November 1. I am thankful that I don’t work at my old job anymore. It was eating my soul.
November 2. Work appropriate skinny leg pants from The Limited.
November 3. My sweet Marc. Always there to hold my hand when it hits the fan.
November 4. Wildfire Adventures Fitness Boot(y) Camp! The toughest class you’ll ever love.
November 6. MY PARENTS GOT A POOL. Sure, they waited until after I moved 2.5 hours away, but did they think that would deter me? Even my bf Rebecca took the Megabus down from New York for this.
November 7. Whomever made this glorious painting.
November 8. Friday lunches out with my co-workers. AND today is payday!
November 9. I love nature, especially when I am camping in it. This weekend I am camping with friends from my college Outdoor Club. I can’t wait to relive the memories and spend the night sleeping outside in -30 degree weather. Really, I mean it!
November 10. My parents. Putting up with my B.S. for nearly 25 years now. That is longer than most people stay at a paying gig.
November 11. Thank a Veteran. Happy Veterans Day!
November 12. COFFEE. It makes my brain feel like rainbows. (Photo Credit: Deviant Art, LynnTattoos)
November 13. I’m glad to be a woman with a modern, career-oriented lifestyle. The pictured quote from Marina Abramovic pretty much sums up how I feel. I think the word “feminist” has come to have a negative connotation. Can’t I just be a strong and independent human being? What should my successes and failures have to do with being a woman?
November 14. The “Thrift Shop” song by Macklemore. Now I don’t have to live in shame anymore (Just kidding, I have no shame)! Thrift shopping is fun and it helps the community, not to mention that is satisfies my need to own cool things without paying full price.
November 15. I am reluctantly thankful for the Intercounty Connector. I have the same love-hate relationship with this road as most PG-MC commuters. The idiotically low speed limit and disproportionately high toll work together to quickly get me to work and separate me from my paycheck. Others may choose to rip their hair out on the Beltway for free, but I like to have a chance of making it to my 8:30 am job before noon. Intercounty Connector- Raping your EZ-Pass since 2011.
November 16. This is my ride-or-die 2007 Honda Civic. I paid for it all on my own and it was worth the struggle! I don’t know where I would be without my “mobile office.”
November 17. ART. Art, art, art, all day every day. Did you know that my parents never discouraged me from growing up to become a graphic artist? And here I am, all in one piece with food and shelter. What a world.
November 18. Yes, the people are snooty and the traffic patterns are monumentally asinine (see what I did there), but I am happy to live near a cultural capital with so many incredible museums and fun events. The town I grew up in has less than 5 traffic lights, so you can imagine my excitement.
November 19. I’m thankful for all of the time I have ever spent at the beach. I worked in Ocean City, Maryland for five years and it seems like such a lifetime ago since graduating and getting an office job. Here is a picture of my friend Nicole and I in the Assawoman Bay, digging for clams and getting dodged by passing boats. The cooler is tethered to a surfboard, in case you were wondering. This was in 2009 but I remember almost getting run over by the “Judith M” tourism boat like it happened this morning.
November 20. This sweet record player-inside-of-a-suitcase that my friends Susan and Kara gave me for my birthday last year. Shown here also is the greatest Christmas album of all time: the original “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” tv special soundtrack, found at Sal’s Army for two bucks!
November 21. Susan and Kara! Here we are on a cheesesteak run in Atlantic City during Susan’s birthday weekend. These are my Chick Fil A-working, lawn-forking, Plaza Tapatia-eating bitches.
November 22. Via Ferrata. I am the speck in the pink raincoat in the middle of the bridge of death. Unfortunately this Via Ferrata has changed hands and become super expensive, but I’ll never forget the way our group challenged ourselves to climb that course and how we all succeeded and celebrated together. Via Ferrata means “iron way,” and this course is literally a series of rungs and rope bridges winding around a mountain in Nelson Rocks, WV. How come every time I do something terrifying, I am in West Virginia?
November 23. I had the most amazing birthday party today! Lots of people turned out, and I debuted my new fire pit. As you can see here, the fire was about six feet tall and sideways.
November 24. Oh, Photoshop. Many people use Photoshop to perpetuate a standard of unattainable beauty. However, my favorite use of Photoshop is to restore old family photos and to correct documents where other people have misspelled my name.
November 25. Today is Monday. Thankfully, like all Mondays before it, it presumably will end.
November 26. This is overdue, but I am very, very, extremely glad that the finale of Breaking Bad did not suck. It would have ruined my year and probably my boyfriend Marc’s, as well.
November 27. Today I got to leave work early, travel to my parents’ house and have birthday part 2 with friends and family. Everything about today was awesome.
November 28. Happy Thanksgiving! My aunt and uncle deep fried the turkey again this year. YES.
November 29. My pet Uromastyx, Liz Lemon.
November 30. Today I am glad that I got to spend some time with my grandmother, Betty. We hit all of the hot spots around town: Denny’s, Hobby Lobby and the mall. Here’s a picture of Betty chillin with my grandfather in the 70’s. Rent is due tomorrow and I spent all my money on Hobbit-themed breakfasts for us at Denny’s, but that’s the life of an OG.
Randie Hovatter 