Lily Openhiemer Schlatter...A Tribute.

Alas, my poor Lily has bit the dust. It was a sad day yesturday morning. I came home to find my lil' hamsta, dead, curled up in a ball in her little nest. It appears she died peacefully in her sleep.

She was a great pet, despite what Aaron Stoller may say. ;) It doesn't matter if she had "sharp, pointy teeth". Actually that is probably what killed her. Anyways....

In memory of Lily I would like to take a look back at her life.

I bought Lily at Meijer's.

I brought her home to the apartment and introduced her to her auntie Kristi:)

Many days she spent... sleeping. But at night when Kristi and I pretended to do homework, Lily would sneak through the rugged terrain of our kitchen table. She was quite the stealthy little rodent. She would stop and freeze, then all the sudden she would flatten herself and scurry like lightning across the table. It didn't take long before Kristi and I were singing the Mission Impossible theme song whenever this would occur. Lily was also very smart. She always knew when a stranger would be in the apartment. She would freeze and listen.

She was always trying to escape but never managed this unless we left the lid half off. The water bottle or the exercise wheel were her escape routes. Lily was the adventurous type. One time she tryed jumping from the counter top to the stove but didn't quite make it and ended up falling down the crack. From there she ventured to under and way back behind the refrigerator. Luckily we found her before she could venture anywhere else :) Lily would travel with me when I would go home for the weekends. One of these times when we were home, she was running in her exercise ball in the basement. Well to make a long story short she almost drown in the sump pump in freezing cold water. Actually she almost froze to death, but with the help from my trusty hair dryer I was able to dry and warm her right up. That was a close call. Phew! What a lucky hamster...or not so lucky, depending on how you look at it.

She really liked the cereal "Oh's" and she also liked Vanilla Wafers. She was so stinkin' cute. She loved to be squeeeeeeeeeeeeezed! She seriously had to be the most loved hamster ever! I'm not even joking. She brought a lot of good times to the apartment and to home. So yeah....that's all I have to say about it, I know I left a lot of things out but talking about it is making me kinda sad....so here's a picture of the cutest little hamster you will ever see or have seen.

Awwwwwww!

What do we all think about color?

it is 4:30 in the am...why am I still up? I'm really not sure. I worked from 3pm-3am. Got home checked my email, then read Doug's blog, laughed, ate some yogurt, pondered on writing in my own blog, now i'm doing it. And it is pointless.

It is Christmas Eve and I'm alone. Why? B/c my parents abandoned me to spend Christmas with my bro in Indy...which is good or else he would be alone for Christmas. Besides I'm working ridiculous hours this weekend b/c I volunteered to do so. "Why?," you might be asking. Well, for the money. Yep, that's pretty much the only reason why...plus I'm nice and figured everyone else would want to have this weekend off. And since I had Christmas last weekend I knew I wouldn't have anything else to do. And I love those sweet little old people I work with...

...Is it ok to have favorites? B/c I realized that I have a favorite resident. She has got to be the sweetest, funniest lady I know. She tends to get a little confused, so she needs little reminders every once in awhile. Last night, I went into her room to make sure she remembered take her hearing aid out. She gave me like 50 hugs (i might have exaggerated that number just a little bit) and told me she liked me. I know that doesn't sound all that special but you just had to hear the way she said it, it was so sweet. Seriously though, she is such a hugger and it just makes my day, b/c I love hugs! And she gives good ones. And she totally laughs at my dorky weirdness! One morning I went to put lotion on her legs, and I realized I grabbed the body wash...oops! haha. She starting laughing so hard, then I started laughing too. So we just sat in the bathroom and laughed for a few minutes. It was a good time. Anyways, she is my favorite. And if I'm not supposed to have favorites......tough!

So yeah, I just realized how much I'm rambling on about nothing. You may be asking yourself, "where is she going with all of this?" And my answer to that is "I haven't a clue" But, it's all good. I hope everyone has a Fantabulous Christmas!!!!!!

It's Miller Time

I finally figured out how to post pictures, and I did it all by myself. *pats self on back*. Get a load of this!

My neighbors dog came down to visit us on Saturday. She brought the beer! :)

"chug! chug! chug!"

Why me?

Ok this last week has not been one of my best as far as things going wrong with my stuff. Lets just start back at last Sunday.

Last sunday was wonderful, I went to church in C-bus and went caroling and just had a grand 'ole time. Well Sunday evening I decided I would call off work so I could study for my final on Monday. This would have been a great plan if I wouldn't have slept all night and all day Monday to wake up and drive straight to my final. sigh.

So on Monday I get no studying done and take my final and still I have no idea if I'll be starting school back up this January. I worked Monday night and when driving home Tuesday morning I noticed that I didn't have my cell phone. So when I got home I called work to see if I had left it on the desk or something. They couldn't find it anywhere, so i decided to drive back to Van Wert to VanCrest and look for it myself b/c it was really bothering me. I get there and I look everywhere. I went into every single room that I went into that morning, checked the bathroom, the chair I sat in, the cafeteria, the breakroom, and I looked outside in the parking lot...nothing.

I went home a failure. I was cold, hungry, tired and frustrated, so when I got home I sat at the kitchen island and cryed for a bit. I find relief in crying. After crying I went to bed.

Tuesday night I worked again. The whole time I was wondering where my little phone could be. At one point, I ran out to my car to get my schedule. As I was about to open the door to my car I looked over to where I had parked the night before....and there it was my phone. Great, right? WRONG. It was in 2 pieces. It must have fallen out of my coat pocket when I got into my car Tuesday morning to go home. Then it got ran over. So, now I'm using my brothers old phone. I have my same phone number but I have no one else's phone number b/c they can't transfer the numbers from my old phone b/c it's in 2 pieces. ugh. So that is fun.

My weekend was good.

Today: Monday the 19th. I went with my dad to an opthalmolagist b/c they told him to bring someone with him just incase he couldn't drive b/c his eyes would be dilated. So we drove my car. When we got in, I was like "oh yea dad, the low engine coolent light came on again". (It was on about 3 wks ago and dad fixed it then.) Dad checked whatever needed to be checked and informed me that I had no radiator fluid, it was dry. Well, he filled it back up and we were on our way. My dad was driving and I was riding shotgun. I had put my cd case on the floor and when I picked it up it was wet. So I told dad that the floor was wet and that it definately wasn't water. Somehow, my radiator fluid is leaking and it's leaking into the floor on the passenger side. WHAT THE HECK!? I have no idea when it comes to cars, but that ain't right. Dad was not a happy camper.

Now I was planning on getting some things done while dad was in his appt, b/c we knew he would be in there for at least 2 hours. But now that my car is crap, dad didn't want me driving it more than we had to. so I sat in the waiting room for 4 hours. yea. that's not so exciting.

When we left there we took my car straight to the body shop back at home. And they gave me an Oldsmobile Bravada to drive while they fix it. It has heated seats!!! Booyah! And it doesn't even smell like smoke. Double Booyah!

Alrighty, I'm done.

Word for the Day: lemon
Meaning: a person or thing regarded as feeble or unsatisfactory or disappointing

'Tis the season

I've got Christmas spirit, Yes I do. I've got Christmas spirit, How 'bout you?!...

Ok, I'm just looking forward to winter break. I've been listening to Christmas music nonstop...usually I can't stand when people start listening to Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving, but I was totally one of those people this year. And I'm on this kick of wanting to sing all the time. Like more than ususal. Oh! and I actually didn't mind christmas shopping this year either. I kind of enjoyed it.

Last night I was just standing outside in the freezing cold and I could just smell it...winter, and I had the sudden urge to go snow skiing. And I want it to snow a lot! So I can make snow angels and snowmen and dig tunnels through drifts. Then I want to come inside to a warm fireplace to defrost and drink hot cocoa. mmmmmmm. Doesn't that sound awesome!!

Word of the Day: outsourcing
Meaning: ...um, slight problem with today's word. it can't be found in my dictionary. So, I need someone to explain to me what outsourcing is.

Ok, since the word of the day is currently meaningless, I will choose a different word.

'Substitute' Word of the Day: lucubration
Meaning: nocturnal study or meditation

This word is actually applicable to my life.

What I learned by living in Columbus

This post is dedicated to Kristi Hill, my long lost roommate, who still lives in Columbus without me. Cheers to you Kristi! *everyone raises their glass*

If you have ever thought of doing any of these things, DON'T! These are bad ideas:
- punching manager at super walmart over whole milk.
- diving into dumpsters to retrieve boxes.
- rollerblading without wrist pads
- going on the bike trail alone.
- driving around the ghetto of columbus with your windows down while listening to country radio.
- getting into fights with neighbors over a parking space.
- drying your shorts over someone elses air conditioning unit, so when they catch you they think you are a peeping-tom.
- leaving the patio-blinds open at night...people are looking at you for sure. :)
- leaving the pet hamster on the counter top to eat cereal, while you go watch tv.
- living in an apmt. that reminds you of mexico. haha :)
- getting your roommate out of bed at 4:45 every morning for 2 weeks in January, so she can jump start your car.
- assuming that you have a job after one interview then quitting your current job before you get the call saying you got the job.
- renting a lot of movies b/c a cute guy works at the video store
- going to the duke station after 1am
- making eye contact with the freaky guy that stares and paces infront of UDF while smoking cigarettes.
- locking keys in the car more than once
- locking keys in car while engine is still running
- leaving the apt. keys in the door all night long
- feeding stray cats
- letting roommate fall asleep on the couch
- letting the dirty dishes take over the kitchen
- turning the water on in the shower all the way. (we had some wicked water pressure, i cryed after taking a shower for the first time...ok i didn't really cry, but it was rather painful.)



....ok this list could go on for quite awhile, but these were just a few i could think of.

Now here are some things that would be Good ideas:

- being a member of AAA
- Tae Bo Cardio (good stuff)
- having a cupboard that nobody looks in
- making friends with the guy who dips the ice cream at UDF
- drinking Nyquil for headaches
- gittin' -r- done, Carl!
- always have plenty of air freshner
- rollerblading with a buddy on the bike trail
- go ahead and just go get the battery tested after the first jump start :)
- keep jumper cables in the trunk
- keep the bed away from the wall to keep the bugs away...b/c bugs can crawl up the wall but not up the post of your bed, right Kristi? :)
- keeping lots of extra bug spray handy or if no bug spray, have large text books on stand by for smashing rather large spiders.
- singing infront of the bathroom mirror (good stress relief and very comical)
- placing post-it notes in random places for your roommate to find
- paying rent and bills on time
- owning a "nagger stick" for protection.
- calling the police to come and investigate the apt., after coming home from work to find the door is cracked open and the roommate isn't home
- triple checking the front door to see if it is pulled shut all the way and locked
- hanging christmas lights in the back patio
- having a christmas cactus
- whistling as you drive through a CVS parking lot to avoid a stop light
- having a special tune to whistle if you lose your buddy in the store or to announce that you are home.
- whistle back


...obviously there are lots more good things I learned in Columbus but I'm getting tired and I need to go to bed. Kristi, I know you can think of some more!!!

If anyone would like to add any Do's or Don't's that you've learned over the years, feel free to comment, i would love to hear your words of wisdom.

Word of the Day: howitzer
Meaning: a short cannon for high-angle firing of shells at low velocites

...hmm, interesting...

No Smoking Please

So this morning as I left work I stopped at the gas station to get some coffee b/c I was on my way to my last lab check off for the semester. whoohoo! Anyways, as I was walking up to pay for my coffee, I noticed a guy come in dressed in camo, obviously a hunter. Ok, so as I was paying for my coffee he was buying a pack of swisser sweets or whatever they are called...those cigars that smell good. Personally I've never tried them. Anyways, on to my point. I always thought hunters didn't want to smell like a human or else they would scare off the prey, aka deer. I mean don't you hunters usually splash yourselves with deer urine or something of the like that is suppose to attract the deer. Nasty smelling stuff by the way. Honestly, I have no clue when it comes to hunting, b/c I don't hunt, well at least not yet, but something tells me that smoking cigars isn't going to make that deer jump in front of your gun. These were the thoughts running through my mind as I bought my coffee this morning. Not to mention that he will probably die of lung cancer.

Word of the Day: inept
Meaning: 1. unskillful. 2. absurd; silly. 3. out of place