"Put on your boy entrancers and some lippy and get to it!"

Tuesday, January 13, 2009
1:03 pm My cozy little room.

Tara's To Do List (preferably by tomorrow, but who am I kidding?)

1.) Blog (check!)

2.) Check mailbox (I'm waiting on a check from the toystore)

3.) Clean bathroom

4.) Clean bedroom (I've been here 2 days and it's already a mess)

5.) Clean common room (We had people over last night...)

6.) Clean kitchen

7.) Email Grandma

8.) Go grocery shopping (for the love of God!)

9.) Look up restaurant and parking information for when parents visit in Feb.

10.) Print out copies of class schedule

11.) Make clothing lists (need one for everyday clothes, one for going-out clothes, and one for internship clothes... don't judge me)

12.) Make Feb. hair appointment

13.) Organize health insurance information

14.) Organize money and budget for the week (shudder)

15.) Organize TV viewing schedule (gotta keep track of my shows...)

16.) Paint nails

17.) Pick up books

18.) Pluck eyebrows

19.) Read latest issue of Body & Soul (must be prepared for Friday!!!)

20.) Read syllabus for JO408: Magazine Workshop

21.) Write thank-you card to Amanda at the Improper

22.) Upload pictures from winter break

23.) Work out

24.) Put on boy entrancers and some lippy and get to it! *

* Received this text from Kaitlyn last night. Was in reference to her encouraging me to go after a guy. She chose to channel Georgia Nicholson, a British character from the Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging book series. "Boy entrancers" are fake lashes and "lippy" is lip gloss.

She's crazy, I know.

Love,

Tara

"Lookin fine in 09"

Sunday, January 11, 2009

9:32 pm Back at BU

Ok, I didn't send this secret to Postsecret.com, but I agree!

I mean, it's not the "worst" year of my life, but I do agree about the punching people in the face part. I know this is supposed to be an exciting time in my life, it's all "beautiful with mystery" or whatever, but I'M SCARED. I'M NOT HAVING FUN. Everytime I look at my bank account or my budget my whole body tenses up. Everytime I think about any day past May 17, 2009, I feel like crying. Everytime I think about not having a job when I graduate I feel like I'm going to vomit.

I know that someday I'll look back on all this and smile at how uncertain my life was and how it all worked out, but right now I'm not really enjoying the uncertainty. I'm graduating from COLLEGE in a little over 4 MONTHS, and I'm kind of FREAKING OUT.

I don't like this.

Tara

"Sharing is caring"

Friday, January 9, 2009
2:58 pm My hands are numb, and I'm in my own house.

I couldn't pick just one topic to write about, so I'm just going to talk a little bit about everything. The quote for this blog comes from one of the kids Karen watches. Karen has worked with me at the toystore since forever. Last year she graduated from UCONN, so while she applies to graduate schools she's been working at the toystore and at a morning and afternoon YMCA latchkey program in East Hartford. I get to hear the best stories from her about all of kids (she gets punched and sworn at frequently). Oddly enough, it makes me kind of want to work there...

Last night, Karen, Stephanie, and I went to Ang's for dinner and a movie. It was super cute. We watched Mamma Mia and complained about customers. While we were talking though, this absolutely horrifying video came up on the news. The whole thing is so disturbing. It made me feel sick to my stomach all night.



What can you say after seeing something like that?

Also in the news, there's been a lot of talk about Scientology with the tragic death of John Travolta's son. This past semester, for my Magazine Writing & Editing class, I read a really fascinating piece on scientology done by Janet Reitman for Rolling Stone. I've posted the link to the story below. Let me know what you think.

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/9363363/inside_scientology

In personal news, a year ago today I was landing in Madrid. Isn't that crazy? I can't believe it's been a full year. I was lying in bed thinking about it last night, and I was actually making myself anxious. I had to tell myself that it all already happened! It's one of those things I'm so glad I did, because it got me closer to being the person I want to be, but I'm glad I don't have to do anything like that again anytime soon.

So, I'll be returning for my last spring semester at BU on Sunday. I'm excited to go back, but I've got a zillion things to do to get ready. I'm starting new classes, a new internship...soon I'll have to apply for actual, paying jobs...it's a lot to think about.

Plus, my bed at home is WAY more comfortable than the one at school. It's going to be hard to go back.

Love,
Tara

"Omg so much drama at bingo"

Tuesday, January 6, 2008
10:22 pm Soaking my butchered toes in the kitchen


Hell hath no fury like an old lady when you tell her she can't play bingo.

I thought I was going to see a granny fight tonight. I hadn't been to bingo since the summer, so I was a little excited to go tonight with Ang. There were rumors that bingo might be cancelled because of the weather, so I spent much of the day clicking the refresher button on weather.com. I am also nursing a cold, but I wasn't going to let freezing rain or a running nose stop me: I really wanted to win.

So, it's about 7 p.m. at St. Paul's Bingo Hall when an old guy makes the announcement: there aren't enough people; they have to cancel bingo.

People FREAKED OUT.

I kid you not! I thought people were going to start having heart attacks. There was yelling and cursing and throwing of bingo dabbers! I was more than a little scared. That's when I texted my mom, "Omg so much drama at bingo," just so she wouldn't wonder when I ended up hospitalized after breaking up a geriatric wrestling match.

People start to go up to get their money back (I was trying not to cry), when someone came up with the idea to see if they could get enough people to pay to make up the difference. I guess they need 40+ people to play the game, so people offered to buy extra cards to make up the difference. It worked! Enough people volunteered to do it, so bingo was back on.

But it still wasn't all hunky-dory. People had already left the hall, so they had to find them in the parking lot. One old woman who had cried "This is stupid!" when they cancelled bingo was already completely gone. Some of the old men who ran the bingo just wanted to go home, so they weren't happy when bingo was back on. It was quite the emotional rollercoaster.

Needless to say, I didn't win, and now I'm home, soaking my feet in salt water and feeling quite ill. But I will be back to bingo in March, I'm sure, because I've recently discovered that I will not be able to afford to go on spring break. Maybe when I go to bingo then, I'll win they money I would have needed.

Wouldn't that be ironic.

Tara

"I don't hear any screaming!"

Monday, January 5, 2009

5:10 pm I'm crippled.

Do you know what it feels like to be lied to? It hurts, doesn't it? It hurts real bad. I know I said I'd be posting about adventures in Disney - and I will - but I need to take a moment to talk about the traumatic events of today.

They said it was a "minor procedure." For, like, years, my toes have been hurting me, but recently it's been a lot worse. Last semester, when Stephanie and Kaitlyn came to visit me, I literally couldn't walk because I was in so much pain. And I was pretty sure I knew the culprit: in-grown toe nails.

Stop that! Don't roll your eyes! They can be really, really bad! Like knives stabbing you in the toes. Don't judge until your nails have been where no nails should go.

So, a few weeks ago I go to a podiatrist and, like I said, they say I need a "minor procedure." They're just going to numb my toes, slice the nail to the root, remove that part of the nail, and put a chemical in to stop the nail from growing there. Wham, bam, thank you, ma'am. It all sounded so easy.

But when I arrived at the doctor's office this morning I was in for a wild ride. First, they put me in this room and tell me I'm going to have to ruin my pedicure by taking off my nail polish on my two big toes. This was traumatic enough. But first, the doctor decides to spray my feet with this crazy cold gas and then inject my toes in two places (per toe) with this numbing stuff.

You can faintly see the blood drops...

It was painful. When he was finally finished, I looked at the arm rest and saw a sweat mark where my hand had been. Then, while my toes are bleeding from the injections and slowly going numb, I had to remove my nail polish. It's very strange touching your feet and not feeling it. I felt like I was taking off someone else's nail polish... but I wasn't. My brain was freaking out.

So, the doctor leaves me alone for a while to let the numbness set in, and I text Steph to take my mind off of things.

T: 10:38: My toes are numb! Its so weird.

S: 10:39: You are doing great!

T: 10:41: Haha how do you know?? You're not even in here!

S: 10:42: I don't hear any screaming!

Then the doctor comes in, puts up the little curtain thing so I can't see, and starts hacking away. I can only see the tools he's using and the bloody gauze he keeps throwing in the trash. I try not to pass out.

Before I left, he wrapped my toes so they're about twice they're normal size, and I've been laid up all day. I thought I was going to be able to work out today! I'm supposed to go to Panera for dinner! I'm supposed to go bowling tonight! I had big plans! Instead, all I could do is watch Forgetting Sarah Marshall (again) and order Stephanie around.

Now I'm in a little bit of pain, but the worst part was I had this itch while I was riding home with Stephanie, and my toes were still numb. I'm reading this book called "The Brain That Changes Itself" by Norman Doidge (it's okay), and I just finished the chapter on phantom limbs. I'm pretty sure I had a phantom itch.

Poor me.

Love,
Tara

"We lost them!"

Saturday, January 3, 2009
7:43 pm My room

As promised, I will be blogging about some of the adventures we had in Disney World. The first one occurred on the very first night...

My family and I had just enjoyed a delicious dinner at The Flying Fish and were strolling along the Boardwalk when we heard the explosions. High-pitched whistling, followed by earth-shattering bangs suddenly surrounded us. Fire and light exploded in the skies ahead of us, followed by billowing smoke, and we all turned to each other with the same harrowing realization: fireworks.

For most families, a fireworks display would be nice way to spend time together, but we are not most families. The fireworks were up ahead, in Epcot, which meant that thousands of people were watching them, and that when the show was done, those thousands of people would be crowding the monorails - our monorails - to get back to the hotels. The look in all of our eyes was one of pure fear.

"We've got to run," someone said. We looked at each other, eyes wide at the possibility. Somebody whimpered. Someone else shivered. Could we do it? Could we really take on all of those crowds? The answer was simple - we had to.

I don't remember who started running, but I was reminded of the time I was stuck in the ETA demonstration in Bilbao - except this time there was a lot of laughing, and I stopped running long enough to do a little grapevine to the music that accompanied the fireworks.

Through the park we ran. In China, I almost fell over a small child. In Morocco, I got a stitch in my side. In Italy, I looked longingly at the wine shop as I ran by but told myself to focus. In Canada, I inhaled the smoke from someone's cigarette and almost hacked up a lung. In France, we almost lost it all.

We were sprinting through the last country, almost to the bridge, when we got split up. The entire time we ran through Epcot, as we leapt over small children and ran up the sides of buildings (think The Matrix) to avoid crowds, we managed to stay together. But when we were almost to the bridge, Mom, Kaitlyn, and I realized we were missing Stephanie and Dad.

"We lost them!" Explosions were happening every second now - it was the finale of the fireworks display. The music blared, lights and smoke blinded us. It was too late to go back. What got them? I wondered, blinking away the tears. Was it the Asian tourists by the Eiffel Tower? Or the overweight twins by the patisserie? There was no way to know, and now it was too late.

"No!" cried Mom, whipping out her IPhone while she ran. Kaitlyn and I grasped hands and continued to run behind her, praying for the best. Suddenly, Mom was yelling into her phone. Dad had answered!

"Bravo! Delta! Omega! Meet us under the Epcot ball!" she hollered. The fireworks were now over and the crowds were catching up to us. I tripped a kid on crutches just to keep him from getting ahead of me. I saw Kaitlyn punch a pregnant woman in the face. It sounds horrible now, but we did what we had to do. Then, up ahead, we saw Dad and Stephanie waving to us. They seemed to have an otherworldy glow about them. Ok, maybe that was the streetlight they were standing under, but the point is we all embraced, knocked over a group of senior citizens, and jumped on the monorail together.

Love,
Tara

"I knew she'd grow to love it and make a dance to it."

Friday, January 2, 2009
3:26 pm It's cold here.

I'm back! Happy New Year! Why don't we all live in Florida? This is what I asked myself as the plane descended into Bradley and I saw... snow. I love snow around the holidays, but after that I could do without it. I think Grandpa and Anita have it all figured out - live in Florida from January till April, then spend the rest of the year in CT. I have big plans for when I retire...

Anyway, there is much to blog about. I have a list of ideas I came up with while I was on vacay. I shall write them throughout the week. Disney was fab, though the tan I got is pretty weak. I'll upload pictures soon.

In honor of the new year, I'm changing my blog titles. I'm not in love with the whole horoscope-for-a-title-thing, because as much as I care about my horoscope, you probably don't. It also makes it hard to go back and find old posts because the titles give no indication as to what is in the post. Sigh.

So, Kaitlyn suggested I try "quotes from the day" a la The Hills. Because anything related to reality television excites me, I thought it was a marvelous idea. And there's always a little story that goes along with each quote...

The day we left for Florida, I started saying "shwink." Why? I don't know. But whenever something good happened, I would say "shwink" - kind of in place of "score" or "sweet," except you add a single eyebrow raise. As an added bonus to using such a cool word, it drove my sisters crazy. Kaitlyn turned around pretty quickly and started it using it herself, but Stephanie would hit or flick me everytime I said it. Which was a lot. By the end of the trip, the word was being used multiple times a day, and I even created a dance to go along with it which I would perform, sometimes in public. People loved it - I mean, they didn't tell me they did, but I could tell from their expressions. Stephanie didn't like my dance and created her own, doing a variation of the march of the cards in Alice in Wonderland. I really liked her interpretation when she performed it for our parents today, hence the quote. Now I've got everyone using "shwink."

Apparently going to Disney World makes me regress to a much younger age.

SHWINK!
Tara