Today is Emily's and my 27th birthday! I have had a lovely relaxing day. This morning I had a leisurely catnap with Frankie in a pool of sunlight in the living room. Later I played canasta with my mom, who beat me soundly! My parents and I had a quiet dinner and just spent time together. Plus I talked to Emmy like four times!
On Saturday evening, I had a game party for my birthday. I love getting people together to socialize and play games. I feel that so often people our age use alcohol as a social crutch and sometimes forget how much you can have just hanging out, talking and laughing. It was such a fun group of people and I am so lucky to have such awesome friends! I even had the chance to reconnect with people I had not seen in years! :D
Upon turning 27, I am now only 3 years from the dreaded 30!! :O I am pleased and really excited that I have completed my second item on my 30 before 30 list!! On January 5, I got a second tattoo!!! I adore it. It is everything I had envisioned. Here it is:
Music: Kris Allen singing the National Anthem at the Pro Bowl (cause he is so cute and did a really nice job!)
Today I took another step towards a goal in my 30 before 30 list. My item of graduating nursing school. I have decided to apply to St Joseph's College of Nursing. This decision was a long time in coming. I was not happy with the program at OCC. It was all self directed and I do not learn well like that. I need lecture in addition to reading and note taking, and I need to have due dates set for me. I am not good at following through with self set time tables. This is a bit of self-knowledge that is good to have. For the longest time I have not been excited or really into the nursing program, which is a sharp difference from when I began. This step forward has reawakened my enthusiasm and I feel happy and positive about nursing again.
The home at Cleveland has a cat named Hannah, who belonged to Anna. When Anna passed away at the end of August, Hannah seemed adrift and desperate for affection. Lately she has grown very attached to Mike. She even lets him hold her in his arms! Hannah is generally reluctant about this. Here is a picture of Mike and Hannah at dinner tonight.
I have completed my first item on my 30 before 30 list! On Halloween at 12 AM, I went to a showing of Rocky Horror. My friend, Jeff, took me to the performance that was near his hometown of Olyphant, PA, which is close to Scranton. The show was in an old movie theater and was sold out! Jeff and I both went in costume. I was dressed as a goth with a black and purple wig, bite me t-shirt, fishnets and black skirt. Jeff went as the opening credits, with his face painted black and bright red lipstick. We brought props that are used and thrown during the movie such as newspaper, rice and toast. I had so much fun! I have always loved the movie and wanted to see it in the theater for years. Being with people who are even more enthusiastic that me was such a blast. By the end I had rice and confetti everywhere, in addition to being hit in the back of the head by a very hard piece of toast! Thank you Jeff for being such an awesome friend and sharing this experience with me. :D
This morning, I drove Emmy to the train station for her return to school. Emily leaving is always bittersweet for me. I love that she is happy and learning skills for a career that she adores, but I just wish it was closer. :P Emily and I have always gone to school together and lived together until recently. It is still weird and somewhat lonely not to live with her. I know logically that this would happen eventually, but a small part of me wishes we would live in at least the same town forever. I do not know if this is a twin thing or just a best friend thing, but it is a lonely feeling that I then feel guilty about. Bah.
I had the day off today, and planned to spend my free time cleaning and reorganizing my room. I have lately become very invested in organizing and culling my belongings. It is so satisfying to had a neat and organized space to live in. Up until a few weeks ago, I did not even have the energy to think about cleaning. My room had been in a constant state of chaos for months on end. This was very frustrating. I am anal retentive and enjoy order. For example, the only part of my room that I had been able to organize was my DVD collection. I have a rather vast number of DVDs that are organized in alphabetical order in sections of movies, box sets and TV shows. I am enthusiastic about maintaining the neatness that currently exists and continuing to sort through all of my stuff.
Music: In honor of crossing of an item - "Sweet Transvestite" - Tim Curry
My mother often teases me that I am thirty. Her reasoning is that at 26, almost 27, I am now in the 26-30 demographic and why not just round up. I usually get way too worked up about her teasing. I have done some thinking about why I am so touchy about turning thirty. One of the conclusions that I have come to is that there are so many things I want to accomplish before I hit the big 3-0. So I have decided to take on a 30 before 30 list! Simply making this list is both energizing and getting me enthusiastic about crossing things off my list and causing thirty to be a little less daunting.
So without further ado, and in no particular order, here it is:
30 Before 30
Run a 5K
Get a second tattoo(1/5/2011 and it is soo PRETTY!!!!)
Go to Vegas
Move out of my parents house
Graduate nursing school
Have my first kiss
Have a boyfriend
Visit London
Become skilled at Go
See Old Faithful go off
Loose 40 pounds
Get a piercing other than in my ears
Develop a taste for beer
Dye my hair
Read all of Jean Vanier's books
Educate my wine palate
See Adam Lambert in concert
Have a dog
Go skydiving
Stop drinking soda
Find a parish and attend Mass regularly
Learn to tango
Drive cross country
See Rocky Horror Picture Show on Halloween with live performance(10/31/2010 And it was AWESOME!)
Hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
Take a knife skills class
See Eddie Izzard live
Knit something other than a scarf
Learn Yoga
Exercise at least three days a week for one year
It shall be an interesting journey towards accomplishing these goals! Here's to being ambitious in my expectations of myself and reaching for the stars.
