I heart KOK to the max...

because this is what I did today at work.



I cannot believe I actually get paid for playing with kids. It's the greatest job ever! I get to hear the most adorable things, such as:

"I can't eat apples. I can't eat corn. I can't eat snowcones. It's a hard life without your two front teeth." --Nathaniel, 7

On Tuesday, I begin my second job. I am trying to approach it as being just another job where I work with kids...only much older kids. They probably won't hang on me like the elementary school kids do, but they will probably roll their eyes and trash-talk me more. It should be an adventure!

But, hey...it's always good for me to have something to motivate me to get out of bed before 11am, other than my favorite television programs. Now I get up at 7, but I am up and out of the house and making some form of income, which is definitely better than what I was doing, which was...jack, really.

It's a long way to Tipperary...

Do any of you know this old Irish folk song?

It's a long way to Tipperary,
it's a long way to go.
It's a long way to Tipperary,
to the sweetest girl I know.
Goodbye Piccadilly!
Farewell Leicester Square!
It's a long, long way to Tipperary,
but my heart's right there.

One morning, I looked out of the window as we were driving and saw a sign that read "Tipperary County". I realized then that I had come quite a long way.

Here are several of the promised photographs from my trip. I will write more about the actual ongoings later, but right now, I just want to look through photos.


Having drinks at a pub in Dublin with Alicia and Stephanie. After this night, it became somewhat of a ritual.


This river ran parallel to the street our hotel was on in Dublin.


Dove Cottage: Home of William Wordsworth.


The Irish Countryside.


Salisbury Cathedral.


This Scottish guy was all dressed up to play the bagpipes.


Taken from a castle in Ireland.


Irish Coffee is fabulous. I think, if American coffee was made this way, we would all be much more friendly early in the morning. It's made with Irish Whiskey, coffee, and thick cream.


A beautiful stream somewhere in England.


The Roman Baths in Bath.


Stonehenge. While there my mind kept replaying the song from "This is Spinal Tap". Stonehenge...where the midgets dance with the pipes of Pan.


Buckingham Palace. The Queen stood me up for our afternoon tea-and-crumpets party. You can tell by the photo that I was somewhat disappointed. More about the crumpets than meeting the Queen.


The London Eye.


Across from our hotel in the Docklands, a quick tube ride from central London.


I wasn't too sure about this guy. I don't think he was too sure about me either.


Another photograph taken from a castle in Ireland.


A farmhouse in Kerry.


Castle stairs.


Guinness' for everyone! My first Guinness, but certainly not my last.


Big Ben.


A narrow street somewhere in England.


Brighton Pier. This is where we stayed our first night in England. Actually we stayed across the street, not on the carousel, silly.


The Tower Bridge, right beside the Tower of London.


The Queens gardens at her summer home...or rather, summer castle.


Taken on a tour of a castle.


The Bay of Bengal.


Mom and me after lunch in Soho.

Four words for Mr. and Mrs. Smith...

Oh my sweet lord...

Winds are whipping waves up...

Silent Sea by KT Tunstall

I was happy in my harbour
when you cut me loose.
Floating on an ocean
and confused.
Winds are whipping waves up
like sky scrapers,
and the harder they hit me
the less I seem to bruise.

Oh when I
find the controls
I'll go where I like.
I'll know where I want to be.
But maybe for now,
I'll stay right here
on a silent sea...
on a silent sea.

Slowly, slowly love...

...slow down my bleeding heart. A man dreams one day to fly. A man takes a rocketship into the sky. He lives on a star that's dying in the night, and follows in the trail the scatter of light. Turn it on. Turn it on. You turn me on. --U2

I am back from Great Britain and missing the cool weather in a big way. I stepped off of my flight into DFW and was tempted turn right back around, taking a return flight to London, when the hot summer air basically slapped me in the face.

I have so much to write about and so many photographs I want to post, but right now there is not enough time. I am trying to make some employment decisions, figuring out which job I want to take. I am not too sure about this whole "adult" thing. Money is nice, but deciding who you want to work for and weighing who you will be working with, how much you will be making, etc. kind of sucks. Maybe I will crack the code and figure out how to be several places at once. That way I could say yes to all three jobs and have three sources of income...that would be nice. Hey, if any of you have the code, pass it along this way. It will be our secret.

Speaking of secrets...Tuesday, 5 am, Denny's. You know who you are.

I promise to get photos and stories up soon. Tonight The Core 47, formerly known as Core 47 (just) will be playing, and they are adding a few new songs to the docket. Excitement!

And to those of you that hung out last night, I had a great time. There is nothing better to come home to than a group of your best friends. I seriously haven't laughed that hard in...as long as I can remember. I didn't even have anything to add to the conversation, just sitting back and listening to your quick-witted back and forth comedy (albeit often crude) was almost too much to handle. This morning I woke up and my sides actually hurt...that's a sure sign that you guys are the funniest people in the world!

And to Cliff...thank you for my welcome home present. You know how I love classics, and "The Scarlet Letter" somehow seems so fitting. Hawthorne would be proud of your scholarly-dark humor. I know Ashley and I most definitely are.

Okay...I have to go. More to follow.

Slainte!

Explore. Dream. Discover...

"Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."--Mark Twain

I leave for Europe on Wednesday and I will be back at the end of the month. I hope June treats all of you well. When I get back I will post photographs and any entertaining vignettes from my trip. I will miss all of you very much and I look forward to partying the summer nights away when I get back.

I think I love you...

innocently.

This photo was taken seconds before we beat up the photographer. You can tell something's up by the fact that Ashley's hat is sideways.


I will miss my brain twin and our Tee Cake while I am gone. Don't have too much fun without me.

Goulet!

Um, yeah...

Our t-shirts (or rather the fine people at AE) have informed us that love is for losers and it, apparently, means nothing.


At first I was bitter towards this outlook on love. Cliff was just kind of weepy and disappointed.


Then he started reminiscing about all of the times love has let him down. He started humming sappy love ballads from the 80's. This is when I became the weepy and disappointed one. I could really relate to his pain...or maybe it was Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" being hummed in my ear; the chorus gets me every time.


Finally we decided to suck it up. Maybe the loves we have come across haven't meant much, maybe our past relationships have made us feel like losers, but there is better out there. Indeed. After coming to this conclusion, Cliff headed to Bedford Street where he was approached by many charming and beautiful women who wanted him to serenade them on his guitar. I told him this would be the perfect arena to perform the sappy love ballads. As he struck the first chord of Billy Joel's "She's Got A Way" I decided that in order to find my next love I need to get out of this town. Abilene seems to be quite "picked over"; the available men in this town are the equivalent to the bargain bin at Wal-Mart (barring several awesome guys who unfortunately cannot get out of Abilene). Maybe I will meet someone in England during my upcoming trip. I would totally dig a guy with an accent.

Nothing unusual, nothing's changed...

just a little older that's all.--Damien Rice

I had another birthday yesterday...23. The entire day was awesome, due solely to my family and friends. I am so blessed; I got to see all of my family and friends that are in town, and for those that live or are vacationing elsewhere, I got to talk to them. I want to say thank you to all of you that made my 23rd birthday unbelievably special.

I woke up and had breakfast with my parents. Rachel took me out for lunch at Hickory Street Cafe and gave me a bouquet of gorgeous mums. I gave myself the gift of an overpriced haircut(new haircut, new year). I visited my grandmother. I had dinner with my family at Abuelo's, where I received a dictionary (which I really needed for editing purposes) from my parents, along with some money (the fact that I received a dictionary for my birthday should explain certain aspects of my life). I met Ashley, Cliff, and Toby for drinks at Buffalo Wild Wings, where I received a "Lionel Richie Fan Club" shirt, a Long Island Iced Tea, and a beautiful frame inside a bag with an old woman's face on it (the cards are too inappropriate to describe). I concluded the night by visiting with Ruth and Rachel and then eating milk and cookies while watching yesterday's taped episodes of "Judging Amy". I know, I am predictable and over-40's.

All in all, it was the best day I have had in a long time, and I am so thankful to have been surrounded by the people I love.

I have two random stories and then some photographs to post.

1. On Memorial Day my mother was sitting outside watching my brother ride his bike. Our neighbors are slightly strange, but we just ignore their "weirdness" and try to concentrate on the "weirdness" that is innate to all McFarlands. On this particular day, it was hard to ignore. At 2:50 pm the mother comes outside and yells at the little girl who is rollerblading down the sidewalk, "Hurry up! Come here. Hurry! Hurry!" This continues until the little girl is standing on the porch of the house. The father then comes out with the son, who is in high school. The mother is like, "Hurry! Hurry! Put your hand on your heart! Hurry!" My mother is sitting in a chair on the driveway trying not to make eye contact with my brother because she knew it would only instigate inappropriate laughter. Once the family is all standing there with their hands over their hearts, the son takes a trumpet out from behind his back and begins blowing "Taps". I am not kidding about this. The son performed "Taps" in its entirety and then the family automatically dispersed. Maybe the fact that I find this hilariously awkward means that I am just an ass and I should be more patriotic, or maybe it means that they are insane. I will go with the latter. This scene needs to be in a movie...a Wes Anderson movie I think.

2. Has anyone seen the new Aspercreme commercial?! I laughed out loud the first time I saw it. Heck, I laugh out loud every time I see it. I actually went and dragged my brother out of his room to watch it with me. Maybe this makes me immature, but really, it is hilarious. I really don't know how their ad agency got away with it, but it's comedic genius at its finest. The jingle at the end of the commercial actually says, "You bet your sweet Aspercreme!" What?! Are you kidding me?! That is hilarious!

Okay, now for the photos. I got my hair cut and I promised several of you I would post before and after shots, so here you go!

Before:





After: