Spring @ soapcentral.com

April showers bring May flowers.  What do May flowers bring?  Pilgrims!

 

Ahhh, the spring...the time we can all make the transition from cold and flu season to allergy season.

 

OK, I got one more...spring is here!  Now all the people who drive like jerks in the snow can start driving like jerks in the rain.

 

Well, here in Minnesota spring just sprung a couple days ago.  For those of you more down south, it sprung a few weeks ago, but...you know...this is Minnesota   On Friday we had a HUGE snowstorm, and we had no school then because of it.  Sure we have to go an extra day in June now, but it was nice to have Friday off...I had a cold then so a day off was nice.  Well, it's April 15th...we are halfway through April, the last day of school is June 5th, so we have about a month-and-a-half left.  I'm definitely looking forward to summer.  I'm coming up on the end of my freshman year of high school and they say the freshman year is the worst...it gets better once you're a sophomore and beyond, so I'm looking forward to summer and I'm looking forward to my sophomore year.  This year was a good year for me, only a lot of kids in my class are kinda annoying and just haven't matured yet...but that's just a freshman thing and they say it gets better at sophomore year.

 

Yes, I am very happy about the start of spring.  This was a harsh winter for us Minnesotans, but luckily that's all over and it's nice again.  Our flowers have begun to bloom, and things are looking just beautiful.  Yesterday morning the ground was covered in snow, but it got to be about 65 degrees and pretty much all of it melted it one day!   Amazing, huh?  So...goodbye and good riddance to winter and a warm welcome to spring!

 

Here is a sneak peek of next week's Desperate Housewives episode...it's of Gabrielle vs. a man in a wheelchair.  Funny stuff!

 

Enjoy the spring, everybody!

Having noticed the negative tone I've imposed on my blogs I wanted to try to lighten it up.  So I'll try to keep this one to praising the things I enjoy.
Since I'm here I'll start with SOC.  I love all aspects of the site.  The who's who profiles are full of tidbits forgotten to me.  I have happily lost myself in there for hours.  When I'm behind or tuned out of a soap the boards and two scoops are my favorite way to keep tabs.  If I miss one or two eps I'll check out the recaps but generally if I can't be bothered to watch  then I don't bother finding out exactly what I've missed.  The news section here is top notch.  I might read some items elsewhere first but SOC is still very quick to post the news and I can't think of a time I've ever read something that proved false.  The polls on each soap page are a ton of fun, I love seeing if I stand with the majority of SOCers or not. I really enjoy that most (all?) the polls include an "I don't care about this topic" option for those of us who will take the time to read and vote in a poll that we have no interest in.   The message boards are easily my favorite part of the site though.  There's almost always something of interest to read about or debate.  SOC has a brilliant group of members who have challenged my opinions consistently and even changed my mind on more than one occasion.  The hardworking mods make this one of the most pleasant boards to read and participate in.  And I'm clearly loving the blogs too.  It's taken me some time but now that I'm in the swing of it I don't know if I'll ever shut up. 
Something else that has given me great pleasure is Heavenly Hash ice cream.  At one point I'm certain that I gained 20-30 pounds entirely because of it.  I try to be more moderate nowadays but I'm still pretty weak for it.  I limit myself to only buying  a carton or two a year and trying to avoid the bowl of 5 or 6 scoops.  Aside from gorging myself on it straight out of the bucket my favorite way to have it is a scoop or two in my coffee.  2 litres rarely lasts 48 hours. 
I'm so glad that it is finally warming up here in the Greater Toronto Area.  There's the obvious benefits that come with the glory of spring.  Fresh sights, smells, and sounds, change of wardrobe, looking around and seeing that everyone is sharing in the same relief and excitement. Personally I'm eager to pull out my bicycle and rediscover this town, and attempt some long rides out of town. 

Though I have no musical ability I thoroughly enjoy the talent of others.  For several years now Mason Jennings has been hands down my favorite artist.  It's sort of  a folksy rock sound but IMO he's diverse using several different styles.  It's the kind of music that makes me feel. 

My family is amazing.  I'd like to be closer with my sister but she lives far away and I don't see her very often.  We fought like mad when we lived together and didn't stay close once neither of us were living at home. We do talk and we have a good relationship, but I'm trying to be more a part of her life.  She was my first friend and I owe her a lot and am sure I've missed out on something by not being closer to the person who knew me better than anyone for the first 15 years of my life.  My parents are supportive and funny and do a great job of making sure I (and anyone who will listen) know they love me and are proud of me.

I've been gifted with the best friends I could ever ask for.  I feel like they understand and appreciate me.  They are a lot of fun.  It's rewarding to be there to help and support the ones I love and to see that they know they can rely on me.  I really enjoy the perspective I get of myself from people who've known me for a long time.  It keeps me grounded and helps me not to blow things out of proportion or take myself too seriously.  Best of all none of them are more attractive or funny than I am ;-)

I could keep going on but I think I'll save some so that I can pepper some positivity into my blogs again in the future. 

How many people here either are kids or have kids?  If you are one of these people, do you have anything planned over Spring Break?  Our plans...going to New Orleans.  I have been to New Orleans twice before Katrina, and in six weeks or so I'm gonna see what it looks like now.  Obviously it will be very different...I am very interested how it has changed.  We will be driving down there...it is about a three-day drive.

 

We also have some family down in New Orleans.  My great-aunt Alice lives there with her husband John, and my dad's cousin Julie lives there with her husband Max.  None of their houses got destroyed.  Alice and John live in a very nice neighborhood.  Their neighborhood is known for mansions and trees...but most of the trees are gone now which is really sad 'cause those trees are what made the neighborhood really beautiful...their house didn't get damaged at all but a lot of houses in that neighborhood were very badly damaged, so Alice and John lucked out.  Julie and Max's house sustained zero damage, but the street behind them got completely flattened, so they REALLY lucked out.

 

I really hope we can be able to see them, but there's a chance we might not be able to 'cause they have a lot on their plate right now.  Alice and John are both 83 years old and niether one of them is doing great healthwise.  Alice has arthritis very badly and she hasn't been responding to her normal medications, but luckily her doctor recently prescribed her some new med and that's been working well for her.  So she's getting progressively better and she says that as soon as her doctor says it's OK, she's gonna come up to Minnesota for a visit, which is good 'cause Alice is a lot of fun.  So things have been looking up for Alice...John, on the other hand, is getting progressively worse.  A couple years ago they found a tumor in his voicebox, so he underwent radiation therapy.  The tumor is gone, but he is left with the yucky side effects of radiation, as all of his upper teeth are gone.  Also, his back condition has been really getting to him.  He uses a heating pad and there are some activities he can no longer do, such as golfing, which is a shame 'cause he LOVES to golf.  A nurse comes to their house on nights and weekends but given that John's health is deteriorating, they might have to have a full-time nurse soon.  As bad as Alice and John may have it, Julie and Max have it worse.  Max is in the hospital dying of cancer.  It started in his kidneys and spread to his spleen, lungs, pancreas, and lymph nodes.  He is undergoing chemo every day, and if you're doing chemo every day it can't be good.  He lost 50 pounds since he started chemo and Alice says he looks terrible.  And Julie is not holding up well.  Julie is a sweet, wondeful woman, but she is not a strong woman at all.  Alice has told her that she needs to be strong for Max, but Julie just hasn't been holding up well.  It's awful 'cause these are great people and they don't deserve what they're getting.  It's awful also because Max is only 59, he's a great guy, and given that he lives a thousand miles from me, I never got to know him very well, and I wish I could've been able to get to know him well.  So I definitely hope I will be able to see him one last time when we're down there.

 

So in addition to going to New Orleans this March, we have also been talking about what we should do this summer.  After all, we are halfway there.  From June 20-27, we will be going to Door County, WI, as we always do during the last week of June.  Also, every August the past few years, we've been going someplace we've never been before.  In 2005 we went to San Francisco, in 2006 we went to Boston, and in 2007 we went to Yellowstone.  We are gonna go somewhere in August...we have decided on two possible places.  Either we're going to Seattle, or we're gonna go to the east coast and drive down the east coast...we'd be in places such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Washington, and the Carolinas.  They both sound like fun trips.

 

I suppose this was one of my longer blogs, huh?  Well, I should be going.  Got homework to do

This spring break vacation has been a good one. Even though I had to work, I managed to secure several days off during the week so I could enjoy myself. Last night I went to San Francisco with my friends. Having turned 21, it was my first time ever going to the night-clubs in the city. It was one of the best nights of my entire life, and I had a total blast. We hit up some really awesome nightclubs in the Castro district, which were totally awesome. I have tons of pictures from last night that I'll get up.

I have tons of pictures from last night. I will get a couple up for everyone to check out. I am supposed to start planning my summer vacation today with a couple friends. We are going to Honolulu, Hawaii. Gwen Stefani is on tour this summer- she's performing in Honolulu in late July, so we're trying to schedule our trip around the same date so we can go to her concert.

What are everyone's plans for the rest of the week? I have to work, finish up a school project, and then I am having a fun Easter weekend with my family. Looking forward to some quality time with my parents and brothers.

My InTurn application update: So me and my friend Gina are practicing the script. It's kind of a cheesy/dramatic script, so we're trying to rehearse the lines and get really into the script so on camera we'll have that natural chemistry ;). Which shouldn't be to hard, I don't think.

I'm looking forward to As the World Turns new intro appearing. As it was talked about on the message boards, I am excited to see new pictures of my favorite characters glaring, smiling, and snarling at the camera! Lol. :)