Thursday, October 28, 2010

Love And Theft - You To Miss (Lyrics)



My Friend Mike (or Mangelo as we like to call him) Posted this song on my facebook. Normally I'm not too crazy into country, I like some songs, and I think Brad Paisley is one of the most beautiful people to touch earth, so I listen to him hahaha. Anyway, Mike gave me this song and while I have been bummed out about everything lately... This is exactly how to feel.

Thanks Mike

Put Everything In Its Right Place.

The last few weeks have had a lot of ups and downs. Well, lets rephrase that. How about down down down then up and then down again.
One thing that has gotten to me: DJ Henry.
People from around the greater Brockton area know him from school in Easton, or a few of my friends who were attending Pace with him in NY. Unfortunately, it hits a little closer to home with my family. My mother is really close friends with DJ's grandmother, Peggy.
I've never had anything against police. Never. I have 4 family members myself that are Boston policemen... but there is something sketchy about the whole thing.
The police have changed the story, evidence has been tampered with, something is being hidden. All of us just want the truth. For the sake of Peggy, and Angela, and so that my mom and Gail will stop sitting with the news on waiting to hear what they have to say next.

The sweet boy who cared way more about football than drinking, the boy who was the designated driver that night so his friends could be safe, the kid who is now gone and because he is not here to tell the truth, the police can lie, say it was his fault, say he was drunk, say he tried to harm them. I'm sick of it.
I have only seen DJ a few times at a few family gatherings, but I do know he was a shy, sweet kid, and he didn't deserve this... and neither does my family. It's just taking a lot out of everyone who just wants to know the truth. We want everything to be put in its right place.

Monday, October 25, 2010

Feeling a lot better

The weekend helped me a lot. Remember Wednesday's post? (how could you forget... it's right under this one)
I needed to find some time to do something for myself. Wednesday was just a bad day. I cried a couple times.. talked to Alex, which did make me feel better, and he made me laugh, until we hung up and I started to cry again because hanging up with him made me realize how much I did actually miss him, especially how much he makes me laugh when I hate the world.
Then I ran. I did that a lot this week. Weds after dinner, Thursday before dance class and Friday before cheer I just went to the gym put This Album in my ear buds and ran until I felt okay, or until it was time for me to leave for work..
I wanted to go on Saturday too, but there was no way.. and I was glad I didn't either. I don't think I would have been able to walk on Sunday if I did!
Saturday I went with my Older Sister and her three friends to Salem for a scavenger hunt. They have done one before and they told me I had to come because it would be really fun. They have them in Boston all the time.. they are about $20.00 and you know what the winner gets? A FREE SCAVENGER HUNT! hahaha.
This one was really cool. I try not to believe too much in ghosts and monsters and everything but somewhere in the back of my ever puzzled mind I want to. This hunt was pretty cool. We had history and trivia and got to go to some haunted places. We didn't get to go inside any of them, but just being around some of them was good enough. There were two places, in front of one house and in one garden. The garden belonged to the Ropes Mansion, a Salem museum (which.. FUN FACT was Filmed as Alison's house in Hocus Pocus.. best.Halloween.movie.EVER!)Its also considered to be one of the most haunted houses in Salem, which is strange because that house wasn't the thing that gave me the bad feelings.. however the garden did. The garden was in front of another old brick mansion that was pushed back off of the street. They felt cold. Really really cold. I don't even know how to explain it. The garden didn't feel too cold until we got more towards the back, (here is a journal with some pics of the garden. The big brick mansion is the place that gave me the heeby jeebiez!)  and the sun dial was really cool. It sat in the middle of the garden. Our question to be answered was "What stays when everything else dies?" When we located the dial it had the quote that says
"Hours fly, flowers bloom and die, old days old ways pass by, love stays." Romantic right? But somehow the whole ora of it all made the quote a little creepy.
Once we passed the sundial to the back exit of the garden it got even colder. They say the Ropes mansion is very haunted.. okay well who lived in this brick house behind it? perhaps a witch?? it was freezing there until we finally got passed it.. then my face filled with blood and I felt awkwardly warm again. I didn't like it.

We ended up tying for first in the hunt.. AWESOME! It came down to the tie breaker... "how many women were killed during the Salem witch trials?" okay what were we thinking.. 1600s how many people do you think even live in Salem.. for some reason we said a number over 100 (really.. maybe there were 100 people living in Salem at the time..  I don't know why I didn't stop us from having it be the final answer). You know how many did?
20
No seriously. That's it. 20 women were accused and hanged for being witches between 1692 and 1693. Why did we think there was so many more?? There were men as well, perhaps there were a lot of them? Who knows.

Strange how it works, but getting the bejeebers scared out of me actually helped me feel better from the stress. I needed a day of simple fun... No out partying and doing this and drinking that and the foolish things 22 year olds do.. I got to be outside for hours, enjoy history, use my brain, oh and got super yummy cream of broccoli soup and hot apple cider afterwards! Hooray!
Thanks Lynn for bringing me! =)

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

I'm going to vent.

I hate my desk job. I HATE IT!
I have to get it off my chest.
When I was first hired here I was told I was going to be doing all this stuff that I am not doing. I was told I would be able to go to live streaming in Waltham, Cambridge, and Boston. I would be doing tons of filing and scheduling. Do you know what I do? I sit at my desk and blankly stare at facebook, read blogs, and play spider solitaire.. while I get talked to because the kitchen isn't clean and we are out of creamer. REALLY? I DON'T EVEN GO IN THE KITCHEN!!!
You know why the kitchen isn't clean Aby? because I am the office manager.. not you're maid! You drink coffee everyday and just throw your mug in the sink and then get mad when there are six unwashed mugs in there. How hard is it to rinse it off and stick it back in the cabinet? Asshole.
He gave me two folders to label on Monday, and handed them back to me on Tuesday and told me he didn't like the position where the letters were... he couldn't read them clearly.
Are we serious right now? You can't read size 24 font typed out because its a little lower on the label then you like? And then OH AND THEN... he said to me "I don't pressure you with a lot of work... the least you could do is not do something half-assed. I don't want to redo them myself but if you are going to do work like this then just tell me." WHAT? WHAAAAAAAAAAAT? IM GOING TO HAVE THE LABEL SPACED TO LOW FOR YOU AND NOW I AM HALF ASSED? FUCK YOU.

I'm sorry for all the swearing on my blog.  I don't like to do that here but I am mad. I am very very mad... and two seconds away from walking out of this door and not coming back.
Anybody know of any place that's hiring???? UGH



Monday, October 18, 2010

I have two rules in tap class...

1. don't move your feet until I am done teaching something new
2.don't run in your tap shoes, you will slip.

If only 8 year olds listened, right?
I have one student in my class in particular who has always listened to the rules. Her name is Siobhan, but all of the girls call her Shabanny. She has a handicap on her left side, but she loooooooves to dance, and she really loves tap class.. she's actually really one of my good productive girls in the class as well. Until today. Today for some reason Shabanny decided to run after I gave them a quick water break. She slipped and fell right on her weak side and began to cry. I've never been so scared in my life. The last half hour of class I am the only teacher left in the studio, and I do not 100% know what shabanny's disability even is, only that her left leg is not as functional as her right. I picked her up immediately and held her and told her not to worry, and she cried to me that she didn't want to dance anymore (which I am hoping that she only meant for the rest of the class, and not the rest of the year... I really love having her in my class). I carried her to one of our mats and sat there and held her. The rest of my 8 year olds then surprised me. First they all came over to make sure Shabanny was okay.. then they spread around the dance floor and went back to practicing the cramp rolls I was teaching them. Gracie and Nicole helped some of the other girls that weren't getting them right away, and once they got them they began asking each other questions and all helping each other practice their maxie fords and buffalos, coming over to where I was sitting and showing me each move whenever they wanted to double check that they were doing it right.
I began to well up. I smiled and my eyes got watery.
I always tell everyone that I am a "tough guy" I love sports, I am rough, I dabble in a lot of things that guys do, like play video games and actively work my fantasy football roster... but my gosh there are days when I have this soft spot for these little girls. I was so proud of them today. They made me so happy. I've been beating myself up lately saying I am a bad teacher. I feel like one.. unorganized, unplanned, seemingly clueless as to where to go next in class. Then simple things like this happen. Not only do they understand the vocabulary.. they know it enough to teach it to each other at the age of 8. I feel a little more accomplished, a little more important to this studio, and a lot less stressed  about one of my many jobs.
Now I just have to find recital music! *sigh*


Thursday, October 14, 2010

Ingrid at the House Of Blues!

Tuesday night Ingrid Michaelson played at the House Of Blues in Boston and I got the opportunity to go.
I can't even begin to tell you how amazing the show was, even though there was a half hour wait between the opening act and her coming on stage due to some sound issues which she did appologize for (so sweet right?)
I've loved her music for so long now but after seeing her live I love her even more. I never thought that she would be as funny, sarcastic, and kinda rock chick as she is. She even asked the fans a personal question (well I mean not that personal) Leanne Rhymes had tweeted her and she had no idea what to say back to her.. she went on with her struggles about it for a solid two minutes. I'm pretty sure she had me laughing in between every song! Not to mention the two last songs she played. Her final song of the night was an "ode to Britney" Let me tell you.. Toxic by BS sounds pretty good on Ukulele.  after that she "Hid" (she had told all of us that she wasn't going to keep us around waiting, we knew there was an encore why bother leaving the stage for five minutes for nothing!) and came back and did a punk rock version of The Way I Am. It was hilarious, but also really good!


Guggenheim Grotto

The show opener, Guggenheim Grotto. They were GOOD and cute and Irish too! check them out =)

Heres two videos that technically would be one. Sorry for the quality and the fact that they are short... I don't know why I didn't think to bring my camera, I forgot smaller venues let you have them, so these are from my phone which only allows 32 seconds of recording at a time! haha




Thats all for now. If you get the chance check out Ingrid's page, Ingrid's blog.. and catch her on tour!! =)

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Just Call Me Sue...


    Sylvester that is…. Okay.. So maybe I’m not that crazy, and I’m not out to get the glee club.. I happen to love them.. But I am a cheer coach.

    I told myself months ago I would do a post about being a coach, because this is after all a blog about my transition from being a college grad to being an actual adult, because I still feel like I’m playing dress up with mommy’s scarves and pretending I’m in the real world.
Somewhere in the back of my mind during my Jr and Sr year of college I had a feeling I would be a coach. I love sports and I love being a leader/mentor.. I  just never thought it would be of this kind. I grew up an athlete. I played baseball/softball and soccer for most of my young life, played volleyball and became 100% devoted to it, playing it for 8 years, 6 of which I played year round as the only sport that I would play. I thought that Jr. High or High school volleyball was what I would be coaching. Most definantly I was going to be teaching plays, 6/2 or 5/1 rotations, red and black defenses.. How to make 6 girls 1 unit on 900sq feet. All about it… yet somehow I ended up here, at Wellesley High school with 16 girls, big red bows, and pompoms. Wait? What? Britteny?? The biggest tomboy with a cheer squad?
Stephanie and I, the duo of Left and Right side attackers.


   Yea.. I was a cheerleader once… in 7th grade.. For two weeks… and I quit to join the soccer team… oops?

   Okay so you guys are probably now wondering how this all happened. My good friend Alexa is the actual coach of the squad. We went out to dinner one night and she and I discussed our busy schedules. She is signed to dance  with a local artist and is suppose to be doing performances and possibly do a small tour with him, which could leave her squad without a coach  for games which meant they would not be allowed to stunt, go to competitions, or do a great pep rally performance. That’s when she came up with a great idea. “Britteny you can be my assistant… and you’ll work them out and stretch them and I’ll teach them cheer, then when I’m not there you can be and they can stunt” Great Idea.. Being paid to run and stretch with girls.. Awesome!!
  It all started at cheer camp in august. I had a lot to learn. I came in and met only about half the squad (yes, only 9 girls at camp… that’s not a team oh no!! good thing we got a larger number of interest as we started the season!) I loved them right off the bat, but oh man I was so confused. I had no idea what I was doing. I was going to coaching seminars to learn how to tumble and stunt and fundraise and an hour later being thrown right into the fire to be working with my team on stunting and half time routines. I had so much to learn and I didn’t have a lot of time to learn it. I thought for sure I was going to drown and fail.

  Well things have changed a bit since then. I’ve grown into actually enjoying cheer… some things are still a little rocky at times. I don’t understand why they can’t just do this or do that.. Oh that’s right, we are cheerleaders and I am a dancer.. Things are not the same! This is not ballet class Britteny! I am starting to see the difference and be able to differentiate and work with both on the same level.  I am now creating stunt routines and running practices on my own. I am setting a goal for myself to research cheers and come up with some on my own before the thanksgiving game! Plus I’ve become really attached to these girls. I think I’m just an overly affectionate and loving person really.. But they really are important to me now. I am constantly thinking about if they are doing well in school, hoping that they are all getting along, and hoping that no one makes any stupid mistakes that are going to cause me to punish them. Yes there are days they aggravate me (today being one of them, I yelled at them during a game today because they really weren’t trying hard enough. I personally hate the word can’t.. Especially when its sandwiched by an I and do it. I got some of those today and had to walk away and spend some time away from them.) But by Tuesday I miss them and I’m ready to jump back in with them and do work. I think I’m learning that it doesn’t really matter what sport I am coaching, I just really love to work with that age group.
Okay.. I really talk a lot, what a long post on something that only consumes my life every Tuesday, Friday, and Saturday hahaha. I’ll leave you with some pictures and vid of my girls in action!



 


Sunday, October 3, 2010

my how things cha.... oh.. wait...

I walked into my bathroom today to see two things out of the ordinary. For one.. there is a hole in the wall. A big gaping hole over the sink. Apparently something happened to the medicine cabinet while I was in Connecticut for the weekend. The next was a picture frame on the shelf above the toilet. It has got to have one of the BEST pictures ever taken of my brother and I. We don't have many pictures together.. at all. We had a very big love hate relationship growing up and both of us living back at home again we most def still have the same relationship.
Anyway... this picture reminded me of another picture. I couldn't help but laugh. Sometimes things don't really change and I actually really like that.

Bobby and Britteny, 1989
Bobby and Britteny, 2008

Friday, October 1, 2010

UCONN UCONN UCONN!!

Hi Lovely readers!

I'll be in the CT area this weekend. Going to spend some time with some close friends (okay.. lets just call them family, because that's really what they are to me!) and seeing some GOOD FOOTBALL!!

I went to a small private college. My graduating class was just over 30 students so I didn't get that much of the college experience as most would. Don't get me wrong... I had an AMAZING four years at Dean.. but being the networker/socialist/bubbly person I am... I big campus would have been a great experience for me. I think that's the other reason I want to go to grad school. I'd like to try it from a different perspective... lost at a big school with tons of people. It wouldn't be the first time, my high school had six buildings and over four thousand students.

ANYWAY! This post was not suppose to be a rant. It was just to inform you lovely kiddies that Monday or Tuesday there might be a post of my wonderful adventures, and a fun Saturday full of football!!! As long as this weather doesn't swallow us up!!


xoxo 
RIP Jasper<3