Too outspoken?

There are many times throughout each week where I think to myself that I might be too outspoken; that I speak my mind a little too honestly and too often.

But then there are some nights where I speak out about something that's really affecting me inside, and I feel like it's somewhat justified.

I wish I could communicate things better. I wish I knew why people react the way they do, why they shy away like they do. Especially when someone thinks the world of you. I don't understand the need to be hesitant in certain situations. Maybe I'm over-reacting. Although it seems that the same story plays again and again. Back and forth and back and forth with re-assuring small-talk until everyone is comfortable enough to continue with what is trying to be accomplished. I don't get the need to be re-assured. It's not an awkward thing.

It just makes me wonder what else would be too "awkward" that someone couldn't go through with something. Like, moving to a new city. Or state.

We're all adults now. It's okay to accept that in our minds and live a little, okay to change things up a bit from time to time.

I had a few years to myself to get extremely comfortable with my lifestyle, and to meet othe lers who lived their lives the same way. I'm finding that it's hard for me to patient with those who are hesitant and less out-going.

Christmas Shopping: The Final Chapter

Well over $300 later, my Christmas shopping is finally done. I realize that is a small sum compared to most, but it's really more than I should have spent considering everything that's going on right now. That's alright though.

I hope.

Definitely looking forward to seeing family for an extended period of time instead of just a few hours, and seriously ready for some time off. Today was.. 37 days in a row that I've worked? Yeah. It is feeling a little ridiculous at this point. Three days off is going to feel like three weeks off, but ultimately will fly by like three hours.

At any rate, It will be great to just relax.

So ready to say goodbye

I can't think of a time since I moved to Columbus that I've been more bummed about not living on the coast. It's like the city, Crew, Rachael, soccer, and friends occupied my mind these two years. I always have someone to talk to or somewhere I can go except on the nights and in the moments where I need someone most, such as now.

I'm someone who has always been dreaming ahead about where I'm going. It's funny. While in college I had said that the plan would be to find a good job in Columbus and work here 2-3 years and then move on. Here I am nearing that two year point and I'm thinking about it more than ever.

While most people my age are saying to themselves 'wow. I'm in my mid-twenties. I better find some love and have some kids because that's all that is left to do,' I am busy looking at apartments in SC and USVI, job openings, and partying myself to a blackout every weekend. I am sick of being here and fed up with waiting. Realistically, it will be ateast one or two years before I can make the move. With that in mind, it wouldn't hurt to try to find a supervisor or management position somewhere here in Columbus.

Unfortunately until this Kansas City mess is cleared up, I can't even begin to plan anything out.

Would things be fine if I just stayed in Ohio forever? Yeah. Everything points to me living a pretty fun, normal life with friends and family if I would settle here. But that is not me. I've become so committed to my dreams that staying in Ohio would be an eternal failure in my subconscious, and I don't think I would ever be truly happy. However, I am accepting of the current factors in my life and how complicating they have become.

With that being said, I would leave tonight without any second thoughts. If I could.

Adding to the work load, some Italiano

Tonight marked my first night back into the world of Arby's. A couple training videos, a walk-thru of the store, and getting the paperwork done. I'm pretty stoked to have some extra cash start flowing in. The only thing left is to figure out just exactly how many hours I'll be working. I obviously cannot work days (Hilton: M-F, 9:30-6), so it's weekday nights and weekends. We'll see.

Buon giorno. Finally got back to the grind on learning the second language- Italian. Even now while I scrive, I'm thinking I'm going to nail this. I got 3 times farther tonight alone than I ever did before my laptop crashed.

Only one thing left to do, and I'll put it in english - goodnight.

Voting Day: Many victories to Ohio

The big win tonight, obviously, is the defeat of Issue 2. I cannot wait to see the "outrage" of SB5's supporters. This is an awesome result for the state.

Columbus-wise, I believe the re-election of Mayor Michael Coleman is another win. Of course, I'm knew to the city, but I've had many small conversations with the man and can say he is a very likable guy and always takes time to hear you out.

The defeat of Issue 3 is another win. If the issue had won, Ohioans would have been required by law to purchase health insurance or face fines. Tonight, I'm proud to be an Ohioan.

While we're on political stuff, Herman Cain is a complete moron. Dude.. quit lying.

Tonight, I spent some time studying. Wait, what?

That's right. Back to the books. It's funny how certain paragraph's can take you back to exact conversations that occured over 4 years ago.

I think about Rachael's friends from Mercy and how they had all been in the same class.

What happened to my class? We were all so close at one point. Maybe it's the fact that we all went and did completely random things after graduation, therefore losing all common ground. Though, I thought we were more than that.

Somewhat saddening.

Today's phone calls. Personal calls, that is

I was left a number of voice-mails today. Ranging from family to my lawyer.

Of the more interesting messages, there was: Messages from friends wondering where I was on Saturday night, the leasing office here at WR, and a call that could seriously change things up.

I must admit that when it came to the latter of those mentioned, I had already given up. Don't get me wrong, things are alright the way they are. Recently, I've seen some bright promise for change. But there's a saying, "too little, too late." If this pans out, do I call the audible? Time will tell.

In the meantime, I will keep these fingers crossed and grind it out. New shoes should be here soon, and I'm almost caught on Dexter. On that note, time for some more catching up.

New kicks be on the way

Couldn't have taken much longer to get confirmation on this, but my new Chucks will be here Monday or Tuesday. Ready to retire the Shox, once and for all!

Hmm. I, think, they are for men.. hmm.

Today was a great day, started off with..

..sleeping in. Something I don't get to do often, even on the weekends. Right around noon my mom and grandma arrived to my apartment. It was the first time they had been here since moving day. I have to say it was really great to see them. We hung out at my place for a little while before having some breakfast at Bob Evans.

After breakfast we made our way over to Highbanks Metro Park. I have been there a few times already, but some of the trails are so impressive that I really wanted them to see it. Plus, my grandma had always talked about going to the park "on 23" in the fall. She loves to see the leaves as they change. We had a great 2.5 mile walk before we left to spend some time at Easton.

My mom did some bargain shopping at Lucky, then we ordered up some pasta bowls at Piada. She had to stock up on Halloween supplies for the dance studio, so we stopped by Target after eating. I drove them over to Graeters in Worthington for their ice cream before returning to my place.

It was such a great day with them. Beautiful weather, too. Cannot wait until they visit again!

Irish fall to the Trojans

So much hype. So many new and unusual factors involved around the game tonight-

The first night game at South Bend in over 20 years.

New helmets.

Rally towels.

Music being blared through the PA before key plays.

But it was not enough. Notre Dame gave up three turnovers and shot themselves in the foot. All Dayne Crist had to do was get a TD. ND was on the USC 1-yard line, and he fumbles. I swear. Does he ever want to play football ever again after college? I think Crist has mentally checked out of South Bend. He should not have been put in, strong arm or not.

Sigh. One day..

50 exotic animals escape Zanesville farm

This news is a few days old now, but certainly worth noting.

An exotic animal collector/owner/whatever in Zanesville decided to open all gates and pens on his large farm, and then killed himself. Emergency operators received calls about bears and lions. The next door neighbors saw a tiger chasing a horse. Officers were given the order to shoot all animals on sight. Among the forty-some animals killed by Sheriff deputies were: 9 male lions, 8 lionesses, a baboon, a couple wolves, a couple bears, and.. 18 tigers.

A very tragic situation. Although I'm all about finding diplomatic and humane situations to resolve incidents like this, you cannot blame the Sheriff for ordering the animals to be shot. If they had waited until the next morning, who knows where these predators would have ended up. Backyards, city streets, parks, the list is endless. I disagree with those who immediately bashed the department. Some believe they treated this as a free "big-game hunt" and drove around joy-riding and popping shots drive-by style on these poor creatures. I'm one the biggest animal lovers you'll ever find, but the right order was given.

Does animal life have the same importance as human-life? Absolutely. But this could have been a battle. As far as the officers knew, these animals wouldn't think twice about attacking. Turns out that mankind has the upper hand in these kind of situations. It is nature. Nature played out.

Poor creatures. What a sad day.