One Rough Week!

 

It is Thursday night, and honestly the weekend cannot get here fast enough. Let me just go over all of the crazy events that have happened this week thus far: 

1) My week started off crappy on Sunday (yes, I too also forget that Sunday is actually the beginning of the week, not the end). The reason it started off crappy is because of my mom. Yeah, I get it, everyone has issues with their parents, but none quite like mine. My mom is literally a nut case. I get to see here about once or twice a month if I’m lucky and I talk to her three times a month. So it is safe to say that seeing her on Sunday for a “family” dinner, was quite awkward. I just don’t like her. 

2) As seen in a previous post, my tattoo is on hold and my dad has been diagnosed with Melanoma caner =[. I found this all out on Monday, so really one crappy day led into another. My night was going great. I was shopping with my best friend and all was fine & dandy until my stepmom called with the bad news. 

3) I went shopping AGAIN. This yet AGAIN confirmed that I really need to lock up my debit card. It did help to get my mind off my dad so that was nice. Plus I got to see the adorable little puppies and kittens at the mall (this is the one event that I MUST do every time I go to the mall). 

4) I had two days off in a row. Were these days spent laying on the sofa and catching up on some reading? I think not. Since we were one parent short at home (I will explain this in #5), I spent a great deal of that time helping with house work and taking care of the brat pack (also known as Zack and Zeke). This wouldn’t have been so bad if my brothers had at least one normal gene in them. However, they were both hardwired to drive the whole family absolutely nuts! 

5) If this week wasn’t bad enough, my dad got to go to New York City. With his friends. Without me. (Do I really need to state anymore to show that this is unfair?) I can’t complain too much because the man works pretty dang hard so he does need his breaks, just as long as they don’t cause my stepmom to have a mental breakdown like: 

6) This morning we got a phone call saying that the debit card was put on hold due to unusual spending. Once she checked online, she realized that having only ¼ of the money in your account that is supposed to be in there is indeed unusual. This sent her mind into overdrive (because finding out your husband has cancer, being in charge of 5 kids, and trying to keep it altogether clearly doesn’t do the trick). Karie, my stepmom, had all these thoughts that my dad had been mugged, beaten, robbed, or all of the above. She called his cell, it =dead; she called his friends cell, it = my dad wasn’t with him; she called the hotel room 20 times, it = there was an apparent mentally impaired person occupying that room (also known as Jeff, my dad). Any normal person who hears their hotel room phone constantly ringing, they would probably consider answering it. After hours of worrying about my dad, Karie was able to make contact and insure that he was safe. 

It is safe to say that I am in need of a MAJOR break. My Chicago trip couldn’t get here fast enough!!

What is my deal?

 

One of my earlier blogs states that I am addicted to Borders. While this statement still reins true, I am going to expand my addiction to spending money in general. It is getting to be quite ridiculous actually. I have yet to buy proper school clothes AND I still need to get school supplies, yet I have not spent my money on that. 

Today I went out shopping with Kati (I should have known this would mean trouble). We went to New York & Company because they are having an awesome sale on pants (buy one get one free. heck yeah!). After leaving the store with only two pairs of jeans (trust me it was very hard to leave without a ton more), we proceeded to get into my car. That is when I realized that the Borders Outlet just happens to be in that same section of the mall. The terrible thing about it being an outlet store is that I still spend the crazy amount of money, I just happen to get another few books out of the deal. I searched through the very limited section of books and still was able to find four books I thought I couldn’t live without. So I purchased: 

1) Forget You by Jennifer Echols 

2) Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles 

3) Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater 

4) and finally Twenty Boy Summer by Sarah Ockler 

I don’t need an expert to tell me that I have shopping issues, I already know it. I just can’t seem to stop though! Tomorrow I am going shopping with my friends and I am putting major restrictions on myself. I will not purchase anything unless I absolutely NEED it for school! 

On the not so bright side of things I figured out that my tattoo may have to be postponed. The reason of that is just terrible too =[ It turns out that the dermatologist found melanoma skin cancer on my dad’s head. This fact alone blows my mind because my dad is literally king of sunscreen! He would lather 50 SPF all over me and my little sister (and that is even when it was overcast). So to get to the point, he has to go to Ann Arbor to get some testing done to make sure that it didn’t spread to his blood (keeping my fingers crossed!!). The date of his doctor’s appointment just happens to fall on the 31st. Hopefully everything will work out though; I just mostly hope my dad can come out of this healthy!

One down…about a million more to go!

 If you’ve read the previous blog you would know that yesterday I slept a full 12 hours! That is pure insanity for me but I guess I really needed the rest. This is not very good, however, when you are trying to go to sleep the next night. I was up all of last night for a few reasons: 

1) My youngest brother Zeke is a monster. The child is so adorable but he can be a major pain in my butt. It was my turn to put him down for bed last night; let me just say that it was no easy task! As soon as I would put him in his crib and go back into my room, he would be out of his crib again. So to make this long, boring story short; it took me about 10 tries to actually get the kid to sleep. By this time it was around 12:30 

  2) After getting him to sleep I played my nightly game of bejeweled blitz. I just wasn’t feeling it last night so I moved to number three on my list… 

 3) I have a growing stack of books to read! It is getting to the point that I don’t even know where to put them anymore! Anyways, I am slowly but surely making my way through the mess of books I have left to read. I decided not to finish Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen since I have already read it (Yes, I will admit that I am an avid re-reader. It is just a habit I can’t seem to shake). I also put the Pretty Little Liars series on hold (see previous blog for the embarrassing details on that whole fiasco). So that left me with finishing up Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti.

  –It is a very sweet book about a girl named Lani, whose only mission is to think of others’ feelings before her own. She is always putting her best friend, Erin, before herself, even when it comes down to Lani meeting her soul mate, Jason (he just happens to be Erin’s boyfriend. Uh-oh, someone got herself into a situation!) Like I said, it is a very sweet love story that shows just what it means to be a friend. 

3 continued) After I finished Something Like Fate, I was able to move on to one of my new purchases from Borders. I didn’t chose The Hunger Games or The Summer I Turned Pretty (even though I’m dying to read both) , because both books are parts of series and I don’t want to start them, get all excited, and then not have the next book. Since I couldn’t read those I started to read Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly. I am slightly confused by it. Does it take place in a different country or a different time period? Or both? I just don’t know anyone that has a crew-cut or says fellow. So it is safe to say that it is a strange book. I am staying optimistic about it though. Every time I search Young Adult books that one pops up (that must be a good sign…right?). So I am keeping my fingers crossed that tonight I can get more into that book!!   

Once I get that one read, I can start purchasing books from my Borders Wish List! I finally went through that today and started adding books to it. I only added books I have heard of before that I want to read and I am already in the forties. Just imagine all of the books that are out there that I haven’t even stumbled across yet! If I keep this habit up, I just might have to get a second job.

What a productive day!

Oh wait that title is just a joke!

I was able to finally have my official day of relaxation today. It all started when I fell asleep at about 11 p..m. last night. I know I am the complete opposite of a normal 17-year-old girl. Who stays at home on a friday night and then tops it off by going to bed early? That would be me! Anyways to continue the story… I went to bed at 11 p.m. and I actually slept in until 11 a.m. That is a new goal for me. In my house of chaos there is no way I ame ever able to sleep in much past 8. I guess it was just a quiet day around the house. I then topped off my wonderful night of sleeping in with a wonderful (well almost wonderful) meat-free breakfast. I have been 100% meat free since January 1st. I am so excited about becoming a vegetarian. The reason my breakfast was not completely wonderful was because of this new tofu bacon I got. It just doesn’t compare to morning star. Anyways after breakfast I was able to finish reading Wicked from the Pretty Little Liars series. After that I proceeded to read, what I thought was the next book in the series. Just a note for those of you who may be confused like I was; Wicked is not the next book. After about 60 pages of pure confusion I decided to see if I was reading the right book. I sure wasn’t. So soon I will borrow Killer from my friend so I can finish that series.

Next item on my list of what I did today was to go visit my best friend, Kati. She was babysitting her little cousin (she is so adorable)  so I went to keep her some company. It doesn’t hurt that I am a P.R.O. when it comes to kids; Kati, not so much. After a while we decided to go up to the local tattoo parlor. Me, Kati, and my younger sister, Kari, are all going to get semi-matching tattoos on the 31st! I am so excited yet so nervous I could pee my pants just thinking about it. If you knew anything about me at all you would know these two things for sure: 1) I get hurt all of the time 2) therefore I do not like pain. So you can tell why I am so nervous. It is going to be awesome though. My sister is awesome at art. (She got all of the good genes: artistic, athletic, humorous, and gorgeous whereas I get the boring genes: nice, nice, and well… nice) Anyways, Kari drew up all three of our tattoos. Kari is getting this beautiful bird, Kati is getting a heart with pretty flourishes coming off of it, and I am getting a flower with swirls coming off of it. The reason they are semi-matching is because of the saying we are all getting with them. Don’t worry; Be Happy. And I do not want to hear any crap about how lame that is. It is very hard to pick something that will be on your body for all of eternity. I happen to think that “Don’t worry; Be happy” fits all of our personalities really well.

Ok, back to my productive day… just kidding; that is all that I have done today. Ok that was my attempt at being funny. I did however come home to bake cookies and cupcakes for the woman down the road that just had a baby. While waiting for them to finish baking I turned the tv on. Sure enough Hey Monday was a close contender for MTV’s Top Ten events of the week. Good job guys!

My name is Katelyn and I am addicted to…cheddar cheese bagels, Borders, and Bejewled Blitz

So today started of like a normal day in the Torrey household. I was woken up to my youngest brother Zeke walking around the house shouting Mom. Well since mom wasn’t home I was the second best option. After getting some breakfast ( Cheddar Cheese Bagel from Tim Hortons. It is literally the best thing I’ve ever tasted) I went to pick my sister up from practice. Once we got home I spent a majority of my afternoon playing Bejeweled Blitz on Facebook. This wouldn’t sound as pathetic if I was actually good at it. The truth is, is that I suck. I am lucky to get in the 100,000’s. After playing that game for about 2 hours straight I ran my sister out to Flint to drop her off with my dad. While out there my plan was to stop in Target to get school supplies…because sadly enough I’m buying them all myself this year (and if one more person says ‘welcome to the real world’ to me I will punch them. I’m not lying). I go through the whole entire store. I was not only depressed because I have to buy my own supplies, I was also sad because shopping by yourself is the most lonely thing someone could do. It was terrible. So after staring at the school supplies for about a half hour, I decide that my money will be better spent at Borders. What a joke. I go into Borders and my whole day just got better. I was able to look through nearly every book in the New Paperback and YA sections. Plus borders was having some good sales. I was able to pick up Seventeenth Summer by Maureen Daly, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, and The Summer I Turned Pretty by Jenny Han (<<< It was recommended by Sarah Dessen. It was obviously a no-brainer). Anyways, I got all three books for about 25 smacks. Not too bad in my opinion. However, as I am writing this I am noticing a few things:

1) I really need to control my addictions

2) I spent $25 none of which went towards school

3) I yet again cannot stay on track with what I have planned for the day

Clearly I have some issues that I need to solve!

Yet Another Day

Today will most likely be another stressful day. I will be running around like a maniac trying to keep track of my brothers and sisters. Not only am I a cab driver for all of them today, I am also in charge. The only plus side to today is that nap time for them is completely reserved to me catching up on reading. I have less than 20 days to get my reading done before I start the boring college books.

–Oh gosh bringing up college just stresses me out. It is just such a scary thought! Plus my schedule is going to be overly packed Monday through Friday. I am going to need to find a way to add maybe just two or three hours to everyday.

Anyways today would be about 90% better if I wasn’t so tired. Last night I went to this teen dance. Can I just say that I am so sore. It has been quite a long time since I have moved like that. My friends and I had a blast shaking it on the dance floor with our crazy moves. We yet again had a circle of emptiness around us.

–My best friend and I are weird. It is a fact and I’m not scared to admit it. However, our strangeness seems to scare people away. No matter where we go people just leave. It has actually become a game with us. We see how long it takes for people to leave.

Anyways, about 5 minutes after we arrived to the dance (which was very packed by the way) we were no longer surrounded by people. I think it’s a new record. We didn’t let the absence of people defer us from our dancing. All in all it was a fun night but almost a little too much fun. I have a feeling I will be walking around in zombie-mode all day long.

Mission NOT Accomplished

My original plan for today went as followed:

1) Sleep in until at least 11 (it is my day off after all)

2) Stay in pajamas for 90% of the day so I could be comfortable while I finished reading my three books

3) Take many breaks from reading to pig out on snacks from our snack cupboard

4) Make a little trip to Wal-Mart to get the new Hey Monday CD

5) Do absolutely NO housework all day

What I actually did do today is as followed:

1) I got woken up at 9 a.m. to my little brother jumping on my bed

2) Shortly after waking up I get a text from my best friend asking to hang out tonight. Of course I couldn’t say that I was to busy staying in my pajamas reading all day. So I agreed to meet her for dinner and afterwards we would go to the mall

3) About an hour after breakfast I got an urge to have my mid-morning snack. That plan went down the drain when I realized that we had no snacks at all in the house

4) Since there were no snacks I proceeded to do what I do best to get my mind off of snacking. I clean. Yes I know it is a strange quality that I have but I will admit. I am a clean freak

5) Once I realized that steps 1-3 and 5 on the above list could not be accomplished I decided I could still accomplish number 4 on the list. After dinner my friend and I went to the mall. It was at the mall that I realized that, yes, my bad luck did come with me. ( I have the absolute worst luck. I’m not even kidding). Nothing was in my size, my favorite color, or in my price range. I did however find the new Hey Monday CD. It is awesome by the way!! The downfall to that purchase is that once I got home it occurred to me to check iTunes. It is indeed two dollars cheaper when purchasing it on iTunes. Awesome.

Clearly I really didn’t accomplish a whole lot on my original list for the day. There is always another time though. I am setting myself a goal to have those books read by the end of the week. I have got a pretty big wish list at borders building up and I really need to finish what I have already started.

My 2nd Blog…Ever!

What a day, what a day. I had one long, super exhausting day at work. I just couldn’t wait to get home to finish reading Wicked from the Pretty Little Liars series, or Something Like Fate by Susane Colasanti, or Along For The Ride by Sarah Dessen. ( See I have this super weird/bad habit of starting one book, reading about half of it then starting another book in the middle of it. I know I am ultimately making my life more difficult but what can I do?) So I finally get home from work and realize that I can’t read any of my three choices at all which just put a damper on my day. I had to spend the night at my grandma’s house with family so it is understandable. Tomorrow is my day off work so I am dedicating the whole day to finishing all three of the books that I am halfway through. I may take a short break from reading to head off to Wal- Mart to pick up the new Hey Monday CD. It is out in stores tomorrow and I am über excited about it. I have been lucky enough to see the band in concert twice. One show was completely acoustic and the other was just awesome. Their new single and music video “I Don’t Wanna Dance” has been available on YouTube for quite some time now.  May I also take some time to just say how much I love the new Taylor Swift single “Mine.” Her third CD is due to be released on Oct. 25 and I just can’t wait for that one either!

My First Blog….Ever!

The title of this post clearly states that this is my first blog ever! My main reasons for creating this blog are 1) to make it a lot easier to stay updated with the YA Book Club! (Yes, I know it is extremely dorky that the high-light of my summer is joining a book club). 2) I am hoping to share my interests of books, music, and movies for all of those who care to read about it. It is the best feeling ever to find a new, great author, band, or movie and it would be awesome to share that with someone. 3) Last but not least I created a blog just for something new to try. I am great with computers but not so great with new websites like this ( so sorry if my blogs end up sounding crazy!)