Brain Dump

I was going to write this long post about the first week of teaching and all that, but then I have turned into some super emotional dork today and can’t seem to focus on one subject, so here is a little bit of everything.

* I know I’ve discussed it, and I know my friend it perfectly fine with it, but I am still SUPER upset that I can’t be at my BFF’s wedding tomorrow. Like, could make me cry.

* So I of course sent her a super sappy text message this morning. She’s going to think I’m nuts. But hopefully she and her new husband will enjoy the flowers I have ordered to be put in their honeymoon suite tomorrow night.

* The wedding I WILL be at this weekend…eh.

* I don’t know anyone except people in the wedding party, so I get to sit by myself at the ceremony and then be at a table with people I don’t know for the reception. I’m realizing more and more how un-needed I was for this weekend and should have gone to my friend’s wedding.

* BUT G was our best man and is like a brother so I didn’t really have a choice. Stupid grown up decisions…

* BUT, BUT: did you hear?? The groomsmen’s tuxes have RUFFLED SHIRTS. GUYS. RUFFLES. And it’s not 1970. This hilarity of this might make this weekend worthwhile.

* And yes, I WILL have pictures of this and I will just crop out Mr. A’s head.

* Also, there should be super amazing food and drinks. And for the guests, that’s really what weddings are about, right?!

* So, first week of teaching has gone well. I love teaching juniors and seniors. They actually try and don’t want to fail. They also will answer questions and think about things. It’s wonderful.

* Their first assignment is to analyze a political cartoon and I am getting some awesome cartoons in since they had to get them approved. I think these papers are going to be awesome. (Or, at least I hope so…)

* If our secretary doesn’t get off her power trip, I might lose it. The end.

* I didn’t realize until last night, but my dress for tonight’s rehearsal dinner and my dress for the wedding tomorrow are both dark blue. This is what happens when I can’t wear the pretty cream dresses I found since, you know, I’m not the bride and I know I would have been a little miffed it someone wore cream/white/ivory to any of my events.

* I want a puppy. In a bad way. I can’t stop looking at adoption sites. They are so adorable.

* Also, it hit me this week that Mr. A will be applying for his first choice of job type in the next two months. And the selection boards are in October. We might know whether he gets this certain type of job by the end of the year. IN LIKE 6 MONTHS!!!! Craziness. I just hope it all works out.

* I might need some meds to get me through the next 6 months because I am a super planner, but I also get my hopes up and if it doesn’t work, then we are back in limbo and looking for firm or other types of jobs and then I’ll be even more stressed since I won’t have a freaking clue where we will be living.

* Yeah…I will probably have a lot to blog/vent/rant about in the next year. Get ready. My 4 weeks of calm summer vacation are over and now all the shiza is about to hit the fan.

 

OKay. I’ve obviously had a lot of coffee since I wrote this in about 15 minutes. Have a wonderful weekend and I’ll keep you updated on those ruffled shirt pictures. ;o)

Well then…

Wouldn’t you know. I have all this free time and not much to talk about.

Huh. Funny how that works out.

I guess it’s because I’m on a real summer break. I’ve never had this much time without any responsibilities or work or school. Summer teaching doesn’t start until June 11th and the class I’m taking doesn’t begin until July 9th. So I’ve already had two weeks off, and I still have another week and a half.

So basically, I’ve had a lot of time to sit around and not do much.

I guess this will be a bit of a brain dump. Hopefully once classes start I will have much more to discuss.

– Did I mention I’m on summer break? It’s awesome. I’ve slept in a lot. Far more than an adult should ever admit, but it had been glorious.

– Even better? Mr. A is on break and we’re finally in the same state for the first summer since we’ve been married. So it’s been a lot of not doing anything together. I’m a fan.

– Tomorrow is our two year wedding anniversary. Still can’t believe we’ve been married for two whole years. I remember our wedding day perfectly and even though I can get caught up in other people’s weddings and second guessing choices, I really did love it. It was so much fun and full of the people we love.

– Tomorrow’s game plan: I will go run secret errands in the morning to get Mr. A’s card, pick up the super amazing tiramisu cake I ordered and grab a couple cigars to have with drinks on our deck once we get home. We will then head out to our favorite winery for lunch and sun and lots of wine and relaxation. We could potentially go to a couple wineries since there are roughly 20 around the area, but I bet we just enjoy our favorite and relax for a few hours without needing to rush. We then have dinner reservations at a really nice restaurant that we haven’t been to yet, but the menu looks awesome. Then head home for dessert and drinks and hanging out. Not a fancy anniversary, but I’m certainly looking forward to it.

– I need to get back into a gym schedule. I just….meh. Not feeling motivated, even though I should. I just…eh. I’’ll figure something out. But any positive words of encouragement are welcome.

– Mr. A and I only have one more year here! WOO. We each will be done with classes in December. Mr. A will do a semester away (only 2 hours and will be staying at my mom’s) and I will be finishing my thesis in the spring, so I am pretty excited and can see the light at the end of the tunnel! Remind me of this when I’m freaking out at the end of the fall semester since I will be taking a class with our department chair and another in an area I have NO background in. Eeeep.

– Scout…is…Scout. She seems to be in a bit of a terrible toddler phase. I am not a fan. Also, any ideas on hoe to get her to quit biting?! It’s driving me nuts and I don’t like when she does it to play with guests. She’s just a little bratty, and I’m assuming she will grow out of it, and she still has moments of sweetness, but man she is feisty. SOOOO not ready for kids. At all.

– I have been a cooking machine. I made baked tomato halves stuffed with mozzarella and topped with fresh parmesan. SO DELICIOUS. Also, made homemade meatballs. And awesome sugar cookies. And Mexican chicken bake. And I have a bunch more recipes to try. Any new recipes you’ve tried and would recommend? Especially baked goods because my favorite thing is to bake. Found a recipe for white Russian cupcakes that I will have to try soon. 

– I need to get onto summer lesson planning. Might be the plan for Thursday. Or early next week. It will get done, but I have just wanted to enjoy my time off without worrying about school. Silly responsibilities.

– What is new with you? What should I know? And please, don’t go to Miami since apparently there are face eating cannibals wandering around there. Creepy.

Breatheeee

I feel awful since this is now roughly the THIRD time I’ve had to take a blogging break.

I guess I feel bad because I really do love this hobby and have met some amazing people, but this last semester has kicked my ass.

I simply didn’t have time.

Yes, I had time to sit and watch tv. But when that rare opportunity occurred, the thought of having to type anything else out just wasn’t appealing, even though I missed all of you so very much.

BUT.

In case you don’t follow me on Twitter, I’m finished with my first year of grad school!!!!!

I am so freaking excited about this fact. I mean, a year ago I was working retail in a job I hated, which in turn, made me hate myself even though I was doing the “adult” thing by working to support my family.

A year later, I’ve finished my first year of grad school with (hoping!!) all A’s. (Waiting on the last grade to come in…I’ve checked it about a million times since Wednesday). I’m done with my first year of teaching college students, and while I sure had a rocky road, I’ve learned so so so much and I love where I am right now with my career.

And yes, it’s my career.

I’ve always wanted to teach at the college level. Always. I just thought that i would have to teach high school for a while first. But God had different plans and I’ve never been happier.

Yes, this year, specifically this semester, was hard.

I doubted myself constantly, thinking that maybe I wasn’t smart/good/talented/worthy enough for this opportunity. I still think that at times, but I’ve learned that I am as good as the other people in my program. I have worked HARD for this position and I will cherish every moment I have.

Do I complain about obnoxious students? Yes. Do I whine about papers and lack of sleep? Yes. And I am trying to work on that since I know I am blessed/lucky beyond belief to have this chance, but I am human and I do take things for granted. That being said, I am constantly in awe of this. Constantly. This whole thing was a fluke, but a fluke that I know was meant for me and I was in the right place at the right time.

Strangely enough, had it not been for the job I hated and happening to pick up an extra shift for a little extra money one day, I would not be here. A girl at work and I were talking about grad school and she is the one that informed me that this school had so many assistantship opportunities.

Funny how things work out…

And for those of you that have been here since then, none of this is new. But I feel like I need to make sure to give credit where it’s due and remind myself how lucky I am. So I do it here.

Mr. A and I are thoroughly enjoying this down time. We both have 4 weeks off until summer classes/teaching start and we plan on regaining our sanity. The last month of the semester was insane. Words can’t even describe it. One week, I had 6 nights in a row that I was in my office until after midnight. Mr. A and I rarely saw each other and we were testy and short with each other. Unfortunately, me more than him.

I had panic attacks and sobbing sessions. I freaked out and considered quitting. But I didn’t and I am so happy I didn’t.

Last week, I sat down with my thesis director so we could “road map” my thesis since I plan on starting it this summer. Strangely enough, I’m way ahead of the game and looks like I will have, roughly, a 120 page thesis that isn’t scaring the crap out of me. I am so incredibly excited about topic and my project that 120 pages seems completely doable, and even more so, enjoyable.

But, enough about school since I know all of us in school in some capacity is ready to avoid the subject for a bit.

Today, we DEEP cleaned the apartment since we both let it get completely out of hand the last month of school. Now, I hate cleaning. I am not domestic and chores might be my least favorite thing. However, having a very clean apartment sure was nice tonight.

Scout, however, hated it.

She doesn’t like change, and the amount of moving things around and loud noises that were happening, she was not happy with us. She spent most of the day hiding under the bed, which she hasn’t done since we first brought her home. However, once Mr. A left to help a friend move and I was just folding laundry, I lured her out with some treats and she napped in her chair.

Bonus of Mr. A helping someone move? The guy is moving to California, so can’t take too much with him, so he offered his awesome entertainment center with tv mount to us. It looks a million times better than the one we had before, especially since we had broken one leg when we, after a few drinks, decided to rearrange our living room. The tv stand was simply set on top of the broken leg, so a bump in the right spot would have sent everything flying. Needless to say, this is a HUGE upgrade. It even fits in the space better. Win win.

Tomorrow, a friend and I are having a late lunch and then getting pedicures. Mr. A leaves on Tuesday to go to Mville to see his mom and dad, and then he and his friends leave on Wednesday for a Vegas bachelor party. They won’t get back until midnight on Sunday, which means Mr. A won’t be home until roughly 4am on Monday. Mr. A is the best man, so this has been all his planning, so I’m happy for him to have a chance to relax and hang out with friends without school hanging over his head. They have bottle service at one of the most exclusive clubs and tickets to an amazing show. I tried to get them to go to Club Rehab on Sunday, but they weren’t sure it was worth the money since they would have to leave early to catch their flight home. Can you tell I’m SUPER jealous? I tried to get them to let me fly out with them, stay in a separate room and just lounge by the pool the whole time. For some reason, Mr. A just wouldn’t agree to that…

No worries thought. My MIL and I are going to have a girl’s weekend involving the restaurants in Mville that I miss, drinks, gossip, and time tanning on the deck. I think I still make it out okay.  ;o)

So that’s where we are as of right now. Did I leave anything out? How are all of YOU??? What do I need to catch up on??

A Million Things

I have about 20 different blog posts that I want to write, but things keep happening so quickly that I can’t keep up, so I’m doing a brain dump post in hopes to touch on all of it. I don’t have the time or patience to write full posts on each of them. (Also, if I have a million typos that I miss, my pointer finger on my right hand is all messed up since my fingernail separated from the skin. It hurts pretty bad, which makes typing hard, so forgive me. I’ll try to catch them.)

 

* This past weekend I headed home and it was one of those rare weekends where everything went well and I got to spend some great time with some of my favorite people. My best guy friend A graduated from grad school this May and is at home before he leaves for California in a couple weeks. He was one of my bride’s men in our wedding and I was so excited to see him. I had dinner with him and his parents on Friday night at my favorite wine bar. And they have the best brick oven pizzas. His dad was the one that married Mr. A and I, and since A and I have been friends since 5th grade, we go way back and his family is just so wonderful.

Saturday morning I got to have breakfast with my very best girl friend R, and we got to catch up. She and I may not see each other for a couple months, but when we do, it’s like nothing ever changed and we just fill each other in on everything that has happened. She is dating an amazing guy and engagement and a wedding is in their very near future. I now have 3 weddings for next year and all are for very close friends. I might be more excited to get to be there on their special days than I was on mine. The pressure won’t be on me and I will get to relax and enjoy.

Saturday night, my mom got some free baseball tickets, so my brother, his girlfriend, A, and I all went and had a great time. My team came back and won in the 9th inning. Always makes for some excitement and fun. And, hello, NACHOS! heh

* I tweeted last week that my brother was being sneaky and was talking about some sort of surprise. The hints he gave immediately had me thinking that he and his long time girlfriend were going to get married. It would not be surprising if they just went to the courthouse and did something very small. However, this was not the case. His surprise was taking me to see The Little Mermaid being performed by the off Broadway touring company. This may seem goofy, but my brother always jokes that he knows all the words to it and The Lion King since I used to watch them over and over every weekend. He thought it would be fun for us to go now that we are older, friends, and could have a beer while watching. It was a sweet bonding night for us and I truly have THE most amazing big brother. He will get his own post one day soon. He deserves it and so much more.

* Speaking of weddings, my butt needs to get in gear because I will need some very cute dresses and these arms need some good workouts.

* Unpacking is taking its sweet sweet time. And torturing me along the way. Kitchen and bathroom are the only two rooms that are completely unpacked, organized, and free of clutter and crap that still needs to be gone through. Not sure what to do with stuff in the living room yet. The bedroom and office upstairs are going to be the biggest projects, so I think I am going to tackle those and plan on getting them done before I leave to visit Mr. A next week. Here’s hoping.

* And I’m waiting to post apartment pictures until I get things organized and put away so I can do before and after pictures at the same time. No point in posting pics of an empty apartment with no way to show all the work that’s been done to fix it up. It won’t be fully complete for a while because I need to stretch the buying of a few things over some time so that it doesn’t break our bank account. I know I will need some decorating help.

* I hate admitting this, but it looks like the husband and I are planning on staying in this apartment for the next two years. I love the apartment, but it doesn’t allow dogs, and I REALLY thought we would get one next year. Actually, i originally thought we would get one this year, but since we had to sign leases in January, and money and everything else was so up in the air, that we couldn’t fathom agreeing to pay more for an apartment when we weren’t even sure we would have the money to even get a dog. And after this moving nightmare, we really would like to stay in the same place for more than a year. I haven’t live in the same place for more than a year for the past 6 years. I moved every year or every semester at times. It will be nice to actually set up a little home and decorate and all that. And maybe we will be able to save money so when we graduate, we can move to a nice place in whatever city we decide on and then get a dog where we settle.

* The thought of not getting a dog for another two years truly breaks my heart. It’s something I’ve wanted so badly for so long that I actually ache inside thinking about it. Lame? Yes. But also very true. Our apartment does allow cats, but I am crazy allergic to them. I have considered just taking a Zyrtec everyday and going for it, but my cat allergy is pretty bad and I would hate to get one and then it still make me miserable. I don’t ever want to be one of those people who get a pet and then can’t take care of it.

* Still on the pet thing, very tempted to get a bunny. I JUST WANT SOMETHING FURRY THAT I CAN PLAY WITH AND SNUGGLE AND TAKE CARE OF!!! Gosh. Any of you ever had a bunny? Thoughts?

* The cars in our family decided that they too hated Mondays and thought it best to screw with Mr. A and I. Mine started doing this thing that when I put it in reverse (I drive a manual), I lose my entire dashboard- no speedometer, no fuel gauge, no turn signal, and worst of all, no blowers or air conditioner. It wouldn’t even blow hot air just to have some circulation. So I would have to change the fuse after I reversed my car out of whatever parking spot I was in. And I would have to do this every time I had to back up. So today, I drove back home so that I could switch cars with my step-dad and the shop he works for can work on my car and try to get it fixed. Nearly 5 hours of driving roundtrip after making the drive home yesterday did not make me a happy camper.

And then Mr. A’s car got towed. He says the spot had lines like every other spot, but they claimed he was in the exit ramp of the parking garage. He texted me a picture of the spot where he had been parked and it looked legal to me, but since he had no bargaining power since he’s an out-of-towner with no other way of getting around, he had to pay the $200 fee to get his car back. After paying for a cab to take him to the tow place.  He was not happy at all. Especially after his car got locked in the parking garage on Friday when he left it there while going to the baseball game with people from work. It was not his weekend with cars.

* This upcoming weekend is going to be a great one. On Thursday, I head to Mville. Mr. A’s best friend G’s girlfriend, C and I will be getting in line around 5pm to see the midnight showing of the last Harry Potter movie. We already have our tickets, but people start getting in line to get good seats. Also, it’s just kind of fun to be with a bunch of people who are all as excited as you are about the same thing. We will get food and bring books and magazines and cards and entertain ourselves. My mother in law said she would bring us food if we wanted. Last time, people ordered pizza to their place in line. And then I will ball like a little baby when the movie is over. Not only because the ending is sad (no, I didn’t give a damn thing away, so chill out), but also because this is the end of an empire and a huge chunk of my child and young adulthood.

Then, I will sleep in on Friday since I probably won’t even get home until about 4am. That night, my MIL and I are going to see Bad Teacher. We both wanted to see it and since my step-FIL is not the type to go to the movies, we’re making a date night out of it. And then I will giggle at the people who will ultimately be in line for the HP movie on Friday. Maybe I should shout out the ending for those who didn’t read the books…  ;o)

Saturday my awesome Mville hair stylist has fit me in for a Brazilian Blowout. I know there was some controversy, but I did my own research and asked her a MILLION questions, and I’m going with it. I’m excited since my hair is truly unmanageable in this horrendous humidity. I can spend an hour straightening and smoothing and putting product in my hair, and 10 minutes outside and it looks like I just rolled out of bed. It’s infuriating since I do want to look like I care and try to look nice. And with heading to the very humid southern state next week, I  thought this would be a good time to do it. Also, I still have the rest of July, August, and September. All still hot months. I don’t plan on doing this constantly, mostly because it’s expensive, but if I like it, it might become a summer thing.

And after my fun hair appointment, my MIL and I are headed to the pool for the rest of the day to sun, drink margaritas, and have a girls’ day. Her friends are meeting us there and it should be a blast. Sunday will also be spent at the pool before I head home Sunday night. Hoping for a little sun on my pale skin and to just get to relax.

* If you have figured out or I’ve told you where Mr. A is, and where I will be visiting next week, PLEASE send me an e-mail with some restaurant suggestions, places to visit, etc. PLEASE. Mr. A hasn’t gotten out much, and I will have all day long while he’s at work to entertain myself, so I need help. HELP.

 

I think that’s it. A lot is going on, and before I know it, GA training will be starting and I’ll be in class once again. This summer is just flying by. And I’m pretty much loving it, but cannot wait for my husband to return. Sure do miss him.