hi everyone. I hope you’re all doing really well. I had a pretty bad day yesterday. My Uncle has been sick for a little less than a year now. He had cancer and it was causing a lot of other problems in his body. About a week ir two ago he went back into the hospital to have surgery and they were keeping him sedated because of the pain after that. The cancer ended up spreading throughout his body though and he passed away last night. He actually died while my dad and i were there visiting him last night so it was pretty rough. Dawn, I don’t know if you got my message, but they found my cousin and he’s on his way home…thank you though. My cousin was in california (he’s in the marines) and it took the red cross a little bit of time to find him. Anyway…in happier news, I think i’m going to get a kayak. My parents are getting a boat and when they do i’m going to get a kayak so that’s exciting :). And i just got a kayak antenna topper which is cool. So, i hope you are all doing well and i miss you guys so much. I’ll talk to you soon 🙂

Hello there ladies! How is everyone doing? I just got back from my trip to San Francisco for a Neonatal Nursing Conference that I got to attend. It was amazing! The conference and the city! I got there on a Wednesday and the conference was Thurs-Sat afternoon… and i stayed ’till Monday morning. It was great! I was so sad that you weren’t in the area Shira! I would have LOVED to see you! And I learned that San Diego at the the other end of the state so i couldn’t get to see you Dawn! (next trip out west is to you i swear!) I did the touristy thing and did a few tours including a tour of 2 vinyards in Sonoma Valley and one in Nappa! It was soooo much fun. I went with two other new girls from work. We were in orientation together. We all got along really well until Sunday when one of the girls suddenly was crabby and kept giving me and the other girl the cold shoulder and then out of the blue said “oh yeah, i’m flying home tonight” Now this screwed the two of us not leaving b/c she was our ride home from the airport… So needless to say, we had some scrambling to do in order to get home but it all worked out. California was sooooooooooooooooo beautiful AND warm!! Such a change from the east coast wet cold and damp weather…. I’m going to try figure out how to post some pics from my trip for u all to see! So that’s basically the big exciting news in my life at the moment.

I tried to e-mail u all about my wine tasting party but some e-mails got sent back to me. So, i’m doing a blog invite 😉 June 5th i’m planing on having a get together at my house and go to a few vinyards by me and then back to my place to consume the wine and have a little fondu party. (I have to celebrate turning 25 with some sort of fun!) You are all invited (as are your significant others if applicable). I heard back from some of you already. I know we are scattered all over the country but if for some odd reason you are in the New York area you know i’d LOVE to see u guys! So let me know if you can come or not. If not, we should try to schedule a get together at some point over the summer! Let me know.

Ok, i hate when i make the blog entry so long…I’ll update you all on more things at a later date… write back when u all can!
Luv,
Laura 🙂

Laaaaaayydaaayyys!! Now that school and all three jobs are over and I’m officially on vacation, there’s time to catch up!

The week before last was a pretty exciting one for me–graduated from culinary school, got a job interview at an ultra-high-end Belgian chocolate shop in CA, spent some quality time with Mom and Aunt Joan, and got asked out on (not one but) TWO dates! Quite the busy week, I must say. One of the guys who did the asking looks a lot like Keanu Reeves, hence the above photo. The other guy vaguely resembles the man in this other picture….yeah.

Anyhow, it’s sort of nice having admirers, but it’s posing a bit of a dilemna for me. I’ve moved outside of my safe comfort zone–I’m in a new place (which feels like a new country!) and I don’t know anything about anybody. How am I supposed to figure out (beyond hiring a personal detective and ordering police reports) if these potential suitors are weirdos?? Obviously, I’ve got my womanly intuition and character-judgement-type skills (which help eliminate 85% of interested parties right away). Perhaps, like Christina, I’m waiting for my Pimp Mama Swerve to kick in…I don’t think that’s it though, because I’m feeling exceptionally confident, witty and beautiful lately. 😉

Aha!! Maybe…they’re just not the right guys!! I think this could be the answer. Shouldn’t there be an earthquake or something when we meet? A soul-shattering connection, explosive chemistry or something like that? YES. Yes, there definitely should, shouldn’t there? I knew talking to Dick’s Fast Chicks and Co. would help. If you’ve got any ideas or comments….my ears are open!

**Sidenote**Can we just take a moment out to appreciate how HOT Vin Diesel is? OH BILLY. His last name is obviously “Diesel” for a reason! Usually buff arms totally repulse me, but on him!!! SO HOT. (hotness!!!). Could he get just a little bit hotter? I really don’t think so.

On that note, I think we should dedicate this week to HOT PEOPLE. Let’s just PLASTER moltenchocolate.com with pictures of gorgeous men (or women, whichever!) If you can’t figure out how to upload a picture, email it to me and I’ll post it for you. 🙂

I’ve finally managed to have a moment to say hello! HELLO GIRLS!!!

This is Christina, your old RA. Laura introduced me to the blog itself, and Shira wrote instructions on how to use it about two months ago. Clearly, I’ve been pretty busy . . . but I’ve enjoyed “spying” on all of you. It’s in my RA nature.

I’m an English teacher at a LI high school. I enjoy my career immensely, although it provides a tremendous amount of work and homework . . . more than I ever anticipated. Of course, the flip side is all of the glorious vacation time, and the ability to interact with interesting, spunky teenagers who are smack dab in the middle of puberty. Ahhhhhhhhhh, makes for many entertaining stories to tell at cocktail parties. I don’t really go to cocktail parties, but I’m sure that I’d be the life of the gathering if I was invited to one, what with all of these crazy stories.

I’m still living at home with my parents . . . yes, I know. I’m getting to be too old to be here, but I’m just about at the point where I can put a down payment on a co-op which is the plan, instead of renting at an astronomical rate. I’m looking to move out in the summer/fall, looking FORWARD to moving out 🙂

My long term bf and I broke up in October. It’s been really difficult dealing with this, because I thought that he was “the one.” The breakup was also very unexpected, and sort of left me breathless. I’m just starting to date again, and I’m still shaky, but I’m hoping that I get that old “pimp mamma” swerve back, like a second wind.

I’m actually recovering from a serious car accident that I had in February, and a mysterious blood clot that popped up last November, and I have to go to physical therapy right now. I’ll be sure to write more soon . . . I hope that everybody is well and I just want to say how PROUD I am of all of you . . . it seems that you’re all doing what is working for you at this point.

Until next time . . .
Christina

wow, it’s been a long time since i’ve written. Ironically though, there’s not too much for me to say. I’m still working at barnes and noble, although there was an incident that put that in to question last week. I got a call on my day off that a $400 pickup (an envelope of money) that i did the day before was missing. Now, there are a few ways that it could have gone missing. I could have left it out somewhere instead of putting it in the safe and a customer could have taken it. The guy, John, who i did the pickkup for could have taken it…or he could have gotten my supervisor numbers and forged the pickup and taken it. Or the manager who took all the pickups to the back at the end of the night could have dropped it. But it’s a lot of money so i was very very worried for the next few days. Then, the other day, the loss prevention person and district manager came to the store and i was expecting this big interrogation but they didn’t talk to me at all. I found out after they left that john got fired for stealing from the company. We still don’t know what happened to the pickup, but a customer called the district managre and complained that she bought a gift card and went to use it the same day and it was empty. John had stolen the number off the gift card and used it. Apparently they think he’s been stealiing from the company for years. And he gets cought on 30 dollars. hehehe…so i’m sort of off the hook cause we’re kind of assumnig that he took the pickup.

what else what else…i’ve been kind of..i don’t know…like, id on’t know what i want to do with my life still and it’s bothering me.

but otherwise, i’m happy :). Tom and i are doing very well. Neither of us have money to get an apartment but when we do, we will.

Hrmm…i think that’s it. I miss you guys so much! I hope everyone is doing well. I’ll talk to you all soon.

I’m moving out!! well, not right away, but I was accepted to Springfield College!!! I got home from EMS last night and realized I hadn’t checked my mail, and low and behold, a nice fat envelope. Did anyone else have the theory when applying to undergrad that fat envelopes meant good news and thin ones meant bad? well, my theory is holding true so far; massachusetts here I come!!

I may not go right away though, I may take a slight detour through Alaska. “What?!” you all say? “Did I read that right?” yes, you did. it’s still in the exploration stage, but this guy named Eric who used to work for EMS went to Alaska last summer to work (and be in Alaska, obviously) and he’s going again this year and has invited me to come along. he is a spectacular salesman and makes it actually sound possible. I’m planning on moving anyway, so I will be between leases and jobs, I’m 23 years old, when else would things be this perfect? when I talked a little to mom about it last night, she thought it sounded like an amazing opportunity as well, but I need to do some research to determine if it’s actually possible. I have to make sure that I would be making enough money to actually be SAVING money (something I haven’t actually accomplished much of this year… oops!) and that I would have a place to stay and all that, but it would be so amazing. and we would be driving across the country, so depending on when Caitlin leaves Chicago, I would maybe be able to stop by and see her (and maybe crash on her floor)! and then, on my way home at the end of summer, I think a detour through california would DEFINATELY be in order. I obviously have tons and tons of research to do, but I am going to try my darndest to find a way to make this work. traveling across the county, visiting people I haven’t seen in ages, and then being in Alaska!

and one last piece of good news… Mike my Army Guy is back from Iraq!!! it’s so nice to not have to worry about him anymore! we had been emailing each other for the past month or two since I started to suck at the whole letter writing thing, and I knew that he was due back soon. so, he’s in Seattle now, but he’s suppose to have about 3 weeks of leave in the end of April and he said that I am definately on his list of people to see. He said he would go anywhere to meet me again, but I think the best plan is to meet in Albany for dinner or something, that way we can meet for a second time, see each other sober, and I can crash at my brothers so there is no undue pressure for anything to happen. he did mention though that if dinner went well, he’s already thinking of asking me to the Engineers Ball in May, he would fly me out and everything. ee gads! I’m really nervous about seeing him again. It’s been 16 months, we only met the once, and I was ridiculously drunk (it’s not everyday that one of your best friends turns 21 on new years eve). I’m afraid that he’s built this up in his head as some big romance, when the truth of the matter is, we barely know each other. I’m also worried that I will be incredibly shallow and meet this guy who has been really nice and sweet and stuff in emails and letters and not be attracted to him at all. I know that I’m getting way ahead of myself, we need to meet first before I worry about all this stuff, but there’s not much to do here at work, so I spend way too much time thinking about this. thankfully, I now have ALASKA to think about. and GRAD SCHOOL. woohoo!!!

ok, that’s about it from here, and this is quite a lot of Nicole-babble/news. I hope everything is going great for all of “my girls”!! love you bunches!! xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo