Wednesday - Day 1.)

Desperate for a job, I print out 3 CV's (that's British for Resume) and take them up to the closest high street to my flat.  I hand out the first two, and continue down the street to the outside of Molly's bar, which has caught my eye numerous times on the bus rides home from Jane's.

There is a little Irish woman sweeping up and dumping ash trays outside the bar.  

"Excuse me?" I say.  "Do you know i they're hiring?"

"Yes," she says, appraising me.  "Do you have experience?"

"Yes, a bit, I worked at a--"

"Can you come in at ten for a trial?"

"Um, sure."

The little Irish woman then eyes the conservative attire I've donned for my High Street CV Hand out, which includes a skirt that falls below the knee, tights, boots, and a tank top and a sweater.  

"Wear whatever ye like," she says, letting me know that I can relax a little when I dress for work tonight.  "I'm Molly."

"Oh, like the ..." I said, motioning to the sign.

So, I show up, she trains me, etc.  And we close.  

After close, she offers me a drink, which I'm assuming is a special occasion since it's my first night and we're discussing my prospects as an event coordinator.  I end up in the bar until after 6 in the morning, drinking with Molly and listening to incredibly intimate details about her personal life, both kind of enjoying myself, and wondering when it will be appropriate to leave.

She calls us a cab around sunrise and drops me off at my place, asking that I text her as soon as I'm home.  I do.

Thursday - Day 2.)

The incident with Sam(?)

Friday - Day 3.)

Exhausted, I come in and am given full control of the bar downstairs, which only stays open for a few hours due to the dismal amount of people who show up for the live band performing.  I come upstairs, worried that I may have to face Sam(?) again, or that he's perhaps told his boss about what happened. 

I become overly lethargic and disoriented as the night progresses.  Molly notices and offers me a bit of cocaine.  "Just put it on your tongue," she says, "don't go putting anything up your nose."

"Um, thanks, but can I just have a red bull instead?"

As soon as we close, I duck out of there, clearly slightly offending Molly in the process.  

I get to my night bus stop and try to keep my head down from this Romanian asshole and his friend who are hissing at and calling things to any female who walks past.

The Romanian eventually sidles up to me and attempts to start a conversation.  I ask him to leave me alone, and after about six demands as to why, I finally tell him that anyone who thinks it's funny or entertaining to make women who are trying to make their way home feel unsafe and harassed can't be my friend.

Romanian then blames it on his English friend, who says he had no part in it, and agrees that I have a point.  English friend then turns to me and asks why all Americans have such an attitude.

I respond that my attitude has little do with my nationality and more to do with the fact that I've been on my feet for several hours.  He becomes very thoughtful and then asks me, in a quite friendly tone, if I'm taking a gap year.  

Speechless at the bizarrity of this, the Turkish guy who owns the restaurant across the street pulls to the curb and offers me a ride.  Realizing that this is probably the safer of the two options, I jump into his car, hoping he doesn't intend to rape, kill, and taxiderm me.  

I am driven home without incident.

Saturday - Day 4.)

Night progresses as usual until about 1:30am, at which point, Molly's husband of 15 years, whom she's currently divorcing, comes in drunk.  She asks him to leave, and furious, he comes behind the bar shouting, "GET OUT?  GET OUT?  IS THAT WHAT YOU SAY TO ME? GET OUT?"

She shoves him, and he backhands her, hard, into glass and bottles of wine and beer, which shatter.  She finally manages to get him out, and shaking, sits down.  I give her a giant glass of Jameson, and clean up with the assistance of this poor Irish bloke who'd just come in for a quiet drink with his cousin, but seemed to have compassion for the situation.

After closing down, I sit down with Irish guy and his cousin and Molly and have a shot of tequila to calm my nerves.  Suddenly, a loud bang comes from outside.  Seems Molly's husband has come back and is trying to break in through the (glass) door with a chair from outside.

Molly calls the police, and I retreat downstairs, because I'm a bit nervous that he may get in.  Irish guy comes with me, gets drunk, and starts ranting about Oliver Cromwell (?).  He seems nice enough, but clearly very in love with his girlfriend (which is refreshing).

I come back upstairs where we're joined by Molly's bff, the beautiful but slightly crazy Gemma, and her boytoy of the week.  They, along with Irish guy's cousin, are loudly singing Irish ballads and dancing about.  Molly calls me a cab.  I get home just as the sun rises (again).

Thursday - Day 5.)

So, I've had about four days off to recover, which was pretty necessary, all things considered.  I go back in refreshed and ready to get some things done in preparation for my cinema night.  

Molly is drunk.  Sooooo drunk.

There's another barmaid there, off the clock, who is pregnant, but smoking and drinking Merlot (but only Merlot that's been open today, don't want to chance anything, wtf) and the music coordinator.  Both slowly help take over as Molly spirals into complete oblivion.

Molly goes to walk downstairs toward the end of the night.  She trips, and falls down an entire flight of stone steps, crashing at the bottom.  Because she's drunk, she pulls herself up, claims to be fine, and falls asleep on one of the couches.  

The staff decides not to call an ambulance for her (though the next day, we'll find out she broke her shoulder and three ribs).  

Closing goes smoothly because Molly isn't there pressuring me to drink.  Pregnant Barmaid offers me a glass of her merlot, and I accept, running across the street first to buy myself two jam donuts and to get Pregnant Barmaid some ciggies.

I decide to walk home, since the bus never seems to come.

I got a day off today so I could finally chill out and type a decent blog post! 

Well basically most of my day was taken up with being over at my cousins house. [We played a game called torture which had a part where you had to sing a full song with an ice cube in your mouth!]

We also played with the latest version of the Itoy and singstar. [Yeah she is a playstation girl she really needs to get into old school nintendo!]

That was really my day! We didn't do much more than that! Only watched a movie and played truth or dare! [Oh god we actually played truth or dare! How stupid is that?!]

Cyall soon! Please keep reading and spreading the word about my blog!

xXxJessxXx

Instead I'm just sad and appalled by the whole calculated misery of it all. The budget balloons, men and women die in Iraq and Afghanistan, taxpayers bail out fiscally irresponsible lending institutions, and liberals get slagged for too much something, conservatives for too much something else.

Bleh.

<

Art of the Day: Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon by CJ Villa

Horrified. Complete mortification. Embarrassed. Yes, to all of the above. Jane's wedding. There was this cute guy there. Really. Cute. Only cute guy too. Well I take that back. Jordy was hot but he was like Greek god hot and thus out of my league to even look at. So anyway, cute guy. I realized sometime today, to my utter horror that this guy was most likely my cousin. I'm still not positive but I'm 99% sure. Gross. On so many levels. I hadn't seen him since I was like 13 and he was just a super tall scrawny guy who was obsessed with his hair. Yeah, now he's a super tall hot guy who's probably still obsessed with his hair. I don't even want to think about it anymore.

So, Jane's wedding. I hope one day I can remember that day without thinking about the horror that was crushing on my cousin. Thank god I don't have a flirt bone in my body. If I would have tried to be flirtatious and then realized it was my cousin, I would have died. Or rather wish I died. Anyway, Jane's wedding. Right. It was a fairytale wedding. I'm not kidding. There was the packed house...people were even having to stand in the back and along the sides. There were four flower girls. The two youngest started picking up the petals that the older two were dropping and then stopped in the middle of the aisle when everyone started laughing, having to be prodded down the rest of the way by another one of my cousins. There was the perfect bride in her golden accented wedding gown with the ruffled skirt. There was the loving looks between bride and groom, the trying to say their vows before the speaker was through talking in their rush to get them said, there was the I Do's. There was a starting line-up intro for the bridal party. (Okay so maybe that's not so fairytale but it was unique) Then, for their first dance (Unforgettable...I was a little disappointed at the unoriginality there but it worked for the fairytale theme) there were fireworks. Fireworks! Fairytale wedding. Jane made it through the dance with her father, so did he surprisingly. (My Girl). Her next dance was with her brother. Ben and Jane have an extremely close adorable relationship. The second she stepped into his arms to dance with him she had to bite her lip to hold back the tears. They danced to 'The Way You Look Tonight' and it was beautiful. I got teary eyed. I love them.

Side note: Jane's name is now Jane Smith. Can it get any better than that? It sounds like she's trying to go under a really bad alias.

I had the creepiest weirdest dream the night after the wedding. And no it didn't have to do with inner family love. Shudder. The officiant (is that right?) who conducted the ceremony happened to be Jared, who I've mentioned before in my blog. So after I hear him talking about the importance of marriage and all that at the wedding, I have a dream about him and his wife, Lucy, that night and Jared marries another woman while he's still married to Lucy and so he's become this polygamist and Lucy's okay with it, just kind of shrugging and accepting it. And not only that but then he goes and starts saying that the church is wrong and that the Bible says that polygamy is okay and all these ministers start to agree with him. Very odd dream.

So, today. What's happened today? I went bowling. Woo-hoo! Exciting times I know. No, it was fun. I went with Ewan, Lanae, Van, Damon, Hannah, Hannah's sister Lily and her husband, Judd. Speaking of Hannah, she had one mother of a hickey on her neck. And it was weird looking too. Long and thin. Sucker covered her whole neck. Damon went to town on her. Denny showed up later and guess what! It wasn't awkward. I love when I'm around him and it's not 'awkward Denny'. I kicked booty the first game we played. But yeah, the second time, not so much. I didn't even break 100. It always happens to me. I talk smack and then I go down with the ship. You would think I would learn one of these days. I wish Lanae would hurry up and have her baby. She looks miserable ALL the time. Although, sadly, I don't think having Aria will improve her mood much. I think she's just in a constant downer that nothing can lift her out of. I know I'm out of ideas.

Tomorrow's labor day and I'm really hoping to sleep in. I might not get to though if Mom and me are going with Dad to take Aunt Josie to the airport. I hope not. Really don't want to get up early. Please don't take my sleep day away from me.

Amelie is Andy's (my brother-in-law) niece and Sarah's (my niece) cousin. Many of us met here for the first time in person when she arrived with the German Contingent. That would be her mom, Cyndia, (Andy's sister) and her grandparents, Connie and Helga (Andy's parents). Connie is a nickname for Conrad, just in case you wondered.

Anyway, we finally met Amelie and she is very much like Sarah only a year older, a year smarter and a year longer in the legs. I went over to Melissa's (my sister) to visit them all and Amelie and Sarah began their own scrapbooks featuring pictures of the two of them together.
At the airport, in the car, at home, at the beach, and wherever else those two have been...it's all been zealously photographed and well documented.

A few years ago we (my parents and I) went to Dominica (Yes it is Dominica, not the Dominican Republic) to "pick-up" my newly adopted brother.  Kurt's story is an amazing story, and I may tell it sometime, but for now I want to share with you what God taught me through his cousin.

We had gone to Dominica to finish up the adoption and bring Kurt home.  We had gone over to the family's hill, (it was a big hill...) and Kurt's mother's sister was there holding her newborn. The baby had some kind of growth/sore on his finger, and the mother was telling us that they didn't know what it was and it wouldn't go away. (The sores later spread all over his body... we haven't been able to find out what it is.) The mother asked me if I would like to hold the baby, and I readily agreed. The baby was crying, he was hungry...

I asked the mother if I could take the baby to the top of the hill where the rest of Kurt's family was and she said yes.  I walked up with my parents to the top of the hill and they started talking to Kurt's grandmother. I wandered away because the baby had begun fussing, I thought if we went where it was quiet he would fall asleep.

As we were standing on the hill, and I started singing "God of Wonders" to him and he drifted of to sleep. I just snuggled him close and gave him all of the love I could possibly give him in twenty minutes. As I was standing there, I heard God speak to me. He said, "You know, you are holding Me right now. You sang me a lullaby and rocked Me to sleep. You are loving Me right now." I started crying... God brought to mind the Scripture,

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Enter, you who are blessed by my Father! Take what's coming to you in this kingdom. It's been ready for you since the world's foundation. And here's why:

   I was hungry and you fed me,
   I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
   I was homeless and you gave me a room,
   I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
   I was sick and you stopped to visit,
   I was in prison and you came to me.'

"Then those 'sheep' are going to say, 'Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?' Then the King will say, 'I'm telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.' Matthew 25:35-41 (The Message)

He told me "Loving the poor is not hard to do if you think of it as doing to Me."

After I stopped crying, I walked back over to where my parents were. They were getting ready to go back to our "hotel". I had to go back down the hill and give that little baby back to his mother. (They had brought the baby out in hopes that I would take him for good.) It was very hard to give the baby back, I had grown extremely fond of him in twenty minutes and I knew what kind of life laid ahead of him.

I didn't know the baby's name for a long time, so my pet name for him is "Tiny" (He was extremely small.) I found out later that they call him dirt. His mother is an alcoholic, and Tiny has severe fetal alcohol syndrome. If you think of Tiny, please pray for him and his family. They live in spiritual darkness and they need the Light of Christ.

Whether or not you believe my story or take it to heart, it doesn't matter to me. I saw the face of Jesus in Tiny's face. If you get a chance, download and listen to Steven Curtis Chapman's song "What Now?" I think you'll see what I mean...

1. Zip lining.I can see how this was their favorite thing they did. Zip lining is a blast, but they might have also enjoyed it so much because I wasn't there. Or maybe it was the farm animals they saw.

2. Airplane Vodka. As you may recall, they had the brilliant idea to purchase a bottle of vodka for the plane ride out here. I was lucky enough to put up with their drunk asses when they landed.

3. Taco Shop. This was a great little restaurant I took them to about half way through our trip. No complaints here, but I think the journey in the mud over and watching them get all pissed off was one of my most enjoyable moments of my trip.

4. Staying at the Holiday Inn. Seriously? One of their favorites was staying at an American hotel?

5. Ladies night at the club. Which of course...I hated. I can't deal with "poshness" when I'm traveling. Maybe it's because I wear the same clothes every day, or the fact that I always look like crap...

Least favorites...

1. Weather/humidity. They could not deal with their hair being frizzy. Plus, since they couldn't find electrical outlets for their straighteners, it made the situation even better (for me, that is).

2. First bus ride. The first bus we took...they hated. This also was the bus ride my cousin was really looking forward too...which I also warned her that it wasn´t going to be that much fun.

3. Tranquilo Backpackers. This was the hostel we stayed at both times in San Jose, and also one of my favorite hostels in the world. Tranquilo...describes it perfectly.

4. Hippies. Hippies love the earth and love each other. Not sure what wasn't to like here...

5. Bug bites. I told them if they stopped using deodorant and soap, they'll stop biting. They couldn't handle that.

Talking of my dad, Bear followed tradition & asked permission for my hand in marriage. I've been going on all day about how he gave me away!! :P I know how much both of them appreciated such a thing though, & it makes me happy to know we have my Father's blessing.

I mentioned before about how my dad wondered if we shouldn't ask my step-father too. Well, we didn't. Go figure. I mean so much has gone down between the two of us that well, it just wasn't something I wanted, not to mention, I haven't exactly heard of the "Never mind the father, ask the mothers second husband" tradition.

Talking of my mother...

I rang her today to break the news. I think she was pretty surprised. There were lots of "ooooohs" & "oh right's". In fact I joked that I had said "no", & she actually believed me.. "but you said no first?" Guess she was so overcome she didn't have her funny hat on...

Talking of failed SOH's, I wasn't sure if my step-father was there, but she did repeat a lot of what I was saying, "So you're wearing an engagement ring", so I'm inclined to believe he was. However, he didn't say anything & he hasn't phoned. But I guess none of this is really a surprise. Disappointing yes, but what's new. The point is, that my father gave his blessing & wrote a wonderful email to Bear backing it up even further. Not to mention his own parents are over the moon too.

Hopefully I can whip out the camera just in time to get some candid shots of peoples reactions when I tell them, boy will there be some corkers. I had one message on a networking site today, actually from a (step)cousin saying "Officially engaged...? Whats this? I thought you were already engaged!"

Well, seeing as you actually took the time to type "officially", surely you didn't really miss the message there right?! But I guess so. I digress. So there I am, feeling like a bit of an idiot having to explain what the heck "officially engaged" means to this obviously dense (& yes she is blond) woman who I haven't seen nor spoken to in 5 years. I mean, it's not that hard is it? Neither a congratulations the first time she spotted the fact nor this time either may I add.

Talking of dense, & I should have put money on this being her main interest, but my father told my step-mother the news & her reaction was only in interest of the ring. Yeah, a ring on a finger, on the hand of a person who isn't planning on ever seeing her again. Oh, & lets not forget "she'd rather have met Bear first". And how exactly was she planning on doing that since we haven't spoken since Christmas last year? Again, were we asking for her permission? NO.

Anyway, naysayers aside. I've spent the whole day grinning. I'm so aware of my ring it's getting to the point of obsession. It's so beautiful, with a fiery diamond that catches the light spectacularly. I love it. And I love him.

I've seen our relationship move up a whole other level in the past 24 hours. I can feel it. Sure, we already considered ourselves engaged but last night we actually made the commitment & today I'm wearing a symbol of that.

I look at my left hand today & see something I never thought I'd have. I see a hand of a woman, a woman who is loved & wanted. A woman who is embarking on yet another new chapter in her life, hand in hand with the man she wants to spend the rest of her days with. Something that will be very prevalent in the next few months will be that this is the hand of a woman who cannot be controlled nor treated as a child.

Something I mentioned to Bear today was the fact that I hope seeing this ring in the tough times to come will give me the strength not to falter with my self injury. I'm optimistic that seeing it there in those dark moments will give me courage.

===

What happens next?

Well, I'll be coming back to Bear in November. I'll experience my first ever Thanksgiving, spend Christmas & my Birthday here. Then, if finances are what they should be, Bear will come back to Scotland with me in February to meet my family & see my home & the places I love & miss. We really want that, plus it's only right he meets everyone before we marry. During those months we'll apply for the K1 (Fiancé) Visa (which will include interviews with the Consulate) that I'll return on, which then gives us 90 days to get hitched. When that happens, I become a permanent resident. Our wedding truly will be our union. There's a lot to do, but it is doable.

So we're talking a Spring wedding. I missed Springtime here this year, so I'm really looking forward to seeing my new home in bloom. But really, it's time to start some serious planning right now!!

I had a lot of fun hanging out with Todd and Kristy again and it was great to meet Chad and Beth. And it was a pleasure to take photos of their beautiful children. How fun it will be to watch their relationships evolve as they grow up together. In the meantime, we have some fun photos that reflect what their relationships were like on August 18, 2008.

Todd and Kristy, thanks again for hiring me to take pictures of your family. Chad and Beth, it was a pleasure to meet you and I hope you had a safe trip home. I'm excited for you to see some of the great shots we were able to capture. In the meantime, here are a few to tide you over. Enjoy!

I would personally like to thank

Lavrai (for telling me about myself long before I had to do this and I didn't listen, sorry Vrai please forgive me and thanks again love you)

My Cousin CJ (who walks with a spirit of discernment and prophetic anointing and humility that is just beautiful....love you C!)

My mom and dad (who taught me to always be woman enough to admit when your wrong and be willing to go back and get it straight....I love you guys!)

My Daughter (the victim in all of this, who weathered the storm and came out the victor through the shed blood of Jesus and the prayers of her mommy and family (I love you stinky poo)

Everybody else...yall know who you are....Love you guys!

I send my Agape love and hugs to all, remember you can never ever say I love you enough!!!!

~Anointed

Having been recently married, I am sure many will be asking when it's gonna be our turn to have a kid or two.  That day is coming, just not any time soon.  We want to enjoy being married a little while before starting a family.  Don't put a time table on us for kids.. that will happen when the good Lord sees fit.  In the meantime, we will enjoy being Aunt and Uncle to little two year old Aiden (Holly's sister's son), and cousins Dave and Holly from TN.

Now I have a new reason to head back to the Cack a Lack for a visit.  I can't wait to see Lil Tommy, Clay, and the rest of my family.  Blessed does not begin to describe how I feel today.  I hope you are feeling the same way.

Love Ya'll

d

Our first full day in touristy and ugly Tamarindo, the girls wanted to go zip lining. I really didn't have a desire to go (since I went a few years back), so I walked them to the tourist office to see them off. They returned a few hours latter filled with excitement.

"Eric, guess what!"

"What."

"We said guess!"

"I don't guess."

"Eric, you're no fun! But we saw a monkey!"

"Oh wow, that is just so amazing," I replied in an extremely sarcastic voice (sarcasm...the one thing I'm great at).

My cousin then proceeded to show me 3,429 pictures of monkeys, farm animals, trees, her hanging from the rope, and more farm animals. She has always had an obsession with farm animals, something I never really understood. The ride out there and even coming back, she made the driver stop every time a chicken crossed the road...no joke. I can just imagine what the dialogue looked like...

"Oh my gosh! A chicken!!!! Stop the car. I need a picture!" She gets out, takes the picture, and then they proceeded on. Two minutes then pass.

"I can't believe it! Another chicken! Stop. I need another picture!" Car stops. Takes another picture. Caravan then proceeds to the destination. Only a minute passes.

"Holy crap. I can't believe it! It's another chicken! Stop. O shit, look a goat too! Wow, this is the coolest place ever! Quick, take a picture of me with the goat!"

It sounded like the guides they had really did a great job. They snapped numerous photographs along with a few videos of the girls, something that will be a blast to watch in the future. It was fun looking at pictures of the girls zip lining... but not so much of the farm animals.

Later that night, we headed out for a few drinks on the town. The girls dressed up and looked like they were about to go to a club in LA. I was wearing the same shirt and pair of shorts I have been wearing for the past week...we were definitely on a different level. The girls led the group to a club, yet once there, only they wanted to go in. The group split into two. The first group I dubbed ¨the people who smell nice,¨ which only consisted of my sister and cousin, and then the other group dubbed ¨the people who smell like hell.¨ I led the hell group... only because I was the one who smelled the worst. They enjoyed a sophisticated atmosphere, while the rest of the smelly people headed to more of a beach bar. We eventually met up later that night and proceeded to have an entertaining evening. Probably by far the most entertaining conversation though was with my sister.

"Eric, my abs are sore. Do you think zip lining made my abs stronger?"

"Of course. What you did was probably the equivalent to two thousand crunches," I replied.

"Really? So do I look stronger?"

"Ya you do. Seriously, you must be a body builder."

"Wow thanks. I should go zip lining more often."

"What a great idea."

The next day was spent hanging out around town. I heard of a really good Taco Shop, so I somehow managed to convince them to go to a non-touristy restaurant. Since it had been raining the entire night, the walk over there was extremely muddy. For some reason, it always gives me great joy when these girls are thrown out of their comfort zone.

"Eric, I have mud all over me!"

"Really? I don't see it at all."

"Look at this. My legs are covered. And oh my gosh. Look at my hair?"

"Ummm...it looks like hair to me."

"AHHHH. Eric, I almost slipped!"

"On what?"

"The mud you idiot! Look how muddy I am. Oh my gosh, look, another chicken! Quick, take another picture!"

And so forth. They ended up loving the taco shop, so we were all in a great mood leading up to our afternoon. My cousin then took off to go meet up with one of her friends who recently moved down here, leaving my sister and I at our hostel.

We spent the rest of the afternoon/evening relaxing and attempting to catch up. I also attempted to teach her how to cook, but she pretended she did not know how to work in the kitchen at all. Truth be told, I think she was just acting. Quite intelligent if you think about it. She somehow had me cook her an entire meal while she sat there and watched. Job well done sis...job well done.

Before we knew it...the three of us were on our way back to San Jose...

 I guess all im trying to say is Cousins (most of MINE anyway) Rule........ (Sometimes)
 
   -WishIWasASmoothie

p.s. I am also a cousin..DUH!

http://www.rip.tv/video/view/3742 (this one won't imbed, sorry). And this one: