Ahem...

Another goal fulfilled!

59) Make an enemy

Since this situation is loosely work related, I will not go into detail. However, I will say, someone wanted a lot for nothing last year and I had to play bad cop. This year, I am now referred to as "that woman."

Done.

I enjoy being a girl...sort of...sometimes

I've never been what one would call a girly girl. When I was little I had Barbies and Cabbage Patches. But instead of Barbie cooking in her Barbie Dreamhouse, she had to deal with a Dreamhouse break-in. When I received a Barbie campsite tent and accessories, well, unfortunately the campsite was mauled by a bear. I didn't carry them around, but my Sis and I did set up a Cabbage Patch hospital. I'm pretty sure I might have missed the point of dolls. Although I was very protective of my stuffed animals.

As I got older, it didn't get much better. I didn't wear make-up until later in high school and even then pretty much used what my mom handed down. When I did buy some, it was almost always in funky colors. When most girls were getting highlights in their hair, I dyed mine blond in the front and then had red and purple highlights in the rest of it. To this day I still don't have an overriding interest in hair and makeup. My hairspray, when I have any, usually goes bad before I can use it, I keep mascara way too long, and the thought of lipstick frightens me.

And still walking into an Ulta, or the like, makes me break out into a sweat. Who needs a $150 curling iron? And there had to be at least 10 kinds of straighteners...don't get be started on face cleaners. In fact, I'm pretty sure that I have no idea what 70% of that store is used for. And I still maintain eyelash curlers amount to about the same thing as a medieval torture device.

Now, don't get me wrong, I definitely have girly traits: a healthy obsession with shoes, a lifelong love of all things Jane Austen, and a strong devotion to Betsey Johnson. So when I was feeling kind of blue tonight, I thought, "Hey! I should pamper myself and see if that helps." So, I tried my new curling iron (only $13.99 thank you very much), but I'm convinced that my hair looked the same as it did before I tried to curl it. So I then painted my toenails bright blue, made a mess, and had to remove about half of what I put on. Anyone who's lived with me can attest to this sort of thing happening on a regular basis. I consider myself fairly smart but somehow nail polish confounds me.

So when pampering wasn't quite the success I thought it would be, I decided to turn to what I know best. I put on Mad Max for a healthy dose of violence and action and called it a night.

God. Country. Notre Dame...Me

This past weekend I attended my five year reunion at my alma mater, University of Notre Dame...and good times were had by all. Thursday night, my ex-roommie LW drove down from Madison and stayed the night, then Friday morning we skipped the light fantastic over to South Bend to get the party started! And a party it was...

The weekend was full of reminiscing, taking pictures, catching up with old friends, and long walks around campus. It included lunching at the dining hall, picnicking in front of the stadium, and free wine from 3pm to 1am. I thought of all the good times, and a few less than good. I exchanged stories with friends about marching band, dances, dorm craziness, and squirrel chases. I slept in a dorm room and realized I didn't miss that aspect of college at all!

I took several trips to the grotto and ached for all the times I wish I could have been there when I needed it the most. I remembered how many times I kneeled in prayer in front of the candles, and of all the friends that had come with me to pray at times, and I can still understand why I love it so much.

I listened to Father Hesburgh give the homily at the all-class mass and stood with everyone else to applaud him when he was finished. I spent too much money at the bookstore but with no regrets. I laughed, I talked for hours, and didn't tear up once. But I came close at the end of the mass as everyone stood, including the oldest alum present (Class of 1930), and sang the alma mater.

Notre Dame, our Mother

Tender, strong and true

Proudly in the heavens,

Gleams thy gold and blue.

Glory's mantle cloaks thee

Golden is thy fame,

And our hearts forever,

Praise thee, Notre Dame.

And our hearts forever,

Love thee, Notre Dame.

To which I say "Tant pis"

I will never be a genius in the kitchen...tant pis.

I will never pull off the demure, professional look...tant pis.

I will never have the patience to not visualize some people as voodoo dolls with pins in them...tant pis.

I will never stop yearning to visit places I haven't seen...tant pis.

I will never prefer the color pink - hot or not...tant pis.

I will never let society or the "norm" pressure me into something I don't want...tant pis.

I will never try to understand the fascination about twittering...tant pis.

I will never blindly accept the judgement of others...tant pis.

I will never stop being disappointed that most people don't write letters anymore...tant pis.

I will never get into the whole Wii thing...tant pis.

I will never break my habit of completely ignoring everything around me while I read...tant pis.

I will never be able to do my work without music or a movie or some sort of noise...tant pis.

I will never apologize for who I am or the choices I make...tant pis.

In which I discover that I am not that sentimental

This past weekend, I celebrated the bachelorette-ness of one of my former ND roommates who is set to be married this summer. I would like to point out that this is the second former roommate to be married in less than 365 days...oy vay! I am certainly thrilled for them both, however! Both girls are married/to be married to some of the best guys that I have ever met and each couple is made for each other. An ideal situation of the married state, n'est-ce pas?

Yet, at the same time a wave of nostalgia swept over me on Saturday between glasses of wine and the ridiculousness of bachelorette party games. Nostalgia for the days when I worried about grades instead of paychecks, what to eat at the dining hall instead of what to buy at the grocery, and walking across campus (15 minutes) to crossing the city (up to two hours).

Then after a minute of reminiscing I thought, who am I kidding? Hell no I don't want to be in college anymore...or even my early twenties for that matter. I'm over it like nobody's business. Gone are the days of group bathrooms, requisite swimming classes, blue books, and sweating it out during finals. Gone are the days of going to grad school full-time while working two jobs, accounting class at 9:30am, and internship applications (I still own about 200 manila envelopes if anyone needs any, by the way).

Instead I now have my own apartment, voluntary classes (vive le francais), income, and a cute chubby kitty. I have great clothes among which are a few designer labels, the freedom to choose the work that I love, and am well above the legal drinking age. As I say rather too frequently, totes awesome!

So as I look forward to my five year reunion at Notre Dame this weekend, I go with a readiness to see old friends, a fear of the mattresses in the boys dorm in which the Class of 2004 will be staying, and the happiness that while my years there made me the person I am today, I in no way feel the need to relive them over and over.

Now if I could just get those pesky student loans to go away.