True American

"So, it's 50% drinking game, 50% life-size Candy Land."
"Well, it's more like 75% drinking, 20% Candy Land, and by the way the floor is molten lava."
"It's actually 90% drinking and then it's got a loose Candy Land-like structure to it."

It's important to know that even when attempting to play a drinking game, my friends are all responsible and nerdy and do things like quote historical figures and use practical knowledge of physics. 

So while my grammy may be reading this and thinking "What is my granddaughter doing?" Just know that the night ended with us getting tired of drinking before the game was over and watching Netflix. Kimmy Schmidt > Alcohol.

For a while, I was the American Harry Potter supporting gay rights. That might not be obvious. 

Tights and a skirt is actually not great for jumping around on pillows, so I traded my outfit for an Arrow costume.

The oppression of women, circa pre-suffrage movement.

Swiper no swiping? 

This was actually Alex's birthday cake, but I forget why it became wedding-esque.

 At some point we did divert from the American theme, since I'm pretty sure they were on the trail of tears at this point, but that got a little depressing. It seems like the memorable parts of American history were mostly the negative ones, which eventually became a bummer. 

I did end up learning my lesson about using a bow without an arm guard, but otherwise I had a perfect night with my best friends who are the greatest distraction from work-related anxiety. These people are everything.

Inspiring Ambition

Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.

                                                                              - Helen Keller

My Promise to Rebecca S Greene:

Becky Greene wins mother of the year again, for this whole past weekend. I feel like this perfectly sums up my mother: we didn't get to go to the fair, so she bought me polka dot socks. I read too much Harry Potter, so she made me lie on the floor and got me ice packs for my headache. I was anxious and sick, so she turned on How i Met your Mother (this actually made me cry, in the way that you do when you are tired of feeling sick and someone so perfectly understands what you need). She brought me applesauce and held my hand in the dark when I was queasy with a migraine. She laughed about elephants that knock over tourists (no one got hurt).

So, instead of waiting until mother's day to say something nice about her, or to get something nice for her, I would like to make the following 5 promises to my mummy:

1) I promise to stop saying "hate" when I mean "extremely dislike."
2) I promise to do 10 minutes of yoga every morning and every night, and to always drink enough water.
3) I promise not to read for longer than an hour without getting up to stretch.
4) I promise to make time every month to dye her hair.
5) I promise to save her place in my coloring book and not let anyone color her page.

Love you Becky Greene!

Ennui

1) Labor Day- Labor Day is "a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers." That's right, a holiday to celebrate working people. That being said, you can keep your pious facebook posts to yourself. Yes, it is important to think of our soldiers, but photos of caskets with captions like "it's not just a three day holiday" are missing the mark. Memorial Day and Veteran's Day, yes. Labor Day, no.

2) Taveling- I have done none of it the past few months, and that makes me angry. I should have planned a trip this weekend. My family doesn't like it when I go places by myself, but sometimes that's the only option. Instead I am grumpy in Austintown with a list of chores.

3) Demo Derby - Is tonight, so I'm doing that. It is so out of character for me, and I know it, but a perfect example of why you should always try anything once. That being said, I also have a cucumber-kale-spinach-broccoli juice in the fridge waiting for me for breakfast.

4) The Weather- I am so ready for it to be fall. Give me 60 degrees with all my beautiful Pennsylvania leaves. I have been so patient.

Youngstown Bucket list (In its early stages)

Now that I have Ryan to tag along with me to some of these things, and I feel more comfortable going alone and getting lost if he doesn't feel like coming, it's time to commit to a list of things to do before it's already dark when I get out of work.

1) Go to the Butler Museum of Art
2) Go to a show at the Youngstown Playhouse -Mary Poppins is coming up in early December
3) Find as many used bookstores as we can. I've already picked one out that's 10 minutes from work, so I may try to go for lunch this week. Current winners: The Paperback Shack and Dorian's Books.
4) Go to a comedy night at Mojo's. They haven't listed their fall lineup yet, but once they do, that needs to get done.
5) There's a restaurant downtown that sells hotdogs, or something, and everyone keeps telling me about it...Suzie's Dogs? Suzie's dimes and dogs? I don't remember. But once I do, it should go on the list.
6) Some type of YSU student production, because what's the point of living near a college if you can't enjoy some of that weirdness.
7) Visit the Niles McKinley Library, because holy architecture batman.

What else am I missing? I got a book from the library on strange Ohio attractions and festivals worth attending, so I'll need to dig further into that.