Ghost Stories

I have half an hour before my next class and I'm not hungry for lunch because It's 11am and blah blah blah. GHOST STORY TIME!

So last night I was watching The Haunted, a super awesome show on Animal Planet about haunted houses and what not. It got me thinking about ghosts and if I'd ever seen one and the answer is YES. I saw a ghost once... and it was a for real ghost!

Some of you have heard this story before most of you haven’t. But I love to tell it because it’s the only for real paranormal thing to ever happen to me! Yeah, I believe in spirits and ghosts and aliens. How can you not? Human beings hold so much energy and I think that sometimes it just doesn’t go where it’s supposed to; it just chills around the earthly plane to scare the crap out of people. So begins my story… one sunny afternoon…

This happened when I was 16 or 17. I used to work at a retirement home. You’d think that with all the old people dying every week I would have seen a ton of ghosts but I only saw one, one fateful afternoon. I used to work in the dining room as a server. The dining room was big. It held about 30 round and square tables and 4 residents sat at each table, unless they were mean then they sat alone or with one other person. The walls of the dining room were decorated with paintings of plants and pillars to make it look like you were outside and probably to hide the fact that residents were actually just trapped in the retirement home. The dining room was a large rectangle. There were 4 ways in and out of the room. There were the main double doors that led to the hallway to the lobby, the back door that led to the resident rooms, the glass double doors that led to the patio and the two kitchen doors (one in and one out door) that went to the kitchen, obviously. On the back wall there was a server station that housed the cutlery, drink ware, soda tower, soups, ice cream etc. The server station was just a wall basically, a small blocked off section with no doors or windows and we used it to hide from the residents when we forgot their prune juice.

My job as hostess required me to be at work an hour before everyone else to prep everything. This day, I was getting ready for the dinner rush so I was there at around 330 in the afternoon. Residents were not allowed to be in the dining room in between meal times, I don’t really know why but we had to tell them to leave if they were in there. So the setting: Me, alone in the dining room, making iced tea in the server station. I was going in and out of the kitchen through the in/out doors that are right next to each other. At some point, after being in the server station for a while (behind the wall mind you so I couldn’t see the dining room or people coming in or out) I walked super-fast  cuz I was in a hurry, into the kitchen as I walk in I see a man sitting on table #2. I looked at him as I walked through the double door. He was wearing a blue vest with blue pants and maybe blue or white shoes. He had his arms crossed, he was balding and he was looking out the window. He didn’t look up at me or anything. I walked into the kitchen and then thought two things: 1) I’ve never seen this man before so he must be new and 2) I should probably tell him we don’t serve dinner until 5. So I turned right back around and came out of the kitchen and this took approximately 10-15 seconds. SECONDS!! And he was gone.  At this point im not thinking OMG ghost!!! I was kind of confused since he was JUST there and how would a man be able to walk out of the dining room so fast? He was at the furthest possible table from ANY door. So if he had gotten up to leave in 15 seconds he’d still be slowly walking through the dining room. Being the investigator that I am, I went to the front double doors- no one in the hallway. I went to the back door – no one by the rooms. I looked out into the patio-empty. At this point, I started to panic because I had no idea where this dude was and THEN I started to wonder what I’d seen. Finally it hit me that I’d probably just seen a ghost!!! I was way too scared to be excited.

I told the story to Chef (muh boss and mom’s bf) and he just laughed it off. Pretty much no one believed me. But I was sure an old man could NOT run out of that room in the time it took me to literally walk in and out of the kitchen. I knew every resident and I didn’t recognize that guy. And a new guy wouldn’t be playing games with me, would he?! Everyone thought I was joking and it made me mad because I knew what I saw. I could describe the man perfectly! And I can still see him clearly in my mind. He wasn’t a mist, or transparent and he wasn’t hovering or making noises. He was just sitting there staring out the window. I think that’s what made it scarier… that he looked so real? So I told my mom the story about the man I saw. I told her “I saw a man sitting in the dining room with his arms crossed staring out the window and when I went to tell him to leave he was gone.” She looked at me weird and she then asked me if he was sitting at table #2, and if he was wearing blue. I said yes. She said, “That was his favorite color.” And I was like whaaaaaat??? My mom, before working in the dining room at this retirement home, used to be a caregiver. She’s seen lots of people come and go in her time. And apparently she used to take care of this guy until one day he died. I don’t remember how he died but she said that he used to love looking out the window. After she told me that I freaked out a little bit because I knew she wouldn’t joke about that kind of stuff and then I knew it was true. I saw a ghost! And I didn’t even know it at the time!

Looking back I wonder how more scared I would have been if I had gone up to him when I saw him instead of hesitating for a few seconds. Would he have talked to me? Would I have realized he was a ghost? Would I have ever known he was a ghost if I DIDN’T wait to tell him to leave? I dunno! Im glad I waited though because I got to experience something otherworldly and not many people can say that. But, if ghosts look so real, we’ve probably seen way more than we think…

DA END

More stories coming soon to a computer screen near you!

Losing Myself

Here's a long boring post about muh lyfe. You have been warned!


A few people, especially those who follow me on My Fitness Pal, know that I have been slowly but surely trying to lose weight for the past few months. I don’t know what started it or why I decided one day that THIS was the day I would start to get healthy. I think that a big part of the change was due to me WANTING to be healthy. Know what I’m saying? From the very beginning, being SKINNY wasn’t my goal. Being healthy is more important than being thin] and I wanted to make a permanent and sustainable change in my life style so that I could increase my overall health and losing weight, which is also important in order to be healthy, was a by-product of this new life style.


I feel that a lot of people fail at losing weight because their goal is to lose those 10 or 15 lbs by exercising and starving themselves with gross salads and once they reach their goal weight they stop exercising and start eating the wrong things because, hey, they just lost 15 lbs! It doesn’t work like that! If you want to lose weight and keep it off you’re going to have to make permanent changes FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. Otherwise you will always and forever be in a constant battle with delicious greasy foods and gravity will hold you down to the couch instead of getting out there and working out.


My story began last year one day when I weighed myself and got sad because that was the heaviest I’d ever been in my life. At the time, I couldn’t exercise due my back being all messed up and what not so I started making small changes to my eating habits. The hardest habit to break in the history of forever is not drinking soda or ANY sugary drinks. That’s right; I cut out sugary beverages one day COLD TURKEY. Ok, it didn’t actually work like that cuz soda is SOOO GOOD and fruit punch is also good. It was a slow and painful process, and especially difficult since soda is so readily available for me at work. Every time I would want to drink soda I would just get water instead. After a couple months I can honestly say that I have cut out all soda and sugary drinks from my diet! I do have a few sips of lemonade or diet coke every now and again, but my intake of sugary drink has been reduced to almost zero! Think about it: if you drink 32oz of coke let’s say, 5 times a week (and I hope you don’t actually drink that much!!) that’s approximately 300-ish calories PER DRINK. So have that 5 times a week? 1500 calories just by drinking soda once a day. Think of all that sugar you’re putting into your body!

 

The process what slow, but, all I drink now is unsweetened iced tea, water and milk. Oh yeah, earlier this year Vince, for some unknown reason, decided that he was also going to change his eating habits and what not. He eats better and exercises several times a week and he’s lost around 30 lbs!!! Anyway, uhhh where was I… Oh yeah, so, after my back was fixed I was able to start exercising! Vince and I started playing basketball a few times a week, I sometimes go to the GYM and walk for an hour while watching Grey’s Anatomy (so the GYM isn’t HELLA boring), I play Just Dance & DDR and, like a lame-o, I take the stairs instead of the elevator… unless I’ve just finished eating a fatty meal, in which case I take the elevator like a fatty cuz my knees can’t support my own weight!!


The point is, small changes, such as giving up sugary drinks, make a HUGE difference in the long run! I still eat pizza and have Chick-fil-A, the difference is that when I get the #1 combo I get iced tea instead of soda and replace the fries with a fruit cup and when I eat pizza I control how may slices I eat… cuz I never go past 4! LOLOLOL. If you want to lose weight and you’re not super motivated but want to eventually be healthier the best way to do is it slowly because the weight will stay off. And if you’re not starving yourself you’re less likely to binge eat one day because you’re having a bad day and you’re super hungry and all you wanna do is eat your feelings (be every other day lawl jk… kind of).


As of today, I have lost about 20lbs. My goal is to lose at least 20-25 more by my birthday which is January 28. I don’t know if I will be able to reach my goal weight by then since I’m kind of lazy when it comes to exercising. And if I do lose that weight (which I will eventually) I STILL have about 40 more to go. YEAH I WEIGH A LOT WHAT OF IT?! I think that I will be able to accomplish my goals because I realized before I started that these changes were for life and not just for this year, or the summer, or before summer in order to get ready for bikini season, or to be able to fit into those jeans I bought months ago in the hopes that ONE day they would fit (which, by the way, I tried on two days ago and THEY TOTALLY FIT!!) It’s a slow process but, so far, it has been very rewarding! I don’t see any difference in my physical appearance when I look at my body, but I KNOW changes are happening because all my clothes fits a lot looser, people have been asking me, “Did you cut your hair?!” which usually means they can tell I’m losing weight but maybe don’t wanna mention weight because I’ll punch them right in the face!!!


The most important thing of all is that I FEEL healthier. I have more energy, I have built up my stamina and I can play basketball and run up a flight of stairs without being winded. I would like all you pretty ladies out there who need to shed a few lbs to know that it IS possible and you don’t have to kill yourself to do it. Just start with small changes because all those small things add up! If you have a smart phone I also recommend My Fitness Pal to help you track your caloric intake! If you do get it add me! My username is marpizza (duh!)

 
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go stuff my face with BREAKFAST! It's the most important meal of the day so DONT SKIP IT!!!

Best Summer Ever

Add some feeling to your read! Go to the bottom of the page and hit PLAY on dat youtube video, yo.

This summer was one of the best summers I've had in a long time. I didn't go anywhere cool or do anything awesome. I just had fun. It felt like a real summer like when I was a kid. I worked full time and had summer classes but I still managed to squeeze the fun out of every single minute of every single day for 3 months. I guess the main reason it felt like a real summer was because I had three weeks off of work due to my back surgery and for the first time since I started working at Regal I had what felt like a real vacation. I mean, 3 weeks not being at work is a LONG time! That's when I started having fun. Lets start this epic journey of normalcy with my surgery!

At the end of May, exactly 7 days after my last day of school, I had spinal surgery. This was due to a herniated disk that was pinching my nerves so my left leg was constantly in pain. I went in for surgery at 8am and left the hospital at around 330pm. I wasn't in a lot of pain. For the most part my back just felt sore. It's crazy how such a small incision could cause my back to feel so weird! But it did. The first few days were the hardest because I needed help getting up and laying down and for some reason when I lay down and do nothing I have to go to the bathroom about once every hour! A lot of friends came over and helped me out and brought me foods and flowers and hung out with me so I wasn't all alone. After the first week I was able to start walking around. The pain meds that I was on didn't let me sleep because every time I managed to fall asleep I freaked out. So even though I wasn't working and had no reason to wake up early I still got up early and went to sleep late. The pain meds that I was on were pretty sweet. I could lay on the couch watching TV for literally hours on end and it didn't bother me none because time had no meaning for me. The sun rose and set and it was all the same. During my time off I went to visit my family in San Marcos for a week and that was fun! I also started playing Dragonvale while I was recovering cuz I was bored. This is important. 

By the last week of my awesome time off I was dreading going back to work but I had to. At this point it was already June. My first day back to work was HORRIBLE. My body was so used to being lazy that I felt constantly tired and overwhelmed. I almost went home that first day but I toughed it out like a boss. Eventually everything got back to normal. My leg wasn't hurting anymore so Vince and I started playing basketball again! In June, I had a super fun party and then everyone got sick! It was a great party with pizza fondue and Cards Against Humanity. Vince and I went to a DODGERS game and it was fuuun cuz I got a Dodger dog and frozen yogurt in a pink Dodgers helmet! Around this time the awesome tradition of stalking Vince at his theater started with me and Tim! We would to to Fashion Island for dinner and a movie at Island Cinema! In June Vince and I also stalked Cinepolis' around So Cal. We watched Brave in uhhh uhhh I forgot, somewhere in San Diego and then we watched The Dark Knight at the Cinepolis in Ocean Ranch. 

Around June time Vince and I started playing more video games. In particular Mario Party 2 which we downloaded via Virtual Console. We loved MP so much that one day we decided to buy the newest installment for some awesome gaming time! First round of game one, Vince beat me by ONE point and I got super mad. He says he's never seen me so mad lol. We also went to the beach a lot and checked out some sea creatures. June/July was filled with beaches, Yogurtland, Mexican foods, Del Taco foods, movies and video games! In July Rosanna and I went to San Diego for the 25th Anniversary of Zelda concert Symphony of the Goddesses. SUPER AWESOME concert! There was a chick dressed as Zelda playing the ocarina! There were tons of different Link's walking around and a few dudes dressed as Navi (as gross as that is) I had a great time! The concert brought back memories of 1999 and ZChat :) Summer of 99 was also a great summer! In July time and I went to the OC fair! It was fuun. This year I went twice! Both times were awesome! It was super hot and expensive and I drank too much soda and ate a lot of gross foods but it was worth it to spend time with my favorite peeps! 

The Dark Knight came out July 20th and, thanks to some lame-o being dumb, it was not as busy as we had anticipated. But it was still a pretty sweet movie and we had fun during the midnight. Check out all those Banes!

 

Alice came to visit and stayed for a week during the first weeks of August! It was a lot of fun hanging out with her and being crazies just like the good old days! We stayed up late and partied, got drunk, ate lots of junk food, went to Chuck e Cheese (Yeah what of it?!), went to the beach and had the best time ever! I think the highlight of the stay was when Alice and I played Slender Man and I almost threw up! Later that evening the three of us (Vince, Alice and I) watched Paranormal Activity 2. In the movie there's a scene where the chick is in the kitchen then out of no where all the cabinets open up suddenly. WELL, Vince opened all the cabinets in our kitchen when Alice and I were setting up Netflix to watch the movie. Several minutes after that scene had passed Vince asked Alice to get something from the kitchen. Little did Alice know she was about to get the scare of her life! Poor Alice was scared for a minute until she realized it was Vince who set the whole thing up. Good times!!! I was sad when she left but I know we'll have more adventures in the future!!

The official end of summer for me was the first trip to Disneyland of the summer and visiting Cars Land. Disneyland is such a summer time destination that it's hard to NOT go during those hot sunny days! Alice was with us that day as well as Joanne and Chris! Chewie, Ryan and the gang where there too so it was truly a perfect trip! Carsland was fun. That tire ride was dumb but the racers were cool. We had cone shaped food and drank from an orange cone and it was all good! I ended up going Disneyland a few times after that and every time was super fun. It's awesome having an annual pass and living so close to the park! 

 Towards the end of August I started my second year at IVC. School is WACK yo, haha JK it's ok I guess. Well, this brings me to the end of summer time! Like I said, I didn't do anything super awesome like travel to a different country, I didn't even travel very far in California! I didn't see anything amazing, unless you count friends amazing, which I do, so I take that back. I saw a lot of amazing people, hung out with my family, and I just did things every day! The reason that this summer was awesome is because every day I woke up and had a new adventure, even if that adventure was just going to the movies, or playing basketball, or going to Boomers. Even though I worked 5 days a week during the summer it felt like I didn't work at all. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun and was super busy and exhausted and HAPPY every single day all at the same time. I can honestly say that this summer I went to bed and woke up every day with a smile on my face and that is just the greatest feeling ever. I wish I could go back in time and re-live every moment over and over and be happy all the time! But I know that that's not possible, but that doesn't mean that awesome things are happening NOW. Summer may officially be over according to the calendar but, in all honesty, it still feels like summer to me. I'd like to thank all my friends for being awesome and for giving me all these wonderful memories. Also, I have the best roomie in the world!!! Until next summer.

The End.

 

 

I'd also like to thank Koji Kondo for creating that lovely and epic Zelda music which inspired this blog post.