Day 8: a thank you letter to someone who has changed your life

I could write a sweet and sentimental letter about my mom or dad and how they raised me to be the woman I am today. I could write about my brother whose opinion I value more than anyone else's. I could write a letter thanking my friends for accepting me the way I am and always being there for me. But all of that would be too ordinary for me. I want to write a thank you note to my ex boyfriends. This is clearly written to one person in general but to a whole slew of men who have each taught me something in life.

Dear Ex bofyriend (fill in name),

I want to thank you from the bottom of my good heart (it has put up with your crap for ___ amount of time) for teaching me so much over the course of our relationship. I have learned patience from waiting on your call. Patience also became my greatest virtue when you stayed out with your buddies and didnt make it home on a given Saturday night. Patience was my middle name when you couldnt decide what you wanted to have for dinner and I was about to eat my hand. Yes, you taught me Patience and I thank you for that.

Thank you for helping me realize that flowers are only given randomly to girls in movies. I thought that might happen sometimes in real life, just on occasion and spontaneously. Thanks for clearing that one up. You also helped me understand that its okay that you never open the door for me. Well you opened the door in the beginning but thanks for teaching me that there was a time limit on that good deed. I shouldnt expect so much of you, I apologize for that.

You always spoke your mind which I appreciated, especially when you were drunk and decided to air our dirty laundry in front of all of our friends. I want to thank you for letting everyone know our issues so they could give their opinion on the matter.

Thanks for almost getting me killed those 184 times in the car when you drove like a bat out of hell or got lost in the ghetto. Thank you also for getting so drunk that you left me in a bar when you saw your buddy in the bathroom and forgot I was sitting at the bar with your friends.

Thanks for always dancing with me at weddings and other events. It was so nice to show all of my friends how graceful you are on your two left feet. I especially loved this when you were wasted and decided to "grind" on me in the presence of my entire family, that was a wonderful night!

I want to thank you for always telling me exactly what was on your mind and what we could work on in our relationship. Thank you also for talking about this with the girl next door and sleeping over because she was upset. I appreciate you taking other girls out when we were at separate schools I'm sure they were lonely and you were there to make them feel special, that was SO nice of you.

And last but not least, thank you for continuing to call and text even when I've told you multiple times that I'm so very over you. I am flattered that I was so great that you still love me and want me back. I really love to hear this at 2am on a Saturday when you are wasted and I hear it from multiple ex boyfriends. I'm honored, but I want you to know that I learned so much from the first time around that I earned an A+ in being your girlfriend and really dont need to repeat the course.

I learned what types of food you liked and guess what, new boyfriends like those recipes too. I learned not to call you too much and not to nag. Those have come in handy. I also learned to always treat you like you are the most perfect man in the world and through this I learned how to get you to do what I want which might be, boyfriend, the greatest lesson you taught me. I thank you for this!

Love,

Day 7: 5 things you could not possibly live without

Well Friends and Family are a given so I'm going with material goods

I ABSOLUTELY can not live without my iphone 4. Yes I wanted to throw out which model it was.

I cant live without internet. The need to stay connected with everyone makes it an addiction

It would be hard to live without tv. I am addicted to this as well and its my favorite form of mindless entertainment

I dont think I could live without a car. Not necessarily my car but a car in general. But I would hate to not be able to escape when I wanted to.

The last thing I couldnt live without is my thyroid medicine. Without it I'm a crazy fat mess. I am so tired and anxious without my meds. If any of you have hypothyroidism then you know exactly what I'm talking about. Its good stuff and makes your hair shiny and your metabolism boosted.

Day 6: The moment you wish you could relive

There isnt an exact moment I would want to relive or even a day. I will pick the shortest time span to relieve and that would be the summer before my senior year of college. I had just completed a year of partying and making bonds with the friends that I will have for the rest of my life. My two best friends and i moved out of the ZTA house and into a house in the college ghetto. Our house didn't look like a lot from the outside, our landlord promised to repaint but that never happened. There was a hole in the floor in the kitchen and we had mexicans for backdoor neighbors. Jeannie's mom gave us a front porch swing that I painted for us. We threw all of our mismatched furniture together and made it into a fun house. Jeannie and Elizabeth will kill me for posting a picture and admitting we lived there but the memories make it a mansion in our minds.

My parents agreed to let me stay in Rock Hill for the summer so that I could pass math. I took Maymester and was supposed to get a job but that didnt happen. Jeannie took classes too and Elizabeth worked at a local restaurant. When we werent in class or at "work" we had a plan for everyday of the week. We celebrated Wasted Wednesday, and Thirsty Thursday. We hung out at the Kappa Sigma house every day pretty much. There was a slip and slide night in the house a few doors down, yes INSIDE the house (with baby oil). Oh and we got a puppy! Jackson, who is now 6 years old and is laying next to me right now. Here are some pictures from that summer and shortly before/after.

         

         

When I wasnt in Rock Hill this summer I was in Savannah where my parents had just moved. The excitement of the new city was fun. I would bring Jack home and my parents loved to play with this new puppy. My mom and I would go shopping and my dad and I would play golf. I remember spending a few weeks at home before school started back. Everytime I would leave to head back up to school my dad would ask if I had any money and I would always say "No Dad because you always give me some". and he would hand me a $20 bill and tell me not to spend it on booze which is exactly what I would do when exiting the interstate onto Cherry Rd! 

Life was easy that summer, I didnt have to worry about bills or about my future. I had another year to safely be tucked away in the confines of Winthrop's campus with my best friends. I had a year ahead of me of partying and going home to see my family whenever I could. I never took that for granted and dont regret not going home more but if I could relive that perfect summer I think my dad and I would play a few more rounds of golf and have a few more Jack and cokes (Jack and Ginger in his case). 

Day 5: A Favorite Quote

This might be the hardest blog challenge yet. I cant pick just one quote. I have so many great and inspiring quotes. I think I will turn this post into a bulletin board of my favorite quotes

                                                         Ben Franklin said that!

Day 4: Favorite TV shows

I am kind of a TV junkie. I like to spend my summers playing outside until well into the evening. I choose however, to spend my fall nights watching my shows. I enjoy comedies and lots of stuff that is currently on TV. I like Grey's Anatomy, Glee, Gossip Girl, and Chelsea Handler. There are also those shows that I own and watch over and over again. Everytime there is a rerun on I watch it. These are the shows that people are true fans of and the ones that I will now list. Here they go....

Arrested Development

I'm gonna blame this one on my intense love of Jason Bateman. Dating all the way back to the Hogan Family in the 80s. This is one of the funniest shows to ever be on tv and I'm sad its gone. I still own all the seasons and watch them on rainy weekends.

How I met your mother

Another all star cast of very funny people made funnier by great writers. This is my current favorite tv show. It reminds of my friends when they are on their A game. I relate to this show and the crazy antics and bets they have. I would probably sleep with Barney Stinson if he told me he was an astronaut and I knew in real life he wasnt gay.

Sex and The City 

I know I recently wrote an entire post about this but Sex and The City is one of the best shows geared towards women. Because lets face it, not many shows are. Its relevant, poignant and damn right funny! This show as I have mentioned before teaches us about friendship, fashion, love, and how to get what you want.

Saturday Night Live

I have stuck by this show for 16 years through thick and thin. I fell in love with the coneheads, the spartan cheerleaders and even the ambiguously gay duo. Wayne's World quotes were a regular around my house and my brother and I would stay up late and try to watch the entire show when he would come home from college. Recently the show hasnt been as funny. I miss the days of Mr Peepers, the Church Lady and Brian Fellows. Betty White brought this show back to life recently and here is one of my favorite new clips from one of my favorite old segments. I still have faith in this show.

Day 3: Favorite book

I'm not a big reader. I love all of the Harry Potter books and Twilight Saga. I guess you could see I read like a middle schooler. It takes a special book to captivate me and those are the ones that I couldnt put down. Classic books that I read over and over are To Kill a Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby. i would have to say my favorite novel at the moment and the one I keep recommending to people is Girls in Trucks

I love chic lit. I love witty writing and I especially love stories about my home state of South Carolina! This is a great book.

Blog Challenge Day 2: Favorite Movie(s)

It wasnt long ago that my best friend, Jeannie, started blogging. I have been doing this for years but as you, my faithful followers know, I am TERRIBLE at writing often. Its so easy to start jotting down your thoughts and ideas and then it becomes a once a week or once a month occasion that you have something interesting enough to share. Jeannie started a 30 day blog challenge and I am going to participate. I just spent all weekend with her and my other friends from college and as always it was entertaining. I am working on some new ideas and I think in 30 days I will have another 30 days worth of material.

In case you too are mentally blocked feel free to participate. So day 1 is about your favorite song, since I just blogged about this a few days ago and I like to make my own rules, I am going to skip this. I am starting with day 2 about my favorite movie(s).

Animal House

"My advice to you, is to start drinking Heavily"- Bluto

If you havent seen my favorite movie of all times then I dont know that I want to be friends with you. This movies sums up what college should be. Raunchy parties, nights you cant remember with friends you can never forget. This was one of my Dad's favorite movies and I was allowed to watch the entire thing when I was in middle school. We would watch this everytime it came on tv. We watched this and 15 days of Bond. 

Caddyshack
"Hey, everybody, we're all gonna get laid!"- Rodney Dangerfield

Again, a classic movie that has spanned generations. Everytime I watch Bill Murray take a bite of that baby ruth I crack up. This was another of my Dad's favorites that he forced me to watch, much to my mothers dismay. She thought it was raunchy, which it is. I do love a raunchy comedy.

The Goonies
"You idiot! That's my mom's most favorite piece"- Sean Astin

This movies was the start to many young careers. It also entertained me endlessly as a child. My niece and nephew love it so much that I bought them their own copy last christmas. The adventure these kids take is one that all children have dreamed of. I wanted to go find Chester Copperpots gold when I was little. Its an innocent time when riding your bike across a county was acceptable and safe. 

Weird Science
"I can be a real bitch if I don't get what I want"- Kelly LeBrock

This is another classic 80s movie that continues to make me laugh everytime. I wish I could have been a teenager in the 80s. The music, the clothes, the HAIR. I love the 80s. I love 80s high school movies, I love John Hughes and I choose this to be my favorite of that genre. 

Meet me in St Louis
"I can't handle 20 men alone, I admit it"

My mother searched the internet to find me this movie this past Christmas. This is a classic musical and a classic Christmas movie. I watch it over and over an still love it.