If only ...

... I were Audrey Hepburn (with Katherine Hepburn's personality ... which I kind of already have ... just a little ...). My mild interest in the "Hepburn era" has morphed into a full-blown obsession. So much so that a colleague at work (AT) brought me in an original December 1955 issue of Seventeen Magazine. It's fabulous. I love the clothes and the styles and the prices of things (A bottle of perfume for $3.00! A stand mixer for $25!) If only I were alive then ... ahh ... le sigh.

I've already commissioned a colleague from AT to sew me a dress. She is a fashion design major and loves to sew. She's going to sew me the dress below (the blue one) in this really pretty pink (of course!) fabric. SOOO excited!! Hopefully I'll have it in a few weeks. Then I'll have to buy a petticoat to fill it out. Yeah!

In other news, the countdown is on. I get out of this hellhole in 33 hours. Damn it's gonna drag by!

LL is the bestest friend ever. She totally helped me out today. She came by the AT to fill out an application (I so want to hire her!) and then went to my house while I finished my shift and took The Beast on a walk. I had an apointment at 2:00 with The BaraCuda and then headed straight to AT for my shift. I had no time to let The Beast out. But LL was totally cool with it, and that is why I love her so much! She rocks. Coolest chick in America. And, to top it off, she is totally staying over tomorrow night and driving me to the airport on Thursday morning. At 5:30am. She is amazing. And is totally getting a kick ass present from Boston. I love that girl.

I love work weeks that only last for three days!

Finger update

It still hurts but not as much. The swelling has gone down, but the clicking remains. I'm thinking about canceling my ortho appointment for Wednesday. The rational part of me says that I should go to the appointment to be proactive. The normal part of me says screw it. I wonder which one will win ...

The hip still hurts a little. I can't sleep on my left side which sucks because I am a left-side sleeper. That pisses me off.

Peace out.

A new form of Comps Anxiety

So, a few weeks ago, I posted a blog about my amazingly good health. I'm such a dumbass. Way to freakin' curse myself.

I woke up on Monday and my hip was a little sore. This is relatively normal. My joints are a little weak, and I often have to "pop" my left hip when I am working out. No big. It pops and then it stops hurting. So, I ignored the pain, hopped on the bike and peddled my ass to the gym to work out. I figured that the exercise would work out the kinks.

Alas, I was wrong. It is now Friday and the damn thing still hurts. I'm not sure if it has popped or needs to pop, but it hurts. I can still walk and all that, but occasionally I need to favor it and put my weight on the right. It definitely hurts less today than Monday, but the fact remains that it hurts. Hopefully it will go away soon. Very soon.

More importantly, my right hand -- my DOMINANT hand -- is on the outs. When I was in undergrad (2001, I think?) I had a cyst on the tendon in my right index finger. The cyst would cause my finger to lock in place and be really sore. After a GIANT cortisone injection didn't make it go away, I had to have minor surgery to remove the cyst. By minor I mean the the incision was small. I had to be put out (general anesthesia) and the orthopedist had to go in and cut the damn thing off of my finger. It's actually a pretty cool little scar. But, back to my point. A new one has emerged on my right ring finger. At least, that is what I think it is. It feels the same except that it hurts LIKE HELL. Of course, I use this hand to do, well, everything. I type with it, drive with it, write with it ... you name it, I do it with my right hand. I have a doctor's appointment on Wednesday (right before I leave town for Boston) to figure this thing out. But I'm basically in a no-win situation. If I need surgery on it, I can't have it until after my comps. Of course, if they can't fix it until after my exams, I have to deal with the pain and limited mobility until then and, more importantly, THROUGH then. I hoping he can shoot me full of cortisone to make the pain go away and at least get me through till my exams are over.

Damnit. Curses!

A Random Update

It's the start of week 3 of the semester, and I already wish it was over. The semester, not the week. Well, I guess the week as well. Ugh. This could be the worst semester ever for obvious reasons.

I've been having very mixed feelings about the whole comps thing. Some days I feel mostly ready and other days I feel like I am still on Square One. Is that normal? Will I ever really feel ready to do this? I just want it to be over. Over and done with. I'm actually looking forward to the dissertation jut so this bullshit is over.

On a happy note, I leave for Boston in a week. We'll be up there for a little less than a week. We'll do some museums, take in a BoSox game, eat good food, and relax. It will be a nice break. It's rather sad to think that I need a break already. I mean, seriously.

The activities of the semester aren't all that bad. The student athletes are tolerable at worst and entertaining at best, and AT is going well. It's the busyness that is wearing me down. I am always doing something ... studying, working, working out, cleaning, going hither and thither. It gets old so fast. But it builds character, right?

Yeah. Right. By the time I am done with this whole process, I will have all the character I could ever want.

A New Sensation

I went to bed with the windows open last night. It was fabulous. My room is situation so that the headboard of my bed is against a window and the other window runs along the side of my bed. I opened both windows wide open and set the fan up in the window along the side of my bed. (Hanna, you don't scare me! I can handle your rain!)

I woke up at about 5am to the feel of a cool breeze blowing across me and the sound of rain falling right next to me head. It was like I was outside ... but without the whole "getting rained on" thing. It was incredibly soothing. I could hear the rain hitting the leaves on the trees outside of my window. It was fantastic. I quickly fell back asleep and stayed that way for another three hours. Of course, I woke up with just a touch of water in the window with the fan, but it was very manageable.

And now I have to go to work. Well, it was good while it lasted.

Working from home

I love that my job at the university is flexible enough to let me work from home on certain days. I woke up this morning with no real desire to go into the office. It's a cardio day at the gym, but I can make up for that by going for a nice long walk with Bailey (and she really deserves it!). I had a ton of computer-based work to do for the athletes, so I figured I would fire up the ole' laptop and do it here. Luckily, all of the paperwork that I needed was here.

So, here I sit, on the couch with the laptop where it belongs ... on my lap, of course! I've finished most of the work, and now I get to eat lunch and give my teeth a good brushing for my dentist appointment. After that, I return home for some comps studying. Yeah for that.

I met with KK yesterday regarding my comps questions. I left the meeting feeling rather confident about her section. Of course, I still have a ton of work to do, but it is far more manageable, and I feel good about it. Not great, but good. I'll take that.

52 days and counting.

Another milestone!!

I have finished typing in all of my preliminary notes!! Yeah!

Of course, now I need to go back and fill in the holes and gaps, but that's part of my review. The exhausting transcription process is over though!

On to the next phase!

(Oh! I met with my special topics person the other day and we literally wrote the three questions that will appear on the exam. And she told me, "Only prepare for one and two. Don't really worry about three." So there's a little release in the anxiety on that front!)

55 days and counting!

Just call me "Auntie MaryBeth"

As some of you may know, our good friends in Durham recently had a baby boy, Jeffrey. He is now about a month old and is cute as can be. He has an older sister, Claudia, who is the most adorable little girl and is a whole heap of trouble. (You know, trouble in a cute and adorable way!)As it turns out, Jeffrey doesn't like to sleep well at night, and Mommy gets roughly 4 hours of sleep per night. Of course, this makes life miserable. Daddy works all day, and he get up with the baby at 5am so Mommy can have a break. But Mommy chases around a two-and-a-half year old in addition to little Jeffrey, so she gets pretty worn out. In addition to it all, Mommy and Daddy sleep in seperate bedrooms because Baby Jeffrey is so fussy. They haven't slept in the same bed since his birth! That is unacceptable. As a new baby gift, I volunteered to spend all of Friday and Friday night with the family so that they could spend more quality time with Claudia and so Mommy could get a little bit more rest.

I got to their house around 9:30am on Friday, and we left shortly after because Mommy needed to go to the doctor to get her allergy shots. I couldn't imagine having to do that simple task all alone with two little ones. It was enough to wrangle the two of them with two of us. I don't know how she does it every day alone. After allergy shots was a play date with a friend and lunch. Once lunch was in us, we went home and Claudia laid down for her nap. I insisted that Mommy take a nap as well since I was there to deal with Baby Jeffrey. Everyone says that you should sleep when the baby sleeps, but that is a bit impossible with a two-year-old as well! So Mommy and Claudia slept for about three hours while I entertained Baby Jeffrey. He's a fussy one and takes FOREVER to drink a 4 oz. bottle. I'm talking, 45 minutes to an hour to drink it. Sometimes you just want to squeeze the bottle to make him eat faster, but that would be bad.

After naps, we all had dinner. The Boy had just arrived into town from Richmond (job interviews) and Daddy was home from work. We ate outside on the porch and Daddy, Claudia, and The Boy did some "big jumps" on the trampoline after dinner. (I wish it had been light enough to take some video of that!). The Boy left after dinner, and Claudia went to bed around 9. After Baby Jeffrey had his last feeding of the night (at about 10:30), we all went to bed. Mommy and Daddy actually got to sleep together, and Baby Jeffrey and I headed to the guest bedroom for the night.

It wasn't too bad, but it was rough. Baby Jeffrey slept from 11pm until about 2am. Then he was wet and hungry, so we had a change and a bottle. He finished eating around three, and then he didn't want to go back to sleep. He fussed and bleated (like a little goat), and eventually I laid him on my chest and he quickly fell asleep. Of course, he slept soundly, but it is rather hard to get a good sleep with a little baby laying across your chest. You're just so hyper-sensitive to movement and sound. He woke back up around 5:20am and fed until 6ish. At that point, we were really over the whole sleeping thing. I tried the "sleep on the chest" thing, but he wasn't having it. He was really hungry again at 7:30, so we ate again. At that point, it was too late to go back to bed so we went downstairs and started our day. Mommy, Daddy, and Claudia didn't wake up until 8:30!! They had a good night's sleep.

Of course, it wouldn't have been so bad if I didn't have to work the next day at AT. I was a friggin' zombie. I can't operate on 4 or 5 hours of sleep. I don't know how Mommy does it every day. One day practically killed me.

Despite the exhaustion, I had a lot of fun. It was great to be able to help them out and make their lives just a little bit easier ... even if it were only for a day. I got to bond with the new baby and Claudia, and that was pretty cool. More importantly, I confirmed my desire to never have children. I love babies, and they are adorable. But I especially love giving them back when they have muddy pants or they throw up or they get cranky. Short term, I can handle it. Long term, I think I would go insane from sleep deprivation.

Last Day of Freedom!

Today is the last day of the summer. Le Sigh. How sad. Of course, I mourned the passing of summer in appropriate style. I took the day off (for the most part) and chilled. I woke up at 9am (after a very rough night of sleep ... I woke up like twelve times and couldn't fall back asleep ... ugh, I hate nights like that) and lounged around the house until about 11am. I went to Target and stocked up on a few gym and office necessities (and I got to see the Queen of the West Bank doing some indulgent shopping of her own ... don't you just love financial aid checks?!?!). After I hit the Target, I went to the office to drop off my meals/snacks/water for the week and then to the gym to set up my locker for the semester. LL and I had lunch at this really crappy Mexican place up the street (note: Don't eat at Tequila Joes. It's rather scary), and I came home and took a two hour nap. However, I did do some work, reading a bit of material for my 19th century list! Yeah me!

Now I'm heading to 7pm mass and then will be going to bed early to prepare for tomorrow. I need to be up at 5am to be at the gym by 6. Ugh. Just the sound of that kills me. But I can do it!

Cute newborns and cute toddlers

The Boy and I met up with friends tonight to go to the Durham Bulls game. It was also the first time that we got to meet their new little guy, Jeffrey David. He's about a month old now and is very cute. Almost as cute as his older sister, Claudia. We had mucho fun-o, especially since the company that The Wiz (our friend in Durham) covered the ticket costs and the great food spread that they offered.

The new male heir, waving hello.

Claudia watching the game, waiting for the Home Run Bull to light up and blow smoke.

The Prince ... asleep

Claudia taking off like a bird

And my camera takes panoramics!! How fantastic!

On a related note, I volunteered to spend all day Friday and Friday night at their place, helping with the cherubs. I offered to take night duty so Momma could get a good night's rest. I hope I know what I'm getting myself into.

I want a new pet

How can you not simply love this face?He definitely wants to come home with me.

(See what happens when I wake up at 7:30am on a Saturday and start watching Jack Hanna's Into the Wild? Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaad news.)

Busy Blog Day!

Wow. This is like my third or fourth post of the day! See what happens when I get a whole day off to do nothing but putz around?

Anyway, The Boy sufficiently apologized last night for his former indiscretions with a fabulous dinner at Table 16 which included THREE desserts! You know that's how we roll. I'm glad he made up with me, so I could be happy for him and all of his recent job-related good news. He's had three job fairs -- one in Atlanta, one in Richmond, and one in DC -- and he's had FOUR callbacks for interviews! Three are really big firms (including one in BOSTON!) and one is a smaller firm. He's pretty stoked about this as am I. We've already talked about the fact that if he gets a great job next summer making 3k a week (yeah, you read correctly. THREE THOUSAND A WEEK!!!!!), Bailey and I will be moving in with him for the summer. We'll pay the rent on the apartment (or perhaps sublet it to someone) and just chill for the summer. Of course, I'll get bored and end up transferring to an AT in the Boston area for the summer. I'm really happy how things are working out for him. God is certainly smiling down on him.

Fall Schedule

I'm excited for next week because that means that a normal, regimented schedule will finally be in place again. I like having flexibility, but I really like having a regular schedule detailed out. Call me a creature of habit, but I look forward to having a predictable, regular schedule.

So, here it is!

Monday	6am - Workout	8-Noon – Office Hours	PM – Study/AT
Tuesday	6am – Workout	8-Noon – Office Hours	PM – Study/AT
Wednesday	6am – Workout	8-Noon – Office Hours	PM – Study/AT
Thursday	6am – Workout	8-Noon – Office Hours	PM – Study/AT
Friday	6am – Workout	8-Noon – Office Hours	PM – Study/AT
Saturday	SLEEP	Study/AT/Errands	Study/AT/Errands/Mass
Sunday	SLEEP	Study/AT/Errands/Mass	Study/AT/Errands

Boring, but predictable. It seems to compensate for all of the other craziness going on in my life!

Appropriate Use of Quotation Marks

Good times, good times!

No vaca for me

The Boy decided yesterday that he couldn't wait for me to get out of work to go to DC for the weekend. Yeah. He made that decision without consulting me. Clearly, I'm a bit pist. I was really looking forward to tooling around the city and hanging with Kia (I'm so sorry I suck. Or, more accurately, my boyfriend sucks.) and enjoying a quiet weekend with the man I sometimes love. He's coming back tomorrow night rather than on Sunday and is convinced that we can have a "romantic" weekend here in the 'boro. Um. No. We spend EVERY weekend in the 'boro. I'm bored with that. It's not romantic when you have to cook your own meals, wash your own dishes, pour your own wine, and make your own beds. Call me crazy (or just plain spoiled), but it is what it is.

I'm still really pist that I don't get to see Kia. Damn stupid boyfriends!

Real Progress

Guess who just finished all of her preliminary readings for her comps?

It's me! It's me!

What a nice milestone to hit right before a vaca with The Boy and the semester begins. I'm breathing a little easier.

Literary Comics

A nice way to start the day!

(If you click on the comic, it will open in a bigger window. I couldn't figure out how to make it bigger. Technology escapes me.)

The picture I wish I hadn't lost

So, all the pics were lost with the stolen camera. And there was one I REALLY wanted to share. Luckily, other people have the same sense of humor as I do, so I was able to steal it from Google.

Yep. Po'white. That's what it says. I love it.

Back from Richmond

The Boy and I are back from our trip to Richmond. We saw the Poe museum, Maymont estate, and we ate really great food. I bought a cute new dress at this vintage shop in Carytown, and I cannot wait to find an excuse to wear it!

I'd show you pictures, but someone forgot to lock the car when we got home last night (I'm sure you can guess ... If not, I'll give you a hint. The person in question has a penis.), and someone rifled through my car, stealing my camera. Yep. I'm pist.

The Coddling of Children

**Spoiler Alert**

I just finished reading the entire Chronicles of Narnia collection in the order that they were intended to be read (opposed to the order in which they were written). I enjoyed the series, and I can certainly see how children and young adults enjoy these stories. As an educated woman, I can see the "preachiness" of the books, but I think I'm coming at them with a mind that is too critical. The fantasy and magic in the texts make them palatable and enjoyable for kids. And if they are reading AND getting a decent moral message, I'm happy. While reading, I find myself thinking about how these books would be received in today's world.

While there are many battle scenes in the series, there is remarkably little blood. It is rarely -- if ever -- mentioned but the battles are pretty hard core. I mean, after all, we are fighting against all forms of evil here! One cannot expect that to be neat and tidy. Of course, little blood makes these books more PC for the kiddies and their helicopter parents. This element of blood-less violence doesn't affect my feelings towards the book. I think that they are powerful with or without the blood. But, without the blood, we don't mind our kids reading them. Add the blood back in and they suddenly become questionable.

My biggest surprise came at the end of The Last Battle. Every central human character dies in this book. They are in a train wreck and ascend into heaven to be with Aslan. Of course, the train wreck is only mentioned in passing and there are no gory details, but EVERYONE DIES. How is that okay? I mean, I'm fine with it, but parents are always complaining about un-happy endings (Although ascending into heaven is a rather happy ending ... isn't it what we all aspire to?) and death in kiddie lit. How did this text, from arguably THE MOST celebrated juvenile series of all time, not receive all kinds of backlash for having the characters die? The ending works well with the themes and morality of the text, but they die. Weren't parent's pist about this?

Don't get me wrong. I think the ending is wonderful. I'm trying to figure out when we stopped letting kids experience life as it is and started fashioning a perfect little life with no sadness or struggle for them. I certainly wasn't coddled as a child, but I look at some of my relatives and their children live in a bubble! They can't be exposed to sadness or truth or reality (but they can watch horrifically violent TV and movies) because it will "traumatize" them or "scar" them. What? Does that mean that we are all scarred and in need of a good therapist? I think not. While I don't think that life should be a school comprised solely of hard knocks, I do believe that those experiences mold us and prepare us for the real tests of life. Wouldn't a parent prefer their child to gain some experience with death and mortality through well written literature so that when the reality of death and mortality actually appear (and no amount of coddling will prevent it from happening), the kids will be somewhat more prepared for it?

The coddling of our children has produced an entire generation of feeble forever-children who lack the independence and life skills to adequately fiction in the real world. I mean, young men are returning to their parents' hoes after graduation from college to live for up to 8 years (3 on average). These Man-Boys have no real life coping skills. Our girls still believe that Prince Charming is going to ride in on a white steed to take them away to a perfect little suburban castle. They make stupid decisions when they go out with their friends and then suffer the horrible consequences later. By coddling them, we've stripped them of essential skills.

But, they're better off innocent, right?

When do we learn to hate?

I was at work the other day (it was actually a few weeks ago, but I've just now had the opportunity to write about it), and I witnessed a truly amazing, adorable, and thought-provoking scene. It really got me thinking about our culture and race relations.

I was in the front of the store, happily greeting clients as they came in. Clients often shop with their kiddies, and it is fun to see their happy and mischievous little faces as they look around. A small Korean family entered the store with an ADORABLE little boy. He was probably two or three. Old enough to walk around on his own but not really talking all that much. He hung out with his dad in my area as his mom shopped. He played in the clothing and Dad kept a close eye on him. About five minutes after they entered the store, another mom and child (Caucasian) entered. The boy she had with her was about the same age as the little Korean boy, and, as soon as the two little boys saw each other, they stopped dead in their tracks and smiled.

They were instantly friends. They sat down beside each other on the floor and "talked" in their own little language. They walked around together and held hands. They played in the racks as their parents watched over them. They made fast friends and were quite the chums. When one mom picked up her son to keep him from causing trouble, the two little boys reached for each other and cried out. It was heartwarming and sweet. I watched them for as along as I could before the duties of Sales Lead came rushing back to me.

I haven't been able to shake the image of these two boys. I really wonder, "When do we learn to hate?" At what age do we learn that skin color is an acceptable basis for judgement? At what point in our lives do we stop making friends simply to make friends and start making friends that fit into a certain mold? We all know that racism and prejudice is instilled early on from our families, our culture, and our society, but when does it really take hold? Clearly these two little boys hadn't been indoctrinated into the racism of our culture (and I hope that they never are!), but I found myself wondering when it would happen. Rather than simply watching two little boys play together in a women's clothing store, I observed a Korean boy playing with a Caucasian boy with no boundaries or pre-set rules. This scene should not have amazed me so. It shouldn't have made me so happy inside. It should be regular and ordinary.

But it's not. All too soon these boys will learn that you "stay with your own kind" and you don't trust those who are different from you. Will they be that way next year? In two years? In six months? When will their open-mindedness and loving natures be suddenly directed only to those who share the same pigmentation and cultural heritage?

I think about these little boys a lot. They really make me wonder about our culture and how race functions. I also wonder if it will ever change. I pray to God that it does and that these little boys will be an example for the rest of us.

Food for thought

When I think about the last three years (and, in reality, most of my life), I've been sick. I've always had head colds or stomach issues or general ickiness. I mean, just look at the blogs I wrote just a year ago. Here, here, here, and here. Of course, the insurance issues only amplified the feels of yuckiness, but I was sick a lot. That's pretty much the story of my life. As long as I can remember, I've been a sicky. Or, as The Boy likes to say, I have a "delicate constitution."

However, I made a startling realisation the other day while in the shower. (You know, that's where I do my deep thinking.) I'm healthy. And I feel good. I haven't been sick (other than premenstrual which really doesn't count as "sick") in months. The last time I can remember feeling truly crappy was January. That was when I got tubes in my ears, and I really think it was a cure all.

I don't think the tubes were the total cure though. In the last six months, The Boy and I have worked VERY hard at eating better. Not just good food but food that is good for us. We shop at Earthfare and Fresh Market and only eat organic meat. No extra hormones, no cruelty, no unnecessary antibiotics ... all free range and humane. Our produce is all organic and/or local, and we pay close attention to the things that we put into our bodies. We rarely consume preservatives because we use so many fresh meats and vegetables and fruits. High fructose corn syrup is a thing of the past. Of course, we aren't insane-o about this, and we still enjoy food that doesn't fall into the organic category but we try really hard to put good things into our bodies. A lot of this started from working with Joe. His family is very careful about the kinds of food that they consume, and, being around them as much as I am, it rubbed off on us.

I honestly attribute my new-found health to my greatly improved diet. I no longer wake up in the mornings feeling achy or in a haze. I no longer feel tired and low all the time. I don't get sick -- head colds, the flu ... -- and my stomach rarely hurts. I can't tell you the last time I had an unexplainable headache. I feel fantastic. Of course, my joints occasionally hurt, but that is because I've beat the hell out of my body in the past and now I pay for that. But the little mystery illness that used to plague me on a very regular basis are all gone. (Knock on wood!)

I like this new lifestyle. The food is more expensive, but it is totally worth it. I feel confident knowing that the food I consume is helping me be healthy rather than just sustaining me. I feel healthy and happy, and this has had a dramatic affect on my relationship with The Boy. He doesn't have to deal with me feeling crappy all of the time, and I always feel good so we can be active and do things.

I never really bought into all of the organic hype, but I am certainly a believer now. It's amazing the affects that the foods we eat have on our bodies. They really do have the power to make us feel good, make us feel low, make us feel happy, and make us feel healthy. I see the things that people eat now, and I stare in amazement. I can't believe the toxins that people ingest because "it's quick!" or "it tastes good!" Worse yet, the food we feed our children -- fast food, everything processed and full of chemicals, full of empty calories and crazy amounts of corn syrup -- is terrifying. The best thing a parent can do for their children (other than read to them every day) is to feed them good food that won't pickle their insides with poisons. It doesn't have to be organic (although I think the difference is amazing), but it should be processed as little as possible.

Here's to your health!

i hate you, mother nature

Yep.

It's back. Woo hoo. I took a three-hour nap today while The Boy cooked my meals. He's pretty fantastic that way. Which is why I love him. He's definitely a keeper.

It's gonna be a long week.

Guess who?

Somebody's got company coming over tonight.

And Somebody's baking a cake in her new cake mold.

And Somebody's gonna post pictures of the masterpiece later.

Can't hardly wait, can ya?

A happy ending to a tragic story

You may remember my friends who tragically lost their baby late last year. (see here for the story) Well, they gave birth to Jeffery David on Saturday! He was four weeks early, but both mom and baby are healthy!

God has truly blessed them.

Restoring faith in humanity, one tv program at a time

I'm not pre-menstrual so I can't blame hormones for my crying jag.

I've recently gained access to certain digital channels (thanks to an antenna and a converter box), and, of course, I spend a decent amount of time on the couch watching crap. Tonight I watched Extreme Makeover - Home Edition with Ty Pennington. Within three minutes, I was in tears. WTF?!? It so refreshing and invigorating to see such wonderful things happening for people in desperate need of help. It makes me doubt the barbarity and savagery that I assume to be human nature. People can actually be good and do decent things to improve the conditions of others.

It's so easy to forget that there really is so much good in the world. All we hear and see is the bad. Murders, rapes, victimization of the weak and defenseless, extortion, and just general disregard for others. But there really is a lot of beauty and wonderful things in this world. It just doesn't make headlines because it doesn't sell papers. But it's there. I was listening to the radio the other day and the DJ was talking about this young kid who sells sodas on the side of the road in Winston because he has no money for college. He's trying to raise some money so he can go to school. He's not running a scam and he's not taking advantage of anyone. He's just trying to improve his situation in the only way that he can. So, the DJ is talking about this young man, and a caller phones in to offer the young man a job. Point blank. No questions asked. He tells the DJ (who has the contact info for the young man and his family) that he wants the young man to come work for him and his catering business until the end of the summer so he can make some money. It was so generous and giving and selfless. Of course, hiring a young kid doesn't seem like a big deal, but to hear the story and be willing to take a leap of faith like that is so wonderful. Of course, I teared up in the car. The DJ was choked up. Everyone was weepy.

Why do such wonderful displays of humanity make us (or is it just me?) so emotional? It shouldn't. It should be so commonplace -- these random acts of kindness -- that we are immune to such behaviors. Instead, we are immune to acts of violence that devastate lives. How backwards is that? We lavish do-gooders with such glory for doing the "right thing." We shouldn't have to give such recognition for simply doing what is right. But in a world where there is so much wrong, I guess we have no choice. It just seems sad. And backwards.

But it is nice to know that there are still some good things happening out there. Hopefully it is contagious. Maybe we'll have an epidemic...

I'm definitely a Batman girl.

In the age old debate of Batman or Superman?, I've always sided on the Batman side. I mean, he's human, he's angsty, he has great toys, he dresses in black and has an amazing body, and he walks the thin line between good and evil with a fantastic swagger. My kind of man. Superman ... wears a red cape and is an alien. No, thank you. Batman has it going on. Superman is lack luster.

My firm beliefs were only confirmed today after watching The Dark Knight. It was 2+1/2 hours or awesomeness. Of course, casting my heart throb as the leading man didn't bias me at all! The movie was really great. Heath Ledger as the Joker was ah-mazing. I'm not saying that simply because he died before post-production was complete and his death was shrouded in mystery. He really was fantastic. He totally deserves Best Actor, and not Best Supporting Actor. With all of my love and adoration for Bale, he got totally out-acted by Ledger. Ledger was sinister and charismatic and completely comfortable in the role. It's sad that this movie really showcases his true acting talent like it has never been seen before, but it is his last movie. Very unfortunate. It is definitely worth the price of admission to see this movie. Even on our poor grad student stipends!

Birthday reflections

The birthday weekend has come to an end, and it was not too shabby. It was actually rather fun!

On Friday night, The Boy took me to see Hellboy II. We were going to go see Dark Night, but we knew that everyone and their uncle would be there. We had a lot of fun. We snuck some beers in and had beer and popcorn and laughed and enjoyed ourselves. Good times, good times.

Saturday we went to the Farmer's Market and loaded up on fresh produce. Groceries were next, followed by a THREE HOUR NAP! That was absolutely marvelous. When I woke up, The Boy had made my birthday meal -- lobster and champagne -- ready and then we headed to Tate St. to watch Marty and Liz (and the rest of their band) play their farewell concert. After the first set, MealyMel, her Bloke and we all went to Christie's to celebrate my birthday. A very fun night, indeed!

Today was sleeping in late, Mass, studying, and hanging out with The Boy. I had no real responsibilities all weekend, and it was pretty fantastic.

Happy birthday to me!

Hallelujiah!

As of August 1st (or, perhaps, retroactively today), I will have real health insurance! I'll be able to go to real doctors!! Even the dentist!! And eye doctor! Whenever I want! With no referrals or stupid campus health center visits!!

Granted, I have to pay out of pocket for my insurance, but it is only $120 a month. Far better than the bullshit that school offers. I'm already making a list of appointments to make ... teeth cleaning and check up (It's been since before I got married since my teeth have been cleaned!), ob/gyn yearly visit (I haven't had one in, oh, three years), sleep specialist (at the request of The Boy), and maybe a few more. I am so friggin' stoked. My dental plan is 100% preventative. That means I pay Zero, Zilch, Zip, Nada for cleanings, impressions, and all that stuff. My eye exams and care will be $50. Yup. That's it. I can go to any doctor I want without having to get referrals and authorization and all of that crap. Yeah!

Life.
Is.
Good.

Barely a muffin top in sight

I just slid myself into a pair of jeans that I haven't worn in six months and shouldn't have worn for the last twelve. They are one of those low-rise, boot cut, two-inch zipper pair that barely cover my hips. I stopped wearing them about six months ago because I was a bit heavier than I wanted to be. I mean, they fit but you know how jeans can look when you are carrying just a little (cough cough) extra weight. There are lumps and bumps and bulges where there shouldn't be. Truth be know, I shouldn't have worn them for the last year, but I had a bad case of denial.

But they are on today and look good! No bumps. No bulges. No lumps. Dramatically reduced lovehandles. And hardly a muffin top! Go me!! Just in time for the birthday!

Life in the Fashion Lane

I'm currently on my lunch break. I close the store today for the first time on my own, and I'm pretty excited about it. You all know how much I like to be in charge and boss people around. Hey, it's what I'm good at.

It's nice living 8 minutes from work. I can zip home for lunch and chill with The Beast. Plus the office at the store isn't all that homey and comfy. Not like my house. So, here I am. Blowing away my lunch break on the computer. Yeah.

My friend Megan may be moving into the neighborhood! We might be neighbors! VERY excited about that. She has two pups and we go to the same church and we are from the same home town and we both are Boston fans. Very cool. We totally just happened upon each other at church. Had no idea about the other. Life is funny that way. I hope she gets the apartment. We would make very good neighbors. Yeah!

I got to meet Sawyer last night! He laughed at me and was "talking" to me as well. He's so friggin' adorable. But, with those genetics, I expect nothing less! I look forward to getting to spend more time with him in the future. What a lover boy!

After meeting Sawyer, I chilled with Rae and Marty for a while. It was a nice break. I needed time to catch up with them. We talked weddings and people and places and music and tv. Good times. Good times.

Holy rambling blog post, Batman!

Just the kick in the ass I needed ...

Turns out that setting hard-fast dates for my comps was quite the motivator. I have caught myself up in the past few days. I typed up all of my notes (that I had written but not entered into my notes spreadsheet), and I am totally on schedule for my reading for the week. I've revised my calendar to reflect my actual dates, so now I have a really good idea of what's ahead. I feel less panicky (I hate how that word has a "k" in it. It's just like "garlicky." WTF?) and more focused. Hopefully this is a trend that will continue.

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My new gadget:

My previous phone has been sucking A LOT lately. The battery dies after only a few hours (which just happens to be a "feature" of the Razor), and my calls keep getting dropped. I convinced Verizon to let me exchange early, and I got this bad boy. The Palm Centro. For those of you who have made fun of me in the past, my giant red agenda is a thing of the past!! This phone/PDA has an agenda/calendar/address function that syncs directly to my computer. It also has Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. I can totally write documents on my phone or computer and have them loaded into the other device. The especially cool thing is that this little gem is just slightly larger than my Razor. I'll never have to purse shop with my agenda again. That thing wouldn't fit in anything! This little guy can fit in my friggin' pocket! It's a $169.99 phone and I paid $50 for it! Partly because I got the NYS teachers' discount. No one needs to know that I'm no longer a NYS teacher. Especially conglom-o companies like Verizon.

Yeah for new phones!!!

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Kiki and Sawyer and Kiki's Momma get here Sunday!! I can hardly wait!!Let's all pray that they travel safely on that long-ass car ride.

Houston, we have dates.

I got the okay for my comps exams today. Here's what it looks like:

October 27th - 9am-1pm - 19th Century American
October 29th - 12-3pm - 20th Century American
October 31st - 9am-12pm - Literacy and English Education

I plan to take my orals on November 11th.

With any luck, Thanksgiving will truly be a time of thanks-giving (and Halloween will be nothing but a hazy, boozy memory!)

I'm not sure how I feel about having concrete dates. I think it makes it more real and far more terrifying.

A good weekend ...

The Boy came over on Thursday night, and we went to see Hancock. Surprisingly, it didn't suck! We actually enjoyed it. It raised a lot of good questions about identity and belonging and purpose in life. It certainly wasn't a typical super-hero movie which is probably why I liked it. I'm not all that big on super-hero movies. And Charlize Theron looked AMAZING in it. Wow. I was impressed.

Friday was the ZOO! So much fun! I love the NC Zoo. Although it was hot as balls and suprisingly crowded for the 4th, The Fox, the Queen of the West Bank, The Boy, and I all had a ton of fun. But even the animals were sweltering and far less active than they normally are. Friday night was a 'Hoppers game with LL and her beau and NY Red and her beau. We got totally rained on so we relocated to McCoul's to finish our 4th celebration. Very good times. I love those people!

Saturday was a "training day" for my new job as sales lead at AT. I started at 9am and didn't end until after 6pm. I was supposed to leave at 2 but one associate called in with car trouble and another called in to quit ten minutes before her shift started (WTF?!?). I was exhausted when I got home, but The Boy had roasted a duck and some sweet potatoes for me. He served me a four course meal, completed with dessert! Fresh Panna Cotta with strawberries and balsamic vinegar. So yummy!!! We ate the dessert while watching The Glass Menagerie with Katherine Hepburn. Damn, I love her!

Sunday was an early mass and then back to AT for work. I was there from 10-2:30, and I got to stretch my wings as a sales lead. It was pretty great!!! When I got home, lunch was served by The Boy (pork and ziti and zucchini). He had also made me coconut macaroons (my all time favorite cookie!). He told me that, since it was my birthday month, he wanted to do special things for me. I'm like, "A month of special treats! Yes!!" It's not like he doesn't treat me phenomenally all the time anyway!

Now I'm sitting on my as, watching There Will Be Blood and trying to catch up on life. Tomorrow's going to be a long day. Perhaps I should go to be now ...

12 Angry Men

I just finished watching this (the Henry Fonda version from '56), and I am utterly floored by it. This movie is amazing. The entire movie takes place in a jury room and consists solely of dialogue. There are no special twists or turns, but the movie is riveting and enthralling. Fantastic acting by all of the men in the film, especially Fonda.

What I liked most about this movie is the subtle commentary on the justice system and how our own prejudices and ideals of "truth" completely influence us to make decisions ... that control someone else's fate ... without really sifting through and considering all of the facts and possibilities. When we see a face in the paper or in a courtroom or n the news, we make up our minds within the first few moments about that person's guilt or innocence. Even when facts are presented to contradict our position, we cling to our initial assessment. Whether it's conscious or not, it happens. It is still unfair and dangerous, and this movie highlights that. It's truly amazing.

And, while I'm on the justice system, this whole idea of a "jury of our peers" is total crap. A jury of my peers would consist of people who hold terminal degrees in the liberal arts and live in the median to upper level of society. They are liberal-leaning and between the ages of 25 and 35. But I can guarantee you that if I were on trial for murder tomorrow (which I'm not! I assure you!), my jury would be comprised of conservative senior citizens (because, seriously, they love jury duty because they have nothing better to do) living just above the poverty line. Those are my peers?! They get to decide my fate?! Um ... no. I don't think so. In fact, the only thing that I would have in common with my "peers" is, most likely, my skin color. That's it.

So, long story short, if you haven't seen it, you need to. Now. Go to the video store today. I mean it. Seriously.

Wait! It's a Weight Update! Or should I say, "down" date!

I happily only gained about one pound while on vacation. That is fantastic. I did my measurements this afternoon and I am happy to report the following ...

Waist - I've lost 3.5 inches!
Thighs - I've lost one inch!
Hips - I've lost a whopping 4 inches!
Arms - I've lost one inch!

While these aren't knock-me-down-with-a-feather losses, I am super happy about them. My clothes feel bigger and looser ... which only means that I need to buy new clothes. Oh what a vicious cycle ...

Our God is an Awesome God

As many of you know, the employment situation in grad school is less than ideal. FAR LESS than ideal. At the close of school last semester, I firmly decided that I would take out no more student loans to pay for my living expenses. I would still take out the amount needed to pay tuition, but that is it. Nada mas. Obviously this decision put me in a bit of a bind. I needed to find both employment for the summer and long-term employment for the school year ... that would also let me study for comps and write my diss.

I've been praying on this one hard since about April. I haven't asked for a specific outcome but just an outcome in general. Any kind of resolution was what I wanted. Something that paid enough to live on. And had decent benefits. I tried not to be demanding. I still put out applications and followed up with potential job leads, but I put my faith in God that He would lead me along the path that was right.

Today, God, in all His magnificent majesty, answered my prayers. Ann Taylor offered me a part-time management position, working between 18 and 25 hours per week, at a decent pay rate, with benefits. Of course, I gladly accepted. I had previously rejected their offer for full-time management because I knew it would be far too time and energy consuming. But I feel good about this offer and the situation I am in. I will continue to work for the Athletic Department at UNCG, but, unfortunately, I will have to cease working regularly with Joe-Joe. This I the hardest part of my decision. I love being a part of their family, and they mean ever so much to me. But circumstances have forced this change. I cannot continue to work with Joe-Joe and survive. Literally. Unless I go into double the student-loan debt I already have. I feel confident that this is the path that God wants me to follow, wherever it may lead. While it does mean parting ways with my North Carolina family, I'm sure that there is a reason for this. I plan to keep in touch with them and babysit every once in a while and all that. I just won't see them every day.

Going home at Christmastime for a week or two straight will also cease. There's no way that the demands of retail will allow that. But I'm okay with that. While I love my family and being home with them, sacrifices must be made to get through grad school an to achieve my goals. There is plenty of time in the future to be with them. Perhaps this is God's way of showing me the value of family and how to appreciate them. By taking them away at essential times, I will learn to appreciate them more. I think it will also allow me to really start my life on my own. Spending the holidays without my family will truly be a test, but it will allow me to grow and blossom as an individual.

Whatever God's plan is, I accept it and eagerly step forward onto His path.

I'm back, bitches!

Oh yeah. You know it. I'm back from the Northeast after a much needed (and surprisingly relaxing) vacation. I've been almost completely removed from technology for a week now and it's been awesome. Although, I've spent the last two hours reading blogs, checking facebook, checking email (and responding if I felt like it) and all that other crap. But the vacay was all good and really nice to be home.

The Boy and I headed North on Friday. We left at around 9am and were making kick-ass time until we hit PA. And traffic stopped. For an hour and a half. On a major interstate. It took us 90 minutes to drive 9 miles. For those of you slow at math, that is A MILE PER TEN MINUTES!! I was super pist. And of course it happened during my shift of driving. Our 9 1/2 hour trip turned into 11 hours. Woo hoo. But, traffic jams just seem to be less shitty when sitting beside the one you love.

See how happy we are?!?!

Saturday was WEGMAN'S and Ithaca Coffee Company and Ithaca Beer! I'm like a friggin' kid in a candy store at Wegman's. It is THE BEST grocery store ever created. No joke. It really is a destination. We stocked up on "Northeastern" goodies (like Dinosaur Bar-B-Que and good cream cheese ... mmmmmm). The Boy bought 5 CASES of beer at the beer company, we bought 8 bags of tea at the coffee company. I just love going home and getting things that you can't get anywhere else. No one makes bagels like northerners, and there are just some comforts of home that cannot be found sauces and State Fair sauces and nuts and cheeses and bagels -- which Bailey and my mom's dog ate 5 of! -- anywhere else.

The View From Home


My Pops - The Man, The Myth, The Legend

Sunday was the family picnic with all of the brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews. It certainly gave me my fill of "kid time" for the next few weeks (or, at least until Sawyer comes to visit me!). The kiddies played in the pool and chilled out in the sun. It was supposed to rain all day, but the sun was out and the weather was gorgeous. It was a beautiful day.

Trying to explain that grapes will KILL my dog


The "Short" men, hard at work, "supervising" their kids

Afterwards, when all the familia left, The Boy took me to "our" place, Madelines, for tapas, cocktails, dessert, and wine. It was one of the highlights of my trip. The food was, as always, spectacular.

Monday was wine tasting and touring with the 'rents. We went all the way around Cayuga lake, and hit about eight wineries. Some were fantastic. Other's were meh. We did pick up a fantastic bottle of lemoncello from Six Mile Creek Winery. Who knew, right?

My Favorite Place with My Favorite People

Tuesday was the late-night trip to Beantown. We left Ithaca around 10pm and finally arrived in Boston at 3am. I drove the whole trip, and it was pretty tiring. But the cool thing about driving all night is that there is no traffic! Yeah! My nephew Corey slept the whole way, crumpled up in the back seat. I would have been paralyzed if I had tried that. Oh to be young again.

After about 4 hours of sleep, we all got up and started the day. Corey and I chilled out by the pool while The Boy and his Pops cooked a massive cookout. When I say massive, I mean MASSIVE. I had been warning Corey about the food situation, but he didn't seem to believe me. But when lunch was served, he began to see. We had veal chops, lamb, giant top-quality burgers, grilled chicken breasts, salad, fruit, canollis ... all for lunch. It was INSANE. Corey was in his glory because he loves red meat, but after three days of eating like this at EVERY meal, he was a bit warn out. It was funny to watch his face literally drop every time I called him to dinner. He just had no more room to store it all! It was pretty hysterical. Those Eye-Ties like to eat.

The BoSox game was at 7 that night. We headed to the train around 3 and spent time showing Corey the park and the shops around it. The sun had finally started to set when the game began. He loved it. He was having a great time. At least, I think he was. It's hard to tell with teen aged boys. They are so, "yeah, whatever." Our boys won the game, and it was a fantastic game! They brought Papelbon out to get the last out, and the whole park stood up and clapped in rhythm until the out was made. Some very good playing on both teams. The weather was gorgeous, the game was fantastic, and fun was had by all.

Corey, the nephew

The Boy and His Pops

Me and The Boy
We're still happy and we've been together 24-7 for a week straight!

Nite games are always pretty.

We walked to the Common after the game (it was still relatively early and the weather was phenomonal) and took the train the rest of the way home. We got back to Peabody around 1 and collapsed.

The next day was shopping and the liquor/cigar run to New Hampshire. The Boy bought himself a box of nice cigars and us a few cases of booze for the bar. We are happily replenished. After running the usual errands, we returned home for another monster meal. I thought Corey was going to die. But he was a trooper and pulled through.

We returned to NY the next afternoon, and I attended my former 7th grader's graduation. She was valedvictorian. Oh yeah. It was all me and my amazing teaching. You know it. The it was back to NC on Saturday morning.

Bailey says, "Car rides bore me!"

Phew. I'm tired.

And now my air conditioning is broken again. But, happily, all of the fish survived my absence!

(How ya like all them pics, Kirs?! )

The complexitites of the English Language

One last post before I'm out ...

Sorry, I love the Rat Dictionary strips! Pastis needs to do them more often! At least now we know how to speak to and interpret our students' seemingly foreign language!

I'm out

Well, tomorrow begins my vacation. I head to Winston for the night, and then The Boy, The Beast, and I all head north to NY and MA. As a result of this much needed vacation, I will not be blogging until we return. I'll do my best to provide some pics of home, family, friends, Boston, Fenway, the ballgame, and other fun things. I know how Kiki loves photo blogs. I'll be back in a week and a half.

Peace out, bitches.

(On a side note, I've lost 13 lbs.! Hopefully I won't gain it all back while on vacation!)

What fish do for fun

My cichlid is crazy. It does this all day and night.

(Sorry if it's dark, Kia. I'm still a novice filmmaker!)

Black Hole

I think my fish tank has a black hole. I'm not sure where this black hole is exactly or where it leads to, but every few days, a fish or two will disappear into it. I will search the tank frantically for the missing fish (carcass) but will find nothing. I'll lift rocks, move plants, look under the bubble feature, but no fish. However, when I check in the morning or a few hours later, the fish have returned! Last night my pleco and Shelley the Snail got sucked into the black hole. Let me tell you, the pleco is rather camouflaged and disguised, so I might have missed him in my search. But Shelley is the size of a large marble. And she's ivory-yellow in color. How could I miss her?

I equate the black hole as my fishes way of "sneaking out" of the house. They go off to some rave and drop X and smoke pot and drink hard liquor all night long but return in time for breakfast. Only they don't stuff their blankets with their pillows to fool me. Silly fish.

Oh yeah. I've got their number.

Oh, the insight of a rat

Funny how this describes so much of our lives ...



Man, Pearls is having a good run!

Those swine have my number

Don't we all hate days like these?




But I am still losing weight though. I And I've actually been going to the gym, not just driving by!

Back on Track

As many of you probably know, I've been a bit lax on my comps studying lately. I don't know, but I've just lost the motivation. And then the feeling of being behind was a bit overwhelming, so I pushed it off even more. And then my special topics list kept getting adjusted so it was hard to maintain a momentum.

But, I am happy to report that all of that is a thing of the past!!! I have revised my schedule, and I'm not all that behind. In some fortuitous brain blast, I only scheduled one work per week for the summer. Given that each "work" is actually just a chapter or two, I can quite feasibly double (and sometimes even triple) up on the work each week and still meet my goals and deadlines. This makes me feel much better. I've spent the morning reading and the afternoon revising my lists and schedule. I have a few works to read this week (one which I've already read so that is good) and only one review work for next week since I'll be in Nueva York and Bean-town with the family. I'll do my best to read by the pool. But, like I said, I've already read it once so it shouldn't be too taxing.

Yeah! Relief! Mucho mejor!

Just call me Cruella DeVille

All three of my Dalmation Mollies died this weekend. It makes me moderately sad. They all died within ten hours of each other, so I'm thinking the batch was bad. I had my water tested, and it was fine. I replaced them with black mollies (thanks to PetSmart's return policy!) All of the other fish are doing well.

Well, with one exception.

Burke died on Friday. It makes me more than moderately sad. I've had him forever. Well, forever in fish terms. I got him on October of last year. That's a damn long time for a fishy. Anyway, he got some kind of fungus and then lost his buoyancy. It was really sad to watch him deteriorate. I almost cried when it was official. But I held it together for the sake of the other fish. I didn't want them to realize what had happened. Plus they were probably relieved. He was a bit of a bastard to them.

Pics of the tank

I've added some new babies today: 3 Gouramis (blue, red, and dwarf), 2 Mickey Mouse Platys, and a Pleco (a sucker fish). (Another died this morning. It was real tragic. I watched it die. It just kinda stuck it's nose into the rocks and stopped moving. I fished him out and got a replacement for him and the suicide jumper from yesterday). There are now fourteen fishies in the tank (not counting Shelley). I took some pics for you to enjoy. I'm rather astonished at how well they actually turned out!
This is Shelley the Snail. If you look closely, you can see her sucker mouth!
This is one of Burke swimming above the pink flower.

Nite Church

I attended Key to the Scriptures last night at OLG. It was an interesting and different experience from my RCIA days. I knew a lot of the people there and felt far more confident in actually being there. I chatted with some friends, and then we got down to the business of talking about God's covenants and the Bible and things of the sort.

At one point we talked about prayer and how the most important part of prayer -- the part that is so easy to forget -- is to listen. Every day, sometimes multiple times, we burden God with our requests and worries and trials and hopefully thank Him for his blessings. After we pray, we say "Amen" and that is that. We never stop to listen for His responses. Boston Bob read a short little passage about the voice that God uses, and it really made me think.

"So He said, "Go forth and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing."

We always expect God's voice to be loud and booming and powerful. A thunderbolt from heaven, a monsoon wind, a falling redwood. All to often, God's voice is still and quiet, and we have to listen hard to hear it. His voice is too easily drowned out by the sounds of our lives. The hustle and bustle of our day makes His voice so hard to hear. That is why we must listen and listen hard. His voice is heard in the sunbeams and the gentle breezes and the laughter of children. If we expect God to speak to us in grandeur and flash, then we will miss His message. If we look for His words in the stillness and quiet, there He will be found. In our crazy and hectic lives, we must find that stillness to sit and listen. And wait in peace. His words are there.

So much of my prayers are "wasted" on my worries. I worry about money and friends and family and the people unprotected in this heat and all of these things. My mom and The Boy (and most people who know me) tell me that I worry too much about those things that I cannot control. I thought that finding a few verses regarding anxiety might help me to keep perspective on things. and, using the good old concordance, I found a few. Since so many of us are in the same boat (the S.S. Worry's A Lot), I thought that I would share.

"Therefore don't be anxious for tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Each day's own evil is sufficient." Matthew 6:34

"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:5-6

"Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD And whose trust is the LORD. For he will be like a tree planted by the water, That extends its roots by a stream And will not fear when the heat comes; But its leaves will be green, And it will not be anxious in a year of drought Nor cease to yield fruit." Jeremiah 17:7-8

I really appreciate how the Bible has very realistic and applicable connections to today's world. It truly is a living text that we can still relate to. I like being able to acknowledge a specific struggle and being able to seek guidance and reassurance immediately. Me and my books, right?

Tonight is week 2 of Theology on Tap. I'm pretty excited! Yeah for Nite Church!

Fish down! Fish down!

I came home and one of my little red fishies was missing! I immediately thought that Burke had murdered her. But I saw no fishy skeleton or remains floating around. In fact, the fish was no where to be seen. I felt solace knowing that Burke wasn't the direct cause for the missing. I say "direct" because the fish was found on the floor behind the tank where it landed when it leapt out. I'm fairly certain that Burke may have played a part in the fishy's demise as he chased the poor little guy around the tank. The fish was probably trying to escape!

The good thing is that PetSmart has a 14-day fish policy so the other red platy won't be lonely for long!

100 things

I was reading at the gym this morning about this new movement to reduce our dependence on "things." It's called the "100 Thing Challenge." The premise behind it is that participants willingly widdle their belongings down to 100 things. Literally. You allowed to own 100 things. I appreciate the premise behind it. We are far too dependent upon physical things to make us happy. We have all kinds of belongings -- pictures, clothing, shoes (although it kills me to write that!), old memorabilia, meaningless junk ... -- that clutter our homes and make it hard to move on. They bind us to the past. Which can be bad but can also be good. I mean, there are a lot of things that I am proud of from my past. But, do I really need pictures and miniature monuments to remind me of those moments? Don't my memories serve me well enough?

While I feel this way, it also seems unrealistic to reduce my belongings to 100 items. While the rules aren't steadfast, does that include clothes? Shoes? Bailey? My fish? CDs and DVDs? Furniture? Jewelry? Photos? Books? I mean, hell, I own 70 pairs of shoes. I'm sure I have more than 100 articles of clothing? I don't even want to count the books that I own? How can a person literally own just 100 things? Does that count food in the cabinets? Pots and pans? Silverware and dishes? I just don't think that this is physically doable.

But it makes me wonder ... what would I keep and what would I part with?

In Fishy News ...

We all survived the night. No dead bodies. No nibbled fins. No blood shed. Now I can think about names since they made it through the night...

Burke has totally commandeered one corner/half of the tank. He lies in wait under the tiny little castle, waiting for a fish to come into his "territory" so he can drive it off. It's pretty funny. It's only funny because he's not actually hurting anyone. He totally acts like a little Napoleon. I'm thinking I need to get a bigger fish to show him who's boss. We'll see. Maybe tonight. Maybe tomorrow. If he doesn't start playing nice, I may have to put him back in solitary (his own private bowl). Although, I will give him credit. He has stopped flaring his gills and is considerable less aggressive than last night. Maybe he just needs time.

I just want to say that I am totally fascinated by this whole aquarium thing. I've only ever had a fish in a bowl, never a bunch of fish in a giant aquarium. It's like the freakin' animal kingdom is right here in my living room! I'm sorry for those of you who read this who are bored by my fishy adventures, but this shit is fantastic!

Dessert night!

I had the girls over last night for a dessert party. Everyone was here! Laura brought these brownie cheesecake cupcake things that were awesome. Brandy brought a ridiculously good peanut butter pie. Kristen brought some fantastic banana split brownie concoction. Sarah and Emma, being smart, brought egg salad sandwiches (knowing that all the sugar would throw us into shock!). Rae brought some very yummy strawberry shortcake, and Liz brought some fruit and yogurt. Mel also had some remarkable foresight and brought chips and dip. I also provided a coconut cake from Ganache and guacamole from Earthfare ... obviously to be eaten separately! The food was spectacular. We polished off five bottles of wine and a few beers.

This is not counting the bottle of wine that had fermented in the bottle. Rae broke the corkscrew trying to get it open. She actually lodged the screw part inside of the cork and snapped off the handle! The cork was then firmly lodged inside the bottle, and we had to smash the neck off the bottle to get it open. Unfortunately the wine had turned and all was for naught. But it was pretty fantastic to see Rae kick that corkscrew's ass!

Even though the air conditioning wasn't working perfectly, we still had a pretty kick ass time! Yeah for girls' night!

More shoe shopping for the weary soul

Check it out. I just purchased these bad boys. In ivory and blue ...

I am so friggin' stoked!

Another reason I love being Catholic...

Tonight I attended "Theology on Tap." It is a function sponsored by the local parishes where we all get together (adults only) at Natty Greene's, drink beer, eat food, and discuss some issue of the Church's teaching. Only in a Catholic church would this type of event EVER be endorsed by the Church "powers."

We talked about "EVIL" tonight. How it manifests, what it is, why we even need to be aware of it. It all boils down to free will and acknowledging that there is temptation (whether it is the work of the devil is irrelevant). Knowing that evil is out there prepares us to be ready to confront it and avoid it. While I didn't need a speaker to inform me of this, it was cool to get out there and meet other people from other parishes. I may have even made a new friend!! Go me!!

Weight Update

I'm down ten pounds!

I weighed myself this morning for the first time in a few weeks (I've been off-track given my move and all the other crap going on!). I was elated to see that I had continued to lose weight. I guess I was being good after all! Long story short, I'm half way to my goal. I need to keep my ass in gear this next month, or I'll be owing some peeps some moolah!

I'm pretty happy today. What a good way to start the day ... step on the scale and be that much lighter!

Today was a day

I woke up, worked out, ate lunch, putzed around the house, went to work, fed LL's cats, and, most importantly, I STUDIED!!!!!!!!!!

Now I'm watching a movie.

Bike butt

I just biked to campus, picked up 45 lbs. of books from the library, worked out at the gym, and then biked home.

My ass really hurts.

Really.

Composting

Well, I finally got some work done. I was able to maintain focus long enough to 1.) enter all of the new titles/authors for my special topics list, 2.) look up the ISBNs for all of the books I need to get from the library, and 3.) read a chapter from one of my texts while sitting on the front porch. It's not much, but it makes me feel a little less like a lazy ass.

Tomorrow is trash day. I look up and down the street and people have HEAPINGLY (which isn't a word, but I don't care) full trash bins. I mean, trash gets picked up EVERY Tuesday. How do these people generate so much crap? My ginormous (another non-word) trash bin that the city provides has one small bad of trash and a broken metal picture frame inside. Part of me didn't even want to put it out on the curb, but I figured it would be smelly by this time next week.

As a result of this observation, I've decided to start an apartment compost bin. After a quick Google search, it is clear that a lot of people do this already. Some people even keep their compost bin inside the house. Apparently, if a compost bin is maintained correctly, there is no garbage smell. That made me very happy to read. When I think about the things that actually go into my trash barrel, the vast majority of it is food scraps. My most recent bag of trash is filled with strawberry waste, apple cores, wrinkled blueberries, banana peels, salad remains, and the like. If I can compost all of that, I'll be able to seriously reduce my trash output (and, in effect, do my part to decrease landfill spaces) at the same time that I generate high quality organic soil for my house plants. Both of these factors make me happy!

The process is relatively easy as well. All I need is a 20-gallon plastic bucket with some holes drilled in the bottom. Some dry bedding/soil, slats to prop it on for aeration, a "stir" stick, and maybe some wood ash (if I am able to happen upon some). I can keep it outside my back door and throw my scraps if non-protein foods (i.e no meat scraps) into it on a regular basis. I'm going to try to find a bucket tomorrow. I'm sure I can find one for free somewhere. In a few months, I'll have some top-notch soil for my pretty little plants!

It scares me just a little that I am turning into a tree-hugger.

Avoiding work and helping the Earth

I just can't seem to get motivated to work lately. I get a ton of stuff done - housework, cleaning, working out, working, playing/walking with Bailey - but I can't seem to find the desire/motivation/impetus to crack a single book for my comps. What kind of funk am I in? I haven't "studied" in over a month. That is bad. The good part is that I've only got my tertiary list left which happens to be one I already feel very confident about. But the fact remains that I still need to actually get some notes down. In the meantime, I am finding every possible reason to not study ... like watching really bad French musicals from the 50s.

Today I even mopped my upstairs floors to avoid work. Scary, huh? It was actually an effort to help save the Earth. Target carries a brand called Method, and it is all household and personal care products that are 100% biodegradable and are basically ingestible (i.e. they won't harm me or Bailey if we were to accidentally ingest them). They also don't pollute the ground water or kill local flora when dumped/washed down the drain. I've been trying hard to incorporate more "green" products (other than food) into my life, and this is just one more attempt. (I've started using their laundry detergent, and I have no complaints thus far.) Anyway, the last time LL was over, she suggested that I get a Swiffer to clean all of my hardwood floors (which is EVERY floor except the bathroom and kitchen). I like the convenience and ease of the Swiffer, but I'm not a big fan of the chemicals and waste it makes. Turns out, Method has a similar product that is all green and completely compostable. Instead of having plastic-based pads to "sweep" with, Method has a corn-based pad that is 100% compostable. That means that when I am done with it, I can pretty much throw it into the woods behind my place and it will disintegrate. Pretty cool, huh? The mop "solution" is actually a cleanser made from almond oil that smells amazing. You simply squirt it onto the floor and then mop it up. Presto! Chango! The floor is clean and shiny! It's clean enough -- and safe enough -- that little Sawyer could eat off of it when he comes to visit (don't worry, kiki. I won't do any experiments!). I'm pretty happy with the $24.99 that I spent on it.

Well, here goes another try at being studious. Wish me luck.

I'll need it.