Vacation

Well, I've been in Branson four days now. I thought that it might not be a great trip, but it has been surprisingly fun. We arrived here around 4 p.m. on Friday. (We left Amarillo around 1 a.m.) Dad had some issues with backing up the RV when we found that we were in the wrong location on a few occasions. He ended up jack-knifing the RV and the Honda and dented the compartment that holds the generator on the RV. But he didn't seem too concerned about it. Friday evening we spent hanging out in the condo... which is really nice. My sister did a great job of choosing this place. The condo is near the lake and it has two bedrooms and two baths. We ended up with 10 people staying here and had probably about 18-20 in here at one time when we cooked out on Sunday. But back to Friday... we had to find our way to a super Walmart and get supplies and luckily I had already seen where one was located on a map. That wasn't a very exciting visit as it was really crowded and the checkout line took forever. We had frozen pizza that night and the boys swam in the pool and we visited with family that was here. Saturday we slept in, then went to Silver Dollar City. It had a really great coaster named Wildfire. It was a steel coaster that was very smooth. It had a great first drop that went into a half loop cork screw combination, then it also had a loop and a cobra roll (for those coaster enthusiasts out there). It was a GREAT ride. A very smooth coaster. We sat in the front for two rides, the 2nd/3rd rows for one ride (for picture purposes) and then in the back for my last ride. All rides were great and the lines were really not bad at all. I think I waited about 15-20 minutes at the most for a front row seat.
We also rode a few other rides including, unfortunately, a river rapid ride that left me soaked to the bone. That part kind of sucked. Other rides included Thundernation (a mine train coaster that had some great helixes), Fire in the Hole (dark ride that gets you a little wet), Grandpa's mansion (a kind of strange house with mirrors and slanted floors etc. that disorient you). Overall the park was nice.. a bit limiting on rides and coasters and to me overpriced, but fun none-the-less. That evening we gathered around the resort rooms and just visited. It was good to see relatives I've hardly ever spent time with or even met for that matter. My sister got really drunk. I admit I got a bit toasty, but did not go overboard. (learned my lesson after a situation a few weeks ago)
Sunday we went out on the lake and attempted to water-ski. The lake was a bit choppy as a storm was heading our way, but we tried our best to ski before it hit us. I guess things are a bit different since I was a kid and it wasn't quite what I remembered. Of course back then, I only got up on one occasion and it was fun, but we stopped going to the lake after that. Well, I tried to remember everything, but perhaps it's because I'm a FEW pounds heavier than I was, but it was really hard. The boat just yanked the rope out my arms it seemed. I really tried to hold on and let the boat pull me until I could stand, but never got that far. The lake water was nice and warm though. It was a good thought at least. When I did get back in the boat, however, my forearms were really, really sore. I think I must have pulled muscles in them or something because I've had a hard time doing things like opening jars or lifting things since then. My son did really good for a beginner though. He finally got up and on the skis, but didn't last long. I think he has a better knack for it than I do. Well, the storm came in and we had to abandon the plans for the day. That evening we had a cookout with most of the family and it was a great time.
Today we went back in the boat (since we didn't get our full day last time) and this time we went tubing instead of skiing. The lake was calmer this time. I went last and the first time I tried it, the rope was hung on something on the boat and it ended up jerking the tube out from under me and I know have a huge bruise on my arm because of it. I finally got going the second time, but it was hard holding on to it at times, but it was pretty fun. This morning we also took family group pictures that I hope to have posted soon. This afternoon we went to Celebration City (another park) and it wasn't too bad. It had three coasters and several flat rides of which Josh was appreciative. First one we rode was called Thunderbolt. It was a steel mini that had some pretty good helixes. Other than a big jolt at the end, it wasn't too bad for a coaster. Next we rode Wildcat, a new wooden coaster. As woodies go, it wasn't too bad. It was really quite fast and had lots of twists in it. The final coaster was horrible. It was a wild mouse with lots of dips and lateral turns and it banged one up quite a bit. That is definitely not on to ride more than once. We also rode tilt-a-whirl, scrambler, go carts, and played minature golf. My brother played some games on the midway (won a monkey for Josh) and we did a little bit of shopping. I bought Josh a jester hat that he's been wanting and a t-shirt that I thought was pretty clever. I originally wanted to get it for myself. It said "The top ten reasons I procrastinate. 1."
I thought it was quite funny.
So far that's my vacation. We're going to be headed up to Chicago tomorrow. Going to hit a couple of museums on Wednesday (I hope) and then going to Six Flags Great America on Thursday. After that, I'm not sure what the plans are.
Well, I'm about to fall asleep typing, so I better head to bed soon.

Being Friends

Is it weird to be friends with your ex? In general I've always remained friendly with all my ex-boyfriends... and even my ex-husband. Don't get me wrong, I still have some bitterness, but it really is fading and I think it's nice we can remain on friendly terms. I know most break-ups are usually tragic and most couples end up almost hating each other, but I've never really been that way. Ok, maybe the guy in high school that dumped me the day AFTER prom for a little red-headed slut. I did have some animosity towards him. But I eventually got over it (mostly) and if I saw him again, I'm sure we'd hug and have a nice conversation. I know some of the men I've dated might call me the "B" word at times, but I think the fact that I can stay on friendly terms shows I'm not so much like that. I have my moments like any woman and unlike some, I'll admit I have the capability of being that way. Well, back to the friends part... my ex called me asking me for a favor (nothing major, just help in looking for a font) and I agreed to help him. I think that if I needed something from him he'd do the same. (Well, maybe, he had a tendancy to make promises he couldn't keep when married.)
I think it's a part of my personality of just being nice, sometimes too nice. Like when guys I'm not particularly interested want to chat with me and I talk to them and then all of a sudden because I did that, they think I might be interested in them. What is it about that? Well, I guess it's better to be nice than to be a total bitch. I just really hate offending people.
Well, I gotta get back to the packing... ugh. Have to decide what books to take. I got a biography on Mozart, but haven't gotten into it yet. Decisions, decisions.

Tired

I'm so frickin' tired at the moment and yet I'm still on this computer. I have so much to do before tomorrow and once again, it will be put off until the last minute. Oh well. I think this will be a fun trip for the most part.. not sure about the whole idea of Branson in general. It's just seems like a kind of old-folksy sort of place. I am looking forward to going to Silver Dollar City and Celebration city and riding a few coasters. Well, I'm going to retire shortly so will keep this brief tonight.

Interview Thingie (As Patrick puts it)

1. How'd you get to be so crazy about rollercoasters? Any in particular that you want to ride that you haven't had the chance to just yet?

It started with seeing a show on either the discovery channel or travel channel about the coasters at Cedar Point. My husband at the time and I saw it and thought, "That looks fun." I went online and found the ACE (American Coaster Enthusiast) website. There was going to be a coaster event at Cedar Point in June that year. I wanted a vacation and thought why not. We joined, went to the event and had a blast. Some rides were still a bit intimidating to me (Millennium Force's 300 ft drop) but it was FUN. Since then, I have been hooked. I like the excitement, speeds, twists, turns, hills, and the little bit of fear.
The coaster I most want to ride right now would be "X" at Six Flags Magic Mountain. I went there two summers ago for an event and it was closed down... arrrggghhhh! There are also several parks I want to go to such as Kennywood and the parks in Florida.

2. You say you like board games, but not RPGs. Why not? Would you be willing to give RPGs a try?

Honestly, I think the RPG stuff is a bit silly. I can kind of understand the attraction in kids with great imaginations, but it's something that just isn't my cup of tea. Seems they're mostly focused on the science fiction genre and that's not really my thing either.

3. Time-travel technology has been perfected. You've been given the chance to have lunch with a famous person from history. Who is it, and what would you talk about?

I would dine with Mozart and talk about music. (Assuming the time travel allowed me to speak Austrian or German)

4. What is your greatest accomplishment to date?

Greatest is my son. I may have not been the perfect mother, but feel I've done a pretty good job with him so far raising him mostly on my own. He's smart, talented, witty and good-looking... all traits he inherited from me of course!
One other thing I'm proud of is graduating magna cum laude from WT with a 3.82 GPA. It took a bit longer (7 yrs) but I had Josh in the middle of it all.

5. What do you like most about Patrick?

He's smart, he's cute, has pretty good taste in music, is a good writer and can use really big words.

THE RULES:
1 - Leave a comment, saying you want to be interviewed.
2 - I will respond; I'll ask you five questions.
3 - You'll update your journal with my five questions, and your five answers.
4 - You'll include this explanation.
5 - You'll ask other people five questions when they want to be interviewed.

Personals

Ok, perhaps I'm shallow or something, but I honestly can't stand it when someone responds to my personals ad and their ad shows that they are only a few inches above the level of imbecile or are completely my opposite. These are actually lines from their ads...
(All grammatical and spelling mistakes left intact)

"I.m 6'3" and about 350 pounds I have red hair {triying to grow it out long again} I have a labret peircing and Im growing my goat tee out its about 5 inches now"

"I am a fun,energetic guy that will promised to show ya a good time, and guaranteed to make ya smile all over,I like to do stuff outdoors, travel, and gamble , so take a chance on of the few good guys left that will steal your heart
looling for a fun lady , that takes care of herself and likes to smile, one that knows how to dress, and still be a true lady "

"someone who belives in one man one woman if thats not not you then keep looking.must be smart careing oh yeah good looking doesnt hurt."

This one was in an email to me... "Hi, there, i'm 25 hispanic dude, i just love how you look. your so beautiful"

"IM LONELY , HOME ALL DAY ALONE.NEED TO FIND SOME FRIENDS AND DO SOMETHING TOGETHER.WALK TALK AND BE HAPPY AGAIN. .LOVE CARS AND WOMAN.BUT NO LOVE OR ROMANCE?FRIEND OR LOVER ITS UP TO YOU.
just got devorced
A LONELY CUTE AVERAGE WOMAN WITH A GREAT PERSONALITY.LIKES TO HAVE FUN AND LIFT MY SPIRITS.SOMEONE WHO LIKES TO DO JUST ABOUT ANYTHING,CUTE AND CUDDLY I HOPE.HAVENT FOUND ANYONE IN LUBBOCK.I JUST MOVED HERE.DOES ANYONE WANT TO GO OUT,OR IS THIS JUST A GAME "

"hi i dont really know where to start im kinda new at this well here goes im 42 have 4 boys that i love very much iv been divorced 4 years and still looking for that speacial woman i like movies flea markets anything to do with outdoors so if you think your that speacial woman let me know "

"i have a beutiful bald head, i play the bass, and i love to make a momen the center of my life. i am very loveable and i like to share my feelings. music and kids are my life "

Perhaps I should overlook such trivialities, but being educated, it's difficult.

Introduction

Guess I should introduce myself to people that might happen to check out this journal of sorts. My real name is Jennifer, nickname is jifner or you can find me on yahoo as annabel_lee_tx. Extra points are given if you know the source of the latter nickname. I'm 34, recently divorced (thankfully), and have a wonderful 13 year old son. My interests include riding coasters (I'm a member of ACE, American Coaster Enthusiasts), reading, music (listening & some playing), playing games (board games, not RPG), and cooking to some degree (though I hate to do dishes). I'm in the process of dating once again and am finding it very interesting. When I was in high school and college I could barely get a guy to ask me out without major interference on my part. (Only on two occasions do I remember a guy calling me up and asking me on a date) Seems now that I'm divorced the men are coming out of the woodwork. It's a nice feeling. It helps that I've lost about 30 lbs (more of an exaggeration these days-- damn scale!) but it makes me feel better about myself and I have a great deal of self-confidence these days. I'm not sure if I'll post much about my dating experiences here (as a certain friend of mine who will probably read this and check it daily might not like that) but it would be interesting reading. I guess I'll keep that for a my private journal (you know the kind where you use a pen). Will have to keep the intro short for now, but am sure will share much more in future posts.