Creeper

     This past Friday I was able to go home for the weekend -it was very relaxed and wonderful to be with family.  Sadly though, yesterday I had to return to Arlington because I had work at 11:30. Since the weather has been so bad these past few days I was hoping I would get off work early...I mean, who comes to Braum's when it is cold outside? Lots of people.
     So, to my dismay I did not get to go home early, and on top of this great sadness the 'Creeper' returned for a visit with one of his little buddies.  The 'Creeper' is a middle aged man whom is a frequent customer to my Braum's who totally freaks me out.  Yesterday he showed up around his usual time (about 1:00 p.m.) and to my displeasure I was assigned to take orders. Yay!  Before I continue you (whoever you are) might be wondering what qualifies this man as a creeper -how about a few examples:

Example 1:

This is the first time I met Creeper.

One day several months ago I was asked to sweep the lobby while someone else was taking orders.  At this time our Braum's was pretty busy so people who had already ordered where standing at the front of the store (away from the counter) waiting for their orders.  I at this time was sweeping near the front doors, minding mine own business -thoughts consumed with who knows what when 'Creeper' first made his presence known.  He turned to me, "You working hard?"
   This is a very normal question (and somewhat irritating) to be asked by people so I looked up and smiled, "Yes sir."
He nodded his head and smiled, and turned away.  I continued to sweep, thinking our conversation was over. "Hey, is that one Mexican girl working here today?  I can't remember her name..."  I looked over at him confused (I was pretty new at this point so my mind was blank on who he was talking about).  "You know, she's more of a heavy girl...do you know her name?"

Finally remembering who he was talking about I shook my head, "No, she's not here today."

He nodded his head, "I can't seem to remember her name."

I am not one for lying, but there was no way I was going to tell him her name (I wasn't exactly sure of her name either, but I was 75% sure it was Maria), something about him seemed really off.  "I'm newer here so I don't know everyone very well." I answered. I turned and continued to sweep thinking our conversation was done with but he spoke up again.

"Oh, well whatever her name is, she lives in those apartments down there (he was pointing in some direction), I don't know her very well but she lives there."

Okay...weird, but maybe he is just one of those socially awkward people.


"Oh okay," I didn't even bother looking up, hoping he would get the point that I really had no interest in talking with him.  Luckily before he could say anything else his number was called, and I continued sweeping.

About fifteen minutes later I was sweeping where the tables were in the middle section -the section where he was sitting.  I kept my head down, and made sure not to make any eye-contact.  Right when I was getting done with the section I heard my name called out.  I turned around and looked towards the kitchen, but saw no one there.  I shrugged it off and went to put the broom and dustpan away and then went around picking up the dirty trays sitting on top of the trash bins.  By this time Creeper was done with his meal and throwing his away, he looked at me and smiled.

"Are you working hard theJu (obviously he used my real name)?"  My heart literally stopped when I heard this, but I just looked up at him and smiled, "Yes sir, I am."

Let me stop right here -you might think; why would that be weird?  He could have just read my name tag, but my name had come off of my tag almost a month prior.  It could have been very possible that he just remembered my name, but I had never seen him before.  Thinking about it later on someone could have just old him my name...but why would he ask for it or want to know it?  Completely weirded out by what had happened I made sure to carefully watch him so I could know which car was his...I wasn't taking any chances.  After I got off work that day I looked around to make sure I didn't see his car, and even while driving I frequently checked in my review mirror...I did not want him knowing where I lived.


Example 2:

Many times since my first incident he has come in, and each time he has brought in a different person.  Almost every single time that I have been there he has brought in a female at last twenty years younger than him.  I am not one for listening in on other people's conversations; I don't like invading people's privacy...so I have become pretty good at tuning people out.

 This rule of mine does not apply to him.

Anytime he is in Braum's and I have to be near him I always make sure to listen in on his conversations.  From what I have noticed by observing and listening is that it seems like he doesn't really know any of these girls. It almost seems as if he randomly picks them up off the street and asks them if they want to have lunch with him.  Also, all the girls I have seen with him seem to have some sort of mental disability.  I've tried to reason with myself -maybe he's just a really nice person, and works with people with special needs.  No matter how hard I try to convince myself that I am overreacting I just can't.

So every time I see him with a girl I say a silent prayer for them.

Example 3:

This example does not come from an encounter with him, but I feel it proves that I am not completely overreacting.  Last Friday when I was working drive/sundae bar I heard my manager say something to another employee. "The weird guy is here."  Automatically I looked over the top of the sundae area and not to my surprise Creeper was walking up to the counter.  I then walked up to my manager, "So I'm not the only one who thought that?"

She shook her head, "He gives me the creeps...he's probably some serial killer/ rapist...but I'm going to be nice today."



So yesterday he walked into Braum's and I again was at the front counter.  This time he brought another guy with him (who was with him when example 3 happened).  After he had placed his order I asked, "can I get anything else for you sir?"  He just smiled and stared at me for a second, but then laughed as he shook his head.

"Nah, no...I'm good."

This sent major chills down my back...I can't wait until I leave Braum's.

One of my many "Endearing" Qualities

Since it has been so long since I have written on this thing I have decided to slowly update on what has happened to me in the past six months...

The very end of November of last year I moved out of my parent's house and moved into an apartment in Arlington to be closer to the school.  I have a great roommate...for the most part we get along.  Obviously it is not going to be perfect; we both are going to do things that annoy each other.  For example...I never buy groceries so I drink all her milk, or sometimes she tends to act more like 'mom' then roommate -but its all cool.

   This post though, has nothing to do with my roommate or my apartment, but there is a point some what relevant to my moving out.  I have learned many lessons since moving out of my parents, such as "money does not grow on trees".  Yeah, that was a tough one to learn -I am not one of those 'savers'. Well, I can't say that completely because I absolutely hate buying food or anything that I need, but when it comes to my brother who only lives 1.2 miles (exactly) away from me I tend to become a big spender.  I absolutely adore my older brother...he is seriously a gift from God -nothing compares to his adorableness.  Its really not fair.  I can spend $50 on him and not even think twice...its just not right.  

Despite all the lessons learned (I will post some of those later) I believe what has benefited me the most about moving out is that I have come to know myself better.

   Before I moved out I knew that at times I could really be a klutz/air-head, but never had I even thought about how much of one I was.  Every once in a while I do something quite silly, something I can easily shake my head at and laugh about.

Example:

One fine day when I was leaving work to go home I decided to stop at the atm at Wells Fargo to deposit my check.  Since it was such a pretty day outside I decided to drive around with my sunroof down.  Anyway, I pulled in into the parking lot, parked and rolled up my windows.  Before I got out I debated whether or not to  close my sunroof -but quickly decided to leave it open because the atm was right there so I would be able to keep an eye on my car.  So I got out and shut the door, and right as I heard the door shut I had a literal *face-palm* moment.  My keys were inside the car...my locked car.  Even though I knew it was locked I checked all the doors...locked. Yay. But thankfully I had an 'aha' moment -my sun roof was open.  

   I am a shy person...one of the most easily embarrassed people, so I actually thought about not climbing through my sunroof to get in.  Realizing though, that that was stupid I walked around to the back of my car, climbed it, and dropped through my sun roof.  Once in the car I literally laughed at myself...it was just so me, and on the bright side I had probably made someone's day as they watched me climb my car in a busy parking lot.

Every day I seem to do something like the example above...and most of the time I don't end up inconveniencing  myself.  When I tell my humorous stories to my family they amusingly shake their heads or roll their eyes.  Every time I do something like this I just tell myself: "this is just one of your many endearing qualities".  I say almost every time I do something silly.  That was until a few weeks ago when I shut my car door (that was locked) with both keys and phone inside...and yes, no open sunroof.

This was one of the many weeks I had been spending the majority of my nights at my Aunt and Uncle's house (yes, I live in an apartment but never actually stay there).  I was on my way to their house from work, but decided to stop at Albertson's to pick up some ice cream (the previous night I had had some of my Uncle's Ben and Jerry's and felt guilty for it).  Instead of taking in my purse I decided to just put my debit card in my back pocket. Anyway, I got out of my car and shut the door *face-palm*...right as the door shut I realized I had left my keys in my car, *face-palm*...I had debated whether or not to leave my sunroof down and had decided not to. *Mega face-palm* -After a quick search of my person I realized I had also left my phone in the car.  FACE PALM, FACE PALM, FACE PALM, FACE PALM....

At this point I was feeling pretty stupid but I walked into the store and asked to use the phone.

"This sounds really stupid, but I left my keys and phone in my car...can I use your phone?"

Graciously they did, so I called my brother and prayed he was in the area (he is never at his apartment either).

"Hey bro, where are you at?"

"Working with Dad." 

"Oh, well since you are not in the area would you mind calling Nate? I am kind of marooned at Albertson's...I left my keys and phone in the car." 

Thanks to my wonderful brother he was able to get in touch with his roommate, who was luckily unoccupied at the time to come and try to break in to my car.  About 20-30 minutes later he showed up, but quickly determined that he would not be able to break in unless I was willing to pay for a new window (I was definitely not willing).  Not wanting to break my window I decided I would get a Lock Smith; I was not excited about how much it would probably end up costing but at this point I figured I deserved it because of how inconvenient I was being to myself and to Nate.  So we called the guy and he said it would cost about eighty dollars and it would take him about an hour to get there.  Luckily though, Nate and I are good friends so it wasn't too bad waiting out in the parking lot -it was really nice spending time with him.  About an hour later we got a call from the Lock Smith company.

"Hello?"

"I would like to apologize ma'm.  We had sent a guy out to go to you about half an hour ago, but when he was on the highway he got rear-ended by another car. I apologize again, but I would suggest you try to find someone else."

FACE-PALM ^2

I was a little dis-hearted and feeling pretty guilty for causing a guy to wreck, but Nate called another Lock Smith company; this time I was told it would only be $40 dollars and it would take about thirty minutes to get to me.  Luckily, the man arrived to Albertson's safely and was able to un-lock my car and charged me only half of what it was going to originally cost.  Despite being fairly lucky with the absurdity of the situation I couldn't help but be a little upset with myself.  Not only was I out forty dollars, but I had wasted over two hours of my time and my friend's time (I am so thankful he is as patient as he is)...oh, and even though all of this was in the pursuit of ice cream I had no ice cream.

Even though a lot of time was wasted I am glad this happened to me...I learned that I need to be more careful and not be so rushed.  AND that I cannot write off everything I do silly as "endearing" -sometimes it is just plain stupid.

 

Hello again...

So, it's been awhile...and I could make up a million excuses but I know my dearest Uncle and only faithful subscriber would not think they were good enough.

So, a lot of things have happened since I last posted (Dec of last year).  First, I got a job at Braum's, even though I did everything but swear that I would never work there.  It's been okay.  The first night was easy...I couldn't understand why in the world my brother hated working there.  The next night I worked I called my Mom crying saying I was going to quit and I hated it so much, and it was the worst job in the world.  Even though she promised that it would get better, I didn't believe her but, Moms are always right...it did get better.  I can't say that I enjoy it, but it doesn't totally suck.  I work with fantastic people; my manager and shift managers are amazing.

Even though I am quitting Braum's soon (when I do I will have worked there six months and am moving back home) I believe I will miss a few things.  I really do think this job was a blessing; I learned a lot and have met many incredible people (and not so incredible people -will explain in next blog).

I will be sure to write more, both current and past...but I think this is enough for tonight.  I just wanted my dearest Uncle to know that I am actually going to write on this thing.

Oh, and by the way...it was totally Opa's fault Sheperd K, he is the one who left you only an ounce of lunch meat :p

Israel, Here I Come

  My last semester of High school and most of the summer I thought I knew what I was going to do; I was going to major in Biochemistry and minor in German.  Sounds great, right? But immediately upon entering Arlington Hall on the UTA campus for orientation I suddenly decided that I in fact had no clue what I was going to major in or do with my life.  All the planning and research I had done all went down the toilet at that instant.  I nervously walked up to one of the tables in the Lobby.

"Hello, may I help you?"

"Yes ma'm, I would like to change my major."

"And what would that be?"

"Undeclared."

Right then I felt an immense amount of weight lift off my shoulders, but yet at the same time the most unsettling feeling came over me.  I'm the girl with the plan who knows exactly what she wants to do, and here I was filling out a form to change my major to undeclared.  I was scared, and at many times wanted to go back to the table and tell the lady I had changed my mind, that I still wanted to do Biochemistry.  Something is better than nothing, I tried to tell myself.  While having all these mixed emotions I couldn't help but feel some sort of self-empowerment.  I was going to college and I could now make my own decisions...even though I now had no idea what those were.

This past semester I took a few classes that I could see myself seriously considering for a major.  I took Introduction to Classical Mythology, Western Civilization, Introduction to Anthropology and two Government classes (those of which I am not interested in but are required.  Immediately I fell in love with Classics and within a few months I knew I had to take more classes in it.  Western Civ.  I loved, but I knew that I didn't really want to major in history and Intro. to Anthropology I absolutely hated.  It was so boring -talking about evolution and how we came from monkeys was repulsive to me.  My Uncle, I later found out majored in History and Anthropology.  The idea of majoring in Anthropology sounded so disgusting to me, and I told him  that after my first semester I was never taking another Anthropology class.

Never say never.

Just a few weeks ago during class registration I found myself sitting in front of my computer not signing up for one Anthropology classes, but two.  Just a month or so before the semester had ended and I was in one of my rants about how stupid Anthropology is my Uncle very patiently and logically pointed out that sometimes what you major in will not necessarily have anything to do with your career.  That the degree is really just a stepping stone to something else.  I took this to heart and thought it through...I knew that if I could bare through all the Anthropology classes I would love what I would be able to do with the degree.  So, this coming Spring semester I am taking Principles of Archaeology and a class on migration.  Just in a matter of months I have gone from absolutely loathing Anthropology to seriously considering it for my major.

But I needed to be sure, so I started to look up things I could do outside of school to reassure myself that this was something I actually what I wanted to do.  The school Anthropology site was a dead end but on another site I found a link to an archaeological website that funded digs around the world.  After about an hour or so I decided that the dig in Israel in the Jezreel valley suited my taste perfectly.  After seriously discussing it with my parents (they were skeptical about me going to flying to Israel by myself) they gave me the green light to mail the application.
       That was about a week ago.  So this morning while I was waiting for my dearest Uncle to come by and jump start my car I checked my email and to my delight I received an email saying I was accepted into the program.  So now I am counting down the days until I arrive in Israel...185 to be exact!

Bike Ride

This is my very first blog so please bare with me (even though I am sure I am the only one who will actually ever see this).

This past Saturday night I drove through an agonizing amount of traffic from Fort Worth to Plano to see two of my best friends.  I haven't spent any real time with them in months and driving all the way to Plano (I absolutely hate driving) was the only way and time I was going to be able to see them this winter break.  I got there at about 7:30 pm (I left a little before 6) and was immediately embraced by my friend Nenna (my nickname for her) and then with her help I carried my things into a house that had 7 girls hiding, waiting for the right time to jump out and scream -trying to scare me.  Appeasing them I screamed, more in delight than in fear, and embraced all of them.  Not only was this the only time I was going to be able to spend with my friends but a part of the deal was that I had to help babysit 6 little girls all younger than 8.  Saturday night was short and sweet; we spent the time watching movies, playing and letting the little girls brush our hair.  Finally, just before ten we cleaned up and helped them get ready for bed.  Once everyone was settled down my friends and I enjoyed a bowl of ice cream and caught up. 
        The next morning was semi-hectic (it always is when there are four hyper active little girls running round) but it was enjoyble as we lounged around their house until about 11 when I was talking to Mrs. Sweat and told her how much I love bike riding even though I hardly do it and would love to do it more.  To my surprise she asked me if I really wanted to go bike riding and within a half hour we were outside preparing the bikes for our ride.  Me, Nenna, Jessica, Mrs. Sweat, Sydney and Jamie (the last two her daughters: Sidney 4 Jamie 6) headed out. Ten minutes into our ride we had to turn back because Jamie was being difficult but besides the delay we were on our way again.  After about a forty five minute ride we returned to the house, this time picking up the oldest daughter named Jordan and dropping off Sidney.  We then decided to ride over to the McDonalds to get drinks.  For the first 15 minutes we rode on safe bike path until we reach a semi large intersection where we had to cross six lanes of traffic that were going opposite ways.  Mrs. sweat rode over first all the way to the other side while the rest of us stopped in the middle waiting for cars to pass.  Instead of the cars continuing they stopped, waiting for us to cross.  Confused (probably because of the nervousness of crossing such a busy rode) we sat still on our bikes completely dumb founded thinking: why are the cars stopping? That's weird....  Mrs. Sweat's hollar from the other side aroused us -especially me, because I stupidly decided to race across the road without looking.  Right as I was about to pass the third lane a car came racing towards me and if it wasn't for Mrs. Sweat's screaming at the person in the car I probably would have been hit.  The car slammed on it's breaks -stopping about only fifteen feet from me.  Once Mrs. Sweat's heart beat had slowed and I had forgiven myself for being so stupid we continued, crossing another intersection again but this time, thankfully, it was uneventful.  Once we were at the McDonalds we decided go through the Drive-thru  since we had no place to put our bikes.  But to no avail they would not serve us so we just decided to bring our bikes inside the McDonalds.  Once we had got our orders we all sat down and talked.  It was so nice to sit there for a good half hour and just talk.  I knew that Mrs. Sweat had travelled so I asked about where she had been -and to my surprise and pleasure I found out that she and her husband (he wasn't at the time) took six months and travelled around the world.  I then, in return told her about how I wished so badly to go travelling this summer and that I had already applied to go on a dig in Israel.  I was finally able to openly share my hopes and desires with someone who understood me; for years all I have wanted to do was travel -and travel the way I wanted to. 
         After a very uneventful (to my relief) ride home we had to part ways.  It was great seeing and spending time with my friends and also with the Sweats who encouraged my desire to travel...overall it was an excellent weekend.