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Well, today is the official start of our vacation! We fly to the west coast tomorrow afternoon and don't return to the windy city until next Monday. Let's just say I'm completely stoked and won't want it to end when it finally does. Isn't that how it always works out? This vacation has also made me realize a few things. 1.) How much I dislike the company I currently work for, 2.) How much I love the west coast, and 3.) I toss around the word 'friend' too lightly.

Touching on point three: I seem to call people “friends” who really don't do anything to deserve that title. Perhaps I'm hanging on to something that isn't there. I have a hard time letting go, when it comes to people going their separate ways. Other times, I feel as though I give my all by trying to stay in contact with people, but I never hear anything back. Again, take the hint, right Jenn? Maybe I'm not making good quality friends in the first place. Who knows. Regardless, sometimes some things happen that allow you to see where you really stand, and in a way, it's really refreshing. There's no bother anymore, and you can save yourself a bunch of energy because you know where you're at with the situation. The problem with me is, I don't have a lot of friends. I'm far from a socialite (is that a real word?), so the people I do deem as friends I hold pretty close. Maybe I just use the term loosely. Regardless, it's my vacation. I plan to go out west and have fun and see old friends and maybe make new ones. I plan to come back refreshed and relaxed! I might post some pictures while on my trip, who knows. See you when I get back!

Alas, the weekend is over. Not to make you jealous, but I've only got two days of work this week, then it's off to visit my sister and my dad. Should be so much fun. I can't wait to get back out west!

Been thinking a lot about the next career move. Since I don't want to be an underwriter at Hoho forever, I'd better get my ass in gear and choose what I'd like to do. Of course, what I'd like to do and what I think I'd be good at might be two different things, but I think I've come up with something. Technical writing. I've been tossing the idea around for awhile, ever since my aunt Lynda told me about her career and how much she enjoys it. Now I just have to find a school in Oregon that offers such a program I can begin when we move. Feels good to finally have a goal. Finding a program for it, however, might be a bit difficult. I guess we'll see. For now, though, I have a Matt sleeping on me, so I'd better jet. Let me know how your weekend was.

A guy, who I will lovingly refer to as “A to the X”, is in my training class for underwriting. Nice enough guy, but extremely annoying and apparently, not too bright. How'd he become A to the X? He spotted my gorgeous friend in the cafeteria one day. Knew her all of five seconds. He came over to me, wondering when I was going to hang out with her next. I told him I didn't know, and he said, “Next time you see her, tell her I said hi. A to the X. Alex.”

I thought he was kidding. He wasn't. Other day, he was swigging one of these. Our convo:

Him: This moe-chuh drink is really good.
Me: Moe-chuh?
Him: Yeah. Moe-chuh.
Me: It's mocha.
Him: But it's got a “ch”.

Right. So today, we're talking about clearing temporary internet files. (Don't ask.) Anyhow, the intelligent convo ensued:

Him: …you can always empty your cake files.
Me: ….

I didn't say anything, because I was confused by what the hell he was talking about. Suddenly, it hit me, and I nearly spewed out my soda. I shot Matt an e-mail, explaining what had just transpired. I also gave him two guesses of what he thinks A to the X meant by cake files. I immediately rang him up and told him to check his mail.

Me: Dude. Check your mail.
Him: *silence…* Huh. I have no idea what it could be.
Me: He means cache.
Him: *gut busting laughter* CACHE?! How the hell do you get cake from cache?!?! WOOOOOOOW.

I think we'd all love an answer to that question.

How many times can we play Godsmack and Linkin Park in a row before anyone notices?

My morning and afternoon drive to and from work used to consist of ye generic rock station, 94.7FM The Zone. It got old after about one day, hearing the same ol' stuff being played at nearly the exact same time each day. I swear, if I hear another Nickelback song, I'll go nuts. I'll be the chick up on the fifth floor ledge with a bag of Doritos and a sniper rifle. So, this morning after hearing Shine Down for the eighteen millionth time, I'd had it. I began frantically flying up and down the FM dial, trying to find something that didn't suck. Wait. What is it I hear? Could that b-… could that be the Tragically Hip?!?!

Why yes! Yes, it was! And then, today, coming home from work, guess what! More Hip! It's the first time I've ever heard The Hip on a U.S. radio station! But there was more. Thin Lizzy! A B-side from U2! Wilco! My morning and afternoon drive will never be the same now that I have discovered the goodness of WXRT. Hooray for commercial radio that doesn't suck!

I'm still sleepy. I'm hot. It's eight thousand degrees and muggy outside at 6:50am. I want it to be Friday!

Against my own personal judgement, I watched the video of Nick Berg. I feel terrible about watching it and really wish I would have just listened to inner Jenn in the first place.

When we watch movies, violence doesn't seem to bother us. Hey, the more killing and bloodshed the better, right? It doesn't bug us because we know it's fake. We know those actors are just that, and the gore is prop. So bring it on, right? Then you see the reality of it on the news every single day. You see Nick Berg, a 26 year old civilian die brutally by being beheaded, his screams cut off by a knife shredding the flesh of his neck as he drowns in his own blood. A real knife. Real screams. Real blood. And suddenly, it all changes. I feel bad about watching that video, because I violated this man's privacy. The last precious moments of his life have been viewed by thousands of people now, myself included. People who don't know this man from adam, people like me who just wanted to watch a man get his head cut off because I'm too curious to pass it up. I'm also scared to death of what I might see knowing full well the chance of my wishing I'd never layed eyes on it would be all I would wish for the second I hit “Stop”. We are an animalistic species, and we all give in to it. But right now, I am truly ashamed of those of us who intruded where we did not belong. I am ashamed of myself.

I apologize, Mr. Berg. May God rest your soul.

Matt and I went to Iowa this weekend to visit my dad's side of the family. It was a wonderful weekend that I needed desperately. I've been missing the family, and since dad's side is probably the closest, we decided a four hour road trip was in order. We stayed with my grandma and visited my aunt, uncles, and cousins. My grandma lives in a really quaint pretty house in the country, so it was nice peaceful weekend. We had a lot of fun!

…. and now it's Monday. Ugh. Monday. At least this is my last full week before vacation. Home stretch, baby! Did you do anything this weekend?

Since we're on the topic, I'm curious to know what your favourite comfort food is. Chicken noodle soup is my comfort food. What's yours?

Thursday morning, 6:48am. Next to me is a bowl of Cheerios. Do you know how long it's been since I've had plain ol' Cheerios? Let's just say a really long time. After taking a bite, it made me realize just how much I missed the simple oat taste. No sugar, no little pink charms, just a blast of oat. I used to think cereals like Cheerios boring and as a kid. I piled sugar on to get that sweet rush. So, as I sit here and chomp the oaty goodness and listen to the big deisel truck that belongs to the construction crew that's currently ripping up our street, I'm reminded of a few simple things in life I miss. One big one is the smell of freshly cut grass. That might as well be a flashing neon light that screams summer. I love the smell of cut grass. How about stopping to smell a flower? All these are things that, as I've gotten older, I seemed to have forgotten somehow. Every other thing in my life, be it work, Jerry Springer, grocery shopping - it all has taken the place of what life should be about: enjoying the simple things. Isn't it weird how we get older and life starts to pile on how things begin to lose their simplicity? Everything has to be so complex. I wonder if there's a way to have both.

Last night, Matt and I stopped by a bookstore, and I picked up The Stand by Stephen King. The book's been out awhile, but I've never gotten around to reading it. I've wanted to read more, as of late, and I've always been a huge Stephen King fan, so I thought I'd give it a try. Is it as good as everyone makes it out to be?