I Think God is Trying to Speak to Me Through my Remote

To be honest I've been a normal passenger on the Struggle-bus lately. I'm about one heart break away from collecting my first cat and naming it Nibbles. Some days are far worse than others. Yesterday was one of those days.

I had just had an incredibly long day at school and was trying to relax at home. (Home for me being... my parent's house.) When I got into an argument with my father over puppies* and decided to end the evening early. Very early, about 8pm to be exact.

Having been emotionally and physically exhausted I climbed into bed, turned on my t.v., and proceeded to fall asleep almost immediately. Before succumbing to the inevitable unconsciousness I told God that I was tired. I was feeling forgotten and tired and I needed a sign. Just a little sign that I wasn't working so hard for nothing. That He did indeed have a plan for me. Twelve hours later and we bring you to today's story.

This morning after waking up I decided to try and see if my new favorite show Sex and the City was on. There was just one problem. You can't change the t.v. without the remote.

It had been missing since the previous morning, and I looked everywhere for that thing. I searched in my blankets, under my bed, inside my recliner, the refrigerator, my parent's closet, everywhere. That's when I got my dad involved. I walked into the living room despairing over the fact that I could be missing punny narrative by Carrie Bradshaw. So he decided to help. He too looked everywhere.

After a few minutes we'd each given up and both left my room to search elsewhere, and upon returning to my room I decided to try looking inside my recliner again. As soon as I reached to move my laptop I spotted it.....the remote. It was just sitting there on the recliner arm....taunting me. I screamed for my dad asking if he had found it. When he replied with a no I asked him to come to my room immediately to confirm that I was indeed staring at my remote.

I was.

According to my father it must have been there the whole time and I'd just missed it. But when I say I looked everywhere... I. Looked. Everywhere. There's no way I would have just looked past the remote when it was in the exact place it normally is every morning.

So I get it God. You sent me my remote to tell me you have my back. I appreciate the sign. Although, now that I think about it. I can't capitalize on it because this story is undoubtedly not as exciting as a white light after a near death experience.

Still appreciate it!

*note - It was much more eventful than the argument I had with my mother over butter about a month ago. These are all signs that I need to move out ASAP.

Being Single is Hard Sometimes

Many times in my life things happen that make me say..."No one will believe this story." Today's entry is one such event.

The time my dad thought my grandmother's funeral was the perfect time to find me a boyfriend.

I'll start by saying we don't grieve like normal families. Mostly our emotions are kept in our separate corners. Crying is a sign of weakness, and grieving is done alone. You do what you can to hold it at bay until you're by yourself, and on rare occasion "doing what you can" means "finding MeHaley a boyfriend."

We're strange...I know, but you can't blame us after two days straight of viewing and our marathon seventh hour at the funeral home on that particular day. (Russian Orthodox funerals are no joke.)

My grandma was a stunningly kind woman. She was also the best cook I've ever known and towards the end of her life she was no different. My aunt always took care of her and provided any extra help she needed. My Aunt Marge has the biggest personality. She won't do anything her gut tells her not to do and anyone that meets her loves her automatically.

This story took place on the night of viewing when ALL of my Aunt's co-workers came to show their love and support. They just so happened to include my Aunt's nice looking 26 year old colleague that also makes really good money. A guy who would have made a perfectly nice catch ANY OTHER DAY OF MY LIFE.

I was just walking around mingling with these people who were there to give love and support. Meeting people who I'd met long ago when I was a baby and who remembered me, but I had no idea they existed. When suddenly I hear my father call out to me from across the room. Granted we're a pretty spirited bunch so it was pretty loud for a funeral, but it didn't matter. You could have heard him across the street...and what was he yelling? He wasn't calling me to come over...nooooo. Instead he was shouting this guy's stats across the room.  

Haley! This is Rob. *points to unsuspecting victim*

He's single!!!

Rob has a great job.

He makes a lot of money!

(kill me. kill me now.)

He was right for the most part. Rob was in fact single, with a great job and he did make a lot of money. He also talked non stop about his "best-girl-friend." He's using his big paycheck to pay off his mountains of student debt, and has the vocabulary of a state college frat boy. (Nice one dad)

Unfortunately Rob just wasn't right for me at that specific moment in time, and at the end of the evening everyone left just like they had come. They all said their goodbyes and condolences and my family retreated for the evening to prepare for what will probably always be one of the longest days of my life.

I'm glad that my parents worry about me enough to want to help me find someone to spend the rest of my life with, but their timing can be disastrously off sometimes.

Since the funeral set-up debacle we've had many conversations on proper set-up etiquette and timing.

You'll be happy to know it has gotten no better.

Right Now...

I'm Reading: The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

Actually I'm re-reading this one. It's not a book you'd expect for the title it has. The story is unique to say the least. It's the only book I've read from a dog's perspective. It follows the life of a young man through his career, family, and unexpected loss and it's all from his dog Enzo's perspective. It's amazingly touching and full of incredible quotes about how we as humans take for granted all of the possibilities we have in front of us.

I'm Doing: Poorly things

Yep...I'm sick again. It's a cold this time. I keep waking up in the middle of the night only to dose myself back into unconsciousness with the correct dosage of NyQuil. I'll be right as rain in time for school on Monday, but I'm using this "poorly" time to catch up on blogging!

I'm Working on: Building Credit

Currently I'm sitting on the one piece of furniture I bought for myself while watching a t.v. that my parents bought. All the while living in a warm cozy home that they also pay for. So while I'm slowly building my own credit, I'm also losing any and all independence I had from The Man. Being an adult is such a double edged sword sometimes.

I'm Watching: Criminal Minds marathon with Lord of the Rings (on commercial breaks)

I have ADD when it comes to television. To me, watching t.v. is more of a security blanket than a form of entertainment. I use it for background noise more than anything. When I actually do sit down just to watch a show I have to be doing something else simultaneously or I feel like I've just wasted valuable time and energy.

I'm Loving: The Season

I'm going all out this year. Everything I do or touch is going to be seasonally appropriate. There are pumpkins everywhere, and I'm starting to get patterns for new scarves to knit. GOSHDARNIT I'm getting into the seasons! (also...side note) Welcome back Pumpkin everything, I've missed you.

What are you doing right now?

I'm genuinely interested to see how everyone else is fairing this inevitably gloomy time of year.

I did a THING...

I'll start this by saying that I have a problem with asserting my independence in a small town. It's less of a problem and more of an
I MUST DO IT or I'll start punching people.

This "problem" is made more difficult by the fact that I have a very traditionally binding job. I have to dress in a certain way, my hair has to fit within certain colors, and I can only say certain things.

I know I do this to myself but underneath it all I'm dying to stick out. So I am.

I went to the lady that's been cutting my hair for a long time and asked her to dye it pink. 

First she laughed, then she begged me not to, and finally she succumbed to what I wanted. This hair is a first for both of us so I was her "teaching head" and we set upon this together. The only rule was that I have to be able to hide it while teaching. So the tips are far enough down that when put it all into a covered bun I still have very respectable hair.

Welcome to my.....Hair.

It's dirty blonde on top, and strikingly pink on the ends. It's what they call ombre.

The pink is dyed over a really nice ombre dye. So once the color fades I'll still have a very pretty hair coloring.

Here are some things we can do with this style.

The ponytail.

 The curled look.

The side braid.

 

 I hope I was able to give you some ideas on how to be unique while still sticking to some rules. I'm totally in love with this hair. I promise to share a hidden look once I have the will to hide it.