Getting things done

Today I realized that for the past few days, I have done nothing productive! My room wasn't a complete disaster but it definitely needed some TLC because the dust bunny population decided to claim it as their territory. That's one of the negatives of having hardwood floors, dust collects very easily. I started off by doing laundry which wasn't much at all because I have been keeping up with it, surprisingly. Then I opened my windows (one of which does not have a screen on it because I like to have one completely open to allow free flowing air) Having the windows open, I used the opportunity to dust everything in my room and then vacuum the floor. That was really all that needed to be done. I am cleaning my sheets so they are fresh and clean, I love that feeling. I can remember when my mom would wash my blanket and then right after it was finished being in the dryer, she would come up behind me and wrap it around me =) Haha good memories. I love the way my room feels when it is clean and I have my lamps and candles all lit up. It's kind of like my own apartment... sort of... well, not really haha.

A clean room leaves my fung shui (I can't spell) to be in perfect harmony. =)

Friends across an ocean

Today, I want to talk about my friend Michael. He is a medic in the United States Navy and is currently stationed about 6778.91 miles away in Qal'eh ye Now Afghanistan. I met Mike when I worked at the Quantico Naval Health Clinic as a front desk receptionist and he worked in the Operations Management Department in the warehouse. We would occasionally meet eyes as he passed the desk or asked to pick up incoming packages. I didn't formally become acquainted with him until a few months later when I dropped from being an employee to be a Red Cross Volunteer in the Medical Records Department of the Clinic. At that time Mike was also moved to that department and that is where we first became good friends. Every morning when I would walk into Medical Records, Mike would be fast at work, sitting at his desk going through record checks for Active Duty Military. I don't quite remember how we started talking but I imagine that it had to be something funny and friendly because that is how I remember it being every time I worked with him. As we became better friends, we would occasionally go to lunch together at the Club on base to eat the buffet there. We usually talked about what went on in our lives at the time, what we wanted in the future and what we treasured and learned from our past. I can remember times when I would be done with my work and I would go and help him finish with his because he never seemed to be even close to finishing his work. Records would pile up every hour and eventually there were boxes everywhere full of records that he had to look through and while he did that, he also had actual Active duty come in and speak with him... I'm not exactly sure what for but I always felt so bad for him. One day I noticed that he stayed extra late... when everyone else had left for the day. As I collected my things to leave and said my goodbyes to him, I turned and looked at him once more... sitting there hard at work all by himself. I thought to myself "you have nothing left to do today... if you went home, you'd just be wasting time sleeping!" something that was the opposite of productive. I decided to stay and help him with anything I could. He first looked at me really strangely, a girl who wanted to stay after hours... who wasn't getting paid in the first place, to put away tens of hundreds of records was not something he expected. He thanked me and put me to work. I enjoyed every minute because we would continue our conversations from before. Some were funny, some serious... whatever they were, they were meaningful in some way. That is how I remember Mike, always there to listen to me, always there if I needed a laugh. We stopped talking once I stopped Volunteering but just recently ran into each other on AIM (AOL Instant Messenger). We started talking and I found out that he was in Afghanistan and we exchanged emails and we talk every chance we can get either through Email or through AIM. I sent him a care package for Valentines Day yesterday which will hopefully reach him in a week, and I am expecting one from him any day now. I have recently discovered that I never realized how much I valued his company and how much I would miss someone I only spent a few months of my life with. I hope we continue to talk and never let the distance of an ocean get between us. God Bless Our Troops <3

Kelly

Zumba!

Today was dedicated to my best friend Mia. I awoke in the morning, got a shower and then headed up to her college, George Mason University. When I arrived, I met up with her to ride in one car to pick up her friend who would also be our Zumba dance instructor, Sarah. We then went to Sarah's house to choreograph the dance routine that Sarah was going to teach in her first Zumba class! She chose a variety of Spanish and Arabic styles of music with really heavy beats that make dancing fun no matter how difficult the moves =) When we got to the studio, 5 people showed up for the class and we got started. I had a great time trying to keep up! Sarah's moves were so quick and fun that I just wanted to know how to do them already without learning! I certainly had a great workout because by the time the class was over, my face was red, my heart pounding and my muscles sore. She did her job well! The only downside was that I did not eat anything before the class so I felt light headed and I still have a headache from it but it was still fun and I am so glad that I went! Thank you Mia!!

Kelly

It's 4:00am!

Well it is 4:00am and I am still awake! So I decided that I would write an entry =)
Yesterday was a wonderful day. I got to spend time with my friend Frank! The day started off to be a beautiful morning, the sun was shining in my room and what a wonderful feeling I had when I walked down the stairs to be greeted by my adorable dog Mickey. Another surprise was that my dad was home so I got to see him before he headed out for his busy day. On my way to Frank at George Mason University, I was suddenly stopped by crossing dear in broad daylight! This was around 1:15pm and there were probably about 12 deer that ran across the road... all in single file! It was like a Deer family vacation! Anyways when I arrived to George Mason I picked up Frank and we headed over to go bowling at the bowling alley but we later discovered that the alley was closed for renovations. We then decided to go to Tyson's Corner Mall and see a movie called Paul Blart: Mall Cop. The movie was alright, there were some strange moments in the movie but it was overall funny. After the movie we decided that we were hungry so we went to a wonderful restaurant inside the mall called Gordon's Biersch Brewery, at least I think that was the name. It was WONDERFUL! the food tasted great and we had friendly service. After dinner we decided to make our own desert and Brownies was the indulgence of choice but we later discovered that we didn't want to buy eggs and vegetable oil for that one occasion. Frank and his room mates don't cook regularly in their apartment so Ice cream was next on the list. We chose our flavors and then headed back to his apartment whom we happily ran into his room mate Matt playing a video game. As we ate our ice cream we watched him play his video game and then it was time for me to head back home so I said good bye and headed back home! It was a lovely day and I am happy that I got to share it with my friend Frank! I am not sure what is going to happen today but I know the weather is supposed to be really nice so I will be sure to be outside for most of the day. =)

Kelly