“i have a right to my anger, and i don't want anybody telling me i shouldn't be, that it's not nice to be, and that something's wrong with me because i get angry.”– maxine waters

this quote is directed to my dear friends in apartment 228 of RG.
(RG = roman gardens. and no, you don’t have to be a gladiator to live there.)
(and before you think i’m cheesy and lame, that last gladiator bit was in the housing guide. take it up with them)
here’s the thing:
the boys in 228 think that i need some anger management therapy
because i get angry whenever i hear the song minuet in g by beethoven.
but here’s the other thing:
i’m totally justified!!
storytime:
when i was younger, my dad would wake us up by grabbing the bottom of our blanket and pull it off of us, while singing this song, slowly and annoyingly.
now whenever this would happen, the victim would be instantly filled with anger, frustration, annoyance, and hatred.
it is easily the most annoying thing that has ever happened to me.
and my dad just sits there and laughs.
he thinks it’s the funniest thing.
whatever.
so the other day, i was in 228 and we were watching the music man.
i was extremely tired, and was out cold on the floor.
dead asleep.
now there’s a part in this movie, where some of the guys sing this particular minuet.
as soon as they started, i immediately sat up and got very angry.
i told them the story, and they’ve been making fun of me ever since.
they just don’t understand what that song does to me.
any of my siblings can attest to the horridness of the torture we endured while listening to this song.

but other than that, life is absolutely fabulous!
oh wait.
one more story.
so it had been a couple weeks since i talked to my parents, so i was excited when my mom called me one afternoon.
(this meant they were back in johannesburg and could talk on the phone)
so i talked to my phone for almost an hour, then we were done and i asked to talk to dad.
now, my dad and i have a strange relationship.
example 1
here is how a portion of our conversation went:
tenery: telling him about some of the problems that she was having in her life at the time
dad: *laughter
tenery: dad, i’m sitting here opening up to you, telling you about my problems. i don’t really appreciate you laughing at me. i hardly ever open up to you. this is ridiculous.
dad: hang on. can i make a comment real quick? it’s a lot more fun when you’re not serious. so can you go talk to your bishop about your serious problems? that way i can just make fun of you.
...
yeah that happened.
and that was after he threatened to take me out of his will.
but i love that man.
for riz.

but anyway.
life is amazing.
some things have happened that haven’t been the greatest,
but i decided today that life is so much more fun when you’re happy.
i was insanely happy today.
hyper, even.
people thought i had completely lost it.
but i’m used to that.
so here’s a different quote to end with:

”man is the artificer of his own happiness.” 
–henry david thoreau