Cake and Kleenex

For the first time in my recollection, I was sick on my birthday. When I woke up with a sore throat and a suspicious-feeling nose, it dawned on me that sickness didn’t really care if it was my birthday or not. Everyone was still asleep, so I stayed in bed until I heard K&K wake up and they came with hugs and birthday greetings. As the morning progressed and the lunch at Chef Rick’s with the family got closer, I felt a bit better. In fact, I didn’t even need any Kleenex at lunch. After lunch, I took a nap and woke up worse than before. I ventured out of doors with Mom to go birthday shopping at Target and then dinner at Olive Garden and was completely miserable until Mom opened her in-purse pharmacy and gave me some drugs. (Also, a certain guy came by and that helped a lot…) On the way home Mom and I stopped at Starbucks to get my free birthday drink (yay for having a Starbucks Gold card!). As soon as I got home I climbed in bed and fell asleep, waking up around ten. I got online and chatted with Alice, who decided I needed get-well assistance. Less than a half hour later he was outside my door with a bag full of healing goodies. Four different kinds of chapstick, Vitamin C, throat drops (also known as miracles in wrappers), a get-well card and a gift card for iTunes. I’m pretty sure it was one of the most practical and thoughtful presents I’ve ever been given.

My day in numbers:

1 sore throat
1 unhappy nose
1 Chef Rick + 1 family + 1 quesadilla + 1 slice of amazing birthday cake + getting to blow out a candle = Happy
1 million+ Kleenex
1 whole lot of text messages
1 Cinnamon Dolce from Starbucks
1 birthday phone call from Germany
2 naps
2 bowls of hot Zuppa Toscana
3 birthday songs sung to me
3 times I saw Alice
5 birthday/get-well hugs
6 birthday phone calls from the USA
6 people I know who saw me sick in public (sorry…)
6 songs bought on iTunes today
19 years I’ve been alive

~VL~

It's Almost Two in the Morning...

...and I can't think of a title. So I'm just going to dive in and start writing before I fall asleep, wake up, and am not as motivated to write.

Things of particular note- to begin with, my little sisters' adoption anniversary was on the 4th! It's been five years now that they've officially been Leos girls, and I'm loving them more and more every day. Good ol' K & K!

Oh guess what? My birthday is in two days, and I am quite excited about it! I've already gotten some lovely presents in the mail (one of them was a Barnes & Nobles giftcard- thank you thank you thank you, Uncle Rob!), but the real excitement begins on Monday. I always have dinner with the family on my birthday, and that will be fun. Then on Thursday night I'm having a birthday dinner at Olive Garden with a bunch of friends. I can't wait!

In other news...I went on a date tonight (or last night, I should say) with Parker. The date itself was delightful (I'll come back to it in a moment). The hour and a half before that wasn't so much! I had my whole family giving me their opinion on what to wear. Think a fashionesque version of American Idol: Mom (Paula), Dad (Randy), and the dreaded Simon (Ernie). K & K liked everything. This ordeal showed me a few things, one in particular is that I need to go shoe shopping! Well, not need...but you know what I mean. I am missing my staple accesory, my go-to fashion friend- a good pair of red shoes. They pretty much never fail. Anyway, back to the date! So after deciding what to wear, I was pacing the hallway. (Yeah, I was a little nervous. I don't know why.) Mom called from the kitchen, "What kind of car does he drive?"- I told her, then: "Nope, not him." I went to the kitchen to entertain her and then he was there!

I had a really great time. First, we went to Chef Rick's, and then we went to see the new James Bond flick. Chef Rick's was pretty amazing because, besides the already delicious food, there was no one else in the restaurant for at least the first half hour! James Bond was interesting- not bad, but I definitely like Casino Royale better. (I did love the soundtrack, though.) Then, after the movie, we walked out of the theater and I saw a bunch of people that I knew. Josh and Sean (the Air Force guys, as I like to call them), Collin and his little brother, Janelle, Andrew, Ryan Flowers, my good friend Kristen, and Ashley's sister Steph and her boyfriend. Crazy. Anywho, after that we went back to my house and chatted with my dad, Ernie, and Cory a little bit and then it was time to bring the date to a close. The result of this? I am very happy, like this guy a lotta bit, and have some gorgeous roses on my dresser.

The grand finale? I went to 7-11 with Dad, there was a fist-fight in the parking lot and then a little smackdown by Art and the Sheriff's Department. Geez. I guess I really shouldn't go to 7-11 anymore.

~VL~

Not the Change I Was Looking For, But Change Nonetheless

I was very upset last night. Disappointed and a bit scared. Change has come to our country- but what kind of change and at what price? As I listened to Barack Obama's acceptance speech and saw the results of the election, I realized that he is who the people decided should run our country and be responsible for our welfare and national security. A lot of emotions were going through my mind, mostly tumultuous. I had a bit of a debate with a friend and realized that my heart was in a state of disrespect for many things that deserve my respect because God has put them there and that no matter what fears I may have and however they may be justified, there is hope, there is grace, there is love in the God that created all nations.

~VL~

Callista

Featured band of this month is Callista! Here are some reasons why:

My buddy Mikey is in the band (that's how I even heard about them)

It has some amazing piano-driven songs

The whole band is solid!

Check them out at www.myspace.com/callistamusic

Also, there's a lot more photos of last weekend's show at www.myspace.com/vmo1117

Here are some photos from their show this past Saturday.

~VL~