Posts tagged melanie
The perfect couple
Feb 6th
While it mostly comes from Melanie’s girl friends, I’m still surprised by the number of people who think we are the perfect couple. Don’t get me wrong, I think we’re a great couple, but we fight and disagree and go through the same things many other couples go through. We’re not perfect people and effort is required to keep the relationship going just as with anyone else’s relationship. Yet, we’re perfect.
Then we have my sister and my roommate. In my eyes, THEY were always the perfect couple. I was amazed to hear, when talking to my sister, that they fought just like Melanie and I do. It’s actually eerie to hear how many of the arguments are the same even if the people involved are completely different. The perfect couple, in my eyes, was the same as Melanie and I. Wow.
I started thinking and I’ve come to the conclusion that everyone knows a couple that they see as “the perfect couple”. That couple never seems to fight and, probably, appears to be the epitome of love. Behind closed doors, though, I bet they’re just like the rest of us. They fight and disagree and have those moments where they want to throw each other down a flight of stairs. We all have those moments, yet, everyone’s in love.
So, you know what? Melanie and I are the perfect couple. Hell, my sister and my roomie are the perfect couple, too. I think any couple that can go above that crush stage and make each other happy a majority of the time is, in fact, the perfect couple. This isn’t the movies. This isn’t TV. Some fights are stupid, some are nasty, and some are for the sake of fighting, but it never lasts long, cause there’s always that love. I love her. She loves me. Yeah, we’re perfect.
Separating work from the rest
Jan 30th
I need to start creating clear distinctions in my life and keep work from spilling into my personal life. To top it off, I need to stop getting stressed out, so easily, at work. It’s all serving to throw off my happiness outside of the big blue box and I’m sick of it.
Even though I mentioned it second, learning to not get stressed out at work should, probably, be my first priority. I go in and get pissed off because the people around me don’t seem to care as much as I do. I talk to managers and supervisors and get no where. I spin my wheels, get aggravated, and let it sit with me the rest of the day. Why should I care if no one else does? If I have to spend every single day cleaning up someone else’s mistakes, then that’s my management’s choice in how they’re spending labor. I get paid, either way.
Regardless of how successful I am with that, I need to make sure any stress I do encounter stays in that building once I punch out. It winds up exhausting me, making me feel old, and interfering with things like my relationship with Melanie. I’m too young to feel this old and I’m done with it. I’m not going to run out and start doing 8 balls, but maybe I’d like to be able to laugh and have a beer and just enjoy a night with my girlfriend, whether we’re going out or sitting home and bumming around. I don’t get paid enough to carry that burden around with me and I won’t do it, anymore.
Letters in Lessons
Jan 11th
This is the moment that I’ve dreaded, but I know I have to face it
With humility and patience as we crawl across these pages
With the walls of all these faces that contribute conversation
We can choose to lock them out or make them our congregation
With a little moderation and this truth intoxication
Perhaps your doubts can fall from their stool of domination
I hate their every whisper, but for you I’ll sit and take them
Your words are fucking brutal, but I’m cool to fucking face them
And I’m sorry for the swearing and the times I was complacent
I felt this love was wasted if I didn’t show this patience
But a little too much patience can make everything seem tasteless
And you see me in the greyness with the nothing I’ve been laced with
And you begin to grow to hate this and question its correctness
Maybe nothing can be right if we’re never fucking wreckless
Cause if every other sentence is collected from generics
Then is anything, at all, capable of being cherished?
But if everything should perish, then I need to send this message
A hundred of these letters put together in this lesson
It’s not about obsession or being or possession
It’s all about just knowing when everybody else is guessin’
And I guess that’s just my lesson, the fact that I still know it
That I love you more than ever, even when I fail to show it
My heart is racing rapidly and I don’t know how to slow it
We can race across the finish or sit back as we both grow it
Notes: Just clearing my mind. Wanted it to be longer, but it would have trailed off.
A kiss to start the new year
Jan 1st
Well, combine midnight on New Year’s Day, a Kodak Zi8 camcorder, and a girlfriend whom I love and you get the following video. There’s nothing else more to say about it lol
Sometimes you need pie
Oct 13th
The following conversation is one that took place between Melanie and I as we walked into Perkins for a late breakfast. I saw a table with an offer I couldn’t refuse.
Me: Babe!
Melanie: What?
Me: I have to buy a cherry pie.
Melanie: Why?!
Me: Because it’s only 3.99!!
There’s no point to this post other than amusing you with my randomness and ability to be swayed by pies and signs that accompany them.
More time brings more posts
Sep 15th
Well, now that the summer is over and I’m going to be home more often, expect to see more posts on this site, again. I really slacked these past few months, but, between work and spending time with Melanie, I simply had to let this place slip down my list of priorities.
Work has been consuming a lot of my energy, lately. With over 50 new hires and a large turnover in management, it’s been a bit hectic adjusting to all the changes taking place. My department, specifically, is starting to get a lot of focus put on it. That’s good in the fact that we’ll be able to get the attention we deserve, but we really need to make sure we’re on the top of our game, now. Luckily, for us, the team is comprised of mostly veterans who are all good workers. It’s nice knowing the people working beside me are reliable. Well, a good number of them are, anyway.
This time of year is also proving to be a big music period, for me, and quite unexpectedly so, at that. Smile Empty Soul and Chevelle have already released their albums, though the latter’s effort isn’t that great. Bands such as Paramore, Breaking Benjamin, Weezer, and Three Days Grace all have new material coming down the pipeline before the year is up. Thank god. The first half of the year was as dull as can be, musically, and I was starting to get really bored by it.
That’s it for me, for now. By the way, any other albums you think I should be aware of?
Keyboards and bicycles
Aug 17th
It’s been a LONG time since I’ve posted. I apologize. I’ve been extremely pre-occupied with work and trying to find time with Melanie. I have a story for you, though.
Saturday night, after a day in the city with Joe, I came home to find my wireless keyboard not working. It seemed as though my wireless receiver was not getting power. Unfortunately, my computer wouldn’t boot up unless it could find a keyboard (I forgot to disable the setting that halts boot up on a keyboard error). Multiple attempts at getting the keyboard working failed miserably and I was getting frustrated. By some chance, I happened to plug the USB receiver into my iPod’s charger and it lit up and synced with my keyboard. This was obviously not a path to go down, but I did nonetheless. Now convinced that it was a power issue, I asked my mom to drive me over to Best Buy (I don’t drive and it was too late for a train ride). I bought a powered USB hub, brought it home, and cursed myself out when it didn’t work. I gave up for the night and resigned to buying a new keyboard/mouse combo in the morning.
Sunday, after work, I picked up with Microsoft Wireless Desktop 3000. With a little time to spare before having to run out to Staten Island to meet Melanie after she got out of work, I decided to hook it up. Nothing. Same exact results as with my old keyboard. I grabbed my roommate’s wired USB keyboard and the same thing happened. Then, it finally hit me. For some reason, my motherboard was looking for a PS/2 keyboard (this happened once before) and, of course, we threw out the one we had in the apartment.
My mind was racing when I remember that my dad’s computer is pretty old and/or I may have left a spare keyboard there. With no time to waste, I grabbed my other roommate’s bike (without asking) and raced to my parents. After realizing I didn’t leave a spare behind, I told my dad I was taking his keyboard for 20 minutes. I grabbed it, threw it in my backpack and raced back to the apartment in the increasingly hot 94 degree weather. I get inside my room, plug the PS/2 keyboard in and voila! My system booted, I disabled the option to halt boot on a keyboard error and plugged in the new Microsoft set. Out of curiosity, though, I tried my old keyboard and it freaking worked. It was a quick decision, though, when I realized that having to wet the contacts on my aging wireless mouse to get it to charge wasn’t exactly safe and that the old keyboard hasn’t been problem free in the past few months, anyway.
Relieved to have a working keyboard, I made one last quick dash back to my parents’ house to return the PS/2 keyboard and then raced home, showered and headed out to Staten Island. What a day that was.
Jobs for everyone
Jul 18th
This has been a good week for Melanie and I. Financially, things are about to get a little easier for us and that’s always a blessing.
For starters, Melanie found a job at an Uncle Louie G’s that opened right near her house. The pay is only decent, but she gets tips which, so far, are pretty damn good. As the weather gets warmer and volume picks up, she should be able to get a nice amount of money together for the car she so badly wants to get.
In other news, I finally got the full time Merch position at work. Besides the extra hours, I also got a raise and will be able to get benefits such as health insurance and holiday/vacation/sick pay. Now, I’m not going to be doubling my income or anything, but I will have a bit more padding that will allow me to stress my bills a little less than I have been for the past year, or so. All of this is way over due, but I’m thankful I stuck to my guns.
Favorite video from vacation
Jul 13th
Ok, so I didn’t take many videos while on vacation since I only had a standard digital camera and the video mode isn’t the best when it comes to recording quality. Between Melanie and I, we took about six 30 second long videos and most of them are forgettable, but this one video just makes me smile. Nothing special about it, to be honest, but I feel like sharing it, anyway.
For anyone wondering, this was filmed while hiking on the red trail in Bushkill Falls.
An amazing vacation
Jul 12th
Well, I’m back from the Poconos and, let me tell you, I had one of the best times of my life.
We did so much while on vacation that it would be difficult to cover it all, but I have to mention a few of the highlights, at least. The first thing we did, as a group, was go river rafting. Now, as you could imagine, not being a swimmer, I was a little nervous about the whole drowning thing. My fears were calmed, though, after getting comfortable on the raft and I had a pretty good time rowing down the river for the 3 mile stretch. It took me a while to get the hang of rowing, but once I did, I was fine.
On the topic of water activities, we also went to a water park later on in the week. Camel Beach is a pretty nice park with the exception of the ice cold lazy river and the Triple Venom slides that left welts all over my back. Even though I’m not a swimmer, there was only one ride I couldn’t really go on, so I had to sit by as Melanie did it. I felt a little excluded, but we did the tube version of that ride immediately after, so it helped pick up my pride a bit. I had a good time, in the park, but the grey skies led to a chilly time that definitely put a damper on the day.
The last major activity was on Friday when we took a hike through the Bushkill Falls trails. There was some breath taking scenery and some fun hiking when we accidentally went off the trail and I had to balance across a fallen log and jump across small streams. The scenery was also gorgeous and I got some great pictures. I can’t wait to see if I can make any decent wallpapers out of them.
We did so much more on the trip that I’m not going to bother going in depth about. There was mini golf and pool time and a jacuzzi among other things and all of it was amazingly fun. I have to thank Melanie and her family for inviting me. It was exactly what I needed and I will never forget it.
If you want to see some of the fun we had, you can check out my Facebook album, Poconos 2009, which contains over 50 pictures from the vacation.
