CJ's Blog

Hi all! I'm taking a quick break from studying for a Physics test this afternoon, so this will prolly be short.

Photo 1 - I was on my way to the beer garden after the parade on Saturday. Found those aviators in someone's yard that morning :P

Photo 2 - Lupin eagerly awaiting the start of the parade. By the end of the parade he had 8 strands of green beads :)

Photo 3 - The beer garden.

For me St. Pat's lasted for 10 days.

Day 1 - Friday Mar 4. My friend, Big Sexy's job keg. Maddy and I kidnapped our buddy Mike to go to the party. We were running early, so we called him, found out where he was, told him to park his truck and went and picked him, all while booze cruising (Maddy was talking to her mom about us driving around, and then told me to hold her beer :P).  We showed up to the party early still, and everyone was at dinner, so we found an unlocked door, walked in, helped ourselves to a couple beers and hung out for awhile. We got bored, grabbed a road beer and moved to the bar (Grotto), went back to the party eventually, lost Maddy. Mike and I went back to the Grotto, he opted to go home, but I got a round of applause when I finished my beer as I was walking down the stairs into the bar, crushed the can and pitched it in the first trash can. Overall, a random, but fun night.

Day 2 - Maddy came by to pick up her cigs, we ended up going back to Big Sexy's house and drinking a couple beers with him and Butterball (yes, most of my friends have goofy nicknames). Maddy disappeared again. Some more of my buddies from back in the day showed up and we sat around bullshitting for awhile longer until the bar opened. We showed up before they even unlocked the door and the owner commented that "at least you weren't licking the door". After a couple hours there, a few of us went to Locker Room (another bar that we actually call something other than "the bar"), I drove us and we rocked out to "Callin' Baton Rouge" on cassette (YEE HAW!!). After a few hot wings and a couple more beers I ended up a Bruno's (yet another bar) where I got hit on, then the guy turned to my buddy Shittles and said "oh shit! Are you two together?". There was a very strong "NO" from both of us. Called it a night shortly after that, the music sucked and it was too crowded.

Day 3 - Sunday. Recovery? Drank at home? Probably the latter.

Day 4 - Monday. Started with two beers from home during Physics lecture. Made a super quick run from Physics to the liquor store for a 6pk between classes. Drank a few more before follies at noon. Follies are a tradition where organizations compete in goofy events to entertain St. Pat and his Court. Had to scamper off to class, where I shared the last of my 6pk with a buddy (gotta love the pop top sound 15min into class). I think I ended up at Locker Room after class, maybe the bar after that... *shrug*

Day 5 - Tuesday. Drank a few while studying for a Fluids test, nothing particularly fun :(

Day 6 - Wed (Best day of Pats). Took my Fluids test 10-11. Opened the Locker Room at 11 with Shittles and Rob, proceeded to drink 8 Long Islands before 2pm. Shittles had a meeting and Rob and I ended up at Sig Chi (I had to make a quick run to my Jeep for my "emergency" 6pk cooler). I stole us some nachos (4 of us ended up sharing it, and that became dinner). We picked up Hot Ashley there. Shittles rejoined us somewhere in there and 3 of us (him, Hot Ashley and I) ended up going to Brunos (opened Brunos too) to meet up with our buddies Manatee and George (yes, George is a nickname). It was dollar can night. Hot Ashley started hitting on me. Manatee and George picked up on it, Shittles was oblivious. At 6 we got a ride from Manatee to the Grotto (opened our 3rd bar of the day). I may have been making out with Hot Ashley across the table and Shittles looked pissed. Apparently, he thought we were just whispering, gossiping or some shit, until I texted him "visions of 3-somes dancing in your head?". He looked delightfully confused. Shortly after that the 3 of us bailed, leaving half a pitcher and several glasses with beer still in them. .... Long story short, she chickened out and I gave her a ride home. Shittles and I then hit up Brunos again, where I got hit on by a guy who my crazy housemate brought home one night. He left (was too wasted). Shittles and I ended up accepting one another as a consolation prize....

Day 7 - Thursday. We woke up at 6:30am for no apparent reason. Maddy called and invited me to go drink, so we showed up at her place at 8:30-ish. She left us there with Cochran (a buddy who's living in TX these days). We drank her beer until Locker Room opened at 11. We stayed there until 7pm or so, ran up a $90 tab of $4 pitchers among the 3 of us. Then we ended up at El Mags (a Mexican restaurant/bar), where Cochran, Rob and I each put away a pitcher of margaritas. By the time we ended up back at Grotto, we were sufficiently f-ed. Apparently, I drunk dialed Maddy and offered a 3-some with me and Cochran. By 11pm Cochran and I were passed out at my house. I woke up at 3:30 or so, found my gay male housemate, Tom and some chick in the kitchen. Tom fell into the open refrigerator and broke a shelf.

Day 8 - Friday. I didn't sober up over night. We started at Tater Patch about 8:30am (a roughneck bar that opens at 6am and serves AMAZING breakfast). "I need a Bud Light, a water and a menu". Maddy and Alli joined us there. Eventually, Shittles showed up and Maddy and Alli left again. We hung out for awhile before stopping by BevMart, each getting a 6pk to take to the Mining Dept secretaries office. So, we hung out in her office drinking our beer and providing her with her daily *cough* orange juice until she kicked us out. We moved across the hall to a larger room, gained more people and hung out until Beer Olympics. After Beer Olympics, I took a much needed nap (and shower, hadn't exactly changed clothes since Tuesday) before hitting the Grotto for awhile.

Day 9 - Saturday. Woke up for breakfast at 6:45. Met Pat (our namby pamby friend) at the downtown diner. We walked back to my house (along the way, I found the aviators), picked up my dog and Alli's dog. We walked them for a good 2hrs before the parade started. Ran into a buddy that I hadn't seen in ages at the parade. Met up with her, her mom and sis for lunch at Tater Patch. Only had a couple beers with lunch, before wandering home to change and meet up with Cochran, Shittles, Caro and Steve at the beer garden. After that I played tag with a buddy around downtown. He'd call, I'd go to where he was, order a beer, find out he'd left, drink my beer, call him again... Ended up at 2 different bars before finding him. We had a quickie in the room of the Kappa Sig pres and vp (most of my friends are Kappa Sigs, lol), before I left and went to Bruno's for Shittles' bday shindig. There I got hit on by Steve (manager of the closest strip joint), but had a really good conversation with him about business and local business owners. When he left, Cochran annoyed me by drunkenly asking if he could come home with me again. Finally gave up and went home. Got invited to a hot tub party, decided enough was enough and passed out listening to the police scanner.

Day 10 - Sunday. Woke up at 4am, did dishes, swept, mopped, did laundry, cleaned the toilet, and went back to bed at 6am. Woke up at 10, returned Shittles wallet (apparently I was it's keeper the night before and forgot about it before I left), did some other productive stuff before another nap. Woke up to Ben calling me asking if I wanted to go out for sushi (hell yeah!). After dinner we went back to his place, I nursed a mixed drink, did homework and watched tv with him and one of his housemates.

Day 11 - Monday. Ok, yesterday doesn't count. I was semi-functional. Ended up at the bar with Ben and TJ, studying for Physics, watching Firefly and nursing 2 beers over the course of 3.5hrs.

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All in all, some people have Mardi Gras and go crazy there. We have St. Pats

And speaking of St. Pats, it's March 17 (Thursday). I'll be having a 20% off sale in my Etsy shop, just watch my shop/facebook/twitter for the announcement of it becoming active.

Yea, the picture quality isn't great, I took it with my Blackberry.

Anyway, Hi! I haven't been around for awhile, just haven't felt like being social. I'm going through one of those times where I don't feel like doing a darn thing except cuddling up on a comfy couch and watching a movie or TV series. In fact, for the last two days, I've been wrapped up in Prison Break, My friend Pat and I swapped TV shows again on Saturday.

Speaking of Saturday, I dragged a small amount of beading stuff to campus and beaded while our files were transferring. Which is when I made these earrings. They're Czech glass leaves, very pretty for Fall. They weren't nearly as tricky to make as I thought they would be. When they were finished I decided that I just couldn't bear to part with them. 

Boo! I'm currently in class and was just told to stop typing because "that's annoying". Yes, I should be paying attention, but I'm just not feeling it today, but that's another post for another time.

Long story short, I'm still alive and haven't forgotten about you guys.

It's Friday night and I'm sitting home alone poking around on the interwebs, why not? 

1. I'm 24.

2. I am studying Environmental Engineering at Missouri University of Science & Technology. Eventually, I want to get into water/wastewater treatment or work with bioremediation.

3. I bleed green. St. Patrick has been claimed as the patron saint of engineers, and we take this to the extreme. Every spring, near St Pats, we get "Spring Recess", which consists of two days off school, lots of beer drinking and very little sleep. Many of you will notice that my Styleboards and such reflect this. No, i am not Irish, but I am an engineer.

4. I am not a tree hugger. Just because I am studying Environmental Engineering, doesn't make me one. I just like Biology, Chemistry and Engineering. I'm not out to save the world, just make it slightly less shitty (esp applicable if I end up in wastewater treatment).

5. I have a dog. He's a mutt, part German Shepherd, part Heinz 57. He is my pride and joy. He's about 55lbs, a year and a half old, and crazy.

6. I do not have a significant other, and I'm not looking for one either. Boyfriends are a pain. They cost money, consume my time, and I can't just toss him in a crate or the backyard when he gets annoying.

7 . I have taken my sweet time to get through college. I have studied small amounts of Chemical Engineering, Ceramic Engineering, Civil Engineering and Biology. I transferred to a different school for two semesters, then I took a semester off and worked for the Missouri Conservation Dept. I got to walk around in the woods and pick up acorns, and more importantly, discover that a career in Biology would not be satisfying. Then I returned to MST for Environmental. On the up side, I will have minors in both Biology and Chemistry when I graduate. It is also tempting to get a minor in Civil Engineering to further round it out.

8. I'm not a girly girl. I'm a female engineer who has been in a school that is 70% male in the Ozarks for too long. I wear jeans, steel toe boots, "men's" t shirts, and carry a Thermos every day. Just add a hard hat (I have two hanging on my wall) and I could go work in a mine. I drink beer with the best of them, and a "light" night out consists of two pitchers of whatever's cheapest. I do all my own work on my '94 Jeep Cherokee, and help others with their cars or trucks. I really am "one of the guys" and girls who claim that but can't keep up annoy me.

9. I have a girly side. I love purses, but I never carry them. I love jewelry, but I rarely wear it (except earrings). I like cute clothes, but I can't afford them. Some days I just wish I could get dolled up and go someplace nice.

10. I am a shopaholic. I don't typically shop for clothes, but you shouldn't let me loose in a thrift store, dollar store or craft store. Salvation Army is my favorite place to shop these days.

11. I love to knit and crochet. A friend taught me to crochet years ago, and my grandma taught me to knit when I was in 13.

12. I am a cheap bastard. During the winter I keep my house at 64 F. During the summer, I do not use the a/c until it's over 95 F outside, and even then I only use a small window unit in my bedroom to make it comfortable enough to sleep.

13. I really am a bastard, in the true sense of the word. My birth mother was 15 when she got pregnant, and the father told her he thought she was lying about the whole thing to "trap" him. I know little about her and nothing about him. I was born to unmarried parents and I do not know who my father is. I was adopted, and my adoptive parents are wonderful. I'm just glad that I didn't get lost in the system, like so many.

14. I have been sailing my entire life. Born and raised in Missouri, this is unusual. My parents keep a 36' boat on a "small" lake in mid-Missouri (not Lake of the Ozarks). All through high school, my dad and I raced, fairly competitively. We started with the 24' cruising boat my parents bought in the early 80's, then we upgraded to a 9.1 meter racing boat. Finally, we got tired of having to work so hard, even when we were out for a relaxing sail and traded up for the 36' cruising boat.

15. I started selling stuff online when I was in middle school and beanie babies were popular. I started in AOL forums, if that tells you anything about how long I've been doing this :P. Over the years, I have sold all kinds of things, usually capitalizing on a current craze such as beanie babies, Neopets or Pokemon. In '06 or '07, I opened my first Etsy shop selling knit and crocheted things. When I started making jewelry, the name Knitnacs was no longer applicable, and I opened CJ's Designs. It is still my primary source of income (outside of gov't loans and grants).

I was flagged and my most recent giveaway post was removed. I really like doing those. Yes, part of it is that I like the exposure my Etsy shop gets, but mostly I just like making someone's day by giving away something cute. Does anyone have suggestions on how to continue doing them without getting flagged?

All I want to do right now is go home, curl up in my desk chair with a movie (or 6), a thermos full of hot tea and bead until my fingers hurt.

Unfortunately, I don't get to. I had a Statistics test on Monday, an Engineering Physics II test on Tuesday, and now, a Fluid Mechanics test tomorrow. I will be up late, reading, studying, working on homework that has been neglected, and wishing I could be curled up with my puppy. The weekend does not look much better. I have homework due in all 5 of my classes, and none of it looks like it will be quick or easy.

It's probably okay. I'm tired of going out. The last few times I went out I ended up staying out way too late, drinking too much, talking to people I didn't like, and regretting the waste of time the next day.

At the moment, I am completely overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done before the test tomorrow. The worst part is that I know I will have very minimal time to work on it until I am out of class for the day at 2pm, leaving me with only 20hours before the test :(.

As a motivation, tomorrow afternoon I will allow myself time to make some pretty things before starting on the vast amount of work that must be completed over the weekend.

Anyway, I'm out for now. Send some positive thoughts my way!