Once upon a Monday...

Just found this gem in my drafts from June 15, 2015:
As some of you may know, I am on Guam jury duty. The glorious civic duty was bestowed upon me in January 2015. The active term was supposed to last for three months but my group has been extended twice so now I'm currently in the throes of my fifth month of service.

On a recent Monday, I had to report in for jury duty at 8:00 a.m. After standing in line for over 30 minutes waiting to check in, I finally grabbed a seat and began my preparations to sit for a good two hours. I had a book, my phone, my iPad, my iPod, and a snack. Around 10:30 a.m. I was called into another room with about 15 other people where we again sat for another 15 minutes. Finally the jury commissioner came in and said whatever they were planning for us to do that morning had fallen through and we were free to go. That's great and all but thanks for having us sit here for over two hours for no reason.

Once I was out to the car I decided to call an orthodontist to see if I could get an appointment to get my retainer repaired or to get fitted for another one. (Full disclosure: My retainer recently broke... my retainer that I've had since I was 16... yea.) I was able to get in to see this orthodontist right away so I stopped at home, grabbed my old retainer, and headed to the ortho. Of course, they weren't able to repair my old retainer (likely story) and I had to get fitted for a new one. Anyone who has been fitted for any time of dental device knows what has to happen. They have to do the molding impressions that is super gag inducing. I started having anxiety about it before I even hit the chair. But it had to be done so .... After a couple minor panic attacks, I had everything done to get my new retainer. I left the ortho and headed to the grocery store to pick up something to make for dinner.

As I'm walking back to the Jeep after leaving the grocery store, there is a teenager getting into the car parked next to mine. I see his door hit the Jeep and as I approach I see an inch or so long scratch. As they are pulling out, I yell at them to stop and yell that they've hit my Jeep. What followed was an hour long debate with some government employees on whether the kid hit the Jeep or not. They called in a maintenance guy to have a look at it (not sure why) and then gave me the number to their supervisor. They eventually left. Shortly thereafter my husband showed up and called to speak to the supervisor. While he's on the phone, the same vehicle, with the same kid in the back, drives by (we're still at the scene of the crime) and the kid starts laughing at us. My head almost exploded.

Luckily, when I was buying groceries for dinner, I bought a bottle of wine too. I cracked that sucker open the second we got home. Greatest Monday ever.

consciousness on my conscience

I recently purchased a dress online from H&M for my friend's wedding. On their website, the dress was described as "H&M Conscious" which I took to mean the dress was body conscious meaning the dress may emphasize some lumps and bumps of one's body. I was extremely confused however that the dress would have been described as "H&M Conscious" because the dress was very flowy with a cinched waist. I thought maybe the fabric was clingy or something. I decided to take my chances. 

When the dress arrived (a month after I ordered it - one of the many perks of living on Guam), I noticed that the dress had an open back. I thought maybe that's why it was described as "conscious." You know, in case you have a fat back or something. Hahaha, I don't know. 

So, as I'm trying it on, I noticed a green tag that had "H&M Conscious" on it. 

Turns out "H&M Conscious" is not about body consciousness at all. It's about being ENVIRONMENTALLY conscious. 

The tag reads "70% recycled polyester post-consumer waste".  

Oh WTF?! I'm wearing a poop dress! 

ma! the meatloaf!

I've never made meatloaf in my life.

Earlier this week I went to the grocery with no idea what I was going to make for dinner. I figured I would just peruse the meat section and figure something out. This isn't something I usually do. I usually go to the grocery armed with a recipe and a back up recipe just in case the grocery doesn't have the ingredients that I need - a likely scenario on Guam.

On this day I managed to find some lean ground beef. A rare find at the Guam grocery. I googled "lean meat recipes" and viola! a recipe for meatloaf. I found the rest of the ingredients and headed home.

A few hours later, J texted me and said he was on his way home from work so I got started on dinner.

I was in the kitchen chopping onions when J got home. As he was putting his keys down and taking off his shoes, he yells hello to me and then out of no where yells jokingly, "MAKE ME A MEATLOAF!"

I could not stop laughing because he had no idea that I was actually making him a meatloaf. We were cracking up.

And the meatloaf ended up being alright for my first attempt.

September 11, 2001

On September 11, 2001, I was a year out of college and living at home with my parents in Kentucky. I was working full time at Nine West at Kenwood Mall in Ohio. That day I was up early because it was my day to work inventory at the store. I was getting ready for work when my mom came up stairs to tell me that a plane hit one of the World Trade Towers. As I was walking downstairs, I was thinking that it had to have been a small plane, or maybe a sightseeing plane that lost control.

I think we were watching tv when the second plane hit and it wasn't a small plane.

I don’t remember how I was feeling at that time. I ended up going to work and listening to 700 WLW on the 20 minute drive up to Kenwood Mall. I took an old set of Sony radio headphones with me to work so I could listen while I was working on inventory. Everything at the mall at that time was business as usual.

The store opened at 10 AM and I believe we got word shortly thereafter that the mall was going to close at 11 AM for the rest of the day so people could go be with their families. My co-worker Amy and I started closing down the store. We still had the doors open but the lights were off and of course a customer came in and started perusing. I think Amy must have asked her if she needed help with something and told her that we, and the rest of the mall, were getting ready to close. She said she needed shoes for an event that she was attending that night and why on Earth was the mall getting ready to close?

“Our country is under attack, ma’am.” 

After I left the mall, I went to my then boyfriend’s house. I wanted to watch coverage ad nauseam because I didn't know what else to do. I think he took a nap. He may have just not cared or was working 3rd shift at the time. I can’t remember. I do remember looking out his window thinking what a beautiful day it was that day. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was the perfect Fall day.

The days that followed, none of us knew what to do. I attended a peace and prayer rally on Fountain Square with my friend Susan. Susan and I were in our prime and we went out almost every night to the clubs to dance and have fun. After September 11th, we didn't go out for weeks. We thought it would be too disrespectful. No one tells you when it’s ok to start having fun again or when you should stop mourning.

As someone who was fresh out of college and still looking for a career or a “grown-up” job, the events of September 11th also made me want to do something meaningful and make a difference. A little over a month later, I was hired as a temp at a mental health agency. I ended up being hired on full time and that job started my career. Even though the job was extremely stressful with shitty pay, it was rewarding and I was making a difference.

Guam Greyhound Park

J and I went on a walk a few nights ago and discovered an abandoned greyhound race track not too far from our house. It was around dusk when we came upon the track and it was super creepy. It looked almost apocalyptic.

I was able to find a bit of history online about the track. It was closed in 2008 after being in operation for 32 years. When the track shut down, the greyhounds were given away to the public on a first come, first serve basis. No home checks were done and no adoption records were kept. After a few months, people started to notice greyhounds being abused or neglected around the island. People were trying to use them as guard dogs. Some people from the States that were on Guam got involved and some of the greyhounds were rescued and sent to California for adoption.

I went back today to take some pictures of the abandoned track.

another day, another weird dream

Last night I dreamt that my mom was hosting a party at her house for my uncle and some of his friends. The only reason I know that the party was for my uncle was because, after I did what I'm about to tell you that I did, I was worried that he was going to be mad at me.

So, I walk into my mom's house and everyone is in the kitchen/family room. This blonde lady, who I do not know in real life, is sitting on the fireplace. My mom asks her if she wants a pizza. Why this lady was getting her own special pizza, I do not know. The lady responds, "Yes, get me a pizza," and then continues a conversation with someone else in the room.

I am cleaning up plates and things around the room. I'm also cleaning dirt from a few peach trees that were growing the corner of the kitchen. The trees had clearly outgrown their containers and dirt was everywhere. While I'm cleaning, I overhear this blonde lady tell my mom she wants a pizza. I immediately stop what I'm doing, look at the blonde lady and say, "In this house we say please!"

The whole room got silent. And I went back to cleaning up dirt.

i heart 13 hour flights

I'm writing this post from the Narita, Japan airport as I wait to board my flight to Guam. Today has been a day of traveling. My day started at 4am Eastern Time. I spent most of my morning at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport as my flight that was supposed to leave at 7:05am was pushed to noon. Luckily, I was able to get on a 9:45am flight to Atlanta where I spent time in their fancy international terminal. Next came the 13 hour flight from Atlanta to Narita.

When I made this trip 10 days ago, I lucked out and the seat next to me ended up being empty... except for the weird guy two seats down from me throwing his legs all over the place and farting. Today was a different story. I had a lady next me that smelled like cold cream and halitosis and she kept getting all up in my space. I hate people sometimes.

So here I sit praying that my flight doesn't get cancelled because a tropical storm is going to hit Guam about 6 hours after my flight arrives. My husband says it is already getting windy and rainy. There isn't enough Dramamine in the world.