Making “New” Friends

While I’m writing this before my trip, by the time you read this, I will be in Other State and trying to find my way around one of the 5 largest metro areas. (Let’s see how many times I get lost or drive the wrong way on a one way street.)

Not only will I finally be seeing my husband after 3 and a half long weeks apart and getting to experience new restaurants and a new city and a new state and enjoy a little vacation away, but I will also be meeting some blog and twitter friends. 3 internet friends, to be precise.

EEEEEKKKK.

I am so very excited to meet these lovely ladies. I have been reading their blogs since I started this blog of my own. It feels like I have known them for a long time, but at the same time, I don’t know them.

Like me, they keep some things off the blogs and off of twitter. We all do. We all like to keep some things private. And even if I attempted to tell you all everything, it would be impossible.

So here I am, willingly going to meet 3 different women who I have never met before.

Sounds like the start of a horror film, doesn’t it?

Luckily, I have e-mailed and talked to them and I have decided that they are not serial killers or crazy people.

At least I don’t think so…

(Hi ladies. You know who you are. So excited!)

On Monday, I will be meeting up with one and her husband and some of their friends at a baseball game. Hubs and I both love baseball, so I figure it will be some common ground and will be fun. I think I’m less nervous than Mr. A. Poor guy is afraid he will embarrass me or something since these are people I have a connection to, and not him. He will be just fine. He’s good at talking to people. I’m not worried about him.

The other two ladies, we don’t have official plans, but one gets back from out of town on Monday and the other will be busy for the first few days, so once they get back and done with work stuff, we will figure it out.

I feel like I’m in grade school and trying to make new friends on the first day of class. What to wear. What to do. What to say. How to not look like an idiot. That might be the hard one.

Have any of you met up with internet friends? Any tips? Was it as awkward as I’m afraid it’s going to be?

(Girls, I swear I’m normal, I just get nervous meeting new people. Sorry!)

My Other Life

A few months ago, my migraines kicked into high gear. I had 9 in a month and a half, and for those of you who don’t have migraines, that is NOT normal. Or acceptable.

I found a doctor here and we adjusted my medicine. We lowered one medicine that I have been on for the last 4 years and we added another one. The doctor wants to wean me off the first medicine since it’s a beta blocker and if I can be off of that since I’m only 24, that would be best.

[[Side rant: New medicine is an anti-depressant that is also used for controlling migraines. I am on the lowest dose possible and it is working like a charm. Not one single migraine since I’ve started it. Also, remember when I blogged about how upset I was? Well this happy little pill has a very nice side effect. It has leveled me out. It has made me calmer. It has made me ME again. And I’m not a zombie. I do care about things. I do get mad or frustrated. I still get upset, but I’ve always been like that. I’ve always been really emotional, but I’ve also been a very friendly, outgoing, bubbly person. This little pill has brought me back to that. I am a full believer that people need to talk about their mental issues because it still seems to have a stigma. So yes. I am on medicine. Was it prescribed for this? Nope. But it’s helping and I couldn’t be happier. End rant]]

Now when I started the first medicine, they wanted me to take it at night since it lowers your blood pressure and often makes people sleepy. Me? I got the super rare side effect of insomnia and vivid, lucid dreams. So when I did sleep, I felt like I had just run a marathon. So we switched it to mornings and it’s been fine.

But now that we’ve added this second medicine, it’s gotten a little strange.

I have the most vivid dreams EVER. Strangely, I still feel rested, which is good because if not, then I would have to be switching medicine because I don’t do without sleep very well.

But these dreams…

I remember them too. I remember them for days. Weeks.

Some are very strange. Like, my friend A becoming the President, I got lost in the White House and then Obama found me crying in the basement and let me take his dog for a walk to cheer me up. WTF?!?

But the weird ones are those that are so incredibly realistic. The ones that I spend HOURS trying to figure out if they happened or not. The ones where I sometimes have to call the people in the dreams to see if they happened. The ones where I ask my husband, “Did I do such and such?” He usually laughs, tells me know, and says I’m crazy. (But the good kind of crazy…)

LIke the time I dreamt that I called my mom and said that we would be spending the night at her house when we came for the weekend. We stay there 99% of the time just because it seems to go better and my step mom drives both me and my husband insane. But she told me that we couldn’t stay there because she had a bunch of stuff on our bed and didn’t have the time to move it all before we got there. Since it is common for my mom to use my room as some extra space, I thought that we would just stay at my dads. I was a little bummed because my mom is usually so open and welcoming.

Now, we were REALLY going home that weekend. And I REALLY thought we were going to stay at my dad’s.

My mom called me a couple days after and we were talking and she mentioned washing the sheets for us. I asked her why she did that since she told me that we couldn’t stay there.

Turns out, that whole conversation NEVER happened. She asked if I had been mad at her for those few days and I told her that I was a little hurt, but just figured she was too busy.

She still teases me about this.

Also, these dreams last all night long. And sometimes, they will last nights in a row. And not just repeating the same dream. It picks up where it left off the night before. Again, incredibly vivid and life-like. Even the bizarre ones.

So I have this whole other life. I asked my MIL this morning about a dream I had last night because I didn’t know if we really had the conversation or not. Now the one about helping a girl from high school’s fiancé pick out things for a baby shower? I knew that didn’t happen since I haven’t talked to her in a long time and I’ve never met him, only seen pictures online.

So if I ask you about something that never happened? Just politely tell me that I’ve crazy and I should stop reading Harry Potter before bed because I am NOT going to Hogwarts and dating one of the twins. (But man that would be cool.) Damn.

Only comment.

I have not whispered a peep about this trial. Not one. My husband and i discussed it, but beyond him, I have not expressed one single opinion.

And I still won’t. Only one social media friend knows how I felt/feel and that was through private messages.

I knew that no matter which side I was on, someone would disagree with me, and it was not that important to me for me to get involved.

Even more?

I have no legal background. None.

Even more reason for me to keep my English degree mouth shut.

Yes, I do know what beyond a reasonable doubt it. Yes, I do know about circumstantial evidence and things have to be proven.

But I remained silent.

Except that I’m friends with A LOT of lawyers/law school people in social media. I actually got into this whole world through Law School Wife, so naturally, that’s who I have originally made friends with and connections with. And I’ve loved it. Law has always interested me so it’s fun for me to talk to people on the other side and hear their opinions and just how it all works.

But today.

Today a rift has formed.

Between lawyers and non lawyers.

And it’s probably not even a big deal. And the things being said are probably just over generalizations. But for some reason, they have deeply bothered me and hurt me some.

I understand many people who don’t understand how the law works and who had their own verdicts made years ago are ranting about everything. I get that. it’s annoying. Especially for the lawyers who truly understand how this works. even those who thought she was guilty knew that they did not prove beyond a reasonable doubt, so they were glad that the justice system worked how it should. We don’t want to lock people up just on mass opinion.

But the comments that ALL non lawyers are ranting and that NONE of them understand how this works bothers me. Yes it’s dumb. Yes, I’m taking something personal that has nothing to do with me.

But I have been quiet and I may be a “non lawyer”, but doesn’t mean that I’m dumb or ignorant of the justice system and the process that is involved.

No, this isn’t earth shattering. And should I care? Probably not. But if people are going to get all riled up, so can I.

So this non-lawyer is still keeping her opinions to herself. But the next time a non-educator talks about our education system, I won’t be biting my tongue.

Open Book

Well, not really. A few lucky of you know my real name. My husband’s name. Where we live. Where i work. Where I want to live. Those things.

But I can’t go spilling everything to the interwebz. I have job applications out there people. I’m not dumb. (However, my mom, the most technology illiterate person I know, started telling me Facebook was a bad idea. Umm…I’ve had it for about 6 years mom. I think you’re a little late to the party. Also, i don’t post drunken body shot pictures. Oh the search results this is going to create…)

But I like to be honest. I feel if I’m going to blog, while I don’t have to lay it all out there, I shouldn’t lie or fake who I am. No Catfish story coming from this girl.

So I decided to do a little confessions/truths/oddities about NewTeacherWife. (Also, I’m going to need to change my blog/twitter name soon. We shall wait to see what comes of jobs, but I feel after a year I can’t call myself a new wife and since I haven’t taught since last April, and unless I get a teaching job for August, that’s going to have to change as well. So get to thinking on that because I’m terrible at catchy names. )

So, some more fun facts:

* I don’t really give a crap about college basketball. Or really any college sports. (Before you go hating me, let me explain.) Where I grew up, college sports weren’t a big thing. The local colleges weren’t sports schools and we had all the major league sports, minus basketball, so no need. And then in undergrad people we knew were so obnoxious about their love of a certain college sports teams that I have basically sworn them off. If you’re going to call me stupid for not liking your team, I’m going to be so spiteful and cheer against your team no matter what. And when they lose because they aren’t as great as they were hyped up to be, I will laugh and gloat. Yepp. I’m a real graceful winner. hahahaha

* I despise washing/blow drying my hair. Even though it’s currently shorter than it normally is, my hair is silly thick and takes forever to get all the conditioner out of and get it all the way dried. Luckily, I also have hair that I only wash about every three or four days. No, it’s not a greasy mess. My hair is actually pretty dry and just doesn’t need to be washed often. Which is good or I would just shave it off if I had to blow dry it everyday.

* I have an irrational fear of velociraptors. Yes. The dinosaur. That no longer exists. So, in Jurassic Park, everyone was most afraid of the T-Rex. But why? If he decides to eat you, it will be in one huge gulp and you won’t know it. No big deal. But the raptors? Those effers are smart and cunning and not enough bigger than a human, therefore, they’re going to have to slowly eat at you and rip you apart. TERRIFYING. The scene in the kitchen with them? Scares me to no end. Even worse, my husband knows of this fear, and add it to my fear of being chased, and he can imitate a raptor and it has brought me to tears before. Can’t believe I’m admitting it, but it’s true. Stuff of nightmares.

* I wanted to go to Bonnaroo very badly this year. Mr. A went the summer after he graduated high school and refuses to go again. Also, it’s super expensive. But I wanted to see Eminem and Lil Wayne and Old Crow Medicine Show and Wilco and all the other awesome bands playing. But then again, I can’t stand porta johns, so probably best I didn’t. Also, Mr. A said that even though we wouldn’t be doing any drugs, the amount being smoked would cause us to fail drug tests. And that’s probably not good at this point in time.

* I’m getting a littler frustrated with Twitter at the moment. I understand anyone can say what they want and if I don’t like something I can just unfollow, but sometimes, it gets ridiculous. I won’t say much more, but it’s a little silly at times.

* I have terrible road rage. And I feel I’m entitled to think everyone else is a terrible driver since I have a clean record. Please drive AT LEAST the speed limit, if not 5 over. Please and thank you.

* While I love the community I have built with this blog, because of everything going on, or not going on, I have been staying away because I feel like my last two months have been the exact same thing. I’m working on it. I have some posts in mind, but just know I haven’t left. I just can’t keep writing about the same stuff every week, so I wait till something comes to me or I finally have news to share.

* Knowing that we won’t be going home, except for one day for a baseball game at the end of the month, until finals are over, makes me even more anxious than I am. Knowing I won’t be getting out of this town for over a month makes me want to run away. Tomorrow.

* I promise not to tweet about baseball all the time. I actually don’t watch all the games, but I will watch clips and check scores and sometimes watch. But I know sports tweeting gets annoying, so I will keep it to a minimum.

* I WILL tweet pics when I’m wearing shorts, my brand new jersey, drinking a beer, and watching the game in the sun in 21 days. But only to make you jealous. Just once. 🙂

* I don’t want a baby. Not now. But I wish I could babysit. I would love to babysit an actual baby and I think playing with a toddler or two would be fun. Mostly because I can give them back and I’m not paying for them. But I do love kids and miss being around them since I worked at an after school program in undergrad.

* While I don’t miss dating and love my husband with all my heart, I do miss the kind of fun when just going out with girlfriends and not having any worries. My bachelorette party was kind of like that, but also it was all centered around me and I prefer just being a part of the group. I really, desperately, need a good girls night out. Why the heck do all of you live so far away?

 

I had more juicy confessions, but of course they are slipping my mind. Maybe I will try to do a bi-weekly confession post. Maybe.

 

Also, if you have any questions for ME, let me know! I think I talk to a lot of you regularly, but maybe you have a question that would be a good blog post or something. Just leave a comment or send me an e-mail!

My Brain Is Exploding

I was so very determined not to do just a random post with all sorts of things, but seeing as I haven’t written since like Wednesday, this is what I’ve got. So much has been going on and getting into the swing of things with the new job and I have just been exhausted. My poor feet are about to give up on me and find someone who loves them more.

* So, first of all- the job. Truthfully, it’s been going really well. Yes, 8 hours straight, on my feet, on concrete mean my feet are screaming by the time I get home. I even bought some gel insoles, but they’re so thick that it then makes my shoes not fit right or even feel worse. I’m going to have to figure something out. But other than that, I kind of like it. I’m still having some self-esteem issues when people ask where I work because I still feel kind of like a failure since I have a college degree and work for a manager who never went to college. But, for the time being, it’s going great. My mom said that when I talk to her after work, that my attitude and outlook is a million times better than when I would talk to her after any other job. She said it even sounds like I’m enjoying this more than I did when I was student teaching. And yes, I’ve questioned the teaching, but I don’t want to work in retail as a career. Some people do, but not me. It’s good for now and makes it so I can look for other things while I work. I also like the people I work with, so that helps. I just hope they keep me on after the holidays. I need the job.

Also, I helped catch someone that, we’re pretty sure, was about to steal. Too bad I think they realized we were watching them, because had they stolen and then gotten caught, I would have gotten $140 plus a percentage of the goods they stole. Oh well. Probably better that they didn’t. I also opened my first store credit card today, which got me some in-store money. It has it’s benefits.

*Some of you may have seen this on Twitter, but Friday night we went to go see HP7 after I got off work. I was so excited since I wasn’t able to go to the midnight showing. Yes. I love the HP series so much that I was mad I couldn’t camp out at 6pm for a midnight showing of a movie. Whatever. But then, my head exploded. More specifically, a massive migraine hit. I take a daily pill to keep the migraines away, and then I have a pain pill/lowers blood pressure pill to take when I get one. Usually, if I can catch it right at the very start of one, I can make it go away with a dark and quiet room for an hour. But here I was, at a movie I had been dying to see, at it hits. I took my pill and got some water and was hoping reallllllly hard that it would go away, but it just got worse. It got to the point where I knew I was going to be sick and about to be in tears because of the pain, so I had to leave. I made it only about 45 minutes into it. I tried to make Mr. A stay to finish since we had driven separately, but he’s too nice for that and came home to take care of me.

* But, then my amazing husband, bought us tickets for a Saturday matinee show and it was amazing! I think they did a really great job with it. I was bummed that a couple things got left out, but if they did everything from the book, the movie would be 10 hours long. Which I would still watch, but probably doesn’t have the selling abilities to the mass public. Now I’m just dying for the last part to come out. And you can bet I will be camped out for the midnight showing of that one. Dorky? Yes. But I’m proud of it. haha

*I was going to talk about Thanksgiving, but I have so much to say, that it should probably be it’s own post. But I am so very excited to see all the new babies in the families. I have 2 new ones on my side and Mr. A’s side has 4! Four new, squishy, cuddly, babies to play with. And since there are so many, I might actually get a chance with them because when there’s only one, the grandparents and the aunts seem to hog them all day. Mr. A will just be hoping this keeps my baby wants at bay and doesn’t amplify them. But don’t worry. No babies around here for at least 3 years. A puppy better be coming soon. What are your Thanksgiving plans? Will you be cooking or are you going somewhere?

* We still have to make a decision as to whether or not we’re going to stay in our current apartment or not. We have to decide for next month and it’s stressing me out since I don’t know if I’ll still have this job after the beginning of January or not. Hard to commit to paying anymore when I have no idea what our money situation will be like. So we shall see.

*Finals will seen be upon us. Mr. A is off all of this week, he has class next week, and then two weeks of finals. I think we’re both ready for the 17th to be here already. I know finals is a stressful time, but Mr. A has done so well with his study schedule and outlining all semester and such that I’m hoping it isn’t so terrible. I’m sure he will be at school more and I will need to stock up on books to read quietly, but hopefully it won’t be earth shattering. Some of his classmates should be freaking out since I know some got way behind on reading assignments and some haven’t even started outlining. He’s done excellent with keeping up with everything and working the whole time, so I just hope he does well. Also, he will receive his call of Black Ops as soon as he walks through the door after his last final. And he has been given my blessing to play way to many hours of video games on the couch over Christmas break as long as he still helps with some house chores. I expect him to have a beard to shave before the second semester starts.

* And I need your help. I have not one single idea for Mr. A for Christmas. We’re trying not to spend too much money, but I want to give him something, or do something for him that he’ll really love. I just can’t think of anything to do for him that isn’t lame or that isn’t something I want done for me. And I don’t want to buy him clothes because my mom has gotten him a bunch of stuff for Christmas and I think clothes are boring between he and I. He doesn’t buy me clothes, so I want to get him something better than that. Ideas? What do you and your husband or wife do for each other for Christmas or what are you buying this year?

Phone Phobia

According to Wikipedia, “Telephone phobia (telephonophobia, telephobia) is reluctance or fear of making or taking phone calls, literally, "fear of telephone". Sufferers typically report fear that they would fail to respond appropriately in a telephone conversation, and fear finding nothing to say, which would end in embarrassing silence, stammering, or stuttering. The associated avoidance behavior includes asking others (e.g. relatives at home) to take their phone calls and exclusive use of answering machines. As a result, the sufferers avoid many activities, such as scheduling events or clarifying information.”

Yeah, this is me to a T. And it’s a problem.

Here I am, 23 years old, and I hate making phone calls to anyone except Mr. A and my parents. I love my brother, but he mumbles and has such a deep voice that I can barely tell what he’s saying. I don’t mind talking to my MIL, but I then get awkward with how to get off the phone. And it’s just weird on my part.

But calling the insurance company to find out which doctor’s office I can see now that we’ve moved? My hands start sweating. When I was job searching and maybe had to call about something? Heart would race. Ordering a pizza over the phone if they didn’t have online ordering? I just beg and whine until Mr. A does it. Or, if heaven forbid I’m home alone, I would write out EXACTLY what I wanted so I could just recite it and none of this on-the-spot thinking.

It’s terrible!

Remember my Stranger Danger post? I think it stems from that. I’ve never liked to talk to people I don’t know.

If someone calls and I don’t know the number, I ignore it and let it go to voicemail. Even if it’s someone I do know, but maybe don’t talk to them much or can’t think why they would be calling me, I let it go to voicemail.

This drives my husband absolutely nuts. He gets so mad when I ignore phone calls, especially the ones that I don’t know the number. It would really infuriate him when I was job searching because he said I could be missing a job opportunity. Little did he know, I had thought of this and had written down the phone numbers from the places I applied so I knew the area code and at least the first 3 numbers of the office. Yep. It’s so bad I plan how to ignore phone calls.

I just get all nervous and antsy and I don’t know what to say. And I have a really hard time when it comes to ending the phone call. What to say, how to say it. My friends used to make fun of my because I would always say the exact same thing when getting off the phone, but I don’t even remember what that was.

And then today happened.

About 9 this morning, and yes I was still asleep, I get a phone call from a number I didn’t know. Well, my new nifty phone tells me where the phone number is from. So I had no idea why someone from Seattle, Washington would be calling me. I had already told one telemarketer the day before that I had no interest in picking a degree to pursue sing, you know, I’ve already graduated from college. But she was super nice, quickly took me off the list and told me to have a good day.

Well, I was sleeping, so I ignored it. But then they called again around 1pm, so after yesterday’s successful conversation, i got brave and decided to answer. This was the wrong move on my part.

She starts going on about when I registered for something (I still have no idea what…) and I was entered for a $1,000 spending spree on some website. Also, they would send me free magazine subscriptions for 60 months, and I would just have to pay shipping at like $3.60 a week. She then said something about transferring me to her supervisor and if I could hold. I told her I wasn’t interested, and then she transferred me anyways. So, since I was put on hold, complete with crappy music, I just hung up.

She then called back. So I picked up, and before she could say anything, I told her not to call me about it anymore and thank you, and I hung up.

They then proceeded to call me back 30 times in 2 hours. Every time I just ignored it. The one time I actually hit the ignore button, they immediately called back. So then I just hit the mute button every time they called and ignored it.

I’m sure they thought if they called enough that I would give in. Little did they know who they were messing with. I’m the girl with years of practice in ignoring phone calls. It doesn’t bother me to just make the ringer quit and go about my business. Unfortunately, this has probably just reaffirmed my habit of ignoring unknown phone calls.

See, sometimes quirky little phobias help out in the long run.

JC Penny’s: I Hate You

I know. Hate is a strong word. And yes, I got a dress for barrister’s that is cute and was cheap, but JC Penny’s and I have a serious problem after today’s shopping.

So, I went to the mall to do a little shopping. I didn’t go to the store I work at because my employee discount isn’t in effect just yet, and since I still hadn’t heard from them about my schedule, i felt awkward going in there. Also, they cost a little more and I was REALLY trying to not spend much money. I’ve gotten lucky finding cute dresses that fit and such at JCP, so I headed there.

Well, they had a bunch of dresses that were the kind of style I was looking for, so then I got a little worried about picking one. I thought about Tweeting them, but then I would have to wait for responses and people would like different things and I just kind of wanted to try them on and get going with my day.

I called Mr. A and he was just at home between classes and had about 2 hours till class. I asked if he would come up to the store so I would have another opinion than just my own. And since it was for his law school event, he could help decide. And I hope I’m not the only one who likes to hear what others think about their purchases. I’ve always had a hard time picking dresses in particular, so I figured the husband could help.

The dressing room area I was in was tiny. Only 3 rooms, with a short little hallway connecting them. Since the distance was small, Mr. A just stood outside the entryway to the dressing rooms and I would just stand in the little hallway to show him. When I was changing, he would just kind of wander around by the door till I came out with the next.

There came a dress that I couldn’t tell if it wouldn’t zip because it didn’t fit, or if I just couldn’t reach it. It was in an awkward spot on my back, so I needed some help. So, Mr. A came in to just zip up the back of the dress. We were in my little stall, but door was open and I was clothed other than the back open. No one else was in the dressing room and any sales person saw him standing around, so knew he was with me.

Then hell broke loose.

This middle aged woman comes storming into the dressing area, drags Mr. A out by the arm and screaming at him, “You have to get out of here!”

WTF?!?!

I told her that all he was doing was zipping up the back of the dress. She continued to repeat that he couldn’t be in there. I then said, “He’s my husband.” And she just laughed. Like I was lying or something.

She then preceded to try to come into my stall so she could zip the dress. I quickly told her never mind and shut my door. I proceeded to try on the next dress and walked out of the dressing room to show him.

As I moved to the next dress (I seriously had about 20 to try on), I hard the little motion sensor ding (for the 9 millionth time, but didn’t think much about it. As I opened my door, my jaw hit the floor.

The saleswoman had gone and closed the door to the dressing area!!!!! I mean, did she think Mr. A had x-ray vision to see through wooden doors???

Mr. A was already fuming (and I think a little embarrassed) by the first encounter, and then for her to go a shut the door like he was some creeper stalking the dressing rooms? If my husband thought hitting women was acceptable, she would have been knocked to the floor he was so irate.

I was pissed because she made my husband look like a socially awkward guy who tries to sneak peeks at women changing at stores. He had been standing out there the ENTIRE TIME, just like you see all sorts of husbands or boyfriends doing. He wasn’t in the dressing room with me and he wasn’t blocking the little hallway area or trying to peek through cracks in the door.

THEN, apparently, after she shut the door on him, she told him he needed to go wait somewhere else.

WTF again?!?!?!?!?!?

I mean, was I supposed to walk all the way to the linens to show him each dress?!?!

He said he didn’t say anything because if he opened his mouth, he wouldn’t have been able to stop himself from saying things that could be counted as verbal assault. And law students don’t need that on their record.

I was so damn mad. Mad doesn’t even describe it. I was offended, irate, pissed, beside myself, and ready to fight. But again, my husband gets very defensive of me, and had I confronted her, he would have stepped in and that would not have ended good for anyone.

And if I hadn’t been on a budget and a time crunch, I wouldn’t have bought the dress there, but I did. I wish I would have thrown all 20 of the dresses on the floor for her to pick up.

Does anyone else find this bizarre? Or am I just nuts? I hope not.

Blah Blah Blah

Welp, I was planning on giving you a post about finally going for the job and e-mailing the principal and her telling me she would love to schedule an interview and all of that jazz. And then she decided to skip the interview and just hire me over the phone. (If only…)

Instead, today I wake up, get on the website to get her e-mail address and the job is no longer posted. Mind you, it was JUST posted on Thursday. I didn’t find out about it until about 9pm Friday night. Either they found someone already or decided not to move that teacher to the new position.

So, I’m a little miffed. Especially after all the stress and thinking and finally getting a little excited about the job and then it’s just gone.

Then you think that I shouldn’t be too upset since I have the other job. True, except they still haven’t called to tell me my schedule. I know my manager had a family emergency come up last Thursday, but come on. Just freaking tell me when to come in. And I will be sooo pissed if they don’t have me start till next week during the big sale they’re having. Don’t make my first day be when a super crazy sale is going on and no one will really be able to help me. Yes, I know how to use the register, but I have yet to be on the floor and I don’t even know where everything is. Gahhhh.

So I’m just doing random crap that comes to mind since there is nothing to really talk about since this job stuff seems to be stalling and it’s pissing me off.

–I was all excited about these Christmas cards, but now I’m not so sure why. I mean, just a few months ago we were slaving over writing addresses for wedding invitations. And then I had to write a billion thank you cards and send all those out. I barely got them finished in a timely and proper manner. And now I have 65 to do. Yes, I bought 15 to send out to a few people, then I got the free 50 and now I don’t know who all to send them to. So, anyone want a Christmas card? haha

— I went for a run outside today since the weather was better. Well, I figured going to run at 4:30 would be just fine. Umm…the sun was already setting, and when I got back 30 minutes later, it was nearly dark. Now, at 5:30? Pitch black. Also, the temperature was dropping the entire time I was out, which just hurt the lungs with all the cold air. It looks like I’ll be gym bound. Boo.

— Also, I know I know wayyyy less about politics than most of you, but my husband brought something to my attention, but all i can find are examples to the contrary. My husband told me that most the time, Republicans wear red ties and Democrats wear blue/light blue ties. But all I’ve seen is the contrary. Watching the news discussing Obama’s trip to India, I’ve only seen one scene where he’s in a blue tie. Thes rest of the time he’s in a red one. There have been times he’s in silver and black and such, but very few blue. And at the Social Security Office, in the picture, Joe Biden is wearing a red tie. So, is Mr. A wrong? Or am I just only noticing the opposite??

— I love my husband. He’s wonderful. Most of the time. Today at lunch? I wanted to strangle him. First of all, I’m trying to cut out a lot of my processed carbs and bleached white flour. He comes home and puts in a frozen pizza. One of my weaknesses. And this isn’t the only time. He is constantly eating things right in front of me that I love that I’m trying to avoid. And this wouldn’t be such a big deal if he hadn’t said he was going to try to cut out the same things and eat better with me. The he makes baked potatoes, spaghetti, and pizza.

Then, while the pizza was baking, it started to smell really bad. It hadn’t been in long, but I told him to check to see if it was burning. He said it wasn’t. But the smell continued to get worse. I joked that he would never be allowed to make pizza again if it was going to smell like that. Finally, I got up to look because it was making me sick. When I looked, he had set the pizza on a dirty cupcake tin from where I made cupcakes for the championship soccer game Sunday. So he was burning the leftover reside onto the pan, making it even harder for me to clean it because I know he won’t clean it. And I also found out that he started by cooking it straight on the shelf in the stove. No foil. No cookie sheet. Nothing. No wonder it smelled like burning and gross. And this is the man who almost went to culinary school and can make some yummy food. No common sense sometimes.

— Conan premieres tonight and I’m so bummed because we don’t get TBS. We aren’t paying for cable but we get a few channels and I won’t be able to see it. Sad day. I guess I’ll watch it on Hulu tomorrow. I hope it’s good. Anyone know who his guests are tonight??

— We’ve been looking at apartments since we have to tell our landlord in January whether we are staying or not. It’s been frustrating. The super apartment with the awesome company that we wanted in the complex feet from where we are now, doesn’t allow dogs at that complex. Most of their other compounds, yes, but not this one. And the one we wanted was a one bedroom, but it was a loft so it had more room. THe others that allow dogs? One bedroom flats or two bedrooms that are crazy super expensive. Annoyed to no end. And why do they need to know now?? I have no idea what might happen in 8 months. Shit. I could get pregnant and have a baby in that amount of time. (Man I hope not!!) I need someone to decide to move, have lots of money, so they will let us rent their house for free. I wish.

 

I don’t have much else. I’m just crabby, so I should stop before I start picking at everything. What’s going on with you?? Tell me something funny.

Coming to a Home Near You

So, there’s this website called Shutterfly. Have you heard of it? No? Well let’s fix that.

They are a great website that can meet all sorts of picture wants and needs. Christmas cards, photobooks, invitations, calendars, precious and personalized gift tags, and much more. Who doesn’t like cards personalized with pictures? Even better? They have some of the best prices I have come across. And, you can load pictures and they store them for you without deleting them. You can also get your regular prints from them.

Don’t celebrate Christmas? They have holiday cards or Hanukah cards. They also have Feliz Navidad cards. Want religious cards? They have those as well. Basically, anything and everything you could want. And the fun part? When you get your order they come in a super fun and super bright orange package. Much more fun than the daily bills and coupons normally clogging up the mailbox.

And their invitations? So adorable.

This “Shake It Up Christmas” invitation alone makes me want to throw a holiday cocktail party. Too bad our apartment is tiny.

Along with dreams of my wedding dress and the location and marrying the man of my dreams, along with being a newlywed, I have always wanted to send out holiday cards to family and friends. I mean, no one cares when you’re single and just have pictures of yourself with solo cups at the fraternity house your college friends. But once you cross over into the world of adulthood and the married life, now you’re interesting enough to send people cards.

Also, for us, it’s a great way to share some of our favorite wedding pictures with people who may otherwise not get to see them. Next year I’ll be stuck on pictures, but for now, I have hundreds to choose from.

SO which ones am I drooling over? Well, tons. But I’m also very indecisive, but picky at the same time. It’s a conundrum.

I think this card, called “Giggles and Grins Christmas” is so adorable. I love the cards that aren’t as traditional or have something unique or different about them.

The fun “Retro Wheel” design is fun and adds a touch of style that not a lot of traditional cards have. Also, the girls are precious. Can they pose for our card? haha

But really, I think I’m in love with the following:

“With Love” is probably going to win out. Since my main goal is to send this as a newly-married couple and share some pictures, I love all the picture space. (Okay, fine. I also like that it will have my new last name monogrammed on it. Yes, I’m a girl and I love my new last name. Leave me alone.) Also, because it’s a folded card, there is more space on the inside to write a quick little message and I think we’re going to put another picture on the inside top. I think it looks sharp and classes and a perfect way to say “this is our new little family”.

And don’t doubt that I won’t be getting these:

Matching “With Love” address labels. Also, I don’t think they look too Christmas-y, so I can possibly use any leftovers for little cards and special notes later on.

So, what about you? Have you gotten your cards yet? If not, check out their site. Already have yours? Look at their calendars. They would make great gifts, especially for grandparents or parents.

I’m definitely ready for the holidays now. If only someone would do the shopping for me, and use their money.

 

 

**I love the Shutterfly collections, but I also wrote this post in order to get 50 free cards.

The Business of Blue and Gold

Want to know how to know when you’re a grown up?

Your alma mater starts asking for donations.

In short—HELL NO!

A little background for you lovely folks so I don’t look completely heartless.

I went to MSU (yeah, try and figure out which one of the 5 million of those I went to. My step sister and I both went to schools with those initials and that’s just two states.) It was in small town that I will call Kville. I’ve talked about how small this town is in all sorts of posts. I mean, my brother went to undergrad in a small town than mine, but much small and I may have suffocated.

But, my parents and I visited the school during my junior year because I was the student who was WAY ahead of the game and took my ACT SUPER early. (I needed a life. I know this now.)

And we fell in love. The campus was gorgeous and these southern people with their cute southern, but not deep south, accents were so nice and welcoming. I mean, they said ya’ll. How could I say no?

Also, I wanted to go to school to be a teacher. Two of my aunts went to the school for the same thing and they (supposedly) have a pretty good education program. (If you want to do elementary. Go secondary and you’re on your own.)

It was a 3 hour drive from home, so definitely far enough away that mom and dad couldn’t just pop in, but close enough that I could still go home without the need of a plane ticket.

I was so excited, that when I got the ACT scores I was happy with in the June before senior year, I applied online that night. I was accepted in August. BEFORE senior year even started.

And did I mention that I didn’t even LOOK at another school? No? Well, I didn’t. Might be one of the biggest mistakes of my life. (Except, had I chosen a different school, I wouldn’t have met my husband, so I guess it has it’s upside.)

So, I moved my happy ass down there. I cried in the stairwell after my parents left because I didn’t want anyone to see me, and then I was ready to go.

Well, college had it’s ups and downs. A devil of a roommate, first and only one night stand, fraternity parties, meeting some amazing people, skipping more classes than I should have, first hangover. All those things.

Now, my school doesn’t want me to donate money for all those experiences that pretty much only happen when you’re in college and don’t know any better. They want money for their excellent programs and accredited degrees.

Well MSU, you can suck it.

Since I wanted to teach high school English, I was basically an English major with an education major. And because I wasn’t a true education major in their minds, the education department treated me and the 6 other girls who were in the same program as me like shit. And while we took as many English classes as true English majors (minus poetic analysis, but really, who needs that? ), we still needed the education department because we had a test called the PRAXIS to take in order to get licensed and we had practicums and student teaching placements and all of that stuff to deal with. The English department couldn’t help.

Even better, the two departments openly hated each other. And put us in the middle. Oh, you need early British Lit in order to graduate but it’s at the same time as your Secondary Curriculum class? Tough shit because we’re not talking to the people across the street.

The above actually happened to another girl and me and it was an all out battle for them to work something out so we didn’t have to delay graduation a semester for ONE class. Also, I can be a huge bee-yotch when you are blatantly wrong and I am right and you will not keep me another semester. I learned some things from my dad.

Also, I wanted to go out of state to teach. Mind you, a state 40 minutes away. I wasn’t trying to go to Alaska. And the woman in the office, who I was referred to by a peer of hers since “she should be able to help you with that since it’s part of her job”, told me she didn’t know, she couldn’t help me and I should ask someone else. GAH! This is your job lady. Do it or retire. Those are your options.

I could seriously go on for DAYS about all the crap that happened. Like, saying I couldn’t get into a class because I wasn’t “officially” in the education program, even though my paperwork was in and they could have looked up my status, even though the bulletin of classes lists NO requirements for the class AND my advisor approved it. But they let another girl take it who was in my exact position.

Can you say cluster efff????

They didn’t even go to online scheduling until THIS year. So to schedule for classes, your classification (fresh, soph, etc) and alphabet day, you woke up at 5AM to CALL a computer-operated system to sign up for your classes. You could be on the phone for 2 hours waiting to get through only to find out your class ended up full while you were waiting so then you would have to go to hell on earth, the administrative building, and fill out 97 million forms just to say “let me into my classes!!!!”

I am also currently writing a letter to the dean of the department, provost, and president of the university about their lack of planning and acknowledging the crap-tastic economy and the fact that they are blatantly lying to the students about job prospects. (I had a professor tell me that if a teacher couldn’t find a job, it was because they must have messed up, failed a bunch of classes, or had no business being a teacher. Mention of budget cuts and no funding was never mentioned. Could have contributed to my funk over not getting a teaching job.) I will share this letter once it’s revised and being sent off.

My husband also had problems with his program. The school as a whole is terrible with administrative tasks and is so behind and unorganized that I can’t believe they are still functioning. They also spend money on completely ridiculous things. Thousands of dollars for a basketball promo to be played before ball games for a team who has NEVER made it into the Sweet 16???

Needless to say, we have no intention of giving them any money.

For those of you who went to bigger schools or schools with huge sports programs that you support or amazing academics, I understand donating. But I adamantly refuse to give money to a school who has yet to figure out that they work for the STUDENTS who go there and  pay tuition and that our football team, who in the past 6 years has won a TOTAL of 9 games, doesn’t deserve millions in funding. Sorry.

Do you donate? Will you? Why or why not? Or am I just heartless?