Wish list...

I went to Dillon's cousins birthday party on Friday. He turned five and we got him a U of I hoodless sweatshirt. Being the ill-prepared twentysomethings that we are, we "wrapped" it in a plastic bag complete with a paper towel card.

I was playing "stamps" with his 2 year-old sister, Ava, and asked her what she wanted for Christmas. She replied scissors. Apparently, her wish list includes "pink scissors and her own lipstick" (coming from a little girl who has her own tiny 4-wheeler, went through a stage where she would only wear camouflage, and does not allow you to fix her hair unless it is in pigtails and you call her a puppy).


Also, my dad called me this Thursday (he calls me allll the time just to tell me stories or ideas or jokes or that he misses me) to tell me that he got a surprise for the family for Christmas and he wanted to tell me about. I already know everything that I'm getting for Christmas so I thought at least he could keep this from me, but no. He told me he got a Wii for the family and he wanted me to get another controller and other stuff for the family. I was told that I canNOT tell my mother or my brother and that the present is hidden in my room awaiting a wrap job. So pretty much it is like my dad and I are the parents trying to surprise our kids (Dustin and Yoko).

It is going to be great technological advances in the Ross household this year. Denny is getting an iPod touch, Joyce a nice digital camera (because she STILL uses disposable cameras. We got our pictures back from when her and I went on vacation early in the summer and all the pictures were off centered/covered partially by my mom's finger/hardly distinguishable), and the Wii!

I got to see Toni tonight! It was fabulous per usual. We exchanged gifts this year and she started a new tradition of getting me an ornament each year. She kicked off the tradition with a magic 8 ball ornament. I love it! All sources point to yes that this gift rocks! I'm always left missing Toni so much more right after I see her because we don't have to do anything to have so much fun. We spent a few hours wrapping presents for her Aunt Mary and enjoying Leona's cackling. Leona was getting a big kick out of our present wrapping mishaps (i.e. frequent miscalculations of paper length). She also had extreme interest in an oversized bag that Mary bought to wrap a stair basket that Leona just thought was the stupidest looking thing. I love that woman (Toni, Mary, and Leona really). She never ceases to give me a good laugh.

Happy wrapping,
V
Happy wrapping,
V

The time has come...

It's almost here. The highly anticipated and heavily relieving Winter Break. Ahhhhh....

If only it were that easy...I will be pulling an ultimately undergrad move and more than likely be pulling an all-nighter. I'm just loving life...yes...

Finals have sucked this week because instead of being able to daydream during the designated time in the evening I've been stressing. It pains me that I can't daydream about Iron Man-like powers and fellow highway travelers turning into Transformers (yes, a great number of my daydreams are comic-based).

I nice little short blog to procrastinate just that little bit more.

Have a cozy Wednesday (wait, it is Wednesday right? I don't even know my ass from my elbow these days),
V

'Tis the season....

My dad called me on Sunday asking me for a favor. I figured it was one of his typically unusual requests (e.g. helping him open an eBay store, researching good luck charms on the internet, talking my mom into incorporating good luck cat eyes into her wardrobe). He had found a beagle on our front lawn and wanted me to help him find a home for this lost puppy. Apparently the poor little dog had been freezing in our front yard and nearly got hit by a car a few times so my dad brought it into our garage and turned on a space heater in front of a doggie bed for him to warm up on (the dog, not my dad). I really didn't put a lot of effort into the search because it was my plan for my parents to just keep the dog. I put up a pretty good case.
1. It's cold hearted not to keep it (I told my mom this and she was none too pleased).
2. Loki needs another dog to keep her in line.
3. Loki was still a good dog when Vanna was alive.
4. It is not just coincidence that this dog landed on our lawn 2 days before the 2 year anniversary of my grandfather's (dad's dad) death. My Bachan(Japanese grandma) was Buddhist and I just figured it was her work.

Well, that little plan did not work, but my parents found a great home for this lost dog! Cliff is a guy that works at my uncle's car wash and he has a little 4 year old boy. He's been wanting to get a dog, but hasn't had the money or time. Since funds are low for Cliff, my parents are giving him the puppy with a doggie starter kit (first vet visit, book on beagles, food, collar, leash). They are such good people and they are making a family very happy this holiday season. Go Denny and Yoko.

Finals on Monday....siiiiick. Three on Monday. Online final Tuesday-ish. One of Wednesday.

Happy Finals fellow undergrads,
V

Exploding apples?

Last night, after having the worst luck with computers these past couple months, my little Toshiba went haywire and was closing down my programs left and right. I scanned, protected, and firewalled every possible thing I could think of......

Then, today while conversing with a girl in my physics class about as assignment I grab my binder out of my backpack only to find a mushy substance on the side.....I look in my backpack and an apple I had left in my backpack had turned into applesauce and looked like it had exploded all over my collegiate loot in my backpack. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat. I cleaned it up.

Only in my life....

Oh, the luck I have with computers.....and apples....

I've had the strongest urge to get out and travel and just expand my horizons. Anything seems appealing to me. I'm an equal opportunity tourist I suppose. I went to Europe when I was 16 with my family and I curse myself everyday that I didn't absorb everything I possibly could and learn so much more from the experience. I remember a lot of things, but there are so many things that I wish I still vividly remember.
Things that I do remember:
-Buying a Swatch in Switzerland while shopping with Joycie.
-Feeding the pigeons in St. Mark's Square, Venice!
-Being scared out of my mind being the backseat while my dad cursed his way through round-a-bouts on the opposite side of the road in Wales.
-Eating a Belgian waffle in Belgium.
-Having pastries in Monmarte in Paris.
-Taking a dinner boat tour at night in Paris and seeing the Eiffel Tour lit up.
-Watching beautiful bluffs appear in France as we rode in on the English Channel by ferry.
-Drinking complimentary champagne in Rome at dinner.
-Riding in the back of a taxi while the driver drove past the Vatican at night on what felt like 2 wheels.

Just a little something to make me feel a little more unique on a dreary day.
Hope you enjoy,
V

For Toni....

How exciting this day is....my first blog.

I told Toni I would start a blog just because she can't get enough of my antics...hahaha...and we are the very worst at playing phonetag. It's sick.

I.am.Lady.of.the.Library.

You're probably wondering why? I guess I shall reveal the tale.

Ok, first you must imagine me as a sixth grader. A horribly awkward sixth grader. Furry eyebrows. All bones. Horrible application of Wet 'n Wild glittery make-up. Probably wearing a Limited Too shirt and Jnco's (ok, I never really owned a pair, but Jnco's are so sixth grade to me).
My, my how this story has gone off on a length tangent...back to the story.
The entire sixth grade did a big unit on the Middle Ages, Medieval culture, history, whatever. As part of the unit we all created a coat of arms. The coat of arms contained 4 sections with things that we liked along with a name describing yourself. Most of the girls in the class had names such as Lady of the Mall, Lady Shops A Lot, Lady of the Phone...pretty generic pre-pubescent activities...with the popular theme of male names being Lord of the N64, Sir Hoops A Lot, Lord of Sports, Lord of the [DARE] Dance. For the normal sixth graders they put things like their friends, tv, phone, shopping, sports in the 4 sections of likes. Vanessa (AKA the coolest sixth grader) included her dog and books in two of the sections with piano keys lining the outside. You're probably wondering what my name was....
yeah....It was Lady of the Library.

Now, that I am 22 not much has changed. I'm the biggest dork you could imagine with likes including reading, and knowledge. However, I've come a long way from cheap makeup and horrible wardrobe decisions.

I will say though that I AM still Lady of the Library. I have two jobs within the library including the periodicals desk and mending (yes, contact me for all of your book mending needs). And up until this week I did not have a computer so on most nights I was in the library to nearly close to do homework. Oh, my life....it's so fascinating.

Well, enjoy yourselves.
V