thirty-one things

tomorrow is the 1st of January 2009. for reals? yeah, for reals. it's pretty ridiculous how fast 2008 has gone by... but i'll let you ponder that on your own. i figured that i needed to blog at least once more in 2008, and decided that since today is the 31st of December, i'd blog about 31 things i am grateful for this year.

#1: family
you know those rumours you've been hearing recently? well, they're all true... my family is officially the best. we have our issues, but God couldn't have picked a better family for me. wild? check. good-looking? check. funny? check. full of love? double-check.

here is my almost-whole family on Christmas Day.

FROM LEFT TO RIGHT. back: Nick and Beth. seated: Todd, Celia, Mom, Kymmie, Mia, Gramma Marge. on the floor: Keaton, Joe, Josh, Andrea, Rachel, Hannah, Zoey, Sindi and Charles.

the whole Flowers gang: Joe, Celia, Josh, Andrea, Keaton and Rachel

this is my fantastic cousin Andrea, and her boyfriend Keaton.

this is my cousin Joe with his mask, whom we named Mr Schneider. Mr Schneider got thrown away by Joe's mom, Celia. rest in pieces, Mr Schneider...

...and this is Joe being normal.

this is Josh, hanging an ornament on the Christmas tree.

this is Rachel, the coolest 11-year-old EVAH.

Nick and Beth: sibling love

...and Nick and Beth with their beautiful mom Mia

Zoey and Chas

Mr Peabody, the resident baby of the family. also known as a basset hound... i love this dog.

the R's - Zoey, Kymmie, Todd and Charlie

the crazy cousins. (someone didn't give me the memo, evidently...)

the McDeezle girls - Sindi, my mom and me

thanks for giving me all these beautiful, wonderful, crazy and just darn amazing people to call my own, God :)

#2: Relient K

well, this is a given. i doubt i could live without these guys... and if i could, it would be a very sad existence indeed. their songs are catchy and compelling, their lyrics - whether thought-provoking or ridiculously funny - resonate within me throughout my everyday life, showing the true talent of these adept musicians. Matty Son, Matty Hoopes, Schneckster, Warner and Ethan Lucky, i thank and salute you for your awesomeness and inspiration.

THE GOLDEN OLDEN DAYS: "those days are gone, but Matty's not; and now he's got brown hair..."

RECENTLY EMO: i wish Matty would smiiiile!

#3: chocolate

i am a chocaholic, plain and simple. i am addicted to the stuff... especially Cadbury's, Lindt and Ghirardelli. that is why i am grateful for chocolate :)

#4: Jesus
wow. in the words of Matt Thiessen, "if only i could find the words to say to let You know how much You've touched my life." (note: that is from the most beautiful and heartwrenching Christmas song ever, I Celebrate The Day. listen to it here.) Jesus. just that name gives purpose to my life. Master, Saviour, Creator, First Love, Superhero, Best Friend. i would not be where i am today if it weren't for a Nazarene carpenter, the Son of God, who came down to Earth as a helpless baby, was mocked by the very people he came to save and bled on a wooden cross for me and for all of us over 2000 years ago. my favourite hymn of all time is called In Christ Alone, and it basically sums up many of the reasons i love Him. if you want to hear it, watch this.

#5: Christmas

there are so many reasons why i love Christmas - the family, the food, the presents and the real reason behind it all. (sidenote: Egg Nog is not included in this warm fuzzy loveness. you will be relieved to know that the Nog and moi are not friends, Lauren... i don't believe it was designed for my delicate palate. in layman's terms, BLEUGH!)

this Christmas was by far one of my favourites.. there is nothing like hanging out with family that you hardly ever get to see on one of the most special days of the year. we spent the night at the Flores family's house, and we were almost all up at midnight, so a Merry Christmas hugging fest - initiated by me, of course - began. at around 2 AM, we decided it might be a good idea to get some rest so that Christmas could actually happen at some stage. i read Isaiah 11 (see #11) and went to bed.

the morning was slow, because we slept so late... erm, early. we hung around the Flores' house, eating cinnamon rolls, watching the Disneyland Parade (where my husband sang... and sounded marvellous ;) )and waiting for my cousin Andrea and her boyfriend Keaton to return from Keaton's family Christmas fest. d'you want to see what Sinderella gave me while we waited? i love this so much... when Andrea and Keaton got back, the Flowers family opened their gifts, and then we headed over to Gramma's. i decided to wear Mr Schneider on my head... good times! when we got there, Gramma was playing her accordion, so The Merry Elves (also known as Joe and Josh) began prancing around in circles. Joe decided to test out the accordion, and wasn't half-bad... i think.
we basically sat around and waited for people to arrive from there on in, munching on hors d'oeuvres (or, as Gramma calls them, horry dorries. no kidding.) and acting like crazies. then we opened gifts - we did a Secret-Santa-type gift exchange, so everyone got one gift -and then... WE ATE! we had two tables - one for kids and one for adults. i was graduated to the adults table, while the 18-year-olds - Joe and Sindi - were relegated to the kids table.... BWAHAHA! there was a ridiculous amount of food, including three different types of meat: turkey, prime rib AND gammon - whaaat??! more than enough to feed 17, if you ask me :)

after that, we lay around ...

before deciding to play Apples To Apples with TEN PEOPLE... what a crazy fest! it was a lot of fun but a bit chaotic, to be quite honest. we ended Christmas peacefully by taking a whole bunch of family photos and then returning to the Flores House, where we watched 3 or 4 episodes of The Office... and slept :)

#6: ice cream and string cheese

yes... i have lumped two foods together. note: i do not like them TOGETHER, but i love them EQUALLY. i have discovered chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream and adore it... ...i bet you can tell by the ridiculous grin on my face, huh? plus i have been keeping up a regular diet of string cheese. *slurp!*

#7: to write love on her arms

there are some people in this world who are inspired to make a difference, who attempt to fix what has been broken. the story of Renee Yohe and Jamie Tworkowski, a story of redemption and healing and grace, touched my life in a profound way and made me hope again. the passion Jamie has for what he does is truly inspiring, and his campaign is something i will defend and support for as long as it exists. read the full story here, or watch, see, read Jamie here.

HELLO, HERO: Jamie talking about the campaignthe caption he put on this photo? RED BULL WILL MAKE YOU TALL.

#8: starbucks

yes - Starbucks actually features on my list, even though i am as anti-coffee as they get. d'you know why? okay, i'll tell you. they make THE BEST hot chocolate in existence. plus, i tried their double chocolate chip cream frappachino and it was uh-MAY-zin'! plus, they are invloved with the (PRODUCT)RED campaign, which is, in a word, awesome. i was only disappointed that they didn't have an orange mocha frappachino, since one of my life's ambitions is to imitate Derek Zoolander in every possible way, but i'm okay with that now ;)

you're welcome, Starbucks... you're welcome.

#9: apple
i am in love with Apple. not only did they come up with the coolest invention of all time - the ipod, of course - but their computers rock the party! the only problem is, after you use a Mac, every other computer is the pits. true story. that is how marvellous they are. plus, they have their origin in and are made in California... heck yes!

#10: in-n-out burger

before the 23rd of December, i had never had an in-n-out burger before. omigosh. they are SO INCREDIBLE. in fact, i am pretty sure that they put drugs in their burgers... that's how good they are. just another reason California rocks the party.

#11: Isaiah 11
early on Christmas morning, i sat with my Bible and decided that i didn't want to read Luke the 2nd. mean, i know, but in my defense we'd already heard it at church a couple days before, and i felt like reading something new. during Advent this year, our family has been doing a Jesse Tree, which is basically going through the main stories in the Bible and seeing how the love of God and the beauty of His sacrifice is painted on every page. the concept of the Jesse Tree is based on Isaiah 11, which is a prophecy of the Messiah, so i decided that for a change, i would read Isaiah 11. it is so beautiful and different, and i command you to go read it right now! :)

#12: music
i am a music maniac, and this year i discovered some of the best music around. here are my top CDs of the year, since my chronic indecision prevents me from choosing my top songs.

ranked 1st is The Bird and The Bee Sides by Relient K. not only is it a fantastic deal - 26 songs for $12 - but they extend themselves as musicians a lot farther than they have before, with a mixture of funny, serious, romantic and ridiculous songs, and it's fabulous! :) plus, everyone in the band wrote and sang at least one song. props!

coming in 2nd is RIOT! by Paramore. do you know that i bought this album without hearing any of the songs off of it before? and yet here it is, ranked at #2. there are so many reasons i love Paramore - Hayley's hair, Josh's lip ring, the fact that Zac's name (Zac Farro) rhymes with Jack Sparrow, their youngness... and RIOT! as musicians, these guys are fresh and talented and i can't wait to hear what they have up their sleeves.

3rd place goes to Cities by Anberlin. this album is so incredible. Stephen Christian has the most haunting voice i have ever heard, and it echoes in my head and brings me to tears.

in 4th is The Younger by a South African band formerly called Harris Tweed. this beautifully indie album consistently makes me laugh, cry and sing along.

ranked 5th is Hong Kong Dollar by another local band, Lonehill Estate. i love this band... they are amazing. they are fabulous live, but their album is equally great, and they are officially the coolest!

coming 6th is Southern Weather by The Almost. Aaron Gillespie is such a diverse musician, and this album is crazy-good! the third track on the album, Dirty And Left Out, and his take on Amazing Grace (Amazing Because It Is) are especially affecting, and i simply love him!

in 7th is Come Home by ::harbourlight::not only because i know the guitarist (hey, Topher!) but because it is such a brilliant worship album.

8th place is Collected Memories by South Africa's newest musical wunderkind, Zebra & Giraffe. the whole band comprises of one man, Greg Carlin, and this album of his is incredible.

ranked 9th is Secrets Keep You Sick by The Fold. it's a really fabulous album and deserved its Grammy nomination. plus, the CD insert is so cool - all of the lyrics are printed CLEAR! ridiculous to read, but very cool nevertheless ;)

...and in 10th place is Sleep Through The Static by Jack Johnson. i am such a huge Jack fan. his music is so relaxed and yet so soulful and his lyrics are intriguing. plus, he's from Hawaii... immediate coolness points! :)

#13: restaurants
i love restaurants! we've been out to Macaroni Grill and Chilis with two of Mom's high school/college friends, and i had such a blast! i always manage to fill my hungry stomach on bread and Coke refills while waiting for my main dish, though, so i'm constantly taking home leftovers... hmmmm.

Macaroni Grill was SO COOL. their tables are covered in sheets of white paper, and they leave two crayons on each table, too. i am ADHD... this is what the table looked like when we left.

you can tell where i sat... just look for the Matt quote.
also, i had a yummy pesto chicken pizza... which i couldn't finish. darn.
after eating, Donna (my mom's best friend and Sindi's and my godmother) went to the bathroom to wash her hands. she came back saying, "you have to go to the bathroom! it's the coolest thing ever! they have Italian lessons playing!" so Sindi and i rushed off to the bathroom, and low and behold, they did indeed have Italian lessons playing!! we hung around forever, repeating phrases like, "please can i have another meatball?" and "which way is the grocery store?" :)

#14: funny faces

feeeeeling sleeeeepy....

Joe: "i am a cute fuzzy bunny." Andrea and Hannah: "we are cute little flowers." Joshua: "no comment."

"my horn can pierce the sky..."

fish faces!

#15: the office
this month, i was introduced to the most fabulous show in history... THE OFFICE. if you haven't watched it, you have no idea what you're missing out on.
"Michael Scott, Pam and Jim, you got me glued to my television..." :)
PB 'n'J... the cutest couple in tv-show history!

#16: new friends, old friends, best friends

Lindsey and Andrea - my loves!

The Pumpanuts: Dezzy Pumpkin, Hanny Pancake and Hayley Peanut!

my buddy, Cathy (on the right) with her sister Roanne.

my lovely Rachel and me.

me and Eleni... gooses we are.

my best friend Mpilo, waitressing at the 2008 EHS matric dance... *sigh* i miss you, Lilo lahv.

i have been so blessed with the most amazing friends. i have met so many new people this year and am so grateful to have ALL of them in my life! thank you for liking me, friends!

#17: Italy
God is awesome... He made Italy in the shape of an uber-stylin' boot.

also, they make the most scrumptuous food in the world there, and it looks so beautiful, and the language is the bestest. i can't wait to goooo...

#18: Audrey Hepburn
for reals, this lady had skills. she is my favourite actress of all time, and she had such classic beauty.

for Christmas, my cool uncle Todd, who got ME for Secret Santa, gave me a 5-DVD collection of her movies - Breakfast At Tiffany's, Sabrina, Funny Face, Roman Holiday and Paris When It Sizzles - and i am SO EXCITED!! thank you, uncle Todd :)

#19: talent shows

if it weren't for American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance, i probably wouldn't be "married" to David Cook...

or be in love with Mark Kanemura...

...and Twitch Boss. in fact, i probably wouldn't know who they ARE... hence why i am grateful for these funny, wonderful shows! ;)

#20: Spongebob Squarepantshe has the coolest humour on the block, and his best friend is a starfish.... such coolness points. plus, he's my twin brother who was seperated from me at birth. so, he is officially fabulous and i am grateful for his existence.

#21: funny shirts

i heart anything like this. fo' reals. funny t-shirts are the bomb dot com and they basically make up most of my closet.... i wish.

i just know you want to ask it....

no, it don't.

for word nerds like me...

i heart this movie.

yes, Michael... that's what she said.

scarebear

*silent laughter*

Pam and Jim... *sigh*

and i do love you!

*more silent laughter*

Lament of the Mutilated Bunnies

aaah, Biff... your lack of intelligence is astounding.

"my favourite's gouda!"

i am the haiku queen..

especially for you, Ana Cristina ;)

all of these shirts and more can be seen here.

because we all need a little peas...

i own this shirt. i adore this shirt.

#22: Pinky and The Brain "they're Pinky and The Brain, Pinky and The Brain; one is a genius, the other's insane..." they've got to be the funniest laboratory mice in existence. plus, i'm kind-of a Pinky in real life. *NARF!*

#23: the Sharks
this is my favourite rugby team. they are the coolest; plus, they won the Currie Cup this year, making me the happiest person alive. therefore they rock.
#24: movies
i've watched SO many good movies this year! my favourites have to be....

#25: drama
my second family... i love them.

#26: grace
"you're so brilliant, grace marks your heart..."

- the unwinding cablecar, anberlin.

plus, my ring says GRACE.
plus, my name means GRACE.
plus, i was saved by GRACE.
i love GRACE!

#27: random signs and licence plates

my godmother's car... she loves Lord of the Rings, and i love her and her license plate :)

my Gramma's license plate. this is my favourite word. example: Mom - "Hannah, come do the dishes!" Hannah - "wuh?"

#28: South Africa
my home. it is so beautiful and broken. it is exciting and terrible and cruel and amazing, and i wouldn't trade my country for any other.

#29: penguins
yep... i am grateful for the existence of penguins. they are the coolest. i have my very own penguin... his name is Squishy Darren. he is the King of all penguins. no... srsly.

#30: statues

i have a penchant for posing with statues. they are pretty darn funny, and they make me happy, and that is why i am grateful for statues.

#31: YOU.

yes, that's right... i said you, dear reader! Lauren, Nancy, Ana Cristina, Chell, Sunbum, Tiffany, B.B., Nadia... thank you all so much for taking time out of your busy and wonderful lives to read my insignificant blog. you've all touched my life in some way, big or small, and i am ridiculously grateful for your support and love! i hope you've all had a blessed holiday season and that 2009 will be your best year yet.

much love, and see you next year!

so long, Hubert.

today, i am going to tell you a story.

once upon a time, there was a mommy and a daddy who loved eachother very much, but we'll skip that part. 9 months later, the mommy gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, and there was joy throughout the land... or at least the hospital ward. but something was not right. the baby had a little brown spot right next to her left ear. her parents cooed about it being a cute baby beauty spot, when it was in fact a little mole, with the potential to become big and ugly and, in the words of Lauren, sick nast.

as the girl grew, so did the mole, and with time she became aware of its presence. the girl, who we will call Hannah for story purposes, even went so far as to give it a name. she named it Hubert.

now the sad part of the story comes along. when Hannah started a different school in the 4th Grade, she found out that her new classmates were much more observant than her previous ones. suddenly, everyone had discovered Hubert... and they would talk about him and his strangeness right in front of Hannah. of course, Hannah started to feel ashamed. she would try to hide Hubert away with her lame excuse for bangs, but that didn't work. she would cover her ear with her left hand in an attempt to cover him up, but as soon as she needed to write, she'd have to take her left hand back, and then everyone would notice Hubert again. everything she tried failed dismally, and so the unthinkable started to happen... Hannah began to despise Hubert's existence.

by the 7th Grade, all of her classmates had gotten used to Hubert, and Hannah began to feel fine about him again. but, as it so happens, in the 8th Grade, Hannah once again started a new school, and the comments about poor old Hubert began to fly thick and fast again. Once, Hannah was approached by a boy who informed her with a certain sense of honesty and clarity that she had a mole growing "there", as he pointed wildly in the direction of her left earlobe. promise. so, of course, Hannah began to notice Hubert's presence again.

of course, during this whole time, Hannah was growing, and so was Hubert. he began to get in the way of things like hairbrushes and combs and squirrels. yeah, not squirrels. anyway, there came a time during the 9th Grade when Hannah decided to investigate the possibility of having Hubert removed. this was a hard thing for her to contemplate... he had been such a big part of her face for so long.

on the 1st of December 2008, Hannah finally went to a special kind of doctor called a Plastic Surgeon, who specialised in giving rich people face lifts and boob jobs and also happened to be a qualified Mole-Taker-Off-er. (not to be confused with a plastic sturgeon.. you know, the kind of fish that eats rubber.) His name was Doctor Zinn and that made her laugh a little bit... in her head. he told her all about what was going to happen, calling Hubert names like "benign" and "unharmful". finally, he made Hannah lie down and gave her an anaesthetic shot right in the middle of Hubert, which would only sting "for a second" but in reality hurt for a minute at least. then he took out a creepy-sounding shaver thingy and proceeded to shave Hubert off, layer by layer. it took him a total of 2 minutes to finish the deed... then he put a ridiculously tiny plaster on Hannah's face and told her to leave it there until it fell off.

Hannah felt different... and the same. she kept poking her head because she thought it was funny that she couldn't feel the whole left side of her face. then she started singing "Anasthaesia, Anasthaesia!!" to the tune of that crazy animated movie Anastacia's theme song, and was relieved to find her humour intact.. she would've hated to lose that along with Hubert. because she kept poking the spot where Hubert was, it started bleeding profusely, so for the next few days she walked around like a head wound victim.

she even started acting like a head wound victim... you got it, crazy. in the head.


finally it stopped bleeding, and she took all the peripheral bandages off.

(haha, i made you tip your head sideways! haha!)

on the 9th of December, while at a thrift store in California, USA, the ridiculous bandage also fell off, and all that she was left with was a scab on the side of her face and the memory of Hubert.

since then, she's found out that several people have moles exactly where Hubert was, and it is a very bittersweet feeling. the memory of Hubert will always remain with Hannah... but from now on, she will go through life Hubert-less, with just a faint white scar on the side of her head as a reminder of what once was.

THE END.

in other news, guess where i've been hanging out lately?

i know you've been dying to ask me...

.."where have you been for the last century?"

okay, calm down! it hasn't been THAT long. it's only been 3 weeks and 3 days. yes, i know that's a long time to be gone... *blushes indignantly*.. but i'm sorry! will you forgive me if i give you a rundown of ALL that's happened in those 24 days, so that you feel compensated for? 

on the 3rd of November, i started... FINAL EXAMS! *cue ominous background music* they went all the way through to the 21st, but i had quite a few days in between exams off, and on those days, i went to my mom's work with her. now, that may sound boring at first, but bear with me. my mom teaches First Grade at a primary school called John Wesley. (it's a Methodist school, a ministry of our church - i bet you couldn't tell that by it's name, huh? ;) ) since we're nearing the end of the school year here in South Africa, my mommy dearest has been going off her head with admin and suchlike, so i am the stand-in teacher for her class. (side-note: i'm pretty much a terrible teacher. my sister got all the education genes.) but... I REALLY REALLY LOVE THESE GUYS!

Mandisa M, Nothando and Asanda N - three of the five cutest girls in Grade 1!

the kids with our special Christmas message - they each coloured one letter in, and then we put them all up together :) they were so excited! i did the "S" in "THIS"... i am ridiculously proud of my valiant efforts ;)

this is my favourite kid in the world. his name is Manqoba. i call him MQ. i love him to pieces.  THE END.

this is Promise. his nickname is Pro-Kid, and he's the most adorable bundle of energy ever.

on the 14th of November, my family and i went up to Johannesburg - a 7 hour drive from where we live - to visit my Gran. it was a pretty awesome weekend because...

...i got to meet up with a pumpkin and a peanut

no, seriously. Despina, on the left, is Pumpkin; Hayley on the right is Peanut. i am Pancake. all together we make up the Pumpanuts - food triplets with a fetish for Lonehill Estate and co-founders of the campaign against skinny jeans and the Jonas Brothers! we met up at Clearwater Mall, got stacks of South African music and then sat down at Mugg&Bean, where a teabag split, a monster-sized scone was massacred and a ridiculous amount of laughter ensued! i love you guys so very much :) thank you for hanging out!

...my heart broke and grew stronger over the course of a few hours

we visited the Apartheid Museum. words can't express how amazing and harrowing this place is. i believe with all my heart that we can't move on from the past if we don't fully understand the past, and this museum has left NOTHING out. a word of warning though: if you're ever in the vicinity (haha) you should take a whole day just to get around it. we went for about 3 hours and i still missed half of the museum. it was more than worth it.

...my sis and i got to act cool with semi-famous people!

hi, Chris'n'Judy! 

(for the uneducated, Chris is a guitarist in one of the best worship bands in South Africa, ::harbourlight::. he and Judy have an up-and-coming band called Idle Friday, which is equally amazing. they are our friends. that is all ;) )

on Saturday afternoon, we met up with these peeps and then spent the rest of the day at Judy's abode, watching The Princess Bride and playing difficult games like Fezzik's Rhyming Quiz and Risk! :) After delicious pasta, we went off to Velskoen, one of the only drive-in movies left in SA. and guess what we watched?

EAGLE EYE!

boy, was it fabulous, even though we missed the first 15 minutes and i got a cramp in my neck from weird positioning! thank you for the night out, Topher and Jude!

...i had soft-serve ice cream from an ice cream truck for the first time in FOREVER.

i think ice cream trucks are the bomb. no doubt about it. so when we were sitting in our gran's room the morning that we left and we heard the distinctive tinkering song that defines an ice cream truck, my sister and i leapt up, ran outside and waited in childlike anticipation. needless to say, i was so excited when i got mine that i managed to tip it slightly to the side... and the whole thing fell on the ground. gah. luckily, the lady in the ice cream truck was nice and gave me another one, which i promptly gobbled up! even my Gran, who's really sick, decided she wanted one, so my dad got one for her and she ate it sitting up in bed. it was too cute for words! :)

...i got a pack of Peanut Butter M&Ms!

the photo says it all. trust me on this one.

when we got back on the 16th, i was anxious to watch the Top 6 performances of So You Think You Can Dance. because we don't have DStv (the equivalent of cable TV) at my house, i get my friend to tape it for me, so it was actually from the week before. can i just mention how crazy i am for Mark and Twitch? if you want to know what i want for Christmas(besides Mark and Twitch themselves), go here and here. unfortunately, on the Top 6 night, Mark left... it started me crying and i didn't stop for a while. i guess i had a lot of pent-up emotion about things... but i am okay now, so don't you fret! :)

i have also been going to the beach a bit - twice in 2 days, actually! the first was this Friday, the 28th, when i accompanied the Third Graders from JWS to the beach and a crocodile farm. it was fuuuun! 

the next beach trip was this Saturday - yesterday, the 29th - when my family and i went down to Mtunzini, a beach town about 45 minutes away from us. we got there at about 5 PM and played around at the beach, which was fantastic. 

then we went out to dinner at my favourite place EVER - The Clay Oven! 

they serve the most scrumptious pizzas there, and they also have board games at the counter which you can play while waiting for your food and eating! we played Scrabble... which i won, so it was great :) 

i had the MOST delicious, if contradictory, pizza. this is because i ordered a Vegetarian... and asked the waiter to add chicken. what can i say? i'm a carnivore! :)

another thing i have been doing is cleaning my room out frenetically, because in 6 days, the girls in our family leave for AMERICA! we'll be away for 4 weeks, and during those weeks, a window is being put into my room. this means everything has to be OUT!

so there you have it, dearest blog-readers - the past 3 weeks and 3 days in a nutshell! i must sleep now, because tomorrow... I AM GOING TO A PLASTIC SURGEON!! eek! i will post about that tomorrow night, though :) i forgot the include these two things: we also celebrated Thanksgiving, and i had The Best Time Ever with my second family, also known as my fellow drama students. i will add these stories to this same blog... tomorrow! (in other words... everything is happening tomorrow. got it?)

are you satisfied with my summarising skills, friends? and, more importantly, do you love me again? :)

lightbulbs

Nancy Face wanted to see my pretty hoodie... and since she's one of 5 people who've ever commented on my blog, as well as the most frequent comment-leaver, i thort i'd oblige her :) (oh, and she's awesome, too... but you knew that, right?)

it was a fateful day when i discovered this hoodie, i must tell you. i can't even remember how i found Zambooie, but find it i did. and then i somehow discovered the Relient K merch. and i was browsing through, quite leisure-like, when suddenly, my mouth dropped open. 

i had seen The Hoodie. 

*cue Hallelujah Chorus*

it took me a while to recover from slack-jaw-itis, but when i did, i kind-of screeched. and continued to gape. for a very long time. then i sighed, saved the picture in my "Things I Want But Will Never Entertain Thoughts Of Getting" file, and went away to mourn quietly.

a week later, an email arrived in my very own inbox. (that in itself was pretty impressive.) it was from my auntie Kymmie! i was rapturous. my aunt Kymmie is The Best. so i opened it and began reading. after the preliminary greetings passed, she wrote, "I am going to be sending some things for Sindi [for her Matric Dance] and was wondering if you're looking for something specific [that I could get you]...  So maybe a favorite hoodie or jersey of yours could use replacing..?" 

 i didn't read any further for a while. instead, my mind was on a constant replay of a certain jacket covered in lightbulbs. what to do? i didn't want to sound greedy... but i wanted that hoodie. a few days later, i sent my dear aunt a diplomatic (i like to think) email,  in which i told her of my desperate plea. and guess what? she got it for me! it was packaged beautifully, along with a baby blue Deon-style To Write Love On Her Arms hoodie tee that she picked out especially for me.

on the 22nd of March 2008, i became the proud owner of my Relient K Lightbulbs hoodie. it has been nearly 7 months... and i don't love it any less :)

THANK YOU, AUNTIE KYMMIE!