Full Moon?

Today has been a weird one to say the least.

I woke up around 9 (Yes. I have MWF off. I like to sleep, so I slept in. Yes, I live like an undergrad. Might as well while I still can).

About 9:30, my dad called. He told me that he would be in town for work and that he would be free around 4 and wanted to stop by. It was fine with me, but we had laundry everywhere, dishes in the sink, hadn’t dusted in weeks. Last week kicked both of our butts and this weekend did not go as planned, so house hold things got put on the back burner.

So I freaked out because my dad is a bit of a neat freak. His house is usually always in good order and I didn’t want to hear comments about me slacking as a wife or whatever.

I had planned on spending today lesson planning. Instead, I did 5 loads of laundry, scrubbed the kitchen, vacuumed, hand vacuumed the steps, dusted the entire apartment, straightened up the place, folded 5 loads of laundry and put everything away. No idea why, but it did take me all day and our apartment isn’t that big.

But while I was doing all of that, Mr. A had a big important lunch meeting and I was anxiously awaiting his call.

When he did, I wanted to scream from the roof tops out of joy!

Why you ask? Because Mr. A got the internship for the spring!!!

SO MUCH EXCITEMENT.

He will be doing actual attorney things and it can very well lead to a job, or at very leas, a fellowship next summer while waiting on bar exam results and such. And he will be making fantastic connections and I am so effing proud of him. He works so so hard, but hasn’t always had the best of luck with some things panning out, so I couldn’t be happier that this worked out for him and I know it is a HUGE weight off of his shoulders.

He will be living at one of my parents’ houses and I should be able to make my schedule Tues/Thurs so if I want to go go or he comes down, I will have Fri-Mon. Also, he will only be 2 hours away, and knowing how wonderful this opportunity is, I will make the sacrifice for a semester.

So that was amazing, but of course we got some more bad news about his dad, so it was hard to balance being out of my mind excited, but also dealing with that drama.

But then my dad showed up and this was the first time he has seen this apartment, so I am happy that Mr. A and I have been working on making it more of a home for the last year and it doesn’t look completely like a college apartment.

Now, my family is one that doesn’t really talk about finances beyond “You should be saving your money”. I have no clue how much my dad makes or what his financial situation is. I have a rough idea what my mom makes, but not much more than that.

So when my dad started asking us what our student loan situation was, I was a little confused and kind of waiting for a lecture on it all.

But then the conversation quickly turned to how many miles were on my car and all of that. Now, I drive a 12 year old Toyota that has over 230,000 miles on it. Yeah. That’s a lot. It was my mom’s before me and when she gave it to me in 2005, it had roughly 80,000 on it, but I was going to school three hours away and made trips home fairly frequently, so the miles racked up rather quickly. 

Long story short, my stepsister is taking her mom’s car that is a 2012, I’m taking her car that only has like 65,000 miles on it and is a very reliable car, and any money we can get for mine will go towards paying for the car since hers would have some value if they decided to sell it. Eventually, we’ll pay my dad back for the car, but he put off us paying for a little over a year, and should circumstances prevent us from being able to afford it, he said we’d work it out.

I’ll be cleaning out my car tomorrow and hope is to list it by this weekend and hopefully by next week I will have a new car!!! (Or new to me, but anything is better than mine at this point.)

And the other weird part of yesterday?

Remember when I told you guys that Mr. A and I decided to go on a cruise over Christmas break since it will be our last break together?

He gets a text message last night from a good friend (and those of you that know me IRL can easily figure out who this person is, but PLEASE do not say anything about it either to him or on FB because it isn’t being publically announced just yet, but bc of logistical issues, we were told. Again, trusting you folks.). Mr. A then asked me when our cruise was, but wouldn’t tell me why he was asking.

When I told him the date, he got a strange look on his face and then proceeded to tell me that his good friend had set his wedding date for during our cruise.

Not only just set a wedding date, but the wedding will be in India.

I’ll let you soak that in for a minute.

……………

This guy was one of our groomsmen and has been a friend of Mr. A’s for a very long time. So Mr. A needs to go, but we can’t really afford for both of us, just with flights alone. So Mr. A and his other good friend (who were best men for each other’s weddings) are implementing the buddy system. Neither wife is going as a way to save some money. But believe me, Mr. A has been told he needs to be bringing me back some sweet stuff from India.

But what about the cruise?

Well if he gets to go to India, I am surely still going on my cruise. I decided to ask my MIL if she would be interested/would be able to go because she is a lot of fun and I’m sure I could handle being with her for 6 days for a beach filled vacation. She said she would check and last night she sent me a text saying that I had a cruise buddy and that she would be working on passport paperwork this morning.

SO. Yesterday was just bizarre. So many weird, but good things going on and this next year will be a bit of a whirlwind.

Now to just hope and pray and cross fingers and toes that next year we both have jobs and that we aren’t unemployed and living in a box. Because we all know I need my hair straightener and access to twitter. ;o)

An Amazing Year

Today, I celebrate my very first (and only first) wedding anniversary.

I married my absolute best friend.

To this day, I still wouldn’t change anything about our wedding day. I get all smiley and nostalgic just thinking about that day.

It was a beautiful early summer day.  Blue skies. Warm, bordering on hot, weather, and all our friends and family surrounded us as we committed our lives to each other.

But that was a year ago. And believe me, A LOT has happened in this last year.

Those of you who have been reading since then, you’ve been following my journey and seen all the ups and downs.

There are times I think that we experienced more than other newlyweds, but then again, I think I just wasn’t expecting all the new challenges that were to come.

We moved to Ctown in July since Mr. A would be starting law school in August. This would be the first time we, as a couple, had a place. I had basically lived with him since January, but I still had my own apartment for those days when I was stressed or upset or just needed some space. But moving into a small two bedroom apartment kind of eliminates the chance for separate space.

This was also the first time Mr. A had moved away from his hometown. Since he attended undergrad in Mville, he had always lived close to his parents and family. Now, I’m in no way saying Mr. A wasn’t independent, but he was always used to having that family support system no more than 5 minutes away. When weather was rough, or he wanted a home cooked meal, or even just to do free laundry, he could always come home. So it was an adjustment for him as well.

Our relationship has always been strong. We talk about problems and we work through them. But poor Mr. A is kind of a neat freak and he just happened to marry a girl who was used to living out of duffel bags and was a little messy. Clothes in closets and drawers was a bit of a foreign concept to me. We had more roommate issues than anything. Cleaning up. Doing chores. Those kinds of things.

During all of this, I was looking for a teaching job. I had some experience, not much, but some. I had glowing recommendations. And I was eager and new and ready to work. Unfortunately, I graduated with an education degree at the worst possible time.

So I moved on. I figured, okay, teaching isn’t going to happen this year, but I’m smart and have a good resume, I will find another good job easily.

Yeah, not so much.

I was unemployed for nearly 5 months. It was a terrible 5 months. I won’t go into it all, you can read all those posts if you want, but it killed my self esteem and I was a wreck.

All the while, Mr. A started law school and could really have used a wife that was in a better state to be more supportive. I tried, and I was good at it at first, but quickly it all unraveled, and he was trying to keep me from falling apart.

I finally found a job, but not a good one. I was underemployed and working in retail, which is the worst possible job ever. (Might be exaggerating, but it’s definitely the worst job that I’ve ever had.) I was happy to be working again, but that quickly faded when I was being treated like crap. I have a new found respect for anyone working in retail and I am as nice as possible to all of them.

Mr. A then got pretty sick during his second semester of law school. This involved lots of doctor’s visits, 5 small surgeries, and one horrible night in the emergency room. Luckily, he is doing great now, but it was a lot to handle at the time, especially when he was still a first year law student.

Finally, he finished his first year. And not only finished, but has two truly amazing summer positions that will give him such fantastic experience and connections that I can’t even express in words how proud of him I am.

And while, yes, I am still currently working in retail, my last day will be in early July. And in August, I will start working on my M.A. in English literature. And not only that, the school has offered me a graduate assistantship that has me teaching two English 101 classes and in exchange, they pay for my graduate school. I am finally working my way back to being proud of myself and I cannot wait for this next chapter of my career to begin.

And through all of these ups and downs, my husband has been there for me. We have grown as a couple. We are closer and have learned to rely on each other. We support each other 100%. We stand by one another and give words of encouragement on those days that it seems impossible to keep going.

My husband is everything to me. And no, this doesn’t mean that I just do whatever he says or that I can’t have a life without him. Believe me, he will be the first to tell you that I do not give in easily or without a fight. And I’ve actually enjoyed having some time alone. Everyone needs time to themselves and I’m using this time to rejuvenate before the fall.

But I do miss him while he’s gone and I couldn’t be more excited to spend many many more years with him. And while this first year was a doozy, I think this next year will be great for us as we learn even more about each other and grow together as a couple.

Happy first anniversary to us. I think we will toast with a well deserved glass of champagne.

Playing Catch Up

Yeah, I’ve sucked at blogging. Lots going on. A crazy work schedule. Spending time with Mr. A when he needed a study break. Add in my current migraine problems, and well, blogging got put on the back burner.

But I shall catch you all up and then try to be better at this.

– This summer? Still going to be one heck of a whirlwind. Mr. A’s last final is Friday. I get off work at 1:45pm and then will be making sure he doesn’t drown in bourbon while celebrating the end of 1L year. I am off all weekend and he heads to Mville for his summer associate position. I’m excited for him, and actually kind of looking forward to a couple days on my own. But I know about 2 days in and I will miss him terribly and want him back home with me.

– Speaking of end of 1L year, should I get him some sort of gift or what the heck do I do to celebrate that?? HELP. Our one year wedding anniversary is May 30th, and I have a small gift for him for that, but now that our finances are a little more stable, I want to do something for him, but no idea what. Help and help now please!

– My head is throbbing. I am on day 3 with a migraine. And in the past 2 months I’ve had about 10. Which, in case you don’t get migraines, that’s a whole lot of migraine. I have two theories. I think I have built up an immunity to my preventative and I think it probably needs to be upped. Also, because I keep getting headaches, I keep taking my medicine for when I get one. Which means I’m probably creating rebound headaches for myself. Which is truly a vicious cycle since taking pain meds creates them, but once you get them, you take more pain meds. (and no, I’m not on oxycontin or something like that and I don’t want to be taking them) I can’t NOT take something when I’m at work because the pain will intensify to the point where I get sick and then can’t do anything but sleep the rest of the pain off. And like today, I have an 8hour shift that I can’t really call in sick on.

– Again, I think my head might explode today.

– Went home last weekend. It was nice. Nothing too special. Might be Mr. A’s last chance to go until August, so we took the time. We spent time with my brother and his girlfriend and it was a lot of fun, as usual. And his girlfriend’s dog? HUGE. And I love him. His name is Bernie and a big baby. He’s a boxer and mastiff mix. His head is giant. And while I did turn and walk the other way when I walked up to the door, expecting my brother’s cat and Bernie’s giant self showed up, but he’s super sweet. And I want a big dog, but a nice big dog.

– I am really excited because this summer I think i will get to meet at least two blogger friends, maybe 3, and I am pumped. And if I get to meet you too, just know that I can be shy and awkward, so let’s pretend it’s a blind date, give me about 20 minutes to calm down, and we’ll be peachy. haha (I’m now sure these ladies are trying to find a way to be out of town….)

– Work is driving me insane. I have 40 hours next week, which is completely unheard of for an on-call associate. And while I will enjoy the paycheck, I will have to work very very hard not to stab someone.

– I want to write blog posts about real stuff, but I think of them when I’m going to bed. I write them all out in my head. I even rearrange paragraphs and ideas and all that. But then when I wake up, I forget all about it. I might remember the main idea, but I forget everything else. It’s a problem. I swear I’m not vapid and dumb and only know how to write brain dumps. Just a lot going on, but as soon as Mr. A leaves Sunday, I’ll have all sorts of free time that will need to be filled with blogging since it’s free.

– I’m in search for the perfect bag/backpack for the fall. I keep thinking that i don’t want a backpack because I’m afraid I’ll look like an undergrad, but not sure. I think I want a briefcase-ish bag that has a long strap that i can wear across my body. I had one similar in the past, but my books were so heavy that it was uncomfortable. But since I won’t be taking as many classes and I figure they won’t be on the same day, it might not be as bad? Ideas on where to look would be helpful.

-Again, seriously need ideas on gifts for Mr. A or what to do this weekend. HELP ME not fail at wifely duties. 🙂

– Also, any questions you guys have for me that you want me to blog about? If I can’t remember my own ideas, might as well get some ideas from you smart people.

Whirlwind

Just thinking about this summer makes my heart race.

Mr. A had another interview with the company he will be a legal intern for this summer. The company, based in Mville, is a worldwide college book distributer. The guy that owns it has a total of 23 companies, all under one management company. This guy, I shall call him JAC, is friends and partners with Mr. A’s best friend’s dad, who is also super freaking rich, but also amazingly nice and down to earth.

Anyways, Mr. A actually talked to friend’s dad about possibly seeing if JAC would take him on as a legal intern and have him work with the law firm he has on retainer. So the position didn’t even exist. Friend’s dad talked to him and JAC interviewed Mr. A and kind of seemed like he was all for it and said he would have the attorneys contact him. Today, he went and met with the attorneys. It was less of an interview and more of a “make sure he isn’t an asshole and actually knows something about the law” meeting. Even better, the law firm doesn’t do any litigation. Only transactions, contracts, wills and estates, and all things Mr. A is into. He will also be paid for this internship, which will be nice to have a little extra money coming in, even if it’s just to cover gas back and forth.

His last final is May 13th. On Saturday, he has some orientation/seminar thing for the first half of the day. On the 15th, he will have to head to Mville because his first day with JAC (as I will refer to it instead of internship1 all the time) is the 16th. I will get my work schedule for that weekend tomorrow, but I bet I work that Saturday, so I might see him for a few hours.

Since Mville is only 2 hours away, he is planning on coming back here every weekend, or I may go there if I’m off, but only seeing each other on the weekends isn’t going to be easy, at least not at first.

Last day at JAC is July 1st, a Friday. I assume he will come here after work because the next day, we have to move into our new apartment. On Sunday, the 3rd, he will get into his car and drive the 12-13 hours to Other State for kickass internship number 2. And since 12 hours isn’t really feasible, or affordable, every weekend, we won’t see each other. MIL has said she is going to buy my plane ticket so I can go and visit for a week, but I will probably wait until late July so he has time to get a little adjusted there and I can work the first part of July and then visit him and have another week off before my assitantship workshop starts.

I’ll give you a minute to catch your breath because I’m sure reading all of that makes you as exhausted as I feel just thinking about it.

In case you missed some of the stuff:

– I won’t even get 24 hours with my husband before he leaves for a week

– I will then have to adjust to basically living alone and trying to overcome my fear of someone breaking into the apartment (another post for another day)

– While he can come here on the weekends, I bet I will be working on a lot of weekends, so the time together is limited.

– I have to basically pack this entire apartment by myself. MYSELF. AHHHHHHHH

– We have ONE day to move. Before we got the final timeline of events, we thought we would have 5 days and could set up rooms, one at a time, that way there was less boxes to unpack and when we moved everything, it was all just set up and ready to go.

– We have ONE day in our new apartment together before he has to leave for Other State.

– I’m making my last day at work no later than July 13th. And then somewhere before the beginning of August, I will be making a trip to visit Other State.

– He gets back August 15th. My last day of orientation is the 17th. We’re hoping to have a mini vacation the 18th-21st. First day of classes for both of us is the 22nd.

 

I think I will start drinking Red Bull now to get me through August.

Quickie

So, busy week around here, huh?

Mr. A gets a dream internship. I get into grad school AND get an assitantship that pays for school AND I get a pay check.

But, life continues beyond these things, so I figure a quick little update on things would be great.

* So, not only will he be in another state as of July 5th (probably a couple days earlier, but the 5th is the start date), he will be working for a law firm for the first part of the summer. This is kind of a big deal on its own because the law firm is basically in house council for a big company, so he’s kind of on cloud nine right now. Hopefully that will help him keep his sanity as finals approach.

* Too bad other job is in his hometown. In case you didn’t catch that, it means we will be living apart from mid May through mid August. Yeah. 3 months apart. Not so much a fan. We did the long distance thing for a year and a half in college, but we saw each other every other weekend usually. And if not, then two weeks was the most time we ever spent apart. I assume he will come home on weekend while he’s in Mville, but still, the day to day won’t be fun. And when he’s in the Other state, no idea how long until I’ll be able to come down. MIL is apparently buying my plane ticket to go visit as an early birthday present to Mr. A. Which is pretty amazing of her, but still.

Also, we move into our new apartment June 28th. He will probably be going to Other state at least a couple days before he starts, so I will be in a new apartment with him for maybe 2 nights before I’m there alone. Guess who gets creeped out easily? THIS GIRL. New noises and shadows and creaks and neighbors. Yeah. I might start sleeping pills so I won’t think Jason or Michael are coming to get me.

* Work is basically unbearable at this point. Knowing I get to quit makes me dread it even more now. This is a problem seeing as I pretty much hated it before. I haven’t told them yet since I’m waiting on my paperwork and finding out when my training for the GA position is. I’m pretty much expecting a shit storm when I do and probably going to quit a little early so I can go visit Mr. A and just have some off time before my very crazy and busy semester starts.

* This blog will not be all about grad school. Promise.

* I also will not talk about how much I miss Mr. A all summer. Every so often, but not constantly because no one wants to read that all the time. Promise.

* I need a new blog/twitter name. I had a fun blog name idea, but it doesn’t translate to a twitter name, or I don’t think so at least, so I need some help. As of May 30th, we will have been married for a year, so I don’t want to still be saying I’m a new wife. And while I will finally be teaching again in August, I’m not going to be a teacher, or at least not in the respect many people think, and as I’m getting a Master’s and want to be a college professor, I think I need to ditch the teacher part. If interested in what my idea was, e-mail or DM me. I would like some input because I am terrible at coming up with fun and catchy names.

* Diet has crashed and burned. Going to work on getting back on track this week. Same goes for running. Apparently depression makes you only want to eat fried foods and lay on the couch all day.

* And before anyone calls me naive, I do not think all my problems have magically vanished with this week of amazing news. Just this week I was so conflicted because all of this stiff has finally fallen into place and this next year should be amazing for us. Yet, I still felt sad and not nearly as happy as I thought I should, or would. I am still working on that and will probably seeking professional help, whether just talking to someone or taking something. To be honest, just talking to someone on any sort of regular basis will probably help me. I talked to a therapist for a few months when i was living at home in undergrad and it helped immensely. So no. Not everything is just perfect, but I think the stress of not worrying about jobs will help me move past all that has been bothering me.

* So, watching the documentary The Cove on Netflix. Heartbreaking and very interesting. Go watch it.

* Going home this weekend for a baseball game and just hoping the weather is beautiful so I can enjoy my hot dog and nachos and my over priced beer in the sun and watch some fun baseball. And hopefully a win. Hopefully.

Enjoy your weeks and send me your new blog name ideas. I need your help!

Good News

Well, this post would have been a little longer, but Mr. A is smart and has instructed me as to what information I can and cannot give out.

BUT……drumroll please…..

MR. A GOT A HUGE, BIG, AMAZING DEAL INTERNSHIP FOR THE SUMMER!!!!!

Like, huge deal.

And I am so stinking proud of him. I couldn’t get the stupid smile off of my face yesterday. I felt like a proud mom, only that’s a little creepy, but you know what I mean.

He had been so bummed about not hearing about some other summer jobs he had applied for while his classmates got placements, but just shows that everything is for a reason and he just had to be patient for an amazing opportunity to come around.

Downside: he will be out of state for almost 2 months, BUT it’s just another reason for me to have a little week of vacation this summer to go visit.

Sorry I can’t give out more, but he can’t and doesn’t want to let something slip, so we are being extra careful. (And if I happened to tell you where it is yesterday, please don’t put it in the comments. Not sure how big a deal it is, but he really doesn’t want job/school stuff on here, so I won’t do it.)

((Also, a grad school update: I e-mailed the director of the program (would have called, but had to work during normal office hours, so I figured an e-mail was better) and he said they hope to have decisions within the next 2 weeks, so if I don’t hear anything by the 25th, then I should e-mail him again. So 2 weeks folks. This could be bad…))

So we had some celebratory wine last night, and Thursday he has another surgery, Saturday we go see Avenue Q, I’m off Sunday and Monday and then next Saturday we go home to see an awesome baseball game. Let’s hope they get off their butts by then and start winning some games. Please.

How’s your week??

Upcoming

Well, a couple people know.

And while it basically is, until it’s official tomorrow, I’m trying to keep my mouth shut.

But we got some AMAZING news today.

News I will share tomorrow.

Once it’s truly official.

But I can’t get this smile off my face.

 

Good to know we still get some good news in this house. 🙂

Borrrrring

I’ve been telling myself for days that I just need to write an effing blog post already. Geeze. It shouldn’t be this hard.

The problem is that I have nothing interesting to write about.

I started a post about working in the men’s department and how it’s a whole other world in that corner, but it was lame and not as funny as actually witnessing some of the shenanigans.

Was working on one about wishing for things after law school. But it felt wrong and just like I was whining and very unfocused.

Have considered several posts about some of Mr. A’s classmates. But while I say I could care less if they found this and knew that I thought they were a bunch of shallow idiots, he still has to go to school with them and he’s had a rough semester as it is.

So here I am. Another brain dump because nothing exciting is going on. I don’t know anything new.

**This Wednesday when I get off from work, we are headed to Mr. A’s hometown, Mville. (For anyone new, I went to undergrad in Mville and that’s where we met.) I’m actually pretty excited about this. Until last week when she came up and took us to dinner, I hadn’t seen my MIL since Christmas. And while she was annoying me at the beginning of this marriage, I really do love her and she is hilarious. I lucked out with a great MIL and I’m happy to spend time with her for a few days. She will make us margaritas. We will grill steaks. She will fill us in on the local drama of the small town. (Which could be a great blog post because man oh man some of the things that happen there…) MIL, Mr. A, and myself will join in on making fun of BIL’s awful girlfriend and hope and pray she goes away soon. We will see some college friends and childhood friend of Mr. A. We will gorge on sushi at one of our favorite sushi places anywhere, and even more so since there isn’t a single sushi place here. It will be four days of relaxing and I can’t wait.

** I have put our Netflix instant queue into overdrive as we are watching all of Grey’s Anatomy. We’re only on season 3, but seeing as each season has like 20 episodes, there’s a lot of storyline to cover. Even better? Mr. A actually likes it, so we watch it together and he got mad the other day when I watched a couple without him and he made me rewatch them with him. HA! Also, much better to watch back to back so I know what happens next. I can’t imagine waiting a week to find out of Meredith lives or not after falling into the water on triage day. These are definitely white girl first world problems.

** It’s pi day! I didn’t really think about it until this morning, but decided to bake a pie after work. It is currently in the oven and our apartment smells fantastic. Blueberry pie, hot from the oven, with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Heavenly.

** So, sometimes, I want to ask people on Twitter things, but then I get super nervous and wimp out. And it’s usually either about their job or about something they do as a hobby or about something they said. But I don’t want to intrude. And if it’s about their job, I think they probably get asked enough and I should just leave them alone. But so many questions….

** I am in a pant size that I haven’t been able to wear in a while. YAY! Still have a LONG FREAKING WAY TO GO, but it’s progress. And I’m about 3 pounds from a big milestone, so I’m trying to keep at it. Of course, this pie tonight might just set me back. 🙂

**Also, God has a sense of humor. For the past couple weeks, everytime I’ve said, “Tomorrow I am definitely going running”, the next day is either super cold or raining. And I’m not running in either, mostly because I just don’t have the proper attire to not freeze to death. Today was one of those days and I was really bummed to not be able to go for a run after work. Hopefully tomorrow. But don’t want to jinx myself again.

** In a little less than 2 weeks it will be my birthday. And I usually LOVE birthdays, but this year feels a little strange. I know what my mom got me. My dad said he would pay for some good running shoes for me, so no surprise because I doubt he’ll get anything else. Mr. A and I decided he could get something, but it had to be pretty inexpensive since we are on kind of a tight budget. MIL asked what I wanted, but she has helped out so much financially, that I can’t possibly ask her for anything. And I know birthdays aren’t about presents, but there seems to be no excitement about it this year. Oh well. At least it’s not a big number.

** No news about grad school. I’m getting super antsy and religiously checking the mail everyday. Applied for that school I was talking about. Turns out my dad knows and works with the principal since he is working on their brand new school. Hopefully that will help because if I were to get the job AND grad school, I’d take the job. The pay is amazing. It’s closer to where we want to live. And I’m sure the school would pay for my grad school after a year. And did I mention the pay? Yes please. (Also, if I get the job, I’m getting a dog. No matter what. I’ve told Mr. A and I think he’s going with it because I sounded pretty darn serious when I said it. And we had just been to Petsmart during a pet adoption and we both fell in love with a puppy but we obviously couldn’t get him. Sad day.)

** There has been a TON of baby news on Twitter and the blogs recently. And I am so excited for each and every family! Since we won’t be having babies anytime soon, it’s fun to hear about what they are going through and learning things and such. Babies are just cute and squishy and I can’t wait to have my own. In 3 years. And no sooner please.

 

**Also, was thinking about doing a giveaway for my birthday, but need ideas of what to giveaway. What do you want? Do you like gift cards? Gift packs-if so, what kind of theme? Sports stuff? Girly things? I want to help you win free things, but you have to help me with what you people want! I only try to please…..

 

**And since nothing new is happening with me, what’s up with you all? Fill me in.

Week in Review

I had blog posts planned and ideas, and then I got sick and tired and cranky and it didn’t happen. Sometimes life just calls and ruins plans.

**One of our best friends is going to be getting engaged soon. They went and picked out the ring and all that. We are so super excited for them. Mr. A and A went to school together and P and I went to school together. Actually, P (the girl) and I were prom dates my senior year (her junior) because my lame ass boyfriend at the time dumped me right before prom and I still wanted to go. She and I knew of each other, but we didn’t know each other well, but she wanted to go and we had mutual friends. So we showed up at the house where we were meeting and we were both in champagne strapless dresses. We matched on accident. It was amusing. Then, she came to the same college as I did, met Mr. A’s best friend and roommate, and they have been together only 6 months shorter than Mr. A and myself. We are so excited for them and I can’t wait for all of the celebrations to begin!!

** Another huge thank you for all of your support about my emotional holiday meltdown the other day. I took your advice and talked to my dad about the money aspect. He said my aunt must have been mistaken and he never expects us to pay that much and he knows we’re on a really tight budget. He was also incredibly understanding about us being late since I will have to work. So thank you. The funny thing? I never in a million years would have thought my dad to be as understanding as he was. Christmas Eve is a huge deal for our family and my dad isn’t always very flexible about things, but he was great. Now to just actually find and buy the gifts. The hardest part.

** Well, it happened. I got sick. So I spent my day off yesterday calling insurance to find a doctor I could go to since I haven’t been since we moved here, driving to said doctor’s office, and then waiting, just like you do everytime you go to the doctor. Also? The NICEST doctor’s office I have ever been to. They were genuinely friendly and helpful and the doctor was fantastic. Friendly, nice, talked to me like an adult and didn’t treat me like an idiot. Downfall? They couldn’t see anything and my strep test came back negative. But, I could have an infection in my throat that is hiding, so she gave me some antibiotics to try. Other possibility? I could have mono. I’ll let that sink in for a minute. Remember who I’m married to? A 1L in his first ever semester of law school finals. I’m hoping and praying these meds take care of it and it’s not mono. My husband might kill me if I gave him mono right now. hahaha. So, no eating or drinking after each other. No kissing. I’m not worried about sleeping on the couch since mono can’t be spread through the air, and I don’t have a fever, so I don’t think I’m contagious if it’s not mono. Or so we hope. But I’m ready for the golf ball sized swelling in the throat and the feeling of knives every time I swallow to go away.

** Went to my BIL’s 21st birthday dinner last night. I was bummed because my throat hurt so badly. But, the skanky girlfriend was not invited, so that helped a lot. BIL was actually in a good mood and not super awkward and crabby like he usually is. Only thing? He didn’t drink before his 21st and doesn’t seem to like any alcohol. We all got something different for him to try and he didn’t like anything really. He kind of liked the malibu and diet, but that was it. Oh well. We won’t feel obligated to take him with us when we go out since he doesn’t seem to like it. I just have never met anyone who can’t find anything they like. Or maybe I like it too much??

** Mr. A and I aren’t exchanging gifts this year. We’ve bought a couple things we wanted/needed for the apartment with my work discount, but it was still money spent. Also, we both spent pretty good chunks of change on our wedding gifts to each other, so we’ve decided to treat all of that as our gift and we’re going to go to a nice, but not super expensive dinner and it will save us some money. Feels weird to not get him a gift, but it feels like it’s what we need to do. Hopefully next year will be better.

** So you know how I’ve said that I haven’t felt like a law school widow since Mr. A has treated it like an 8-5 job and works hard all day, between classes, so I get to see and spend time with him after? Yeah. That’s changed. He’s in a study group that was very strategically picked and organized and they didn’t even ask all their friends- only the serious ones and who could help. But it’s basically, if they aren’t in class, they are studying. So class at 1? They study from 10-1. Class over at noon? They study from 12-6. This means that the only time, except the birthday dinner last night, that I have spent with Mr. A has been when we go to bed. And by then, we’re both so exhausted that there’s no talking and just saying good night and passing out. The other night, he didn’t even get home till midnight. Basically, I’m ready for finals to be over so I can actually see him. It also seems that he’s home when I’m at work, and as soon as I get off, he’s headed to his study group. Come on December 16th!!

I hope you all had a great week and have some fun plans for the weekend. We’re going to a tacky Christmas sweater party tonight and then I work till 11:30pm tomorrow, so my whole Saturday is shot, basically. Mr. A’s first final is on Tuesday, so I’m sure he will be studying a ton. We sure aren’t very exciting around here. If you’re having fun this weekend, have a little extra for us!

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?