Award Winning

This past weekend, blogger Lyndsay at SimplyLyndsay was kind enough to award little old me with my first blog award!  Thanks Lyndsay!

I've always seen blogs that get awards and I've always wanted to play along.  Now I get to!  So without further ado, here are my seven facts:

1  I sleep with a fan on every night  Even in the dead of winter.  I use it for the noise.  I have to have it in order to sleep  I even take it with me when I travel  If I don't have it, well, let's just say I become a nasty person, and no one is sleeping.  Sorry husband.

2.  I have an addiction  To purses.  I realize that addictions are nothing to laugh at, but seriously, it's a little out of control.  Have a look...

 Exhibit A - Box o' purses that resides in the guest bedroom closet.  I use some of them on a semi-regular basis

These are my "fancy" purses that get a special little place in my closet  Because they cost more than a few dollars I try to take a little better care of them.  Special things to note: the red purse is a Kate Spade from my awesome MIL two Christmases ago.  She knows her daughter in law well.  See the pink/orange one sitting on the brown Coach?  That's a Longchamp I bought at Saks in NYC on our honeymoon.  It was on super discount.  Even the salesperson didn't believe it was that cheap.  That's my "steal".

3.  I have an irrational phobia to throwing up  This means I worry about getting sick and I worry about others getting sick around me.  I don't wan to see it, and if you're sick then you might get me sick.  I'm also really superstitious about it.  I would tell you the last time I actually got sick, but I don't want to jinx myself. 

4.  I spend an obscene amount of time watching YouTube Beauty Guru videos.  They fascinate me and sometimes irritate me all at the same time.  I seem to like things that irritate me.  I keep people my friends on FB just so I can be irritated by them.  Does anyone else do this?

5.  I'm not a confrontation person, but I tend to suffer from road rage.  Things that irritate me:

• When I'm going 20 MPH OVER the speed limit and people still ride my bumper and then speed off in a hurry around me.  Seriously?  If I were going 20 under, then by all means ride my bumper and pass away.  But over?  You're just asking me to slam on my brakes.  It happened to me today.  Some girl got right up on my bumper and I was going 80 in a 65.  She then got over and as soon as she did I speed up aaaand she had to get right back behind me because the person in the other lane was going too slow.  Then I slowed down.  I saw her put her hands up in frustration.  I got a little joy from seeing this.
• When people weave in and out of traffic or try to pass me quickly.  I typically find these people up the road sitting in the same traffic I'm in, one car ahead of me.  I'm glad they were in such a hurry to get one car in front of me
• When people ride a lane that is ending all the way out and then try to cut you off.  Sorry buddy get behind me.  I obeyed the rules and now you will too.
• People that DON'T yield.

6.  When I come home from work, unless I have somewhere to go, I get right into my sweats or PJs  I don't understand how people come home and put on jeans.  What's the point?  I want to be comfortable.

7.  Although I have no children, and no control over anything, I already have certain plans - like  want twins.  When I go to the fertility doctor I'm going to tell him to find a way to get me twins.  Hopefully it will be a boy and a girl because I already have names picked out  I'd share, but I don't want to jinx or have anyone steal  Ok, I'll give you middle names.  For a boy - Philip for my deceased father in law.  For a girl - June.  My dad always called me June/June Bug growing up.  I can think of no better way to honor my father or my childhood than by giving it to my daughter. 

That was fun, and kind of hard to come up with random facts!  I"m now supposed to tag people, but because I'm not really familiar with a lot of bloggers yet, I'm tagging anyone who reads this.  Lame?  Yes.  Do I care?  Kind of, but I'm ok with it 

St. Patrick's Day Musings

This morning I was "driving" into work (I use the term driving loosely here as it was more like sitting in bumper to bumper traffic) when I noticed the car in front of me.  It happened to be an Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight.  For those of you who are not familiar with this type of car, I will show you what I'm talking about:

via here

(Please note, this is not the exact car that I saw, just the model)

Said car was in front me and I noticed it was a particular hideous shade of green.  Like Kelly Green, which is pretty on it's own, but on a car?  No.  Clearly it was not it's natural paint color.  

But what drew me to the car was NOT it's hideous green color.  No.  I could tell that there was something on the trunk.  See the picture above?  See how the trunk is flat?  On the truck there was something attached.  I inched closer and upon further inspection I noticed:

via here

Yes, wooden letters that you would find at a Michael's Craft Store.  These letters were affixed to the trunk of the car with what I can only imagine to be glue.  Inching ever closer I saw that the trunk said:

Do you like my rendition?  It looked just like this only imagine an ugly green background of the trunk of the car.

Which is an Irish saying that means, "Ireland Forever".  Needless to say this car intrigued me and brought on many questions including:

• Is this car the driver's main  mode of transportation?
• Is this car only pulled out once a year for St. Patrick's Day?
• Is St. Patrick's Day really that important to this person that they feel it deserves it's own special car?
• Where was the person headed?  Work?  A bar?
• Was there more to the car that I was missing?

This last question was most important.  I wanted to get around the car to get a good look, but I didn't want to give up my lane position in traffic (we were in a lane that was actually moving so to get over would have cost me time and I wouldn't have really been able to see anyway).  Finally, I HAD to get over and I caught the briefest of glimpses of the side.  In my quick glance I believe what I saw was the Irish flag spray painted on the back end of the side of the car.  I don't believe that a car has ever brought me that much entertainment on my way to work.


_____________________________________________________

In other news, what's better than a KENTUCKY win?

A LOUISVILLE loss!

(I'm not sure where this picture came from, but suffice to say, it is not mine, so credit goes to whoever it is!!)

I hope that the team you are rooting for was just as lucky in the first round on this St. Patrick's Day!

So Where Have I Been?

In my absence, I have been uber busy.  Okay.  Not really.  I pretend like I'm beyond busy, but I'm really not - at least through the week.  In an average week, I'm busy on Monday nights teaching CCD, but any other night I'm pretty much doing laundry, blog stalking, watching TV or hanging out with the husband.  Fun, right?  The weekend though can be somewhat hectic, like last weekend.  Friday night we had a game night with some other couples, Saturday we had homecoming all.day.long and Sunday we had brunch with my family.  It really felt like we did not stop, but we had such a good time.  Especially with Homecoming.

The college that my husband and I went to is a smaller state school that does not have a football team, so Homecoming is held during basketball season.  There are several events throughout the week for the students and then the weekend is dedicated to several alumni events.  We participated in the the Saturday events starting with the alumni chili cook off.  The husband and I participated with our good friends from college.  We knew we had to really step up our game and not just make good chili because a chili cook off is rarely about the chili itself.

 

Our setup

The setup was nice enough.  We had crackers and cheese and individually wrapped pieces of cornbread.  We even had a personalized bobble head.  The other contestants were wary, but then we pulled out the secret weapon ... and then they were shaking in their boots.

Personalized.Aprons.

Yeah, that's right.  Personalized aprons.  They were key for many reasons.  One they were handmade and personalized and just overall awesome.  Second, they had our names and graduation years on them.  We are standing in reverse order, but starting with the guy on the end he graduation in 2004, his wife graduated in 2005, I graduated in 2006 and my husband graduated in 2007.  Third, they had our Greek organizations on them.  This was absolute key because the current students who were in the organizations automatically voted for us.  

The result for all of our hard work?  We won.  Oh yeah.  You are currently reading the blog of an award winning chili chef.  You are honored, I'm sure.  

After the cookoff it was time for the game, which we of course won.  We were lucky enough to enjoy the second half of the game from the University President's suite.  We're kind of a big deal.  People know us.  (Not really, more like we know other people).

The night ended with an alumni reception and my husband and I both won door prizes.  

Overall, I'm saying this year's Homecoming was an absolute success.  Next year we plan on coming back to defend our chili trophy.  I see a dynasty in my future...

Hanging My Head in Shame

Tonight, I'm channeling Chandler Bing...  could I BE any worse as a blogger?

Wait.

Don't answer that.

If there were a contest for the worst bloggers, I'm pretty sure I would be in the top five.  Okay, but not top five.  But surely top ten. 

If the name FailBlog weren't already taken, I'd name my site that.

Why do I have such low blogger-esteem?  Well for starters, I'm a sporadic writer.  I love writing and when I'm not blogging I continually look at situations and think, "that would be great to blog about!!"  Unfortunately (actually probably fortunately as some things I think that are funny and interesting aren't nearly as funny or interesting to others as they are to me) I rarely write about those things.  I get distracted and then it's hard to "make a comeback" if you will. 

Second, people comment on my entries which I love, but then I can't respond to them.  I click on their names to email them and then it want Outlook to send the email and I don't have Outlook and then I try to email from Yahoo and it's just a big old mess.  Then I feel guilty.  I promise though, if you have left a comment, I have seen it and I'm not ignoring you.  Promise!  I usually try to visit your blog and comment on something you've written, but I never feel as though this suffices.  I'm trying to figure out a solution which is probably super simple, and I'm over-thinking it.

Third, I remembered this week that I had an email address set up for this site and that when I leave comments on people's blogs they respond to me there.  So if you have emailed me and  I haven't responded, that's why.

Lord, do you think I could have any more excuses?

Then there is the matter of my computer being what I like to call a hooker and she contracted an STD and was out of commission for most of this week.  Seriously.  She needs to learn to protect herself out there on the interwebs.  What is most annoying is she wasn't even doing anything terribly wrong.  She was helping me find scarf tying techniques.  Dirty.

So I'm making an effort.  I will do my best to be a better blogger.  Promise.

Oh, the Places You'll Go

I like to travel.  I like to see new places and I like to see places that I have been to before.  I'm not the type of person that has to do a big vacation every year and it has to be somewhere new.  I'm fine with going on just a short weekend trip or taking a week.  Last year our big vacation was a family vacation to the Florida panhandle.  I have been there a few times before, but I still enjoy it each time I go.  The year before that we did a trip to Mackinaw Island and Sacramento/San Francisco.

This year, we will probably stick to smaller vacations since I have just started a new job and don't have that many days off, plus we are really working on trying to save money for fertility purposes and for bigger trips in the future.  There are two trips that I have in mind, now I just have to find times that work and figure out if we make them group trips or just us.

First on the list is Gatlinburg.  Anyone from this area probably has been in the Gatlinburg before and you know it's not... fancy.  But I don't care.  I just love Gatlinburg.  I'm not sure why.  Maybe because it's close so it's easy to get away for a weekend and not spend a ton of money.  For those who are not in the area and have never been, I'm not really sure how to describe it.  It's right on the edge of the National Park, The Smokey Mountains.  There are hiking trails and driving trails and some really pretty scenery.  There are chalets and humongous cabins to stay in the mountains.  For example:

This is the last cabin we stayed in.  We went with a group of our friends and we stayed in this monster.  What awesome about these cabins are they are all really nice on the inside and typically have hot tubs, pool tables, bars, etc.  Then there is Gatlinburg itself.  The only way I can describe it is a small "city" full of touristy goodness.

The Gatlinburg strip during a winter night

There is a main drag or "strip" that is full of souvenier shops, candy shops, restaurants, and silly attractions.  It's tacky and fabulous all at the same time.  Where else can you play Hillbilly Golf on the side of a mountain?

So I really want to go sometime in the spring/summer when the trees and grass are green and it's not dreary like these pictures which were taken in early January.  I think I really want to do this a group trip as I think it would be a lot of fun to go off on an adult only weekend and just relax and have fun.  Now it's just making everyone's schedules work.

The second place I want to visit is Chicago.  I have been there several times before and I'm feeling the itch to go there again.  I'm thinking summer/fall and going with another couple. The only things I really have planned for this vacation is to shop and see the "beach":

I also want to try another Chicago style pizza as I've had Giordano's several times before.  Finally, I'm hopping to get a tour of the United Center in as I know someone who could make that happen.  I just think my husband the guy we are planning on going with would really enjoy it.

I know these aren't major trips, but they're what we are trying to plan for this year.  The following year I'm hoping for a big trip to NYC to celebrate our 5 year anniversary.  I can't wait!

What I Really Meant to Say

Does anyone else write a blog entry and then keep thinking, I hope no one takes that the wrong way?  Or, I hope they don't think _____________ about me?  Or should I file this way of thinking into the "am I the only one" drawer? 

After I wrote yesterdays post, I couldn't stop thinking:

"I hope that no one take offense to what I said about spending money on expensive makeup products."

and

"I hope no one thinks that I'm totally cheap and broke because I'm worrying over $18."

Because I really didn't mean either of those two things.  Thus the need to write a second blog entry titled,

What I REALLY meant to say

With regards to the first statement, what I really meant to say, was that I personally have a hard time justifying spending X amount of dollars on a MAC product.  Simply because I look at it as makeup.  I look it as it as a fun item to buy that you put on your face and may or may not use all of.  Plus, I'd hate to spend that much on a product and then hardly use it because I'm not in love.  Now, what I do spend my extra money on, is purses.  I LOVE purses.  I want to buy one right now.  It's on super sale, but I'm trying to hold out for even super-er sale in order to be a little more frugal.  So moral of the story?  I don't like to spend my extra $ on makeup, but I love purses.  I don't judge people who buy lots of makeup because I?  I have a  lot of purses.

With regards to the second statement, what I really meant to say, was that $18 is not a lot of money in the grand ol' scheme of things.  $18 won't buy you a tank of gas and hardly buys a meal for two out to eat.  I know I mentioned in the entry that my new job won't produce a paycheck until the first of February and that means that my last paycheck received was December 31st.  I feel guilty spending money and non-necessary items when I'm not really contributing this month.  I also feel guilty when I've been on a spending binge and bought a few items from Forever 21 and this (which I LOVE btw):

via here

It makes it harder to justify spending that money when I've already spent a few dollars on myself already this month.  I think that part of sharing finances with someone means respecting them and not spending a bajillion dollars on myself.  Know what I mean?  So moral of the story?  I'm trying to be frugal and it's not really working.

So there's my explanation that was probably totally unnecessary, but boy do I feel better getting that off my chest!

(And let's ignore the fact that this entry totally negates the fact that the previous entry was supposed to be in jest and all in good fun!)

Grab Bag

This week has been crazy since I have started my NEW JOB!!!  I just love saying that.  It makes me feel a special and warm and fuzzy.  Lame, I know, but that's just me.  So since not much has gone on this week, I thought I would just share some random odds and ends.

The J-O-B

First of all, I really like it so far.  I won't go as far as to say that I love it because I don't want to be one of those girls who goes too fast and gets all giddy in love before the relationship has fully formed.  However, I will say that so far, so good.  I don't want to divulge too much information about what I do because these here are the interwebs and you really can never be too careful, but I'm happy with it.  It is a good marriage of a lot of my interests and my talents.  There is a lot to learn, but it's manageable.  I don't look it and have this feeling that I'll never learn it.  The people are wonderful so far.  Everyone is so nice and welcoming.  You know how every group seems to have at least one Scrooge?  I haven't found one yet, and I've met everyone - which wasn't hard since it's a very small company.

Make-up/Beauty

Yeah, I'm going to be lame and write about this.  As I mentioned previously, I have a new interest in watching YouTube Beauty Guru's.  I know that people have probably been watching these videos for years, but I just found them, so to me, they are brand spankin' new.  I now have an interest in using makeup in different ways and trying new products.  While all this fun, I feel like my skin in taking a beating.  I have never had good skin.  Actually I feel like as a teenager, I had decent skin, but as I've gotten older it's gotten worse.  I have been trying to find some affordable products that will help, but along the way I have found aspirin masks.  Now again, there are probably some of you reading this that know all about them, but to me they are new so I'm going to share.  

Basically you just take some aspirin, crush them, mix a few drops of water, a dollop of honey and mix together.  It makes a paste that you smear on your face and leave it there for about twenty minutes.  I just tried it tonight so I can't tell you if it's helped my skin or not, but I can tell you that it has left my skin feeling soft and smooth.  I would show you a picture, but I'm not brave enough for that!

Droid

The husband and I are super cool and finally entered the world of Android and Apps.  We got the LG Optimus from Sprint and I think the best part of getting it was, it was free.

via here

So if you have a Droid or know of some good apps that I have to have, let me know!

Weekend

I'm so ready for the weekend.  While I am liking(loving) the new job, I am ready for the weekend.  We have no major plans yet, which are the best kinds of weekends.  The husband does have a basketball game to coach tomorrow night so I am having some girls over for a girls night.  I'm so excited about this, as I rarely do things like this.  We plan on watching a movie, ordering pizza, calling boys, fixing each other's hair and playing light as a feather stiff as a board.  Ok, we're not really doing all those things.  I'll let you figure out which are real and which are fake.

Anyway, I hope everyone else is having a great week and I hope to actually write something of substance soon!

Wishin' and Hopin'

I wish...

• I were a hairstylist so I could go to the "supply store" and buy things at cost.
• God's plan for me would become a little more clear.
• my first week at my new job goes extremely well.
• all the laundry were already done.
• that I would actually accomplish some items at my 30 before 30 list.
• I had enough money to finish my basement and decorate it.
• it would be May so that spring would be here and CCD would be over!
• my new phone would get here.
• there was an Ulta closer to me.
• that UK would win the National Championship this year so the haters would keep on hatin'.
• I could go on a cruise this summer.
• this friends trip to Gatlinburg we have been discussing actually happens!
• that I could still work with the same people I used to.
• that all my wishes come true!

What do you wish for?

For Posterity's Sake

Change is on the horizon.  A change I didn't really think would ever happen (and before we get too far, no I am NOT pregnant). This year started out tumultuous and crazy and I have been living in the same holding pattern for nearly 12 whole months. Soon though, it's going to change.  And I'm happy and sad.  Excited and scared. Proud and guilty.  All at the same time. 

They say that things change when you least expect it and this case, "they" were most definitely right.  Sometimes when you stop searching and trying so hard, things just fall into place. 

Yes, change is on the horizon.

The Great Kentucky Debate (A Rant)

Generally, if you are from Kentucky, you either fall into one of two categories:

1. UK Fan
2. U of L Fan

There are a few people who dissent from both and follow either UC or Xavier (and in some really odd and bizarre cases Duke).

In this house we fall into the first category - UK fans.  Now, I'm not as big of a fan as my husband, but I do support the Big Blue over those stupid Cardinals any day of the week.

And living in the great commonwealth of Kentucky, I know how UK fans can be.  They can be a bit... obnoxious.  They like to count out their National Championships (seven) and talk about how they are the winningest program (first collegiate team with over 2,000 wins) and they like to talk about how great and wonderful and storied their program is.  I get it.  I get why a lot of people who aren't UK fans hate UK fans.

What I don't get?  Is why those people *cough*U of L/UC/etc. fans *cough* like to blow up my twitter and facebook spouting off about how "terrible" UK is and how it's "funny" when they are losing.  It is especially annoying when no one is saying anything bad to them about their teams.  No one is saying that it's pathetic they play no name schools.  No one is saying UC?  Who is that?  No one is bothering them, so why for the love of all that is holy do they blow up my news feed with this garbage?  Are they that bored that they have nothing better to do with their time?  Is their team that terrible that they have to watch UK just to be entertained?  And why do they have to harp on my husband who says nothing bad about their teams?  It is extremely irritating to me.  If you couldn't tell.

I guess the point of this entry is... well there is no point other than me just spouting off.  So there's that. Oh and...

GO BIG BLUE!!!

(for just the mere fact of making the haters shut up about it already!!)

Are We Getting Wiser, or Just Older

I'm pretty sure the universe is trying to tell me something, and that something is that I'm old.  Apparently a lot older than I always thought I was.  Allow me to explain...

About a week ago, I was looking at the ads on my Facebook page for funsies, you know just to see how well Facebook knew me.  There was an ad for Delta Zeta memorabilia and then this:

Yeah that's right.  Facebook targeted me for advertising on defective hip replacements.  WHAT?!  Aren't they supposed to use information from you profile to target advertise to you?  Hence the Delta Zeta ads and the fact that I get all kinds of pregnancy ads (because I'm a certain age and married I suppose).  But this?  I was just insulted.  I scoured my profile trying to figure out why I would get this, but the jury is still out on that one.

So life went on and all was well and I decided to write the whole thing off as a funny joke.  Until Saturday afternoon.  I came home from running errands and found the mail sitting on the counter.  I was going through it when I found an envelope with the following letters on it - AARP.  It was addressed to none other than yours truly.  WHAT THE BLEEPITY BLEEP?!  I ran down to the basement where my husband was watching TV and thrust it in his face.  

Me:  What the F is this??
Him: LOLOLOLOLOL Is your card in there too?

I frantically opened the envelope to find:

(Sorry for the crappy cell phone picture.  And don't be jealous of the mad photoshopping skillz.)

Yes, it's true.  I had  have my very own AARP card.   My husband's response?

Him: I have to Facebook this right now.

Thanks, honey.  

In the end, I put this picture on FB and someone suggested that I activate the card and then take it to restaurants and demand for a discount.  Not a bad idea.

What I find just as insulting as actually receiving the AARP card is that it is in my maiden name.  So now no only does AARP think I'm old, they think I'm an old maid.  So I got that going for me too.

Oh universe.  Whatever am I going to with you?

Redemption

So I feel like I should write another entry since my last entry was quite... emotional.  Ugh.  Sorry about that.  I just have a lot of feelings lately and I don't know what it is.  The holidays, maybe?  Whatever it is, it really needs to go away because I'm seriously watching an episode of One Tree Hill and TEARING UP.  I'm so pathetic right now!

MOVING ON

Last night I was in a bad place (clearly) and my husband, not really knowing why I was so crabby, fixed it without even knowing he was fixing my broken heart.  He had just picked up our wedding video that day and so we sat down to watch it together.  It was just what I needed to remind me of how lucky and blessed I really am, even I don't get everything I want. 

So let's back up.  Yes, I did get married three and a (halfish) years ago, and yes, I just saw my wedding video for the first time last night.  Allow me to explain.  Husband and I got married when we were fresh out of college.  I had graduated in December and he had graduated just two months before the big day.  We were quite young and had only been working in the professional world for a few months.  We didn't have tons o' money to be throwing around and neither did our parents.  Our parents really helped out, but we did have to cover a portion of the wedding ourselves.  One of they ways we saved money was by not having a videographer, which quite frankly, is still a decision I am ok with.  Even if we got married now and had tons of money to spend on the affair, I still don't think I would shell out the money to have a professional video.  Sure it's nice to have, but I just don't find it necessary.  Besides, I hate the way my recorded voice sounds. 

Anyway, that was a long drawn out way of saying that my uncle taped the ceremony and parts of the reception for us.  It was on a tape that we couldn't play.  For years, my husband has been begging me to get it converted to DVD and for his birthday I finally did.  So finally, we got to see ourselves get married.  It was sweet. 

After watching the video though I came to the following conclusions:

• I would like to get married again.  Because that?  Was a heck of a good time.
• I was a bit heavier back then.  Not much, but I notice it.  Yick.
• The colors were gorgeous, no?

•  I still hate the way my voice sounds on video.
• I don't recognize some of the people who were at my wedding.  Is that bad?
• I STILL love my wedding cake.

But overall, I noticed how happy and in love we were (and still are).  I was reminded of what it felt like to have our entire future stretch out in front of us and not worry about the good and the bad.  It was a single night in our long past and future - really just a moment in time.  And for that moment our world was perfect, and it still is because no matter what, we still have each other.

Yeah, I think that's just the reminder I needed. 

A Question...

I know that there are many teachers out there in the blogosphere so I propose this question to you all:

How do you do it every.single.day?

No... seriously.  I teach CCD, or Catholic Education classes to Catholic children that go to Public School.  It's for an hour every Monday night and most nights are tolerable.  Enjoyable even.  But tonight?  Tonight was difficult.  They were wild and crazy.  And I could handle that.  Really and truly.  But they also had attitudes.  Oh the attitudes.  That's hard for me to take.

I know it's the excitement of having the next five days off of school and the excitement of Christmas.  I get it.  I do.  It's hard for me to focus at work knowing that I have a few days off.  

What's sad is I was going to do this for a living!  I guess God really does know what he's doing, after all.  Oy vey.  

Now I shall self medicate with episodes of One Tree Hill.  Season 6 is playing on the WB!

An Announcement

I have an announcement to make.  I want an iPhone based solely on the site http://damnyouautocorrect.com/.  I was laughing hysterically at this stuff last night.  My husband thought I was crazy, but he was laughing at some of them too.

via here

And that's all I have to say about that.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

I Should Be...

Let's play a little game called, "What I should be doing".  Fun, yes?

I should be doing the laundry... but instead I'm playing on the internet.

I should be deciding what we're having for dinner... but instead I'm snacking on some chips.

I should be brainstorming about Christmas gifts for people... but instead I'm thinking of what to buy myself.

I should be cleaning the kitchen, but instead I'm making silly lists. 

I should be reading the last book my sister gave me... but instead I'm thinking of how I get another Elin Hilderbrand book.

I should be walking my dog... but instead I'm just looking at her "junk in the trunk".

I should be cleaning my bedroom... but instead I'm thinking about how that would lead to laundry (see number 1on this list).

I should be feeling bad about some certain things... but instead I really just can't it in me.

I should be planning my PREP lesson for next week... but instead I'm thinking of how many days I have between now and then.

And now the word "should" looks really funny.

What should you be doing, and what are you doing instead?

Blast From the Past

This weekend, we went to eat at my parents house for my husband's birthday.  My mother went on a a crazy spree and was trying to give all these random things to me and my sister.  It started out innocently enough with Waterford Crystal from our great uncle and quickly moved to her trying to get us to take home our childhood treasures.  I'm sorry, but aren't our parents supposed to store these things for us, for forever?  Or is that just me?  She was successful and did get me to take home a few things including this little gem:

 

Yeah, that my Seniors '02 sweatshirt from high school.  DON'T be jealous because I know you are.  See I went to an all girls Catholic high school (which is not at all as terrible as it sounds).  We wore the obligatory uniform that all Catholic students must wear (NOT like Britney Spears) which included a uniform sweatshirt.  Up until your senior year, your only choices were a fugly navy sweater with the school name embroidered on the left breast or an even fuglier navy sweatshirt with the school name and some crest smack dab in the center.  In your senior year though you got a real treat and you could not only wear a different sweatshirt, BUT your class got to design it.  This was the design that won.  I'm pretty sure it won because of the sweet  sleeve design.  Who doesn't love a good sleeve design? 

When I saw this sitting in the closet, I was both excited and sad.  Excited to see something I haven't seen in years, and sad at just how many years it had been.  Seriously, is my 10 year high school reunion in just a few short years?  This can't be.  Surely this is a sick joke something is playing on me.  

Along with the sweatshirt, my mom sent me home with a box of pictures from high school/early college.  I do wish I owned a scanner so that I could share with you the awesomeness that was me.  Or maybe I'm glad because that surely doesn't need to be shared with the rest of the world!

Any other '02 grads out there?

 

Now This is Too Much

I saw this article today on Yahoo about one of my old favorite TV shows, Days of Our Lives.  I used to watch that show every day after school starting when I was in the fifth grade.  I was there for Marlena's possession.  I saw Belle go from a baby to a teenager over night.  I saw John as Roman and as a priest and as Kristen husband and as Marlena's husband. I saw Hope come back as Princess Gina and then get her memory back.  I saw it all.  Except I never saw what the article was talking about - product placement.  Sure it's common practice for shows to show a certain product or mention a certain product, but this?  This is just plain BAD.  Check it out...

Now I'm Haunted

So I fell off the wagon.  I didn't complete the 30 day Challenge and I really, really wanted to.  It's just, life got in the way, you know?  Or maybe my laziness got in the way.  Or maybe both.  Either way, I won't be completing it and that's just the way the cookie crumbles. 

I'm in a bumming kind of mood.  There's a lot going on, and I find when other areas of my life are blowing up in my face, the infertility thing just is magnified by a million.  Then to add insult to injury, everyone announces they are pregnant, and I'm left feeling even worse than I felt before. 

I'm sorry.  This isn't a very uplifting post is it? 

It's just today was ick.  Three people got laid off at work between Friday and today.  This is the latest in a series that has spanned the entire year.  Since the beginning of the year nearly 20 people have gotten laid off from my work.  Which doesn't sound like a lot, but it's a small company, made even smaller now.  It's really hard to deal with all of it. 

Then I'm driving home, happy to be free, singing to some new Taylor Swift and CRACK!  A rock comes and hits my windshield leaving a nice crack in it.  Now this wouldn't be so bad because in the great Commonwealth of Kentucky our insurance companies but replace/repair the windshield free of charge - one per year.  Excellent!  Only did you see that one per year thing?  Yeah, I already claimed mine - less than two months ago.  Yes, that's right.  This has already happened to me once this year and that was less than two months ago.  Two months!  And did I mentioned it happened in the exact same spot on the expressway?  Words cannot describe my anger. 

Then I come home to find some solace.  Well I shouldn't have looked to blogs/Facebook for that.  I saw that two new people were pregnant which just irritates me.  I should probably back up a bit here.  I was already a little irritated with the whole thing when I logged on FB last night and every single picture that had been uploaded were of babies.  Babies, babies, babies.  It depressed me to no end.  Then to find that more people are pregnant?  It's salt in wounds, people.  Salt.in.wounds.

And now I should really go do some laundry, but I think I'm just going to listen to more Taylor Swift and wallow in my pity. 

Tomorrow will be happier.  I promise. 

No Time! There's Never Any Time!

Whenever I complain about never having enough time the following montage plays in my mind:

Jessie: Singing?  Tonight?  What am I going to wear?

Zack: Jessie, remember?  Lisa's bringing your costume.

Jessie: Right, I gotta wash my hair.

Zack: No, there's no time.

Jessie: No time! There's never any time!  I don't have time to study!  I'll never get in to Stanford!  I'll let everyone down.  I'm so confused!

And then....


I mean, it really doesn't get any better than that, right?  Said montage in my head thus furthers my belief that any life event you experience can be found in an episode of Saved By the bell.  Who knew SBTB was so philosophical?

********

""Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein." H. Jackson Brown

I saw this quotation not long ago on a friend's Facebook and I have some issues with it.  I mean, it's a great idea in theory, but I'm willing to bet that they didn't spend 8-9 hours of their day trying to make a dollar.  Meaning they didn't spend all their time at a job.  Or if they did, it was these jobs that lead them to their greatness.  Moral of my rambling?  

There's no time!  There's never any time!!

At least to do the things that I want to do vs. what I have to do.  Don't get me wrong.  I am thankful every day that I have a job and I am able to pay my bills and still have a good life.  I also enjoy my job (for the most part).  It's just that at the end of the day, I have very little energy to do much else.  But the laundry still needs to be done and the house cleaned, etc.  And then when I take the time to write a blog entry or just watch TV, I feel guilty, like I should be doing something else more productive.

I then have the problem of extracurricular activities (ok, I know that I am not in school anymore and therefore the use of "extracurricular" isn't quite correct, but what do you call them when you are a "grown up"?).  I teach the CCD classes which I enjoy, but I also want to help out with my sorority.  I would love to go back and serve as an advisor, but I know that the two activities together would be waaaay too much.  So how do I decide?  And how do I make it all work?  How do I manage the need to do and the want to do and still do all that I want to do?

Certainly caffeine pills are not the answer. 

P.S. Go back an entry for my 30 Day Challenge Post!