For Father's Day (albeit the day before) my dad was not so fortunate as some (arguably). He did not get to go to the lake or pool, grill steaks, drink beer, watch sports, or any other thing dads like to do on their day. He got to move his only daughter and oldest child (me) into her first apartment. Moving sucks. It doesn't matter how you look at it. But let me explain this Saturday and the tremendous role he played...
He got up shortly after dawn to go get the U-Haul with me. He then drove the U-Haul through downtown Houston (not an easy task) to go to an apartment to purchase a couch that I had found on Craigslist. While there, he watched from outside the gate, while I, inside the gate, backed his SUV into the gate. After being more than understanding. he then tried to move aforementioned couch out of the seller's apartment, only to find out the couch does not fit though the front door (mover's must have hoisted it over the balcony). We therefore left the apartment couchless. Once home, he then loaded all my belongings, including two dressers, a desk, a filing cabinet of sorts, two book cases, a matress and box springs, and a giant box full of shoes, into the U-Haul and his SUV. He then took a lunch break during which he ate a sandwhich and talked on the phone with his brother-in-law and father about selling his father's house since he has moved into a nursing home (a stressful conversation). Following lunch, he drove the U-Haul to a suburb north of Houston to buy a kitchen table and chairs that I had also found on Craigslist. He paid for the table/chairs and loaded them into the U-Haul as well. He then drove the U-Haul an hour and a half to Bryan, TX. Upon arriving in Bryan, he paid my first month's rent, and proceeded to unload the U-Haul and SUV, carrying my belongings up three flights of stairs to my third floor apartment in the 102 degree Texas heat. Once the truck and car were unloaded, he got to eat a burrito at Freebirds, only to rush me back to the apartment to meet the maintenance man who was there to fix the air conditioner that had not been cooling the apartment all day. He then got to unpack some boxes and return the U-Haul to the College Station location. Finally, he got to go take a shower and go to bed.
In a blog about people, I have to be honest in saying that my dad is a pretty typical dad, much like Clark in the movie Vacation. He would do anything for his family, and we are a much better family because of him. I love him dearly and admire him for reasons he doesn't even know. I'm proud of him for everything he is able to accomplish without sacrificing his time for his family, and I hope that next Father's Day, he'll be able to be a father in a more enjoyable way.
AJ
Monday, June 20, 2011
Thursday, June 16, 2011
The Hoodrat Kid
I believe that people are inherently good, but that the pressures of life make them do bad things sometimes. With that being said, I am still completely guilty of judging a person based on the way they look, and I think you're lying if you try to deny the fact that you do too. Without stereotypes we'd all just be wandering around the world like lost puppies not knowing what to think, who to trust, and who to avoid. We would probably have fewer social issues, but it would also be way too time consuming. We would spend all our time getting to know people and then would get nothing else accomplished. However, as we all know, stereotypes are not always accurate, and can sometimes leave us feeling pleasantly surprised.
Yesterday I was studying at the West Campus Library at my school. It was late when I was leaving, and since I am new to town and campus I didn't really know how safe it would be to walk by myself to my car. I was a little apprehensive. I didn't have to go far so I just told myself to suck it up and be a big kid. Let it be known that I go to school in a relatively small college town with a low crime rate, but also that being attacked is one of my biggest fears regardless of where I am. Not seconds after walking out of the library I was approached by a hoodrat looking kid, who was smoking while on his skateboard. The type that I would usually expect to be trouble. For a split second my heart rate sped up because I had no clue why this kid was running at me in the dark. Come to find out, he was hurrying to hold the door for a woman walking into the library with her hands full. And at that moment, I was pleasantly surprised.
AJ
Yesterday I was studying at the West Campus Library at my school. It was late when I was leaving, and since I am new to town and campus I didn't really know how safe it would be to walk by myself to my car. I was a little apprehensive. I didn't have to go far so I just told myself to suck it up and be a big kid. Let it be known that I go to school in a relatively small college town with a low crime rate, but also that being attacked is one of my biggest fears regardless of where I am. Not seconds after walking out of the library I was approached by a hoodrat looking kid, who was smoking while on his skateboard. The type that I would usually expect to be trouble. For a split second my heart rate sped up because I had no clue why this kid was running at me in the dark. Come to find out, he was hurrying to hold the door for a woman walking into the library with her hands full. And at that moment, I was pleasantly surprised.
AJ
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Off I go!
So I suppose this is the awkward introductory post that you will read and then judge to decide whether or not I'm worthy of your time every now and again. Well lets just jump right in!
I decided to start blogging this morning around 11:00am after I finished reading a good friend's blog. She inspires me to do a lot in life and I guess we should add this to the list. If your interested, you can check her blog out now. You are under no obligation to return to this one. For those who decide to stay, let us continue with the introduction. I am working on my master's degree in marketing and now that I think about it, this blog might help me to get a job one day. Social media is the newest way to target customers and now I can prove that I have blogging experience! I'll keep you posted on how this theory plays out. I am currently in a LDR (Long Distance Relationship for those non-Cosmo readers). I expect that to pop into my writing every now and again as it is a recent development in my life. He is not the recent development, the LDR is.
When trying to pick a theme for my blog I considered the things that I enjoy to do and that I am good at doing. This includes using post-it notes, napping, texting, and eating junk food-- all of which are extrememly boring and/or very difficult to blog about. Finally, I recalled a conversation (via texting) that I had with a friend a couple weeks ago. He was weirded out by my ability to predict which of his favorite activities he was doing at that moment (A: golfing) and I told him that he's not that hard to figure out because I am a people-watcher. Lightbulb! This blog is mostly about people. People I see, people I interact with, people I love, people I despise, etc. If you've been keeping count, I've already discussed 5 different people in this post-- me, you, blogging friend, boyfriend, and golfing friend-- I'm on a roll! So as not to offend anyone, I will never use names of people, only adjectives. This keeps you guessing, which I imagine to be both fun and frustrating.
I think its time to end this introduction, because if it keeps going you'll get bored and quit, if you haven't already. I hope your judgement of me is fair, and that you decide to check back every now and again. Who knows... I might blog about you, and you will want to make sure it's nice.
AJ
I decided to start blogging this morning around 11:00am after I finished reading a good friend's blog. She inspires me to do a lot in life and I guess we should add this to the list. If your interested, you can check her blog out now. You are under no obligation to return to this one. For those who decide to stay, let us continue with the introduction. I am working on my master's degree in marketing and now that I think about it, this blog might help me to get a job one day. Social media is the newest way to target customers and now I can prove that I have blogging experience! I'll keep you posted on how this theory plays out. I am currently in a LDR (Long Distance Relationship for those non-Cosmo readers). I expect that to pop into my writing every now and again as it is a recent development in my life. He is not the recent development, the LDR is.
When trying to pick a theme for my blog I considered the things that I enjoy to do and that I am good at doing. This includes using post-it notes, napping, texting, and eating junk food-- all of which are extrememly boring and/or very difficult to blog about. Finally, I recalled a conversation (via texting) that I had with a friend a couple weeks ago. He was weirded out by my ability to predict which of his favorite activities he was doing at that moment (A: golfing) and I told him that he's not that hard to figure out because I am a people-watcher. Lightbulb! This blog is mostly about people. People I see, people I interact with, people I love, people I despise, etc. If you've been keeping count, I've already discussed 5 different people in this post-- me, you, blogging friend, boyfriend, and golfing friend-- I'm on a roll! So as not to offend anyone, I will never use names of people, only adjectives. This keeps you guessing, which I imagine to be both fun and frustrating.
I think its time to end this introduction, because if it keeps going you'll get bored and quit, if you haven't already. I hope your judgement of me is fair, and that you decide to check back every now and again. Who knows... I might blog about you, and you will want to make sure it's nice.
AJ
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