roller coaster

It's been awhile since I've posted.  A few weeks ago was pure insanity with all the deadlines before spring break; the first 100 pages of my novel, three books I had to read with accompanying papers, etc etc.  Then I went to San Antonio with my husband and a few friends.  It was a BLAST.  But now I'm back and dealing with reality.  I'm not really a big fan of it this week.  (As you can see by the pictures..  I elaborate below.)

Anyway, don't worry.  As easy as it would be to write about the metaphors of roller coasters and life, I shall refrain.  I'm not going to be a Debbie Downer today.  

I will, however, let you know that I rode a few roller coasters on my spring break. Literally. I'm not being deep. 

I LOVE roller coasters...and I love riding in the very front (even if it's the longest line) and I absolutely love the ones where you flip upside down. I love how I feel when I'm on one--it's a combination of elation and....well, terror?  No, not terror because I hate being afraid.  It's that adrenaline rush that's priceless.  As my husband and friends found out, I sound somewhat like a crazy person. On the slow ride up to the top, I have that anxious jittery joy...then at that plunge to the bottom, I scream...and laugh.  I laugh maniacally.  I laugh until tears are streaming down my face.  I laugh so maniacally that it makes it impossible for my fellow riders to not laugh at/with me.  It was a shame that Sea World only has two roller coasters, but I highly recommend The Steel Eel and The Great White.  

During our San Antonio stay, we also went to Ripley's Believe it or Not.  There we saw a bunch of random stuff from a John Wayne portrait made out of cow dung, a headless chicken that stayed alive for awhile, Titanic artifacts, one of Houdini's keys, and Lee Harvey Oswald's toe tag.  At the Guinness World Records Museum, my husband and my friend's husband easily beat the drum beats per minute record, I learned that there is a flower that smells like rotten flesh (and can be smelled from 1/2 a mile away), and I was horrified that the world's largest family reunion had 2,369 members (I mean, really..HOLY HELL).  At Louis Tussaud's Wax Museum, I got to hang out with Oprah, Shirley Temple, and many other famous people.  

At the Alamo, I became a tad claustrophobic and had to get the heck out of there...but I really liked the big tree in the garden area.  

At Sea World, Evan and I swam with Beluga whales, went to every animal show they had (my favorite was the Believe show with Shamu and his killer whale friends), and had the absolute time of my life.  

The River Walk was beautiful but slightly boring..until we branched off and found a little art district tucked away from it all.  

We went on the Tomb Rider 3-D Adventure Ride and killed some zombies...I felt like Lara Croft.  And I ate ice cream while the rest of the posse went to a haunted house.  

Oh..and we had a Star Wars Episode 4, 5, and 6 marathon.  Woohoo!

Yesterday was Evan's birthday, and I ended up beating him with one of his birthday presents.  (Don't worry..It was to protect him.)  We were riding back from the post office and opening the birthday package from his family...  I look over at him (he was driving) and all of a sudden, a ginormous brown spider ran across his arm.  I hate spiders.  So, of course, I FLIPPED out.  I let out a huge scream that he says was worse than any scream queen in a horror movie.  On one of his "you almost killed me" rants, he said, "People have been murdered without making that much noise.."  While screaming, I took what I currently had in my hand (which happened to be the box holding his Wii tennis paddles) and tried to kill it.  It didn't work.  I only accomplished in nearly giving Evan heart failure.  It took him awhile to recover.  And when the nasty demon reappeared (the spider, not Evan) and I managed to kill it very calmly with the car's instruction manual, Evan was inside getting food.  So no one witnessed the no-shrieking spider-killing Aubrey.  Oh, well.  Maybe next time.  I mean, NOT next time.  Please, oh Please, God. Don't let that happen again.  

So there's an update.  Hope you enjoy all the pictures...  

Still here..

Haven't disappeared... just been really busy during Spring Break.  I'll post something by the end of the week!

Random

I am in a random mood, as you can see by the random pictures.  The first is just priceless.  The second is my love and me at an aquarium a few years ago.  Sharky proved to be a little more charming than Evan thought...

Thought I would write something quick that's a little more cheery than my last blog. :)

Here's a hilarious video that cheers me up instantly.  First, go to youtube.com, search for bizkit the sleep walking dog..and watch the 23 second choice. (Thank you, fellow hot librarian, who is responsible for me seeing that and spreading it for everyone else's viewing pleasure.)

It makes me laugh because I can see my dog, Kelso, doing that.  (And my other dog, Jesse, looking at him in partial disgust, partial embarrassment..)

If any of you are wondering how I'm doing with the fitness contest, well...it's going. I haven't fallen off the health wagon or anything..It's just going a little slower than I thought it would.  Apparently, when someone starts working out again, the body retains more water.. So I'm going to say that's why.  I've been working out like crazy though, which has led to me not focusing on the first 100 pages of my novel that is due next week. I will get there. Not as quickly as I would like, but I will get there.  I say that for the fitness contest and the novel deadline.

That's all for now..I know it's a rather pathetic post, but it took my stress level down a little bit.

(And no, Mom, I do not include you in the handful of annoying older people that are back in school.  You're wise, but you don't advertise it every 30 seconds.  As for you taking my advice and not carrying a rolling backpack, I appreciate it more than you will ever know.)  

Age Discrimination

Age discrimination. You do it. I do it. My dog even does it. (Kelso only barks ferociously at teenagers.) 

Disclaimer: This is not an age-basher. It stems from a handful of individuals that have no clue what they're talking about, but they assume they do because they're older and "wiser." As well as a few twenty-somethings that show a lack of maturity.  And some teenagers that really have me stumped.  

It's one of those things that just annoys me..as much as, if not more than, smacking and slurping.  If you know me at all, you know that is saying something. I have a "thing" when it comes to bad table manners. Just like bad table manners, the habit of assuming someone else's knowledge/character is also curable. Teenagers aren't all whiny.  Twenty- somethings aren't all selfish boozers.  And those over-the-hill aren't all pompous.  This blog, however, is about the ones that are.  

Being in graduate school, there are several classmates that are older than I am... I don't think they're as discriminatory as the older classmates were when I was an undergraduate...However, there are constant references to age that gets my blood uh boilin'.  

Because we're a decade or two younger than you, does it mean we don't know how to be respectful? Does it mean we can't "understand" or "grasp" the full concept of a situation or topic? Does it mean we don't know what a freaking lace doily is?  

No. It doesn't. First of all, is it truly necessary to use a lace doily in a "but youuuuuu wouldn't know what thaaaat iiiiiis" situation? No! How ridiculous is that?

Maturity levels depend on life experiences.  I know there are truly ignorant, disrespectful people my age. That doesn't mean I should be automatically in the same category as them just because we were born the same year.  

In many situations, I get along with older people more than people my age...so don't think I'm an old people hater. I just happen to be fortunate enough to have come in contact with some obnoxious older classmates.  

I can't say I'm innocent in the age discrimination thing. It's a habit for me to assume that if you're older and back to school, you probably wear hideous sweaters, have a rolling backpack, and laugh maniacally at whatever the professor says just to prove "oh, yes, Iiiiiiiii remember that. of course, Iiiiiiii know who you're talking about and what you're referring too."

As for early twenties give or take a few, I have come in contact with some that I have to resist the urge to shake them and inform them that it is not necessary to find something negative in everything and speak only the language of whining.  Really. Is your life that bad? No. It's not. There are so much bigger things out there than your friend marrying your ex-boyfriend from junior high. And don't whine about being thrown in jail, if you were drinking and driving!! I mean, come on now. You have GOT to be kidding me. 

Teenagers, well.... I can't rant about them, really. They're trying to find their place in the world...who they really are...and battle acne and puberty all at the same time. 

However, the group that randomly meets with a lone and willing participant in the school park behind my house and proceeds to beat the crap out of that lone and willing participant for some kind of stupid, wannabe gangster initiation, gets my complete confusion.  It's a suburban college town in Oklahoma, for Heaven's sake... not Harlem. And the fact that they (including the "victim") wave and smile at me as they're running away from my screeching, makes me feel more than a little befuddled.  One day I hope I catch one of them in time to ask what in the hell they're thinking...

So, that's all.  I'm all riled up thinking about those kids fighting.  

Until next time...

"Good day." (Tribute to Paul Harvey!) :)