Birthday Month

I always look forward to February for so many reasons. It marks the midway point to my spring semester, it kicks off the festivities for the spring, and most importantly it's birthday month!! By some odd chance, my friends and fam all seem to have birthdays in February, so my weekends are booked with tons of festivities and fun. As of last night, this month's birthday celebrations are now complete, so I thought I would share them.


The first birthday to kickoff Birthday Month actually isn't in February, but it counts anyways because it's so close and she's my best friend. This year for Jessica's 23rd we went to Mavericks at the Landing to partake in line dancing, mechanical bull riding, and all the fun the western bar offered to us. We did the best we could at line dancing, it's not as easy at it looks! And of course the birthday girl got on that bull!!!!






The next week was all about Sister. The two of us spent Wednesday, her actual 24th birthday, together getting her hair done, drinking coffee, tanning, and at the end we zipped off the Mellow Mushroom for drinks with our favorite people.Then on Saturday, we jammed out to the songs of Journey by a local band at Freebird.




Next it was Jymez's turn. He celebrated is 22nd birthday on Valentine's Day at Lynch's at the beaches. No one seemed to mind the fact that the day was supposed to be a day of love, we drank anyways : )



My goddaughter Dani turned 5 this year, and she celebrated with a while Hello Kitty shindig. She takes after me I think :)




Shortly after Dani's party I rushed to get ready for the SunCruz Casino boat where Shaun chose to celebrate his birthday. 4 hours of slots, craps, roulette, and all kinds of gambling fun! Some of us lost our money, some of us made some money, some of us were seasick, but I think we all had a really good time in general.

FYI you want to know what happens when people start to get seasick and need a distraction??




They make ridiculous renditions of YMCA and then someone records it.


Loving her friends and her life,
The Tiney Weenie

Last Days Are For...

Today was my last shift at Express :( Totally sad I know. But when it comes down to it, its mid-semester and I need to focus on my schoolwork, I need to find an internship...and not to mention my feet are a little pissed off at me that I abuse them so.

So I finally did it. My manager today even offered to keep me on for monthly floorsets just so I could hold on to the discount. It was tempting, and for a moment I almost gave in, but I couldn't.

Last days always seem to be spent reflecting and remembering. What will I remember about working at Express? Lets see...

When someone refers to Stella, Mia, or Eva, I'll know exactly what they are talking about...
Sizing men's denim still boggles me. "32/30 or 30/32?? Wait...what?"
I know parts of mannequins people should NEVER know, and I can dress 'em like a champ.
I still can't calculate percentages in my head... "What's 20% off $29.99?" IDK whatever the register says.
I know all the words to "Take a Bow" by Rihanna due to the fact that it played at least once a week, every time I worked.
And to this day I still don't understand why that nasty customer urinated in our fitting rooms. Ewww.

All in all I'll miss that job and all the people there. We had some great times. Maybe I'll go back after all is said and done...just maybe.

Looking forward,
Tiney

Oh EXPRESS, How I've Missed You...

It's been about 3 weeks since I've had a full sales shift at my second job, Express. Sure, I've been their floor-set slave and spent countless hours overnight there, but the experience is WAY different.

Let me tell you.

Express used to be part of Limited Brands, Inc. Which, you may or may not know, owns Victoria Secret. Darn, I missed out on some awesome discounts. So anyways - now their not affiliated and got the grand idea to start their own lingerie line very similar to VS. Yay for panty sales! I just discovered this recently and thought it was, by far, one of the coolest things ever. Until we had to damage out two pairs that night because an associate found them in the dressing rooms with "white marks" on them. Excitement plummeting.

My shift had just barely started today when a lady, guestimating late 20's-early 30's wearing nice work attire, walks in the doors. Not really expressing an interest in any particular item, I let her wander and, to be honest, almost forgot she was there. Later, she approaches the cash wrap with 4 of our brand new t-shirt bras in all the fun colors.

"Aren't these just great?" I say "I'm so excited we sell these now."
"Yeah, they're really soft. And I haven't owned a bra since the 8th grade - I guess I should be an adult now and buy a few."

Ummm thanks for the TMI. I didn't know people were still doing the whole "burn your bra" kick.

Oh Express, how I've missed you so. What would I do without you. I now feel really bad for all VS associates. I used to envy you. You deserve a hug, really.

Giggling,
Tiney Weenie

Still Here

So the verdict is out on my foot - its not broken! Yay, no more post-operative boot!! However, I still have a slight bunion and some arthritis. The podiatrist said my joints were just "messy." Great. Let me take a moment to add them to my pre-existing conditions...chronic migraines, scoliosis, plantar fasciitis... I think I'm falling apart! I think I should let my body know that I'm only 21, it doesn't need to break down on me quite yet.

On the flip side of things, class is back in session and it's looking better than fall. My schedule is much less intense and that means I have more time to see my friends. A short lived joy it will be of course, because I was recently informed that I have to find my summer internship like NOW in order to find a good one. EEEEKKK talk about pressure. I'm suddenly super scared, and this job won't even be paying me! Oh well, Birthday Month is coming up in a matter of weeks and then shortly followed by Spring Break and I'm very much looking forward to that!. I better live it up before I become the busy-body I was last year. Ick.

I'll do my best, I promise.

Trying, as always
Tiney Weenie

Just Wait and See

2009 is just around the corner. Literally, it's tomorrow. A friend of ours every December makes predictions about his friends for the upcoming year. So I decided to step back, think for a moment, and make some predictions about my crew for the '09 year.

Sister will do some incredibly dumb things. One might find this prediction slightly off key, but for her I think this is right on target. You see, Sister has spent her life doing fairly smart things. She was NEVER the girl at the party drunk beyond oblivion, awoken the next morning on the kitchen floor cluthing a bottle of pineapple rum gathering the memories from the night before through the pictures left on her digital camera. And she almost never lost her keys. Yes this is Sister's time to let loose and be dumb. She will spend her year saying the wrong things, having her blonde moments, and racking up numerous embarassing pictures. And you know what, thats OK. She deserves it!


Todd will continue to conjure up creative loopholes to marry Chelle. Clownsuit? Courthouse? You've come up with some good ones bro, you should give up now and surrender. And I'm pretty sure 09 is that year. Whatever that next step will be, its gonna happen. Chelle will resist the urge to "trade him in for a younger one" and continue to put up with his crap, because she's incredibly patient and, like his sisters, knows how to handle him the best. Take it from the lil sister Chelle, in reality he's really great.


Jessica will no longer need a life coach. It will come in an epiphany. Something will happen and she will begin her typical high-stress-freak-out mode. But this time instead of booking it to Moes for a session with her handy life coach, she will sit for a moment and the answer will come to her. For she will see that the best way to learn is to teach others. And she will be spending months teaching the kindergardners at Thunderbolt Elementary the basics of life and learning. And she thought her education stopped at UNF, silly girl :)

Caydie will probably win some sort of award for being Superwoman. She's 22, has a full-time job, an almost-5-year-old little girl, a loving husband, and a brand new house. Did I mention she got these things a little out of order and within the past few years? And she's still not stopping. In 09, she's going to try and make another baby. I'm crossing my fingers!!

Jymez will get accepted into Optometry school and move away from Florida. It could go one of two ways - Tennesee or Michigan. Tenessee Scenaraio: Jymez moves to TN, starts school, makes friends, drinks beer, football season starts. END of any standing friendships Jymez has at TN and BEGINNING of the biggest bar brawl TN has ever seen. Being the true Gator that he is, Jymez will beat down every redneck Volunteer that questions his Orange & Blue status (or at least attempt to in a drunken oblivous state) and he'll probably end up on TN's most wanted or something. Michigan Scenario: Jymez moves to MI, starts school, makes friends, drinks beer, football season starts. The difference with MI friends is that they, like the Gators, hate the Buckeyes. So together, Jymez and his fellow MI friends will bond over a common hatred and will live happily ever after. The end. Jymez, I think MI is your best option. I'm sure that somewhere in between all of this he will learn more about eyes, irises, glaucoma, and technical stuff. At the same time, he will continue to misspell simple words like "because","gawk", and "financial".

Shaun is going to shock The Entourage. What will it be? Who knows, but some decision or action or even something he said is going to knock us off our feet. You just wait and see.

Matt with the white hat will celebrate his second anniversary with his dog by making 2 more myspace albums dedicated to him. Congratulations Matt & Cash - maybe I'll send a gift. In all reallity Matt is incredibly business savvy and ever since I've met him he has thrown around ideas about how to make more money. 09 is his year. We might be in a recession - but you'll think of something Matt. My vote is for that pizza place you've mentioned once or twice. I'll come hang out on Wednesdays and drink some Blue Moons - on the house, of course, for their favorite patrons.

Happy New Year!
Tiney

Please, pay attention in school...

It has recently come to my attention how important spelling skills are to the human race. Sure, everyone makes a typo now and then, flips the occasional letter or mixes up a word or two. However, sometimes these mistakes really define people.

I shake my head when driving down the road and the local farmers stand has "canaloupes" for sale. Silly rednecks, they can't pronounce their T's.

I laughed hysterically when I noticed that a friend posted her wedding photos. She had numerous pictures when her and her husband were exchanging their "vowels." What's a wedding without your A-E-I-O- & U's?

I see a bunch when I file papers at work. It's always nice when employees get "vary good" comments on their evals and such. There are "acceptions" of course, not every employee is a shinning star.

While standing in line at the UNF campus, I felt some serious irony when I noticed one spelling mistake. The administration wanted the students to be "courtouse" of others, and turn off their cell phones while standing in line. You'd expect more from a college environment...

My best guy friend Jymez is classic for making spelling mistakes. Let me remind you that he's a graduate from the University of Florida majoring in Biology and Chemistry and know all kinds of isotopes and molecules and things I'll never be able to wrap my brain around. I just want to point out that he still has the statement "...'gock' over this awesome body..." on his myspace. Way to go Jymez :)

The best by far happened to me today. While thumbing through the time off requests, one in particular caught my eye for some reason. A second glance proved me right. An associate needed a special schedule because, and I quote "I have two 'testes' on Monday." Who knew that in just two letters, you could change medical procedures into genitals....

Did I mention all of these mistakes were made by well-educated, grown adults?

Enjoying it everyday,
The Tiney Weenie

Graduation

Well it finally happened, Sister finally graduated and what a (4 day) weekend it was. Well let's start from the beginning...


Friday morning....

The phone rings at 8:07 a.m. waking my somewhat-hungover self up. Seriously? My alarm isn't supposed to go off for another half hour or so. Behold it's my mother in somewhat freak-out mode asking my 20 questions...
"What time are you leaving?"
"Are we picking you up?"
"Who's getting Todd?"
"Who has the tickets?"
"Why haven't you figured out the plans yet?"

I don't know the answers to those questions...but I do know I get to sleep for 30 more minutes and THEN deal with it.

Later that morning I have a short text convo with Dad.
"Are we picking you up?"
-"Nope"
"K."

If only both parents were so simple.

So I crawl out of bed. Toast a bagel. Jump on Michelle in her bed. And the morning gets started.
Rush out the door, swing by and pick up Todd, and zip off to UNF.

Despite the fact that Sister forgot her tassel at home, my bad driving almost killed us, and we were running late, she walked with her fellow graduates on time and with a tassel.


Friday Afternoon....

After we had lunch with the family I fought weekend traffic back to Orange Park to what I thought was a simple podiatrist appointment. I was horribly mistaken.

"I'm not sure what exactly you did to your foot. We are going to need to take some x-rays to find out more. Until then we are going to put this really inconvenient boot on your foot for a whole week. It's ugly, uncomfortable, and you're going to hate it however I feel it's necessary to prevent further injury."

...Ok so that probably wasn't a direct quote, but thats definitely how I perceived it. No joke this is the SECOND time my podiatrist has ruined a good "cute shoe night." Instead of my black leather knee-high boots, I had to settle for ONE left black flip-flop and a post-operative boot. Thanks.



Friday Night....

Boot or not the celebratory part of the evening went fairly well. Sister chose to go to Harmonious Monks to kick off the festivities. There was lots of beer, music, and dancing on the chairs. Don't worry, it's totally allowed.

Afterwards we were persuaded into going to a little post-party back in the Island. The plans kinda fell through, so we decided to go home.

"Um Sister, we can't leave yet."
-"Why?"
"I don't have any keys..."

True story. I have a bad habit of losing my keys, and it chose tonight to haunt me. Regardless, it was about 3:30am before we got back home.


The rest of the weekend went a bit more smoothly. Yesterday we had some family come up from Tampa and we had a big dinner, watched some hockey, groaned over the heisman ceremony, and had a really nice bonfire. Oh, I can't forget the homemade limoncello - good stuff :). Oh, and I found out this morning that my keys were under a pair of shoes at our friends place. Random, but not shocking for me at all.

Hanging out in my post-operative boot,
The Tiney Weenie