3 out of 5 of my dad's siblings are in town (well, SLC, but that's only an hour away on most days, although this weekend it's more like 3) and they got together with all my cousins in the area for dinner last night, but didn't invite me or my sister, because they forgot we were here.
The same happens with my mom's side of the family, with several aunts, uncles and cousins living within 20 minutes of my apartment and forgetting I live here. I'm at 5 years younger than my youngest cousin, so maybe that's it. I'm also single and childless, so maybe that's why they forget.
I've been feeling super lonely for the past monthish. My mom hasn't been returning my calls and when she does she just talks about how she's worried about me. My roommates are all wrapped up in getting ready to graduate and/or get married, and I'm failing out of school and won't be able to take classes this summer or fall and don't know where I'm going to live or what I'm going to do. They're the only friends I have and they're all leaving and they don't even know about my situation.

Puppy Love

I don't know how it's possible, but I'm in love with Hunter and I've never even met him! He's the cutest thing ever, and he makes my family happy, so how could I not love him? Just look how cute!

Christmas Crafts!

I really wish I had a picture to go with this item I actually read in a serious magazine (from the 1970s) Maybe I'll have to make one just to have pictures for next year:

Blanch carcass from Thanksgiving turkey. Spray paint gold, turn upside down and use as a sleigh to hold Christmas Cards.

EEEEEWWWW!

I think the point of blanching it is to remove as much of the hanging flesh as possible, but I could be wrong. My family always has a turkey for Christmas, so maybe I'll blanch the carcass (or make turkey stock as usual, but pull the carcass out before it has totally fallen apart)

Thanks to R. Simmons (not Richard!) for sharing this lovely magazine entry with me.

What Kind of Ridiculousness is This?

My furnished apartment is supposed to have a vacuum cleaner. I know this because every month they come and inspect it to make sure we keep it clean, and every month they complain that the floors haven't been vacuumed well enough. When we tell them that we don't have a vacuum because they took it away in July to "fix" it (personally, I don't think it was fixable so they threw it out)
Well, today they brought us a replacement vacuum. The "new" one isn't as old as the other (I'm pretty sure I've been around longer than this one), and it doesn't smoke when you turn it on, but as you can see, it is a total piece of crap. It kind of works, if you run it over the same spot about a dozen times, if you can move it at all with the dysfunctional wheels and missing handle. It is also missing the hose, which will make vacuuming out the sofa for the monthly checks problematic (although no more than having no vacuum at all).
This, and having no phone for more than two weeks (I'd like my money back) and the lies about what's being done about it (um, nothing?) and their failure to inform me they would boot my car if I didn't get a new parking sticker, isn't making me like the new management.
I know that all landlords suck, so I'm glad to be at BYU, where they require students to live in "BYU approved housing," or someplace that will require us to follow the BYU rules. In exchange the landlords are required to follow certain rules, and if they don't, we know who to call. No manager wants to get a call from BYU housing informing them they are close to having their approval revoked, which would mean their tennants could all move out and not owe them a dime. It's great motivation.
Unfortunately, the housing department doesn't have anything to say about vacuum cleaners, so we'll have to either make do with the crap they gave us, or go shopping for something better.

It's Fall!

It's fall, and even Green Monkey is getting ready!
Fall is my favorite season. I love the cooler weather, the rain, the beautiful fall colors and smells. I love the lead in to winter and the holiday season that fall provides. It's just so lovely!

Funny!

I've never posted anything frou YouTube, but this is the funniest thing I've seen recently!

The Bee Hive State

Yeesterday I learned I'm not only allergic to penicillin, but now sulfa antibiotics too! I started to itch yesterday afternoon, so I took a shower to see if it helped. It did a little, but shortly after dressing I saw a line of little red dots going up both arms and thought they were probably bug bites. My roommate came home and said the spots on my neck didn't look like bites, they looked like a rash, and at about 4:00 I started to see the dots getting bigger and joining each other to become huge red itchy blobs. I called the doctor and he said take benadryl and call back in the morning. About two hours later I was covered in them head to toe. I tried not to scratch, but by 8:30 I knew it was bad. I had hives on my scalp, my face, hands, the bottoms of my feet. There was no way I was going to be able to sleep, so I went to the ER (a few blocks away) I did the whole epi/prednisone/benadryl/pepcid thing (same old routine) and left hive-free. YAY!! I slept great, but unfortunately the hives are reappearing. I hope they leave again before I have to work in the preschool.

UPDATE: They came back during preschool, along with some breathing problems, so I went to the ER and had benadryl, steriod, and epi injections, everything cleared up, and I went home. Less than two hours later they were back, and more painful and extensive than ever. It was awful. I went back to the ER (roommate drove me, no way I could in that condition!) I got all checked in and was waiting for them to call (they're much faster when you can't breathe!) when I fell asleep. I checked myself out of the ER and went home to sleep. The next morning they weren't as bad, but not gone so I went to a regular doctor, got all checked out, blood tests and everything. He prescribed a different antihistamine (obviously the 50mg of benadryl every four hours weren't doing anything) and I felt much better, even though the hives didn't completely leave until the 18th.

UPDATE: Pictures (if you really want to see them, kinda gross,but...) are at the parental-appropriate blog (the one they know about, they don't know about this one, I'd feel a lot less free to express myself if I knew they were going to read it, or maybe I just like my parents not knowing every thing about me, sorry about the awkward phrasing) because they wanted to see and I didn't want them on the picture blog (eeeww!) Anyone curious enough look can go here.

Remembering Juan Romero Orozco

Juan Romero Orozco, a man from Acatlan de Osorio, Puebla, Mexico, and presumed to be in or near the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, was reported missing after when someone, presumably a family member, made a call to the US Consulate in Mexico, asking about his whereabouts. It has been assumed that he died in the tragedy.

His name was removed from the official list on October 29, 2003, after city officials decided to remove the names of forty people because their death or even presence in New York in 2001 could not be confirmed. “The names removed include illegal immigrants whose jobs were not well documented and people whose relatives say they were near the trade center… but know little more.” (CBS News)

Very little information about Juan Romero Orozco is available, but I tried my best to find out who he was. I suspect that he was an illegal immigrant that worked in or near the World Trade Center. His employer probably did not have documented proof he worked there or look into his disappearance following September 11, 2001.

In early 2001, a Spanish filmmaker made a documentary called "Caminantes." The film is about Zapatista guerrillas that marched “unarmed, to Mexico City in order to speak at congress… in March 2001, in a controversial event. The march was nicknamed Zapatour…” (Wikipedia) The Zapatistas “oppose corporate globalization, or neoliberalism, the economic system advocated by the Mexican presidents from 1982 to 2000” (Wikipedia) The film credits list a Juan Romero Orozco as being largely featured in the film. It is possible that, thinking publicity from the release of the film could lead to unwanted attention and poor treatment by others, Juan moved to New York as an illegal immigrant. I have no proof that they are the same Juan Romero Orozco, but the timing would suggest that they are.

I know nothing of Mr. Orozco’s age, profession, or family. I do know that he died needlessly in a terrible tragedy that shook our nation and rallied the support of the world against terrorism.

May our hearts and prayers be with the Orozco family, as well as all the families of the victims of the attack on September 11, 2001.