Friday, August 25, 2006

Rock En Seine

While I have a few quiet moments in my hectic yet thoroughly enjoyable day, I thought I would update the blog.

Today has been interesting. I listened to lots of great music and had some super-interesting conversations with friends. A particular highlight was when I was telling Ash that I'm considering doing a mind/body/soul cleansing and she remarked that my little experiment will "...look like an Alice Cooper garage sale."

Hmmm. Not sure what she meant by that.

NOT! OK. So I know exactly what she meant. Gotta love The Ash and her sardonically astute witticisms!

I built some time into my packed schedule to send out some emails, too. Most importantly, I contacted I.K., the literary agent interested enough in my manuscript to offer some constructive criticism, and offered her the first look at my restructured/revamped manuscript. I'm not sure if she'll like it. If she does, I'll be ecstatic because that means I can move forward with my dream of a career as a successful novelist. Then again, if she feels that the project isn't right for her, I completely understand. Publishing is, after all, a subjective business. Either way, I sincerely appreciate the effort she put into reading my unpolished manuscript during my first round of queries.

On a different note, I talked to Sparky yesterday. (Sparky being Joey, of course.) He gave me a first hand account of his horrifying ordeal, and it was really disturbing. He says that he's just really tired and sore, but otherwise feels fine. I'm glad that he's doing well, but I'm definitely going to keep an eye on him. I can only imagine how a near-permanent-death experience will affect him mentally/socially. I figure he'll go one of three ways.

1) He'll become a daredevil intent upon living life to the fullest without remorse or consideration for the safety of his person.

2) He'll fall into a gloomy, sulking depression and start abusing some substance.

3) He'll be depressed for a few days, act like a daredevil for a week or two, and then come to terms with new him.

I'm leaning towards number three because Joey is...well...Joey.

Well. I have tons more to write, but I've got a million things to do and a gaggle of girls shouting at me to hurry. Laters!

Wednesday, August 23, 2006

Joey

If you're hoping to read one of my usual light-hearted posts--well--you're outta luck. Today will have a definitely more serious tone. As a disclaimer, I must say that I wasn't present when these events occurred, but the details have been relayed to me by my mother and younger brother, Marcos.

On Monday evening, my mother, father, Marcos, Tricia, and Marcos' friend, Kyle B., were sitting on our front porch enjoying a cool evening breeze and after a few hours in the pool. The phone rang and Mom answered only to have M.J., Joey's longtime girlfriend, screaming unintelligibly in her ear. Exasperated, Mom handed the phone to Marcos and he attempted to calm her down. Eventually, she was able to communicate her news: Joey had been electrocuted and was being evacuated via helicopter to Del Rio.

Shocked, Marcos dropped the phone and repeated the news to my family. Chaos erupted and my mother, a woman with a serious cardiac history, swayed on her feet before collapsing into a chair. Kyle B. immediately picked up his cell phone and dialed the sheriff's department hoping to get any tiny bits of information available. Dad and Mom ran into the house to change out of their swimming clothes while Tricia started having a panic attack. Dad, Marcos, and Kyle B. worked their phones until they found out that the initial information they had received from Joey's girlfriend had been somewhat exaggerated. (Not her fault, though. She was given bad info by a fellow rig worker.)

They learned that Joey was already on his way home and was doing OK. His rig boss, J.J., drove Joey home, and as soon as the car stopped in the front yard, Joey staggered from the backseat and went straight to Mom. He threw his arms around her in a bear hug and wouldn't let go. At that point, Mom knew that something terrible must have happened to him.

J.J. approached Dad and began to relay the story of what had happened to my brother. It appears that Joey who is twenty (just barely) picked up an electric cord and was electrocuted. The current surged across his chest, and instantly he shouted, "MANUEL!"

(Manuel is Joey's best friend of some fifteen or sixteen years. They are as close as brothers and work together on the rigs. Incidentally, Manuel is J.J.'s little brother. This crew of rig workers is essentially a family.)

Joey's pained shout garnered the attention of the men in the crew, and instantly, Manuel ran to Joey to save his best friend's life. J.J. stopped him before he could make contact and I can only imagine how excruciating it must have been to know that you can't reach out and just yank the cord from your friend's hand. Joey was hit across the chest with some implement and the cord fell from one hand. Eventually, they were able to free the cord from his second hand.

Joey sucked in a deep breath and said Manuel's name again before falling straight backwards, stiff as a board. He was dead. Manuel and J.J. ran to him and began assessing the situation while other workers called 911. CPR was attempted, but Joey wouldn't breathe. Manuel grabbed the shoulders of Joey's shirt and roughly slammed him against the ground, shouting at him, urging him not to die, to breathe. Joey's shoulders met the ground, and unbelievably, he inhaled a ragged breath. The first words out of his mouth were, "Mom. I want my Mom."

The ambulance arrived and Joey was checked out, but because he is an adult and was able to answer the pertinent questions regarding his level of consciousness, he was allowed to refuse treatment. Ah, the machismo of young men.

I have to admit that as I'm writing this, I am crying. I can't really explain why. I guess it's that whole I-could-have-lost-my-brother-bit. Being the older sister, I've always assumed I would go first. I mean, I've had so many health issues that I've just kind of accepted that I'm not exactly gonna win any awards for longevity of life, you know? I think it's also hard for me to realize that I can't be there every time something happens to a member of my family. As we get older, we make these decisions to move away and start our own lives because-well--that's what we're supposed to do. But...well...I don't know. I suppose this is the caveat.

Fuck. I hate this. This is just another one of those "adulthood" episodes. It's like the people in my closest circles (including me) are just running down the list and checking off those important milestones. Graduation? Check. Moving away? Check. Having a baby? Check. Check. Check. Check. Buying a house? Check. Engaged? Check. Planning a wedding? Check. Watching your lifelong goal of publishing a novel become more of a reality? Three-quarter check. Younger brother gets full-time job? Check. Family member almost dies? Check.

Well. I feel better. Sorta. Somewhat. I'm sure I'm just following the pattern of processing troubling info, right? I don't know. Sigh.

I need some caffeine and my journal.

Catch you on the flip-flop....

Monday, August 21, 2006

How Do You Feel About Large, Soft Pretzels?

OK. Is it just me or is that question (my title) kinda creepy and strangely funny? Let me give you some background. A few days ago, Dave and I were IM-ing via AIM and were discussing something for the wedding--stationery, I think--when he suddenly busted out that question. I'm not sure why, but it struck me as hilarious, and a split-second later, I was spewing Dr. Pepper all over my desk. Anyways. That's today's random thought.

The past week has been rather quiet. Sure, I've had a small share of friend and wedding drama, but nothing too hard to handle. Right now, I'm in that dreaded guest list phase of the wedding planning. Yikes. Thankfully, I think I've put out most of the fires and everything seems to be proceeding smoothly. I'm not letting my guard down, though. I'm sure I'll make some misstep about the napkin color or the wedding cake filling and all Hell will break loose again. Sigh.

Saturday night we had our big Summer Bash 2006, but in order to protect the future careers and reputations of all ladies involved, I am forbidden from revealing any details. Suffice it to say that we had a wonderful time and are planning on making this a monthly activity for all Texas MAS-ers. For all of our out-of-town ladies, we'll have to start scheduling these little soirees twice a year and with plenty of time to accomodate busy grad-school schedules.

As for myself, well, I'm still trying to recover from Saturday night and it's now 0527 Monday morning. Yeah. I may have had way too much of a good time, lol. Dave has ordered me to drink my weight in water (well, not my weight exactly, but still, a lot of water) b/c I'm dehydrated from all of that revelry. It probably didn't help that I had only slept six hours in the two days preceeding Saturday and was then awake for 24 plus hours with a two hour nap on Sunday morning before crashing Sunday afternoon for sixteen hours. Ugh. Must get a handle on that sleep cycle business.

Alright. Well. I'm starving and I don't think we have any breakfast items in the kitchen. Or at least, nothing that interests me, lol. Sure, we have all of that healthy bran cereal, low carb pancake mix, fresh fruit, calcium enriched OJ, etc. Thing is, I'm really in the mood for a burger, lol. One of those super scrumptious BBQ Cheddar Burgers that Whataburger makes. Yes. I know. It's not part of my low-carb-getting-sexy-for-my-wedding-diet, but this morning, I could care less.

That settles it. I'm off to find some pj pants and the keys to the truck.

Oh. Yeah. For all of you who have emailed me about not being able to leave comments on the blog, I have tweaked the settings to allow anyone (not just blogger members) to comment!

Monday, August 14, 2006

Wolfmother vs. Wolf Chili

So it's been a few days since my last post but in my defense, I had a busy weekend. My parents and two of my younger siblings, Marcos (17) and Tricia (14,) surprised us with a visit on Saturday. Well--the plan was that they would arrive on Friday, but circumstances unforeseen arose and they had to delay their take-off until Saturday morning. At any rate, we had a great time (aside from the FORTY minute wait at Chili's for dinner on Saturday evening) and got a lot of shopping done. We also went to a midnight showing of Talladega Nights and I thought is was rather funny. Not quite as good as Old School or Anchorman. Those two movies were continually hilarious whereas TN has a few really funny parts scattered across two hours of random weirdness.

As is customary with family weekends, my lil bro and sis were a constant source of craziness and laughter. While I was waiting for them to arrive, I sent Marcos a text message to learn their ETA and I tacked on a question about Wolfmother, my fave new band. Basically, I wanted to know if he had heard them and/or liked them. His response: "I'm not sure what Wolfmother is, but I like Wolf Chili on my hot dogs."

Right. My thoughts exactly.

Later that evening, we went to the mall so Marcos and Tricia could case the place and get their Sunday shopping itinerary together. Tricia, Mom, and I spent some time in Aeropostale where Tricia stocked up on tees and I grabbed a new messenger bag. (OOH!) After we found Dad, Marcos, and Dave, we decided to leave the mall and find some dinner. As we're walking out one of the main entrances, we pass this kiosk where they sell perfume and this middle-aged woman is dousing herself in some vile flower and peppermint concoction that she's just purchased. Tricia, always tactful, says way too loudly: "OH MY GOD! WHAT IS THAT STENCH!"

Marcos and I were mortified b/c the woman looked right at us as Tricia marched past, totally oblivious. We tried not to laugh, but it was just too hard and soon, we were laughing hysterically as we tried to relate the story to the rest of our group. Needless to say, there was a lot of laughter as we headed out to Dad's truck. The remainder of the evening was much of the same giggle-inducing insanity. Lots of fun!!!

My sleep schedule is all screwed up again, too. I slept two hours between Saturday and Sunday and then a little more than four Sunday afternoon. I tried to catch a few winks this morning and was slightly successful. I think I'm in another one of those four hour cycles where I'll be awake for twenty plus hours and then crash for four hours and then start all over again. YAY!!!!

On a happier note, this weekend is the collective Good Luck!/Happy New House!/Congrats on the Double Engagement Party at Sara's new casa! I worked out the menu this morning and tomorrow I'm going to call Sara so we can work out the last few kinks. Then I s'pose we'll just have to touch base with the girls and let them know the time, etc. Oh. Note to self: sleeping arrangements???


Alright. Back to work.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

A Watched Pot Never Boils

I thought that while I'm waiting for my pasta water to boil, I would update the blog.

I finally fell asleep around 1000 and woke up up a little before 1700. Ugh. Gross. I was sleeping almost normally for a week or two, but these past few nights, it's been the same story. Awake for eighteen to twenty hours and then asleep for 4-7. I hate it b/c I'm on a completely different schedule than Dave, my family, and friends. It's insane! I've always been this way, though. A real night owl. Maybe it's because I was born at night? I was awake most of that first night of my life and slept for the entirety of the day. Who knows? Maybe that had some affect on my Circadian rhythm??? Any ideas???

While I was awake last night, I picked out the paper to make my wedding invitations. Yeah, I know, it's a lot of work, but I'm up for it. I'm crafty like that. You know, in that whole neurotic-Martha-Stewart-over-achiever-way. When I first started envisioning my wedding, I was thinking bright colors: hot pink, tangerine orange, lime green, lemon yellow, aqua blue. Unfortunately, the Kyle House is just way too Victorian and elegant for that color scheme. Instead, I'm going with pinks and whites and lavenders for the reception inside and the outdoor ceremony at the gazebo will be in bright summer colors.

I haven't checked the mail today. I need to do that later. 'Course that means I have to put on some kind of pants.... Skipping 'round the house in skivvies and a t-shirt is OK, but not so great for a trip to the mailbox. I think I've finished polishing Sangre, and I'm going to send it back to I.K., the agent who seems most interested and enthusiastic about the manuscript. Hopefully she'll like the revamped manuscript. At any rate, it's really nerve-wracking to have to sit here and wait for some stranger to tell me whether or not my lifetime dream of becoming a novelist is ever going to become a reality. I have to admit that I'm optimistic that it's going to happen. I mean, I've had three different agents request this manuscript so that means that my query letter was well written and catchy and my story has some marketable potential.

Let's see. What else is going on in my life? Oh! Yeah! Sara is back!!! Yay!!!!! I talked to her earlier and she sounds good. Her voice seems a bit hoarse, but hopefully those crazy Kazakh painkillers will do the trick, lol. I'm also planning a get-together before everyone heads off in different directions. :( Not sure what I'm going to cook, though. Hopefully, I'll have that worked out by Friday......

OK. Well. The water is boiling. Time for me to sign off.....

Here Goes Nothing...

Around 5 am this morning, I had a sudden urge to start a new blog and since I'm one of those nutters who believes in fate and listening to that "inner voice," I did it. I saved all of my posts from my last blog on Xanga, closed the account, and started anew. It's weird, but I feel...sorta...I don't know...liberated? It's as though my slate has been wiped clean and all of the drama with friends and family that surrounded my last blog is no more. I can almost pretend that it never existed because there is no record!

Then again, I'm sure that within a few weeks, this blog, too, shall be overcome, lol!

I'll post more later--when I'm not so damned tired. In fact, my first real post will be about my completely insane sleep schedule.....