FF - Does This Make Me A Bad Person?

This is S.

She was my flatmate when I went to school in England.  The boys downstairs wrapped her in towels and packing tape.  She came to me for help and I made her pose for a photo before I offered to cut her out.

Yes, I'm that kind of friend.

Update:  I found the long lost 22nd birthday picture.  Check it out!

 

FF - Summer of Suzy

I am irrationally afraid of wild animals.

I don't think this was always the case.  I believe my fear stems from many summers spent in the woods working at a camp.  More specifically from the 2006:  The Summer of Suzy. 

Suzy is was a bear.  A black bear.  A black bear with cubs who spent the summer feasting from the dumpster on camp property. 

At the beginning of the summer M and J spent hours trying to creatively scare Suzy away from the dumpster.  They yelled and used air horns to no avail.  (They also spent hours taunting Suzy for fun.)  But Suzy made it abundantly clear that the dumpster was her personal all-you-can-eat buffet. 

Later in the summer the boys were responsible for chaining the dumpster closed and watering the electric bear fence.  Nothing worked.

Suzy ambled around camp with her cubs in tow.  She took up residence behind the dumpster while her cubs sat near by in the trees.  Suzy walked into the dorm, across the A-field paths, and was almost run down by the camp van when she ran across the road.  (Yes, I was driving.)

During the Summer of Suzy, I was petrified to walk around camp alone.  We educated the kids on what to do if they happened to come across a bear.  Put your arms up, make loud noises and slowly back away.  But in the back of my mind, I wasn't convinced that I could remain calm in the face of a Suzy encounter.  I imagined myself pushing a camper towards the bear and running away as fast as possible.  (Obviously, I lack that Momma Grizzly syndrome that Sarah Palin subscribes to.)

At the end of the summer, I was alone in the camp store taking inventory.  I dropped an entire bottle of slush syrup on the ground.  Even though slush syrup is extremely sour, I freaked out and was sure that the smell would attract the bear.  My heart started pumping and I grabbed my stuff and ran back to the staff house as fast as I could.

The Summer of Suzy instilled an irrational fear of wild animals in me.  To this day I am more afraid of being attacked by a wild animal than a person.

Everyone survived the summer without incident and Suzy was "taken care of" after the camp season.  There were future bear incidents at camp but the Summer of Suzy pretty much scarred me for life.

Truth:  I had a dream last week that I was in my parent's basement and there was a bear trying to break in through the windows! 

FF - The Girlfriend Game

Sadly, I was unable to locate a picture of Suzy the bear for today’s Flashback Friday post.  Thus, the history of my (not so) irrational fear of wild animals will have to wait.

But...do you remember this? 

It was the summer of 2005 and this song was awesome. After camp had ended, a bunch of us rented an apartment in Florida for a week to sit on the beach. (Although the beach ended up being too hot for our Northern skin and went spent most of the week at the pool.)

We ate corn on the cob and grilled steaks. We slept four to a bed and M dipped his man goodies in a bucket of ice water.

One night we mixed a pitcher's worth of fruity cocktails and decided to play the Girlfriend drinking game. If I remember correctly the boys opted out…whether it was due to a lack of love for ‘N Sync or the intense desire to avoid our strong yet very pink cocktail, I’m not sure.

Us girls rounded up every drinking implement in the condo in preparation for the game.

The rules of the game were simple…every time they said the world girlfriend, we took a drink.

If you’ve ever heard the song you’ll know that this was one of those “better on paper” ideas. We struggled to get the concoction down before the next repetition of the word and were unable to refill the cups fast enough. We drained the pitcher of pink fruity goodness before the song even ended.

The next day, we woke up and had margaritas by the pool for breakfast. Oh to be young.

FF - Favorite Super Bowl Moment

My favorite Super Bowl moment actually took place on New Year's Eve circa 2009ish.  I was hanging out with K and three boys doing the traditional NYE things...you know Chinese, drinks, Wii bowling.

On our way back from Chinese, we stopped at CVS (which happened to already be decorated for the Super Bowl.)

Scene: 
I am in the girly goods aisle discretely trying to buy tampons.

Boy 1:  AMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYY!

I quickly turn around to see Boy 1 running at me holding a 10 foot, inflatable field goal post.

CVS man:  Hey!  Put that back!

Boy 1:  IT'S OKAY...SHE LOVES TOUCHDOWNS!

FF - Birthday Edition

*I wish I could locate the pictures for this story Here is a photo of a photo.  Notice the balloon, the outfit, and the neon encased Stiff-uns. 

On February 4, 2004 I celebrated my 22nd birthday in England.  It was a Wednesday night. 

My university had student night out at the Carleton Club every Wednesday night.  You bought a ticket on campus on Monday, took the free bus on Wednesday, and had to show your library card to get in.  Because it was my birthday, I got in for free, was given a yellow balloon to tie around my wrist so everyone knew it was my birthday, and two free drinks...at the same time.

The Stiff-un was the Carleton signature drink.  It was only vodka and Red Bull in a neon plastic cup but it was notorious.  So there I was double-fisting two neon cups dancing to Shut Up by the Black Eyed Peas dressed as a lady gangster.  Let me back up...

In England it was not unusual for a group of girls to dress up like it was Halloween (in a month that was not October) to celebrate birthdays.  My friends and I rocked an all black outfit, white tie, and pink fedora.

It was such a fun night and A.P. and R.D. joined in the festivities.  We danced.  We drank.  We flirted with boys.  There are pictures from the evening that I have no recollection of how they got onto my camera.

But the best part was the next morning.  I woke up in my bed, still in my gangster outfit with a helium balloon floating above my bed because it was still tied to my wrist. 

I did not make it to my first class that Thursday morning.

_______________

Thank you to everyone for the birthday wishes as I embark on the final year of my youth.  I have spent the last month mentally preparing myself for today and am surprisingly feeling good about 29....unlike last years scene.

February 2010

I frantically call S:

A:  I can't believe it's almost my birthday!

S:  I know.

A:  I've just been so busy with work.  I can't believe I'm going to be 27!

S:  pause

A:  OH MY GOD!  I'M ALREADY 27!

I was in fact turning 28 but forgot.  So this year I made sure that wasn't going to happen again.

Flashback Friday

There is no excuse for my continued blog absenteeism...except for writers block and the fact that I have done nothing exciting or remotely noteworthy except watch my Netflix Instant Queue and shovel 10+ inches of snow 1-2 times per week. 

It is officially that point in the winter where the snow is no longer fun, pretty, or wanted.  While the days are getting longer, the temperatures seem to be dropping.  Basically it is hibernation season.

So in an effort to force myself to write, blog, and communicate electronically with the world I present:



Every week I'll share a story about something that happened back in the day. 

Now, without further ado...

When I was in college I was an RA (Residential Advisor) which is how I met my then best friend J.  I think it was 2004 and we were still living in the dorm and one weekend we were feeling particularly restless.  To ease the restlessness, it seemed like a good idea to dye my hair jet black (in retrospect it was not the best idea because even though it said it would wash out in 28 shampoos it did not and I was cursed with the half colored, half not look for the entire time it took to grow out.)

That weekend we also impulsively visited a tattoo/piercing shop.  Reluctant to permanently scar my body (although I was super close to getting a tattoo when I was in Europe) I opted for the trendy upper ear cartilage piercing.  J got her belly button re-pierced.

The woman who pierced me used a needle and it was quite a painful experience.  (Maybe I have a low pain tolerance because when I got my ears pierced when I was 7 I almost passed out.)  I could feel the needle push through and pop the cartilage then push the rest of the way through.  My ear was on fire and she still had to twist the ring through.  Afterwards, I had to sit and have a lollipop because I was afraid I was going to pass out. 

The piercing never really healed and 6-7 years later it still bothers me.  I have talked many times about taking it out and my dad even offered to pry it out of my ear for me which I declined due to the fact that I like to be in control of my pain level. 

But tonight was the night. 

The tools I used: 

Did you think I was kidding?  Yes, I used actual tools from the toolbox but I am now officially upper-earring free.  I have a bit of a bump/scar thing which I am hoping will go away as the hole heals but we'll have to wait and see.

Next time I get restless I think I'll go for a walk.