Senseless Tragedy

It's hard to believe that at the very moment I was writing my blog last night about being nice and having compassion for one other, some crazy gunman decided to open fire on a movie theater.  I don't understand what goes through someone's head when they do this.  Instead of ruining hundreds of lives, kill yourself.  Do everyone a favor.  And where would he get such weapons- an assault rifle, tear gas- these are not things you can pick up at the local Walmart.


What does this mean for us now as a society?  Are we going to need security everywhere we go?  Metal detectors and pat downs at the theater, mall and restaurants.


I just can't imagine the kids riding to the theater, excited to be going to a midnight show with mom and dad, only for it to end in a horrible tragedy.  These people were expecting a great time and a great movie, only to be the victim of a seemingly senseless crime.  And to find out that he has also booby trapped his apartment and could have killed how many more in the area surrounding that space.


My deepest condolences go out to everyone that was a victim of the psychopath.  It doesn't only effect the people sitting in that theater, but if effects so many more.

Mean Girls

You know what boggles my mind?  That people actually patrol the internet and read articles about people they hate and go out of their way to write rude comments.  Same thing with Twitter.  Don't these people have anything to do with their lives?  Are they that miserable that mocking people they barely know, brings them the ultimate joy?


If you don't like someone, why follow them on Twitter?  Of course they are going to be posting about what is going on in their lives, and if you don't care, why bother wasting your life reading and responding to these posts?


There are a lot of hateful people in this world, and even if celebrities get thousands of tweets a day, they still manage to read a few that are just plain hateful.  Tweeting a celebrity telling them to commit suicide, saying rude stuff about their family, or how gross they looked that one time getting off the plane, these people have feelings too and you never know what is going on in their head.  Look at Demi Lovato.  She ended up having to be checked into a facility because of cutting, drinking and drugs.  To start with, she was obviously a fragile teenager, and then add to it thousands of tweets telling her she is fat, or berating her because God forbid she broke up with a Jonas brother?


People need to stop worrying about other people, especially celebrities.  I think it is a real sad state of affairs when Miley Cyrus getting a new tattoo or haircut is front page on Yahoo.  Aren't there more important things going on in the world?  I think so, but apparently other people don't.  And don't even get me started on Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes...I am so sick of hearing about their divorce every 5 seconds!  People are jobless, people are starving, people are dying of disease, and all anyone cares about is whether or not Scientology played a role in their divorce.  WHO CARES!


Its time for the world to wake up and pay attention to things that matter.  The lives of celebrities don't matter.  I will admit that I am on Twitter and I follow a bunch of meaningless celebs, but most of the time I roll my eyes and move on. 


People in today's society really need to learn compassion.  Stop hiding behind computers and bullying other people and instead get out in the world and make a difference.  If people are so tired of hearing about the Kardashians, get off your butt and stop watching their show.  They can't survive if the millions of people who comment about how nauseating they are, stop secretly watching their show.


Of course I agree that how they make their living is ridiculous.  Look at Snooki, getting drunk and getting paid millions of dollars for it.  Sounds like the 4 years I spent at college other than the millions of dollars.  Do I wish I could have her life style?  Of course, but do I send her mean tweets telling her how she should die and making fun of her unborn child...no!  What difference does she make in my life?


The point is, is that no one knows what is going on behind closed doors.  Just because 95% of their life is public, there is still another 5% that no one is privy to.  Stop worrying about what other people are doing and try to make a difference with your own life.

Summer Temps

I don't know why everyone keeps complaining about the heat...it's summertime! This happens every July and August.  Between the pics of the temperature on dashboards being posted on Facebook or the screenshots of the weather forecast being posted...GET OVER IT!!

If you don't like the heat and humidity, get out of Jersey.  It is like this every summer!!

The best part of the heat and humidity is the thunderstorms, which just happen to have just started by me.  I love watching the lightening and hearing the thunder. The other day Kelsey, Molly, Meg and I were sitting on Aunt Jackie's sun porch watching the best lightening show!  Kelsey said it was like watching fireworks!

I know in a couple of months people will be posting pics of the 10 degrees on their dashboard come winter time.  We all get it..extreme weather is not very fun, but its a part life and we all have to deal with it!

No more pictures please.

Age Gap

You know what's funny about age?  The older you get, the smaller age gap seem to be.  Yesterday while talking to Kelsey she said it always seemed like the older cousins were so much older, but now that she is 23 and we are in our early 30's, it doesn't seem like such a gap.  Its the truth.  I guess because we are all in similar phases of our lives and have more common interests, it seems like we are on the same level.  We were always close growing up, but we were never in the same place. Now that we are older, we can relate to the same issues and go out for drinks if we so choose.


I had a fun day yesterday with Megan, Molly and Kelsey walking around New Hope.  I wish that one day soon, we can get the triplets all in one place so we can all hang out.  For the last few years it has always been one or another at a gathering, but never all three.  I hope that we can accomplish this before Erin's wedding because it has been way too long!!

A Phone Book?

For the second time in two months, I received a phone book on my doorstep...a phone book!  Does anyone use these anymore?  With the internet, is it really necessary to waste all that printing and paper?  I think it has even come to 411 being obsolete.  It is so easy to check the internet on your cell phone and simply click on the number and it starts dialing.

A friend and I were discussing what life would be like without cell phones.  Since I am taking another trip down south next weekend, I was thinking what would happen if I broke down on the side of the road?  I would be all alone in a strange state not knowing what to do.

In that aspect, cell phones are great.  In another aspect they are such a pain in the butt.  Everyone feels like you should always be available to talk.  I feel like it has also impeded the younger generation from learning how to interact with the human population.  I am not much of a phone talker; in fact, the employee at Verizon made fun of me when he saw I only used about 60 out of my 450 minutes a month.  I do text a lot though.

I wonder how long it will take for landlines to be obsolete.  I have one only because my "bundle" requires one and it is supposedly cheaper to have a phone, internet and cable all together.  I don't ever use it though.  I do know the phone number which is more than I can say about my previous landline.

Look at Me!

What makes some people crave attention while others shy away from it?  I've never been one that requires too much attention.  I was the quiet, shy one in school who spent my time playing soccer and reading books. Even until this day, I am comfortable living alone and don't have to spend every hour of every day engaged with someone.  I can comfortably sit in my apartment and read books or watch TV and it doesn't bother me.  I prefer it, and I also prefer to shop alone.  Maybe it is because I have my own agenda and don't want to have to deal with other people's agendas.  I like to get in, get what I need, and get out.  Browsing to me is torture!!  Over the years I have gotten over my shyness so I know that is not the reason, but I guess I will still always be the quiet type.  Don't get me wrong, I like people and I like to interact with people.  I'm not some crazy person who is a hermit and doesn't know how to talk to people.  I always engage with the people I encounter throughout the day.


So what makes people crave the attention?  Is it because they didn't receive enough of it over the years or was it because they had too much of it and continue to crave that interaction?  I do think it depends on the person and their chemical make-up.  One person could have had all the attention in the world and another could have had no attention what-so-ever, but they could still both seek attention.


I wish I had taken some psychology classes while in school so I could get a better understanding of how people work.  I have such an inquisitive mind and always like to research and ask questions.  Maybe this will be my next research project!  Beware, I might try to analyze you next ;-)

Truth Hurts

How do you tell someone the truth when you know it will crush them?


I know a lot of people have come across the dilemma often...do you tell your best friend that her boyfriend is a d-bag? Do you tell your mother that her shirt is ugly? Do you tell another friend that you think there is something wrong with their baby?


I've dealt with many of these problems, but this is one situation where I know that person would never forgive me for what I am saying.  So do I keep my mouth shut or do I wake this person up to their own reality?


For the record, I usually tend to be honest with people.  I think honesty is the best policy.  I do tell my mother that her outfits could use some work.  Just a couple of weeks ago I told her that her forehead was too big and she should get bangs.  Another time, a friend of mine told me that since I am such a good friend I could tell her that her baby was ugly if I thought he was (he wasn't by the way).  People that I know or have known have praised me for my honesty.  I just don't see what the point of lying is.  I would rather own up to my indiscretions than have to explain down the road, when the truth comes out, why I lied in the first place.  It takes too much energy to lie, in my opinion. And the truth usually does come out.


So what would you do?  Would you tell someone something that you knew if you did, that you would never speak to this person again?  Or would you keep your mouth shut and continue to hold your tongue?  It is getting really hard for me to hold my tongue lately, but I don't want to destroy a relationship.

Summer Memories

This weekend marks the weekend we would normally start our two week family vacation in LBI and oh how I miss those weeks.  We had so many great memories down there with friends and family.  It seemed to always be a big party with the Wenthen clan...from the Karls to the Russos to the Seebers and the occasional visit from the Squitieris and Gormleys.


Saturdays would start with my mom, sister and I leaving for the island around 6 am so we could beat the traffic.  Since check in wasn't until 2, we would go down there, walk around, grab some lunch and then head off to our home for two weeks. After that we made a big food shopping trip, unpacked and set everything up.  After that it was nothing beaching and relaxing.  My dad would usually get there late...once he didn't get there until about 10pm and it was the first and last year we made the mistake of having him bring the sheets in his car.


The first week we were down there, my parents would allow my sister and I to bring friends down.  One year they were particularly crazy and allowed me to have 3 friends and my sister 2.  That was the last year they did that.  Too many issues with all those teenage girls in one house.  I think my dad had had enough that year.


Other than that we had great times hanging out with our family.  It was those vacations that I really got to spend time with the cousins.  I can remember one night when the triplets were young and we were at their house on Connecticut Ave and Nana and Poppi were babysitting all of us.  Our parents had stayed out late and Nana and Poppi were sitting on the deck outside anxiously awaiting their return.  I don't know if they had had enough of us kids or if it was just that late, but either way, they were none too pleased.


Then there was the times we went to the Showplace and we had to sing for our ice cream.  Or the times we went to Fantasy Island and Molly was so small it seemed like she was going to fall out of the Pirate Ship.


LBI is definitely my happy place and I wish we could go back to those days.  Maybe when we are all older and with our own families we can all rent places down there and give our children the same experiences we were able to have!

Explain Yourself

I am one of those people who never feels like they have to explain themselves.  I try to do everything with the best interest at heart and when I get burned it really pisses me off.  Explaining myself is also something that pisses me off, especially when the story has been relayed by outside sources and I never get to explain my side.


Today I made the mistake of trying to explain myself and in hindsight I shouldn't have because this person doesn't even matter much.  There is no reason to explain myself to this person because it won't make a difference anyway.  I haven't gotten a response and I'm sure I won't.


Oh well, you live and learn.

Craft Ideas

I've been in a super crafty mood lately and since I'm bored out of my mind being home all day, anything to keep me busy!  Yesterday I made Marisah some flip flops with ribbons tied around the straps since she gets blisters from the plastic straps.  Lucky for me the ribbon I found happen to be on sale for 27 cents and peace signs are her favorite.  The flip flops were only $1 so the project was super cheap and easy.  You can do this with any pair of flip flops you have laying around.  It is much cheaper than buying fabric flip flops and it is pretty much the same concept.


The next project that I would like to try to tackle is to make road trip pillow cases.  I found them on Pinterest.  All you have to do is sew a fabric pocket onto an existing pillow case and the kids can put books, crafts, toys, etc in the pocket.  There was also a carrying strap on the ones I saw on Pinterest.  I think it would be perfect for our road trips to NC and can easily be done with fabric laying around the house.  You can take old clothes, sheets, blankets, etc for the pocket.


I wonder what else I can do.  I have a couple of empty walls that I would like to add some decoration to, so I'll have to think about what to do with them.  I was thinking of getting some blank canvases and having the kids paint something for me.