried if I don't hear from the person, I just talk to them when we're not running around with a billion things to do. I understand cramped schedules...I have one too. lol So yes, I do have my faults the same as anyone else. I am sometimes aggressive, I am not very patient, I am very easily irritated, I have a tendency to lash out when I am irritated so I try to bottle everything inside, often making me seem indifferent or moody. I am sometimes distant, shutting those out that are really just trying to help. I guess I could even say that at times I am overconfident. I plow forward without thinking about what or who is in my path. I have an agenda and nothing stands in my way. If it does, I get rid of it. So I know I have hurt some people by doing that. I try not to because it is usually the people I care about most. I am getting better but still not perfect. So theres the good, the bad, and the ugly. Yes I have my faults, I admit to that, but those are what make me who I am. For some, I am too much, for others, I'm not enough. So, I'm sorry to those who may have been hurt by me at some point, but this is just who I am and how I operate. I work on my faults but embrace those things which I consider to be strong and make me who I am. So now, all can understand just where I stand. No more questions, it's pretty cut and dry...or black and white as I prefer.

No Return

When is that point of no return?
When does one let go
Never to renew again?
A clap of thunder,
A flash of light,
A fist that comes flying through the night.
A somber gaze out through the window
Tells of things unseen.
Voices whisper oh so softly,
Who are you to have these dreams?
Why sit and sorrow and self despair
Rather than get up to show you care.
Resist the inner feelings to shout
Resist those inner feelings to just lash out.
When these things come,
Walk away.
Never to return to this very day.

The Uneventful Events

Well today has been non-stop mundane action. I was awakened this morning by Ziggy's howling. He is just beside himself because Daisy, Rosie, and Pia are all in season together. It doesn't help that Ziggy, Rosie, and Daisy all sleep out in the sun room together. He just goes on and on because he can smell them and still can't have them. So I woke up to that and hes been doing it all day long. We just have to alternate between him and the girls as to who can come out and play.

So after having gotten up, Mom and I went to visit my grandmother and take her clean laundry over. She recognized me but couldn't remember my name. Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't. oh well... Then we went to Rookwood so we could pick up some things from Wild Oats. (that place is amazing if you've never been there, its a food place) Then we couldn't get everything we needed there so right before we went home we stopped at Kroger and bought the last few grocery items. I said I'd wait in the car while mom shopped, it shouldn't take long. As I was sitting there listening to music I started to faid in and out of sleep. Suddenly I went into one of my beloved absence seisures while thinking oh shit, I didn't take my meds this morning. Bloody perfect... Then I guess I fell asleep again or was just totally out of it. When I came to, there was a different song on the radio, and I was sitting there thinking it had been a long time for mom to be gone. Of course when I have one of these, my sense of time gets totally screwed. Then as I was sitting there thinking what the heck, how long have I been out of it... my mom opens the door. I felt another one coming and at first tried to fight it. Then I realized there was no point, when I got to that stage, it would only make it worse for me to delay it. So instead I relaxed and let myself go. I could feel my head fall over to the side and hear my mom's voice droning in the background, but I didn't have much else. I tend to forget where I am during these, its like part of my brain was saying, you're right near your house, not 2 minutes away. Yet I couldn't have told you exactly where I was had I been asked. This one was relatively short, less than a minute. When I came back fully it felt like I had been gone for a long time. My mom looked at me and asked what happened, I said seisure and she just shook her head. Interestingly enough, I had the same thing last night. What was strange about it though was that I wasn't sure if I had actually had one or if I was dreaming. I had started to fall asleep and thats when it started. So when I "woke up" I didn't know if it had actually happened or not. It wasn't until I felt my heart pounding in my chest and this piercing ringing in my head that I knew I'd actually had one. Didn't occur to me today until I had that one in the parking lot. Thing that really sucks with these, is that I get a horrible headache afterwards. It's not the usual one where you take a tylenol and you're fine. No, this feels like someone just bashed my head a few times with a board, and no amount of tylenol helps that. I've tried, doesn't help. I took a nap to relieve some of the pressure but of course Ive had it the entire day. Thats what I get for forgetting my pill! Stupid me...oh well, won't be doing that again!

My mom's birthday was on the 4th so today me, my sister, our friend Malisa, and mom had dinner together. We joked about a lot of things, mainly men since Malisa is now engaged. It was a lot of fun, even with my splitting headache and the paper which I have yet to finish calling my name. lol My highlight of the day however, was discovering that I have more fish babies! I was standing by my tank and noticed 3 new babies caught between the glass and the small box I have in there for the first group. I already have 10 babies which I think are Swordtails. They're kept in this mesh box so that they get the same water and filtration as the rest of the tank but the other fish can't get in and they can't get out. Prevents anyone from getting eaten. :) So I got my net and caught the 3, putting them in with the other babies. Thats when I really started looking all over the tank for the others. I caught 11, I know there are 2 more which are being buggers and I can't seem to catch just yet. I've only found 2 bodies so far, but who knows how many have died whose bodies I didn't find. So Im going to have a lot of fish when these guys are all grown. I'm going to have to find homes for most of them, a 10 gallon can only support so many. I have one request in, Im sure I can find others that would be interested in a few. For now though they are too small to go anywhere else.

Longing

How do I tell you

What I felt the first time we spoke.

Hearing your voice for the first time

Made me realize there was something more.

I could feel it like the rays of the sun

Warm and comforting.

How do I tell you

What I felt the first time we met.

How our eyes locked and I knew

There was no turning back.

How I could take all of you in

And see that confidence radiating forth.

The confidence which I so much desire.

How do I tell you

What I felt the first time we touched.

Feeling your hand gently squeeze mine.

Feeling your arm around me.

Or feeling your hand brush through my hair.

How can I possibly explain these feelings to you?

How can I possibly explain what I feel just thinking about you.

How I long to hear from you

Long to touch you

Long to comfort you and hold you tight

Long to say that you are mine.

A Rare Find

The weeks seem long without you,
Without your touch, without your kiss.
Your arms surround me, protection against the outside world.
It is with you that I can relax,
It is with you that I am free to be myself.
A person without bias or judgement is a rare find,
And yet I have managed.
I have found you.
You do not judge me,
I do not judge you.
It is all blissfully simple.
There is affection without complication,
Devotion without irritation.
You are my light at the end of a long week,
A comforter when I feel down,
A protector when I feel overwhelmed,
A lover when I need that gentle touch to keep going.
Thank you for being there because I know,
I can count on you and you can count on me.

Jackass 2

I sometimes wonder about the situations I get myself into. It's like reliving high school right now, everyone is coming to me with their problems. Yes I am a good with listening to people, but sometimes I just want to tell them to shut up and deal with it. However, I do try to be decent so I patiently hear them out then try to gently tell them how to handle it. Sometimes they take my advice, sometimes they don't...it's really up to them.

For some reason I feel overwhelmed right now, like something bad is heading straight towards me and I won't even see it 'till it's right on top of me. I can't place what it is, but it's not going to be good. Sometimes it's something small like a bad hair day, or I make a fool of myself in class, othertimes it's more serious for me, I get in a fight with a friend, or I feel someone else has taken advantage of me. I usually have to hope for the best but expect the worse. My roommate is gone for the weekend and all these people are calling me, "Leah lets do this!" "Leah, can you help with that?" "Leah I need to talk to you!" "Leah will you go galavanting god knows where with me!" When did I get so popular? lol So I guess I just needed to whine a little bit, get a few things off my chest. On to happier things!

I saw the movie Jackass 2 with my neighbor last night. (kinda this morning? w/e) He managed to convince me to go see it, seeing as I have a twisted mind and usually understand and am amused my guy humour. I think my IQ dropped 20 points but it was so funny. Some parts were down right disgusting but most of it was so hilarious I just couldn't imagine sane people doing those stunts. If anyone is up for a good laugh that requires no thought process, thats the movie to see. So after that and some coffee to keep me up all hours of the night, we headed back. Im still awake at quarter till 4 am. I was bored so I cleaned the sink in our bathroom...it needed done. So now Im thinking I should get my shower and that might relax me enough to actually sleep. I can hope right? :)

Juciness

Ok, you will probably remember a while back when I had a post sort of griping about someone, it was all metaphorical but now Im going to let you in on the juciness of the real story. Of course I will protect the identity of the idiot that inspired that piece of work. Why? Im not sure...guess Im trying to be civil. lol

Ok, essentially what happened is that we started off as friends, he was helping me with something. So we started to develop into something more and then he all the sudden he quit talking to me. I was like, ok fine, whatever. Then he contacted me again later in the summer and seemed like he was trying to rekindle whatever he thought we had. So at first it was like, ok this might be fun, whatever. Then, at the end he told me he was just joking and he was actually interested in some other girl. Well of course that really pissed me off. It wasn't the fact that he was interested in someone else, I don't expect every guy to fall all over me. What actually peeved me was that he was leading me on only to say he was actually interested in someone else. Don't lead me on if you're not interested. Is that really too much to ask? Ok, well that cemented in my mind that he was an asshole and I was going to get revenge.

Now, anyone that knows me will tell you I am a VERY bad person to piss off. Its just not smart. It's one thing to irritate me, I can get over that, but if you really piss me off then look out, all hell will come crashing down on you. So, I began plotting and knew how I was going to work it. Well, I heard through the grapevine who this other girl was. It turns out that this "other girl" happens to be a very good friend of mine!!! OMFG!! I don't think he knows that we go to church together, took arabic together, and worked together for some time. Maybe that just slipped his mind...hes stupid enough to do something like that. So he has turned into a total stalker on this poor girl, always calling her, sending her sappy messages, showing up at her dorm...the whole 9 yards. I thought, oh thank god I didn't get him, Id be suicidal or just ready to kill him. Well, shes really not interested in him since hes turned freaky on her and had to shove him out of her room, lock her door, and then later have another girl make sure he was gone. He then proceeded to call her on her phone and profess his love to her. Needless to say, shes freaked out, and he is a freak. SO, this sorry bastard has made a very big mistake because I know the "other girl" very well...I know him very well...and I can guarantee that I have enough dirt on him to make his life hell and make sure he'll never get another girl. Oh my god this just made my freakin year. So really, my work is done. I sent him a message saying that I knew and I was laughing. I didn't say what or how I knew, but I know he'll get it. So, once again, a stupid person has just made my day. Thank god he turned into an ass!! Now, not only is my respect for him gone, but he has been put in my "stupid category" which is the one I dip into when I'm sharing stories with people about how stupid some guys are or what idiotic things people do. So now, his story will go all over the place while we all sit and laugh at his expense...oh if he only knew! I would love if he read this, I should send him a message. lol Im evil like that... >:)

Rules by Abby Lee

Ok I took this off someone elses blog because its just so true. So, giving credit where credit is due: this was written by Abby Lee on June 20th 2006. Her blog is: girlwithaonetrackmind.blogspot.com Her blog is hilarious and I am a frequent visitor. So now that you know the true author, all is good! I think these rules need to be applied year round, not just during the summer, but they're good things for both girls and guys to keep in mind.

Rules for summer

Men:

1. Wash your armpits and wear anti-perspirant deodorant. Stinking out a tube carriage in summer does not make you a man; it makes you a selfish arsehole.
2. Wear a t-shirt. As much as I may like your bare chest to fondle whilst in bed, showing your nipples on the underground is too much even for me.
3. Don’t wear socks with sandals. Just don’t. Unless you plan on being celibate for ever, that is.
4. Trim your toenails, file the dead skin off your feet and use talc between your toes. Visible fungus on your feet is not attractive: if you want your toes sucked, you'd better make 'em more appealing.
5. Go commando under your trousers/shorts. As well as keeping you (and your potential baby-making sperm) cooler, you’ll also attract interested looks from women like me, eager to see the outline of your cock beneath. You may even get chatted up as a result.

Women:

1. Limit the amount of perfume you wear. Stinking out a tube carriage in summer is selfish. A clean body smells much nicer than one doused in artificial chemicals.
2. Wear a properly sized and fitted bra. Flesh bulging out over the sides and top or nipples pointed down to the floor, is not a good look, believe me.
3. Don’t wear socks with sandals, like some sad fashion victim from the 1980s. That decade is over – and for a good reason too: Thatcherism, day-glo, yuppies – I rest my case.
4. Chipped toenail polish looks foul. Either touch it up, or wear none. And don’t be shy of using the pumice stone: it is your friend.
5. Lose the thong poking out of your hipster trousers: a builder’s bum is always unattractive – even if your pants are lacy. And if you’re going to wear a skin-tight skirt, ditch the knickers altogether: better to go commando and show off your arse, than have thick seams digging into your curves. Plus, it makes for easier access, should you decide (with any luck) to sit on some nice boy’s hand.

Night of Spiders

Ok, I admit it, i hate spiders. Typically I am not the girlie girl type that jumps and screams or whatnot. Usually, Im like, oh its a spider, thats gross, kill it. Tonight however, I had perhaps my most "girlie" night in regards to them. It's just after 1 am and Im letting the dogs out for that last time, right? I open the back door to let the first 3 out, then I turn back to call the other. I turn around to open the door, and there, right in front of me, is this positively gigantic spider web. I mean HUGE. Picture the average sized door, you know a back door, picture the height and width, k got it? Now, this thing was stretched across the entire door frame, and it was almost half way down the door. That is the biggest web I have ever seen, and it was still in the process of being made so it was still in perfect condition and getting bigger. Well, when I suddenly whipped around and saw that, I did the jump and squeal, and felt every hair on my body stand straight up. No lie, that was an awful experience. Of course my mom is already asleep so Im trying to be quiet while thinking, oh my god, what do i do?? I was just glad that it was late and the dogs would come in of their own accord cuz they would want to go back to sleep. Had it been during the morning or something when they like to go out and play and don't always like to come in when called, I would have left them. There would be no way in heck id try to get around that thing. The spider was about the size of a quarter, that was with its legs all cramped together when it was just sitting still. Once it got moving again and its legs stretched out, it was even bigger. I still get goosebumps as I write this. It is positively disgusting. I even put a note on the door for my mom so that when she gets up in the early morning with the dogs, she won't mistakingly walk out there and straight into the web. Im hoping its destroyed by morning...

But wait, theres more! As if that wasn't enough...I then took Pia outside to the front yard so she can go pee. Mom told me she had taken a dump earlier but didn't pick it up so I'd have to watch for it. So, I took her out, found the pile, moved the cage around it and put Pia down. Then I grabbed the scoop and the bag and bent down to pick it up. I put one foot in the grass and felt something on my foot, I thought it was just grass and I look down. It definitly wasn't grass...just take a guess as to what it actually was...I think you'll get it. If you guessed another spider, you are correct! There on my foot was a nice furry looking brown spider. So girlie moment number 2 came, I squeeled, jumped in the air while shaking my foot, and in the process dropped the flashlight. Poor Pia was looking at me like I was crazy. I then took several steps back till I could see it then stomped on it. I came back in, my mom was awake, and I told her Id had 2 run-ins with spiders. She got this look of both terror and disgust on her face and said she was glad she wasn't out there cuz her vision isnt that hot without her contacts. That web would have been awful to suddenly walk in to. So theres my lovely night so far...Im like paranoid now that Im going to find another one or something. *shudder*

Beware of the Stackers

Yeah I just realized I never posted the results for the dog show...blonde moment! Daisy did finish so she is now a champion. I had to go to the superintendant to make sure I had tallied the points correctly, I had so she was moved up a class. I got to take my picture with her and the judge. That was a nightmare in and of itself. Daisy would not stack for the world. I would get her in a semi-acceptable stand and then the photographer would say her front foot was off by like a quarter inch. So Id try to move her one foot and then she would just jump right out of position. It took us like 15 minutes for two shots. Even the judge was trying to help me stack her but Daisy just wasn't going to do it. Im standing there thinking, Im just going to kill her. It was so irritating I can't begin to describe. When we finally got the first shot it was a whole other battle to get her stacked again for the second shot. Once we did that though the photographer said he thought the second one would be a really nice one. We should get the picture in another couple weeks or so. Ziggy did very nicely as well, any dog needs 15 points to become a champion, and within those, there needs to be at least 2 majors. A dog can have 50 points but if he hasn't received 2 majors (meaning he beats X number of dogs for his breed) then he is not awarded his championship. Ziggy already has one major, over those 4 days he cleaned up the rest of his points. He now has 14 or 15 but lacks one major. We should be going to another dog show relatively soon so hopefully we can finish him, all it takes is one day and then we don't have to worry about him and we can focus on our girls.

I had the dogs out this afternoon on stackers on the grooming table. The grooming table and the show tables at a show are about the same size. My mom got the stackers so we could work with them on proper stand positions on the table. All they are is a metal X kind of base with 4 little stands for their feet that you can slide on the X to the desired position. The dogs didn't seem to like it too much mainly because they have no room to move, they move and they fall off. So Daisy and Rosie did not like that at all, Ziggy didn't like it but did better than the other 2, Liesl was very good with it. Granted, it took her a couple times but then she stood very nicely and didn't move. Now Jo, that was an utter disaster. Shes already a champion and has been out of the ring for a few years. We want to get her back in though so we can create a major, mainly for Ziggy. So I thought we might as well work on stacking since that is usually the hardest thing for our dogs. She would not do it, I couldn't even get her to keep her feet on the stackers, she would just jump off. So I had to attempt to hold her back feet on the stackers while adjusting her front feet. After several attempts with that she stayed on them but crouched all the way down and was terrified to stand up. So after anoth half dozen trys of trying to get her on them AND stand her up, she finally did. I sweet talked her while I gave her the inspection that a judge would do. She stayed the whole time so then I took her down, lavished her with praise and gave her a treat. She took it and ran inside. lol So I think if mom or me does this with all of them, just once a day, by time the next show rolls around they should be able to stack beautifully on the table, and whats more important, they'll stay that way. Walking Ill work on once I know when the show will be. They're usually pretty easy to flip into that mode. So theres the fascinating part of the afternoon, I don't thinking cleaning really counts. Daisy is sleeping in the little bed by me, upside down...shes annoying as heck sometimes, but still sweet.

Dog Show: Rain or Shine! ...Make that Rain.

Well I went to a dog show today with a friend and her fiance. It was in Lexington, about an hour away from my house. I found out at 7:15 in the morning, while it was pouring down rain, that this was going to be an outside show. I HATE outdoor shows with a passion. The last one my mom and I were at, it was also pouring down rain, cold and muddy. Very similar to today's situation only that one was worse. So once again, in my long skirt and sandals, I load Daisy, Rosie, and Ziggy into the back of their SUV and we head out. I sleep most of the way down. Something about 3 and a half hours of sleep just didn't do it for me... We got there and thankfully, the rain had stopped. We unload the dogs and take out the special trolly that my mom and I use for dog shows. It has 4 separate "cages" with a grooming table on top, the whole thing is on wheels so its very conveniant. Well, we were in ring 3 which is right in the middle of all the others. Since it was outside they have the main walkway that goes between the two sides of rings covered with this big tent thing. Most of the rings were out in the open but at least the waiting area was covered.

So the 3 of us head over towards our ring and seek shelter under the tent. Then we see a sign that says no crates can be brought in. Usually that is just so people don't leave their dogs unattended. I hate people that do that, their show ends so they just leave their dog in its crate by the ring and walk away. Then that stupid dog barks and whines bloody murder, distracting all the other dogs in the ring. So, I figured we weren't going to be long and we were right there so I said to just bring it in, we'd deal with the people later. I had to go pick up the arm bands and write which one belonged with which dog. When I came back, Melessa told me that the chief fire guy or whomever told her that it was like a fire hazard or something. I thought that was strange since we're in the great outdoors with every place to run to, but it was still a hazard...whatever. So, we had to attempt to wheel the trolly back out through all the mud and grass. We left it by the Eukanuba people who had a tent set up. I attempted to do some last minute grooming on the dogs though why Im not sure. It was so wet that their faces were wet and legs were wet so they weren't exactly in their prime element. I did what I could tho and we walked the dogs back to the ring. Then the true nightmare began. With only 3 people handling 4 dogs, its a pain in the ass. With the trolly, you open one cage, put in the current dog and take the next one out. Its a very smooth process and very quick because its organized. Leashes are already on and each dog has their specific box so theres no trying to find a single one amongst the masses. Yeah, we didn't get that this time. Instead, poor Tim (the fiance) had to deal with 2 dogs at once while we showed the other two in the ring. Then trying to switch armbands from dog to dog is a pain. I show 3 of them so I have 3 armbands on at once and I have to try and keep flipping the right one up. We'd finish one, Id have to leave the ring, attempt to hand Tim one dog while taking another at the same time. Hand him the ribbons, switch my armband, get the leash untangled, and walk back into the ring, all in a timely manner, aka: just over a minute. It was embarrassing with all these people sitting around, watching us carry on in a frenzy. The judge was very nice though and seemed to understand our frustration. We were hoping Daisy would get her last 2 points to make her a champion but, surprisingly, Rosie beat her. That gives her 2 points and hopefully Daisy will finish tomorrow...we'll see!

Terrifying Cars and Children

This afternoon I decided to take two of my dogs, Jo and Daisy, on a walk. (Daisy is Jo's daughter) I took them at about 3:00 because thats when the school across from my house lets out. I figured this would be a good time to expose them to something new, cars and children. Josie was fine, shes a bit of a lagger but not too much bothers her. Daisy on the other hand, well she was down right terrifyed. The street I live on is fairly narrow, 2 lanes, but the distance between the sidewalk and the road is not that huge. So, everytime a car would go by Daisy would flip out. I had both of them on tight leads and so Daisy's head would be in about the same spot but her body would flail all over the place. This happened all the way up the street until we hit the highway in which theres a large distance between sidewalk and street. Then, she was perfectly fine, walking along, tail wagging as if nothing had happened. When we turned around and went back down my street Daisy started doing the same thing all over again. This time we had a new surprise: bikes. I would step to the side and wait in the grass while the kids went by, Josie would just stare at them like "Just don't come near me." while Daisy had to flip out yet again. "Oh my god, they're going to kill me!!!!" Eventually, after passing quite a few, she started to calm down but was still obviously nervous. Then, my worst fear occured...a huge group of young kids...a giant herd plodding along so nothing dared get in their way. Once again, I pulled over to the side and, to my surprise, the dogs were fine. Josie looked at them all with her tail wagging, Daisy stared but didn't try to jump away or do anything else stupid. Most of the kids just commented on how cute they were and kept walking. Then, two little girls (maybe 7?) stopped and asked to pet them. I said sure and was just about to add that Daisy is nervous so to be gentle/calm around her, but Daisy practically jumped in her lap. She was all excited, her tail was going a mile a minute, she was licking the girl all over and jumping up to her. Josie is much calmer than that but she too went right up to the girls with her tail wagging. I was speechless. Daisy, who was terrifyed of everything suddenly liked these girls. She is never around cars and bikes like that so I could understand her fears but she isn't around little kids either, so that was what surprised me. Once we were near home, the traffic had slowed and very few kids were left so Daisy did just fine then. I think I need to start taking the dogs for a walk around 3 and just let them get used to all the new things. I dread taking the puppies, Ziggy and Rosie. They were nervous when I had them on the highway and didn't like it if cars went by too fast. I can't imagine taking them right next to all the cars with kids screaming everywhere. I'll probably traumitize them, but thats whats going to happen tomorrow! Hopefully having both of them together will help but even with Josie's calmness, Daisy wasn't helped so I don't have much hope for the other two. I'll probably be embarassed as Im coaxing these two shivering, cowering puppies down the street, but hey, if it helps them, it's worth it.

So theres the major excitement of the day. Mom is out of town so it's just me and the 6 poochinas hangin out. Pia is not doing any better. She's still happy go-lucky but the diarrhea hasn't stopped. I was impressed that I had made it so long without a mess in the house, apparently I thought too soon. While I had gone upstairs to change for the walk, Pia started to cry but I thought it was just because she couldn't hear me. I was going to come down and let everyone out which I did. But then when I went back in the bedroom to get her this horrible smell came wafting out of the bathroom. I have to give it to her though, I think she has learned what exactly a bathroom is for and so if she has to go, she goes in there. As annoying as cleaning up crap is, Im glad she does it in there where its linoleum and I can clean it up faster and easier. But why make it that easy?! No, she has to walk in it with her one foot and proceed to track it through the bedroom. That means when I find it, I have to wash her foot off, clean the bathroom floor where she crapped, then get the mop and wash the rest of the bedroom floor where she might have walked! It's a pain in the ass really. We thought she would have been through with this by now but even the Vet is not sure why shes still having diarrhea. Lovely isn't it? *gag* So, she is spending some quality time in her crate till I decide to let her out again. As for the rest of the dogs, it's nap time, and relaxation time for me!

Gifts Galore!

Well, mom and I were supposed to go see my Grandmother yesterday afternoon. We got talking on something random and missed the turnpike. So then we're heading off in a completely opposite direction. Mom decided we should just head up to the mall again b/c it would take just as long to turn around as it would to continue onward. We went with the idea to buy clothes for the 3 young girls in Sweden. My mom has friends over there, Camilla and Anders. They have 3 little girls (I haven't met the daughters yet) named Emma, Eilien, and Erika. They love glitzy clothes and everything American because it's just different. So we went into Limited Too, a high fashion (and high priced) young kids shop. It was all the rage when I was in grade school and by the looks of it, it's still all the rage now. We got 3 tshirts that all have glittery, english things on it. They were cute and relatively inexpensive. We also got 2 dangly necklaces with glittery stars or hearts on it. The one girl, Emma maybe, has a birthday coming up in a couple months. We got her a cute black and white shirt with rhinestones on it. Its kind of long so its meant to be worn with like leggings. We then got her a set of white and black glitzy bangles to match. That was fun, I love shopping for other people, especially kids. The salesladies there were very nice but driving me crazy. Anytime I'd be browsing, one of them would have to come up and ask if I was finding everything or if I needed help. Id say thanks, Im ok. I'd move to another part of the store only to have another lady come up and ask if I was finding everything or needed help. I must have gotten asked that like 4 or 5 times. So, when we were ringing everything up we were told if we spent like 2 more dollars we could ger 25% off. So I got this little lipgloss set for 5 bucks. It has 4 little glosses in it, that way each can have one and they can fight over the last. :)

As we were walking down the aisles there was a kiosk standing there with all of these shawls and jewelry pieces. Well, my mom loves shawls and I love jewelry so naturally, we gravitated towards it. Mom found this gorgeous hand made, gold shawl. The guy that was helping us was actually an Indian guy from Bombay. He was very nice, he even let us take the shawl to see if it would match the dress mom had bought previously. Mom offered to leave her drivers liscence with him so he would know we would come back. He said no, that was fine, he trusted we would come back. Well, it didn't match but it was too nice to pass up so Mom bought it anyway. I found this silver bracelet/cuff type thing with rhinestones on it. I love diamonds but really I love anything sparkly and glitzy...much cheaper than diamonds. :) He told me it was 25 dollars but he would give it to me for 20. I said deal and we got our receipt and prepared to leave. He then stopped me and said he had something for me, a gift. He handed me this tiny ring with red beads on it. It's inexpensive but I thought the jesture was very sweet. I said thank you and he said it was his pleasure and he hoped we would come back to him in the future. Mom kept teasing me afterwards and said I could get anything with my boobs. lol I think maybe I should try this in some higher priced stores...maybe Id get something good. Im awful I know...

We then went to my Grandmothers place, she lives in a nursing home. When we got there she was sitting in her wheelchair in the central area. She was pulling herself around the room with this sort of distressed look on her face. Mom and I went up to her to ask how she was doing. She didn't seem to happy. I left to go hang up her clean laundry that we had just done and when I came back Mom was gone. I asked Gram where she was and she just said she had to go make a phone call. She then proceeded to pull herself down the small hall towards the door. I asked where she was going. She said she had to go get her bills payed, they might be late otherwise. (She hasn't payed bills in years, my mom has been doing that because Gram's mind really isn't all there.) I told her that we had her bills taken care of and she didn't have to worry about it, mom did all that. She got sort of flustered with that and said, "No, she does not have to pay my bills. I dont want her to pay my bills. I can do that on my own." She wouldn't hear otherwise and tried to push the door open. The building is set so the main door into the heart of the building is locked and theres a code you use to open it. That way, none of the old people (like my Gram) can decide to just head out of there and do who knows what. Well, the door won't open unless you punch the code in. Obviously, it didn't open and Gram looked sort of irritated. Poor thing, she doesn't have a clue. Her son actually called (hes an ass) so she seemed happy to hear from him and forgot about all the errands she thought she had to run.

Shopping for dresses, jewelry, guys, and....DIAMONDS!!!!!

I have had a rather interesting day. Church this morning wasn't freezing as usual so, of course, this happened to be the day I planned on freezing and thus wore a long skirt and sweater. Well, it was just a cover sweater really, I had on a white tank but it wasn't something appropriate that I could leave my sweater off. So, I just sat there and roasted. A guest speaker was there, he had some good things to say but couldn't seem to get them out. He had a lot of pauses as well as the dreaded "and" that is repeated countless times in a row. Once he got past that though he was decent. I have to say though, his ending prayer went on for an eternity. There are only so many ways you can say one thing...he said it every possible way...and then some. I was standing there thinking, is he ever gonna be done? That was interesting...I guess.

Mom and I then went to Kenwood for shopping. It's about a 45 minute drive from our house. My mom had a dress that was being held at a store up there. We got that and the great jewelry debate began as to what necklace and shoes would suit it best. I was better with the jewelry than the 2 sales ladies but eventually decided to go elsewhere and look for better prices. We did, my mom actually found a necklace for the same price but which she liked better. I was having horrible neck problems. Cramping, spasms, you name it, I had it. I finally just had to sit on the floor and hold my neck muscle so it couldn't move. Of course it looked funny as Im walking holding my neck on one side and not being able to look over my right side without turning my whole body. I got a few strange looks but I didn't care, I was in too much pain. Id rather look strange then try to look normal while screaming in pain...I figured it was the better option. :)

The highlight of my day (or one of I guess) was the jewelry store. Oh this is not just any jewelry store, this is Roger's. It has AMAZING diamonds, crystals, precious/semi-precious stones. The diamonds are gorgeous. In case you haven't noticed, I LOVE diamonds. Diamonds are always a girl's best friend...did I mention I love diamonds? In case you missed it, I love diamonds. This would be like the most amazing job while in college or something, not as a living. I could sit and work with diamonds while convincing other people to spend thousands on the pieces I most love. Mom and I were actually looking at engagement rings just for the hell of it. Those are always the most gorgeous so hey, why shouldn't we look? Mom found one that is absolutley stunning. Words can't even describe it. It's like a double band with a large diamond on the top surrounded by smaller diamonds...everywhere. It's something you really have to see to understand. It was stunning. We got it priced to see...it was about 17,000 dollars. That was reasonable too...I just about fainted. The one lady was telling us that she has a diamond ring picked out for her daughter that shes going to give her when shes 16. (shes 14 now?) It's funny because she has the same tradition as my family does. Girls get their birth stone at 13 and their diamond ring at 16. We never have enough boys to start a tradition with them. I think I'm going to start one though. I have my money set that my sister is going to have a boy one day...I just know it. So the lady cleaned my diamond ring for me...gorgeous as always. :)

So as the shopping finished, my neck was dying, and mom got me to call Dr. Hogue. I gave him a call and he answered. Now, Sunday is typically his day off but, God bless him, he agreed to let me come in. Yesterday when I went in I was literally crying because my neck hurt so bad, I couldn't move it at all. So today was better and he said he was going to be doing paperwork so to come on in. He adjusted everything and now I can turn my head with far less pain. I still can't lift my head without supporting my neck with my hand and I can't completely turn it without support, but I can at least move it. I found out he is a HUGE Ohio State fan and would die if I could get tickets for him for a game. I told him I'd see what I can do, still havent gotten a reply from the people I contacted... He also told us that he and the girlfriend are split. The first thought that popped into both our heads was "Ariel!!". She is my sister. 5'3, curly blonde hair, green eyes, about 115 lbs, incredibly intelligent (she just had an internship with NASA), independent, 26 years old, and overall just fun to be around. I tell you what, shes got the whole package. (we look nothing alike...at all...people barely put us at cousins lol) The doc is 30, very good looking. Tall, kind of a strawberry-blonde hair, very intelligent, independent, enjoys working out (as does my sister), and has a great sense of humour. Mom and I agree, they would be adorable together. We, oh so casually, mentioned her to him. He seemed somewhat interested, not really sure. We've already decided that Ariel has to take me in one day and I'll introduce them...never know... :) I know, I know, we're both sad, devious little people. However, it takes a certain kind of man to handle Ariel, not that thats bad. Usually she just goes right over most guy's heads. Shes gorgeous but many forget shes practically a genius. So that was fun, Ariel says she might be interested, the Doc is hard to tell, and my mom is rooting for a decent son-in-law from one of us. I told Ariel it better be her first...she just looked at me with this terrified look. Oh my family is fun... hehe

Just Another One of Those Days

Ever just have one of those days where you make a complete fool of yourself? I definitly have. Actually, I think I particularly enjoy having them because I have so many. I think perhaps one of my biggest problems is that I'm too trusting. Granted, if I meet someone and right off they act like a jerk then I don't trust them as far as I can throw them. However, if the person seems decent then I don't have a problem. So how is it that every time, it seems to come back and bite me in the ass?

So now, when I look back on these scenarios I just think, "How did I not see this coming?" Well, actually I did see them coming, most of them anyway. I still sit there though and say "no" and decide to give people the benefit of a doubt. I have to get slapped upside the head before I accept that. I've done it so many times you'd think I'd learn. Really, it's not even with just me, a lot of my family is like that...maybe it's hereditary. lol

I used to think my biggest obstacle was my temper. Anyone who knows me can attest to that. However, I think another big problem (not quite on the same level but close enough) is that I am too trusting. Then, when that trust is broken, I get overly pissed off that I even allowed that person close enough other than to know my name. Sad, isn't it? That's why I think my temper still rules the day, I stay upset for a very short time while I stay pissed off for a very, very long time. So, thats why I generally accept blame for other peoples irritations. It's like seeing a steam roller coming straight for you and saying, "No, it's not going to hit me, it'll stop." So when the steam roller hits you, you can't blame the steam roller, you saw it coming and did nothing. Thats just what I do and thats why I say it's really my own damn fault. The way I treat people, and the way other people treat others are often different. I see the truth and think I'm just being judgemental when I really knew it all along. If other people were to see what I see, they would turn tail and run while I stand there and question it. So theres my bit of psychological analysis on myself.

It's amazing how these little tidbits can help you figure out so much not only with yourself but with other people. It's like having your own little shrink in your head. lol And who knows you better than...you?

Ouch

So my newest friend of the summer is Dr. Hogue (hope I spelled that right). He's my chiropracter, aka: the new guy I pay to cause me pain. I get headaches and lower back pains quite often. I've always attributed them to ungodly amounts of stress and the loads of exercise I've been doing lately. He asked me how many I would generally get. I told him 2 or 3 a week during the school year and like one every other week at home. He kind of laughed and asked me how many I thought the average person got. I said maybe like 3 a month. He just smiled and said, "Try 3 or 4...a year." "Huh," I said, "I definitly have a problem." He just smiled and said, "yes you do and we're going to fix that." Oh joy.

My mom first took me in just to see what was wrong, not really having intentions of making me his newest client. He took x-rays which I just got to see today. Apparently I have a very flat back with minimal curve. That puts a lot of presure on one side of my body so I lean to one side which throws my back muscles into a frenzy. My headaches can also be attributed to my neck. It doesn't come up straight like it should. It sort of bends forward which throws the neck and upper back out of proportion. So mainly, my spine is a mess. (though Im lucky enough I can still walk and do everything else) He said it's ok because I'm young and caught it early enough before it did serious damage.

So now is when the real fun begins. They start out by putting 2 weird patches on my lower back which has like electrical pulses that are supposed to stimulate the muscles and help them relax. I had it on a low setting and it still felt like I had needles being shoved into my back over and over for a little less than 20 minutes. Not fun, definitly not fun. He then takes me in and proceedes to try and break my neck. He really is very gentle, very nice, and very accomplished. So I don't think I would be as comfortable anywhere else but damn, it hurts. He cracked my neck so hard that it got every single vertebra in my neck to the base of my skull. I swear I could have cried and I NEVER cry. I just kind of groaned and said, wow that really hurt. He did some work on my back but thats piddly, I do that on my own. My mom gets on my because I can crack every joint in my body. Grosses her out, makes me feel better. The only thing with my neck is that I can do the lower part but I can't crack the top portion. I tease mom and say I should drop the arabic and become a chiropracter. I like looking at x-rays, can read them fairly well, know how to crack just about anything (granted on myself so I'd have to learn the proper techniques for doing it on other people) and I like making money which chiros certainly have plenty of. However, that means one year of slaving over a rediculous language is lost AND I would have to pay for med school and everything else. So I stick with what I have and claim to be an excellent chiropracter...on myself.

Israel: 2

Ok other interesting events in no particular order...

We went to the Mount of Olives (where Jesus preached a lot). The view was amazing. John (our leader) read a few Scripture passages. Meanwhile, there were 4 young kids squaking around. They tried to take a few branches from the olive tree and sell them to us, I found that particularly amusing. Then, as we were sitting there, they would scream and kick this stupid soccer ball all around, threatening to hit us with it. We were all distracted and extremely annoyed. Our guide, Shlomo, finally stood up, started babbling (in a not nice way) to them in Hebrew. They still wouldn't stop so he finally just took their soccer ball and threw it down the hill. The one kid went to get it and found it after about 10 minutes but at least we had some peace.

We also went to the Dome of the Rock. It is absolutley gorgeous. The true size and details of it can't be caught in pictures, it has to be a personal experience. I was attempting to read the arabic calligraphy all around the top. I got some of it and the rest were just lines and dots put in seemingly random places. It was pretty though. We had to be in "modest dress" (meaning knees and shoulders covered) so I had put on capris pants and this white shirt that covered my shoulders and upper arm mostly (it had a slit in the sleeve so you could see a strip of my upper arm *gasp*) but the people there really didn't like that. Just going through the main gate the guard started babbling at me and pointing at my shirt. I put on John's jacket but later took it off figuring it was the top of my shirt (it had a small keyhole) so I could just hold the jacket in front of me. It was later that I discovered the true problem as we headed over to the Wailing Wall and I had this female guard practically scream at me. I put the jacket on and felt like an idiot as I walked around with this bright yellow, sports team jacket that was about 4 sizes too big. We had a small talk about the history of the wall and were told we could have like a half hour to walk around. Mom and I started looking around and started down towards the wall. We were talking and not paying attention to where we were going. We started heading down when a man stepped in front of us and was kindly talking to us in Hebrew. We looked at him like a couple of idiots then looked further down to realize we were going into the men's section by accident. We apologized and hurried out of there. As we were heading towards the women's section all these limos, police cars, and media people gathered in the open square. The Japanese minister was coming to the wall. All these Japanese people were yelling and my mom seemed fascinated to see someone famous. I just said, yeah we've all seen him before, know who he is, yadda yadda, lets go.

We went into a small town where we went to a very very old sinagogue (prolly just spelled that horribly wrong, sry) The inside was decorated with all these paintings and murals on the ceiling. We also saw the Torah scroll (no we didn't touch it). Afterwards we were given time to walk around and go shopping in the many small shops that line the allyways. They had basically anything you could imagine. My mom bought a painting for us and another small painting for the friends that had been watching our dogs. I went to the shop next door (a very ritzy art gallery) and saw some of the most beautiful paintings outside of a major museum. Of course the smallest one was several thousand dollars but they were amazing. Needless to say, I didn't get anything there.

Speaking of shopping, mom and I went shopping at Jaffa gate. It is much the same as the last place with all the shops. We were roped into coming into a small jewelry store. His products were amazing and we considered buying something. However he was too expensive and mom said she would only spen 100 dollars. He was asking almost 500 for 3 necklaces and a small charm. Mom told him no and we started to leave. Finally he yelled to us that we could have all of it for 100 but mom said no. She was annoyed at all of his pestering and bargaining and it was no longer worth our time. We continued down the ally, trying to get around the masses, and all these people were calling to us to come to their shop. This one guy was leaning against the wall and as he saw me he shouted out "oh you are coming to see me! how nice!" I told him no thanks and kept walking so he shouted back, "thats ok! you come see me later!" We walked further on at my request and saw another shop with a young guy (maybe 15?) mopping the floors. We went in and he spoke next to no English and was a bit clumsy. I wasn't impressed with that but then the actual owner came in and the boy looked more than just a little thankeful. He showed us his jewelry (which was quite nice) and my mom agreed on a charm. We continued to look and he kept pulling out other pieces for us to see. He had the best prices I have ever seen. He didn't push us to buy anything, just showed us what he had. He even had his assistant make us some mint tea so we all sat around drinking tea and looking at jewelry. My mom bought my sister a gold charm for 75 that could have easily gone for about 200 dollars. We both ordered a gold thumb ring. Mine has my name in Hebrew and my mom's says Yeshua. She also ordered another ring and a necklace pendant. He was telling us that he is glad we have come to his shop because he has excellent products and the best prices. (very true) He was certified and all of his things came with receipts of authenticity. We were there for over 2 hours. As we were packing up to leave I had earlier commented on a small pendant that had the Jerusalem cross on it. He then took 2 of them and just handed one to each of us. Mom said we really coultn't afford them but he said that was ok, it was a gift. We thanked him and started to head out. Then he handed us 3 really pretty fans, one for me, my mom, and my Gramma, all for free. He also gave my mom and I a Jersalem mug each. He said that he may not make as much as another dealer at one time but his customers always return to him and (hopefully) bring other friends along. He was very nice and I would always go back to him.