yesterday, i was tagged by the caffienated cowgirl over at just this side of normal for a meme. i have to state 7 random things about me and then tag 3 people to do the same. here they are in no particular order:
1) i hate eating out at restaurants. the servings are always too big, yet i have a hard time stopping when full, and i know that i could cook a healthier, cheaper version that would taste just as good at home.
2) my feet are huge. i wear a size 11 shoe and my mom always taught me to buy two pairs of the same shoe when i find one that i like, because my size sells out so quickly.
3) my brother was born when i was 9 1/2 years old, which means that i was an only child for that long. i'm not sure what that says about my personality. we have a very close relationship, even though we are so far apart in age.
4) when my mom used to make my lunches, she would put a frozen juice box on top of my peanut butter and jelly sandwich. by the time i got around to eating my lunch, the sandwich was cold and squished, but it tasted SO good. now, i can't eat a PBJ sandwich without squishing it first. it just doesn't taste right with fluffy bread.
5) i studied the russian language for three years in high school and one year in college. after spending 5 weeks in russia, i got really good at speaking the language. it's been a few years since i've had a chance to really practice it, so i'm rusty, but i want to get better. anyone want to practice with me?
6) i'm addicted to playing solitaire on my cell phone before i go to bed. somehow, i think that i have to win a game before i can fall asleep. this started while my hubby was deployed and i couldn't fall asleep at night... now i'm trying to break the habit =)
7) hamburgers are disgusting. i don't eat them and haven't eaten one since i was about 5 years old when my baby sitter would take me to mcdonald's for lunch and get hamburgers for me while she ate taco bell.
so that's about it. there are many more random things about me, but you'll have to stick around to discover them. now, i am tagging felicia, sara and chas. if you don't do the meme on your blog, then you'll have seven years of bad comments. just kidding =) do the meme if you want or don't do the meme if you don't feel like it. let me know if you do this meme on your blog so that i can read it!
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
giving thanks
this morning, as i was peeling and slicing apples for my husband’s lunch, it suddenly hit me that thanksgiving is just around the corner. that realization hit a switch somewhere in the back of my blonde brain and it finally started to feel like fall. i’m not sure what season i was stuck in before now, but somehow the nearness of turkey and stuffing and pumpkin and pecan pies made me feel like getting all of my warm and wooly sweaters down from the top shelf of our closet. soon, we’ll be hitting the road to go visit my family and my mom will be brining a turkey PW style while the hubby, my dad, my brother and i all play frisbee in the back yard. thinking about all of these things makes me thankful for the blessed life that i have. my mom has this tradition at thanksgiving that I used to consider very silly, but now i look forward to it. she has everyone go around the table and tell one thing that they are thankful for before we can begin to eat. i think i’ll get a head start on her tradition via the blog world today.
i’m thankful that my wonderfully brave hubby made it back safely from his second deployment and that he will be here for all of the holidays this year.
i’m thankful that i have a great job and a nice home, husband and dog to come home to.
i’m thankful for all of the soldiers, sailors and other military men and women who make sacrifices every day to protect our country and our country’s interests.
i’m thankful that we are free to worship and express our beliefs in this country.
i’m thankful that both my parents and the hubby’s parents are alive and happily married.
i’m thankful that three years ago today, i was able to be there with sara when anna was born.
i’m thankful for wonderful in-laws.
i’m thankful that the hubby didn’t laugh at me last night when i wanted to make smores with the oven broiler and that he roasted my marshmallows for me so i wouldn’t burn my hands.
i’m thankful that i am healthy enough to go running and burn some of the calories gained from eating those smores.
i’m thankful that you are still reading this long list. i could go on and on, but i will stop here for now. what are some things that you are especially thankful for this year?
i’m thankful that my wonderfully brave hubby made it back safely from his second deployment and that he will be here for all of the holidays this year.
i’m thankful that i have a great job and a nice home, husband and dog to come home to.
i’m thankful for all of the soldiers, sailors and other military men and women who make sacrifices every day to protect our country and our country’s interests.
i’m thankful that we are free to worship and express our beliefs in this country.
i’m thankful that both my parents and the hubby’s parents are alive and happily married.
i’m thankful that three years ago today, i was able to be there with sara when anna was born.
i’m thankful for wonderful in-laws.
i’m thankful that the hubby didn’t laugh at me last night when i wanted to make smores with the oven broiler and that he roasted my marshmallows for me so i wouldn’t burn my hands.
i’m thankful that i am healthy enough to go running and burn some of the calories gained from eating those smores.
i’m thankful that you are still reading this long list. i could go on and on, but i will stop here for now. what are some things that you are especially thankful for this year?
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
the road to the last day of college... part 2
after transferring to a state school for my junior year and then returning to the women’s college so i could finish where i had started, i entered my fifth year of college as a senior.
days before graduation, my senior seminar professor invited our class over to her house to celebrate the end of our time together. she was as nice to me as everyone else and not once during the entire night did she pull me aside to tell my of my impending doom. you see, she had given me a failing grade for her class (which i definitely deserved).
on the day of graduation, i was woken up by my mom with the phone in her hand. it was the dean of the college and she wanted to speak to me! i cleared my throat, expecting her to ask me to do something special for her at graduation because i was just an exceptional person. instead, she quietly informed me that i would not be getting my degree that day. I had failed my senior seminar class and that grade had been enough to pull the gpa of my major below a 2.0. she said that i could still walk at graduation if i wanted to, but i would not be able to go on stage to shake the president’s hand or get my diploma. i didn’t know what to think, but i did know that there was no way that i was going to that graduation ceremony. i quickly thanked her and hung up the phone.
i was mad. i was mad at my senior seminar professor for not pulling me aside at her house that day, i was mad at myself for letting my grades get so bad that one class could ruin it all for me. i was humiliated that i would have to tell anyone what had happened. then the floodgates opened and i couldn’t stop crying. my parents came into my room and i somehow managed to tell them what the dean had said. i think they were honestly shocked. they let me cry for a few hours and then asked what i wanted to do about the party that they were having that night. i was too prideful to let them tell anyone the truth, so we actually had the party and just danced around the subject when any of the guests (other than family) asked how the graduation ceremony had been that morning. it was painful and i ended up going up to my room early and crying some more.
that weekend, my parents and i discussed my options. i could just give up, leave the college without a degree and become a real estate agent; i could go to another college and finish there; or i could go back to the women’s college and do what needed to be done to graduate. i decided on the latter choice and that monday, my mom and i met with one of the deans of the college to strategize. the dean told me that i had demonstrated great character in coming back to finish and she knew that i had what it took to graduate. she suggested two classes to take during fall semester and told me that i needed to make an A and a B in order to graduate. that dean was the first person in college who had ever taken any academic interest in me and i revered her for it.
it was excruciating for me to show back up that fall semester and have everyone ask why i was there. i told a few the truth, but others i just jokingly told that i couldn’t get enough of the place. terrified that i would wind up without a college degree, i worked very hard in both classes. i read the homework ahead of time, contributed in class and worked on my papers and essays in advance so that i could turn in real, finished products. classmates asked me questions when they didn’t understand our readings and i wondered why i hadn’t taken the time to care before now. rather than just hope that my grades were okay, i would follow up with my professors and talk to them about my papers while i was writing them. i discovered that i truly enjoyed school. i made two A’s that semester and ended up with two professors who were genuinely proud of me! i was proud of myself, too, and that semester will forever be a memory that i turn to for inspiration and motivation. it was an awfully painful semester for my pride, but i will be forever thankful that God let me get to that failing point so i would have to work hard at achieving something. he didn’t just let me glide through school, because he loved (loves) me and didn’t want me making the same mistakes in more important areas of my life later on down the road.
days before graduation, my senior seminar professor invited our class over to her house to celebrate the end of our time together. she was as nice to me as everyone else and not once during the entire night did she pull me aside to tell my of my impending doom. you see, she had given me a failing grade for her class (which i definitely deserved).
on the day of graduation, i was woken up by my mom with the phone in her hand. it was the dean of the college and she wanted to speak to me! i cleared my throat, expecting her to ask me to do something special for her at graduation because i was just an exceptional person. instead, she quietly informed me that i would not be getting my degree that day. I had failed my senior seminar class and that grade had been enough to pull the gpa of my major below a 2.0. she said that i could still walk at graduation if i wanted to, but i would not be able to go on stage to shake the president’s hand or get my diploma. i didn’t know what to think, but i did know that there was no way that i was going to that graduation ceremony. i quickly thanked her and hung up the phone.
i was mad. i was mad at my senior seminar professor for not pulling me aside at her house that day, i was mad at myself for letting my grades get so bad that one class could ruin it all for me. i was humiliated that i would have to tell anyone what had happened. then the floodgates opened and i couldn’t stop crying. my parents came into my room and i somehow managed to tell them what the dean had said. i think they were honestly shocked. they let me cry for a few hours and then asked what i wanted to do about the party that they were having that night. i was too prideful to let them tell anyone the truth, so we actually had the party and just danced around the subject when any of the guests (other than family) asked how the graduation ceremony had been that morning. it was painful and i ended up going up to my room early and crying some more.
that weekend, my parents and i discussed my options. i could just give up, leave the college without a degree and become a real estate agent; i could go to another college and finish there; or i could go back to the women’s college and do what needed to be done to graduate. i decided on the latter choice and that monday, my mom and i met with one of the deans of the college to strategize. the dean told me that i had demonstrated great character in coming back to finish and she knew that i had what it took to graduate. she suggested two classes to take during fall semester and told me that i needed to make an A and a B in order to graduate. that dean was the first person in college who had ever taken any academic interest in me and i revered her for it.
it was excruciating for me to show back up that fall semester and have everyone ask why i was there. i told a few the truth, but others i just jokingly told that i couldn’t get enough of the place. terrified that i would wind up without a college degree, i worked very hard in both classes. i read the homework ahead of time, contributed in class and worked on my papers and essays in advance so that i could turn in real, finished products. classmates asked me questions when they didn’t understand our readings and i wondered why i hadn’t taken the time to care before now. rather than just hope that my grades were okay, i would follow up with my professors and talk to them about my papers while i was writing them. i discovered that i truly enjoyed school. i made two A’s that semester and ended up with two professors who were genuinely proud of me! i was proud of myself, too, and that semester will forever be a memory that i turn to for inspiration and motivation. it was an awfully painful semester for my pride, but i will be forever thankful that God let me get to that failing point so i would have to work hard at achieving something. he didn’t just let me glide through school, because he loved (loves) me and didn’t want me making the same mistakes in more important areas of my life later on down the road.
Monday, November 5, 2007
oh, caulk!
one of the final details that we have been doing in our remodeling project is caulking. the hubby and i scraped and removed the old caulk around the crown molding before we painted and then removed the old caulk from both bathtubs over the weekend. the hubby had a pretty frustrating time trying to caulk below the crown molding in the dining room, but he ended up doing a great job. after seeing how annoyed he was with the caulk gun, i decided that i would do him a favor and do the rest of the caulking myself. besides, he had more important projects that needed his attention (like installing cool, new toilet paper holders and hanging a few pictures). do you know how maddening it is when you finish up a caulk line and the caulk doesn’t stop coming out of the tube? it just keep squirting out, even if you put a cap on it!
i was crouched inside the guest bathtub caulking, and the hubby was using the level to measure for the toilet paper holder right next to me when this conversation took place:
wifey: “you know, caulk could be a bad word in our family's vocabulary after this experience. you could say the word and no one would know that you were sort of cussing.”
hubby: “except that it already sounds like a bad word.”
wifey, not quite grasping what the hubby meant: “wouldn’t it be great? you could say something like, ‘oh, caulk!’” pause… “um, yeah, i see what you mean. scratch that idea.”
i was crouched inside the guest bathtub caulking, and the hubby was using the level to measure for the toilet paper holder right next to me when this conversation took place:
wifey: “you know, caulk could be a bad word in our family's vocabulary after this experience. you could say the word and no one would know that you were sort of cussing.”
hubby: “except that it already sounds like a bad word.”
wifey, not quite grasping what the hubby meant: “wouldn’t it be great? you could say something like, ‘oh, caulk!’” pause… “um, yeah, i see what you mean. scratch that idea.”
Sunday, November 4, 2007
to football or not to football
that is the question. i work with some serious football fans. before now, i've never paid much attention to bcs ratings or who needs to beat who this weekend or who is the best quarterback for this week's fantasy game. but now, i don't have much of a choice because i hear about it all day long at work. i even managed to be the high school drum major for three whole years without understanding what a first, second, third or fourth down had to do with winning a football game. i barely knew when a touchdown was happening. usually, i would watch the fans or the band director for a cue when to tell the band to play a fight song. sad, i know. yesterday, the hubby was particularly interested in a certain navy/notre dame football game. i actually watched it with him and enjoyed it. he even explained what all the downs were and why they had to happen, etc. sara has tried to explain these things to me before, but i guess it didn't stick with me. now, however, i think i might understand. maybe. i still don't see what all the hype is about and can't quite understand why someone would spend their entire weekend on the couch watching football games, but maybe i'll try a little bit harder now to enjoy a game every now and then. what harm can it do?
Friday, November 2, 2007
it's a jacket! it's a coat! it's a blazer! it's a cardigan! it's a trench coat!
when i bought this coat, i didn't fully realize just how versatile it would be. you see, one of the perks to working in an all-male office (except for me, of course) is that the guys don't pay attention to your wardrobe. i can wear the same outfit two or three times a week (i try to limit it to two times, don't worry) and they'll have no clue! this jacket has been added to so many outfits, you wouldn't believe it. i've already worn it twice this week as part of two separate ensembles. it's great and i'm totally getting my moneys worth out of it. when i was in high school, i didn't really have the luxury of wearing outfits twice in one week. my mom would notice that i liked a shirt or pair of pants a little too much and then would hide them from me. perhaps she was trying to save me from a social disaster, but it just plain frustrated me. my husband on the other hand, would never think of hiding clothes from me just to prevent my wearing them multiple times. in fact, i think he would encourage it because that would mean less shopping on my part. or not. =)
Thursday, November 1, 2007
location. location. location.
well, after countless hours spent painting, cleaning and rearranging, i'm ready to show you a few pictures of our condo that we hoping to sell very quickly. we showed it to a couple last night and are going to list it with our realtor this weekend if that couple doesn't make an offer by then. the bathrooms were totally redone and the pergo floors throughout the condo are all new as well. what do you think?
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