Hello, 2011!

Wow, it seems like every-other post recently has been about me wandering off, only to eventually find my way back again. But this time it was a little more serious. I had a pretty emotionally rough fall (don't ask me about October), but I think it was rather cathartic. Cathartic - isn't that a great word? It makes me sound educated and intelligent when I say I purged the evil out of me while I was being viscously attacked by bad-bad-very-bad things. But! True to the nature of catharsis, I feel like I have been through the wringer, made some mistakes, but am now prepared to keep on going with a new mindset.

My new mindset happens to coincide with the New Year. Now, I am not normally one for "life-changing" New Year's Resolutions (because really, how many people are still at the gym after April?), but I think that the Great Year of 2011 should be called my Year of Patience & Acceptance. I need to be calm, rational, and let things flow at their natural rate. Will the Hot Pocket microwave ANY faster just because I am starving? No. I need to be calm and patient and know that the Hot Pocket will happen, even though it might not be ready right now. ... Hey, I like that. This spur-of-the-moment Hot Pocket metaphor may be my new mantra; it definitely applies to numerous aspects of my life. :)

As a side note, someone told me that according to the Chinese zodiac, 2010 was the Year of the Tiger. I know a bunch of people will agree with me on the viscious and predatory nature of the events of 2010! Thankfully, 2011 will be the Year of the Rabbit... 'Nuff said. I am so exhausted after 2010 that I am looking forward to a cute little bunny!


Songs for my New Year:
"Let it Be"
- The Wise Beatles

"There for the Grace of God"
- Flogging Molly

...and for something a bit more peppy, but still with a message:
"If you're going through Hell,
Keep on going, don't slow down.
If you're scared don't show it.
You might get out
Before the Devil even know you're there"
- Rodney Atkins



.... Oh, partly because I feel I need to make a concrete New Year's Resolution and partly because I need to use up my yarn stash and finally FINISH some projects, I am trying to go for "12 Projects in 12 Months" again. Failed miserably last year when the craziness started, but in my Year of Patience and Acceptance, I am going to make more time to knit! Lara and I already have an awesome knit-a-long planned for March-ish after we get a project or two finished. :)

Wishful thinking

Well, the realistic part of me says I wasted a Saturday afternoon, but the stupidly optimistic part of me disagrees.  What was I doing yesterday? I spent much of the afternoon planning wedding colors and themes.  I've known I want to use a dark purple and a dark teal -- in fact I have a shirt and sweater that I was using as a color guide -- but I wanted to see if they were workable for a wedding theme.  I have been playing with the idea of a "peacock" theme based on the colors, but I want it really understated... with minimal feathers... so, "peacock" without being too peacock.   :)

They say when designing anything, you should make an "inspiration board" with pictures of things that you like and, well, are inspired by.  That was what I was doing yesterday.  The bonus point is that I also helped narrow down the style I like:  Grace Kelly, Understated Chic.  I REALLY like simple, clean lines that are rich and luxurious.  I'm not opulent, garish, or over-stated.  I like minimalist decorations that evoke high quality and taste.  I've seen too many wedding TV shows where the bride/ designer think, "If one centerpiece / flower arrangement / feather / yard of lace / jewelry / knick-knack is good, then 4,000 must be great!"  Some table settings I've seen just make me want to gag!  (Same goes for engagement rings!  There are some U. G. L. Y. rings out there in the world!)

So here's my inspiration board.  I really like that L'Instant Taittinger poster!!!  I didn't even realize the dress I want is basically a white version of it.

And for those of you asking, no, I am not engaged yet.  John and I have been together coming up on five years this fall, but he is a planner / saver who won't settle for less than "what I deserve," but is reluctant to go into debt when the economy is so bad right now.  Which of course puts me in the position of having to show him that I don't want a $50,000 affair.  My thinking is that if I can plan it all out and show him that we won't bankrupt ourselves, he will be more amenable to the idea of a wedding.... or I may kidnap him one day and take him to the courthouse and just make it legal with no frills attached!  Haha.

Life Musings

I seem to be going through a bit of a rough patch in my life-- the Thursday before school started back in August, my (former) boss calls me up and tells me that I am moving sites... back to the high school.  The understatement of the year is that I was not thrilled with the idea.  I was really excited to start a new school year in the same place that I was last school year, and I was really liking  my client age-group and my coworkers over at the elementary school.  The high school staff and I aren't really the best of friends, and you just have to ask anyone working with teenagers: they are a tough crowd.  Now, add on mental diagnoses, histories of abuse, and total apathy for their futures, and you have our special teenagers.

So now I am stuck in limbo with stupid company politics determining my future.  I've been told that the company is doing the best they can; but, let's be real, I am not high on the priority list when regulations are changing, the economy is tanking, and our billing just got audited.   :/   I am trying to be positive, but when faced with glaring proof that your company does not give a rat's ass about you, it is rather hard.  I know I'm not special, but they don't have to rub my nose in it.

On the flip side, the caving program is back up & running!  White nose syndrome had put all caving on hold so scientists could figure out what was killing the bats and how we could prevent spreading the disease.  If I am remembering correctly, it's been about two years since any caving was allowed up and down the east coast.  BUT! Now the NSS has put out safety measures and restrictions on recreational caving groups that would allow small parties inside the caves.  The Girl Scout program I help staff is going to be taking a (very!) small group of experienced girls this October up to West Virginia to see if these restrictions are manageable.  Usually, we have about 40-60 girls with about a dozen "rookies" that take trips twice a year.  This fall, I think we are taking only about 25 girls total, with LOTS of staff to supervise.  Hopefully, this trip will go well and we will soon  be able to resume regular trips!  Yay!

Haiku for Today

Detention.  Mouse Hunt.

No paperwork time for me

Playing football now.

Thank you, thank you.  That was my day today.  Kid came in at 8:35 (a whole 5 minutes after the bell rang) and pretty much refused to return to class.  Long story short: he ended up in detention for the day and I had one less kid to deal with for the rest of the day... because I'd already spent a whole hour with him before breakfast!  Bah.  Then came the Great Mouse Hunt of Lunchtime.  We apparently have a new friend in our room.  Coworker #1 and I were trying to catch him for release into the wild, while Coworker #2 stood on her desk and told us to kill it, and Coworker #3 ignored all our craziness.  And I ended my day playing football with two of my boys.  Veeery interesting.  While I cannot say that I am any GOOD at football, I am not as BAD as I thought I would be. (at least compared to 5th graders)  Needless to say, dealing with office referrals, mice, and football, I am still very behind on my daily paperwork!

More haikus to come... maybe?

Back to School

Oofa! The Summer Program finally ended and we have survived the first week of the new school year! I think medals and prizes should be delivered. (Since my job is during the school year, we run a Summer Program Day Camp type thing to keep the kids busy and out of trouble throughout the summer. If you have never worked a summer camp before, count yourself lucky. We provided transportation all day, served two meals, planned all the activities ourselves, as well as supervised all the usual craziness. Whew! It all made for very long days... very good paychecks, but very long days!)

This summer was so crazy between the Summer Program for work and getting the new house straight; I feel like I am still sleep deprived! Though, my move over to the Elementary School for part of the summer has become permanent and I am now over with the 3-5 graders instead of the high school. People ask what's different, and I say that the behaviors are pretty much the same, you just tell yourself that the 10yr-old doesn't know better yet. (Sad but true!) So we will see how working with the little guys works out for me. (fingers crossed)

Also coming up new, I will be re-applying for a salaried position here at the Agency so more of my fingers are crossed. We don't divide into "part time" and "full time," but into "hourly" and "salary." Basically, you do the same work but get paid less and don't get benefits because you don't have the experience / education to warrant them paying you more. Don't get me started; I am really bitter about living on what I am currently making. So, here's hoping that this application will be accepted now that I am reaching my one-year mark with the Agency. (more fingers crossed)

AND we are still waiting for out $8,000 new home-buyer tax credit. I mailed my amended return in July, and the help-line said I still need to wait 4-6 weeks. (John actually owns stuff, so we filed using my tax return since it would be much easier.) Ohmmmmmm.... I am seeking patience and serenity while waiting for a large chunk of money. (meditating)

Other than that, not too much is going on now. John and I are getting into habits and routines with the new house and are pretty much settled here. :)

...must make it to end of school year....

Oh my goodness, I know you all are like, "who is this person and when did she start updating her blog?" Well, I'm sorry, but life has gotten a little crazy as the school year ends and Spring Fever has hit like a ton of bricks (did I mention I work with the rowdy / dysfunctional kids to begin with?) wheew! Wouldya believe there are only 8 days left? I'm not sure if we all are going to make it!

Thought #1 in my brain as I have no time to blog: Why is the bank taking so freakin' long to process our loan application?!?!??!? I want to close on our house darnnit!!! grrrrr.....

#2: I just bought several plants for a window box herb garden for the new house. Yay, real house! :) But it gets better: as I research them to find out how not to kill them, 4 of the 5 actually WANT to be neglected! WOOT! What better plants are there than the ones that ask for full sun and little water? Catnip, Lavender, Rosemary, and Oregano for the win. Awesome! (Stupid basil and being an "annual" and needing "watering".... bah)

#3: When will this schoolyear end?!

Do a Good Deed

I know I've mentioned it before, and I've even passed a chain letter on to friends, and I've got the link a the bottom of my blog here, but I need to mention it again, I feel. In short:

SAVE THE TA-TAS!

There. The Breast Cancer Site is a "charity click" page where you click on the little button daily and the advertisers on the site pay to give mammograms to underprivileged women who would not otherwise afford to get checked. Let me repeat that again: YOU CLICK. THEY PAY. There are several charities (animals, rainforest, literacy, health care, hunger) linked together if you follow the links, all of which are FREE TO YOU.

I mention this again now because The Breast Cancer Site is having a special find-raiser for April. They will donate $10,000 to cancer research if total clicks reach enough for 200 mammograms during the month. As you can see above, they are 4% of the way to 200 with about 4% of the month done. A good start, but please help out!

So let's all chip in, spend at most 30 seconds each day, and try to change the world. As a chesty girl myself, I thank you on behalf of all ta-tas.

Icky Sleet Day!

Yay for icky sleet! Freezing rain? Is there a difference? I don’t know; I grew up on the beach. Anything that isn’t rain falling from the sky is snow (and it means school is closed, but that’s another topic altogether). Apparently out here in the mountains, you still go to school when it’s cold and gross outside.

Random Event

So, as I was perusing Facebook (not that I am endorsing that site, because it can suck all your free time if you let it) to catch up on what is happening to all my college friends, I came across a weird little way to amuse yourself:

GOOGLE BIOGRAPHY: RULES: Go to Google and type in your first name and the following phrases. Copy and paste the first sentence/phrase you get that makes sense.

Now, this caught my eye because it's a little like MadLibs... for people who don't know how to come up with a noun, verb, or adjective on their own. :P But, as I have been remiss in my blogging for a while, I thought that I could give it a shot. It's almost as much fun as Googling yourself and finding that you are some professor of biochemistry /biology at a college you've never heard of... or a real estate agent.



Q: Type in "[your name] needs" in the Google search.
A: The elephant Anne needs to retire.

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Q: Type in "[your name] looks like" in Google search.
A: Anne looks like a million dollars, before taxes
(Runner up was "Anne looks like Alvin the chipmunk")

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Q: Type in "[your name] says" in Google search.
A: Anne says her prayer (Anne of Green Gables)

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Q: Type in "[your name] wants" in Google search.
A: Did you know Anne wants snow tires more than a gold watch?

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Q: Type in "[your name] hates" in Google search.
A: Anne hates you.

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Q: Type in "[your name] asks" in Google search.
A: Anne asks, "Did the blue Santa come from Akron?" (... I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!)

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Q: Type in "[your name] goes" in Google search.
A: Queen Anne goes to the kitchen.

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Q: Type in "[your name] likes " in Google search.
A: WHAT anne LIKES (...apparently it's a rock band)

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Q: Type in "[your name] eats " in Google search.
A: Anne eats ghosts!

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Q: Type in "[your name] wears " in Google search.
A: Princess Anne wears the same outfit in the same town three years later.

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Q: Type in "[your name] was arrested for" in Google Search.
A: Cleveland High School theater teacher and Student Council sponsor Laurie Anne Lewis was arrested on Tuesday on charges of prostitution in downtown Houston.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Though I have never been big on the whole Valentine’s Day celebration, I truly wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day. I have been cynical for far too long, so to spare you the standard rants, I will sum up: blah blah blah, Hallmark just wants your money, blah blah blah, what about the single people, blah blah blah, gonna hijack a truck full of chocolates and eat myself stupid.

There, done.

However, I do have a fairly fresh (I think) rant about Valentine’s Day: Why do you need one specific day to say that you love someone? If you truly care about a person, you should sound like a crazy stalker and tell them every chance you get that you love them and that they are important to you. Disregarding the fact that I work with high school kids who weren’t hugged enough as children, you should never delay telling someone that you care. You don’t know who will be hit by a bus tomorrow (not to sound morbid, but it’s true). You don’t know who is going through a depressed time right now, and your little “you are special to me” could mean the world to them. You just don’t know how much you matter to someone else, so start the trend and tell them how much they matter to you.

So don’t delay or make excuses. Just tell someone you love them. Hell, tell them you appreciate them or whatever verb you want to use, if you are commitment-phobic. Just tell them.

(And if you must know, John and I are planning to be lazy this Saturday. He says: can my Valentine’s present be playing games all day? So I gave the boy what he asked for.)

Job Musings

You must allow me to wallow a bit in depressed self-pity today; I had a pretty rough day at work. (Don’t ask. Long story short is that I have decided to never again try to be proactive or do more than I am told to do because it only gets me in trouble.) At what point do you decide that a job just sucks? Does “bad job” mean that everyday has to drain your will to live? Or does a job that is just mediocre most days, but can suddenly turn viciously bad qualify as bad? What about a job that is just mediocre? Do you have to be out saving the world and self-actualizing every day of your life? And what kind of person are you if you “settle”? Does that mean you are responsible and have accepted the fact that a job does not define who you are (even though psychological research says that in our society, we are defined by our job) and that you need a paycheck of any kind to pay your bills? Or does it mean that you have no aspirations for something better for yourself, something that could make you truly happy?

I will see you when I am feeling better about life and my position in the world.

Don't mind my broken car in a ditch...

Yes, I was driving and taking a picture at the same time... I apparently have a streak of stupidity larger than I previously thought, or I have a new-found, unconscious death wish... hmmm. Must investigate this further to make sure I don't kill myself in my sleep or something like that.

But anyhoo, the reason I almost killed myself a few times: I believe that the sky out here is beyond "normal." My theory is that it has something to do with the mountains... but I know nothing about meteorology or astrophysics, so I am really just guessing. But the sunsets and such out here are absolutely stunning. These pictures just don't do it justice.

SNOW DAYS!

Well, more like one full snow day and two more days that had a two-hour delay. Though really we didn’t get very much snow. John says that we are on the OTHER side of the mountains from where the snow comes from, so it is rare that we get blasted with the bad weather. I guess it won’t be too much different from living at the beach with all the false hurricane alarms every summer. :P Though it has been fun for me to get in my car in the morning and see the temperature read “12 degrees”… BRRR! I don’t care who you are, that’s cold! :p

Memorandum

It has been called to my attention that I have ruthlessly "back-posted" -- that is, writing several posts at one time, then going into the settings and changing the date on the item so it looks like I was on top of things at the time. I admit it; I wrote pretty much all of December's articles in one weekend over the school's Christmas break when I wasn't working. My reasoning, however, I think you will agree with:

1- I am severely anal retentive and it would bug the heck out of me to have things dated incorrectly. For example, the puppies' bath time before the Christmas Party would be dated Jan 3; but it really happened on Dec 6. See? My brain can't handle that.

2- It makes for a more organized blog if everything is dated to when the event really happened, not just when I finally got around to writing about it.

3- I don't have internet at home (welcome to the country!), and the internet at work is through a high school's filter so I am not allowed on "personal pages." Therefore, I can only get online to my blog when I make a special trip in to John's office after the work day or on the weekends. I am lazy and tired when I get off work and don't like doing that.

4- Did you miss the "Blogging without Obligations" button at the top of my page? That means it's my blog and I can post whenever I feel like getting around to it.

Basically, it boils down to #4 (singing: "it's my party and I'll post when I want to, post when I want to, poh-ost when I want tooooo"). BUT! I do promise never to back-date anything off of the main page. So you, dear readers, only need to scroll down to read the new stuff. I promise (hand on Bible) to leave the last post at the bottom of the page as an old one so you know that you aren't missing anything. Like when I went on that posting spree over New Years: I only posted enough as to bump all but one of the old post articles off. I purposefully left the Ordo comics on there as a marker so you would know when to stop reading. You will only have to go into the archives if you are looking for an old topic or if you have been gone a very long time.

Stealing Lara's Meme for the New Year

I figured I would join this bandwagon of looking back at 2008, and Lara's meme (pronounced "meeeeem") looked as good as any way to do it. (Memes, if you don't want to click the link, are just questionnaires that I fill out, then you see and fill out according to your own opinion. Memes are not those little personality tests that tell you what color is your personality or whatever.) Besides, while my life might not have been as momentous as hers in 2008, it did change quite a bit this past year. So here goes:


1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?
Moved out of my childhood family home with all of my worldly possessions. I don't count the college years because I left about half of my stuff back at home to come back to. But this time, I moved for permanent and changed my address on all the mailing lists I am on.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
... I have no idea. I'm not sure I even made official resolutions last year. I know I was supposed to figure out what I wanted to do with my life after graduation, and I did that as planned (more or less). I don't really make "RESOLUTIONS" so much as I think about where I want to be in twelve months. Like when I graduated, I did not plan to work where I am or be living where I am, but I wanted a real job and to be progressing in my personal life.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Some high school friends are moms now (disconcerting to say the least!) but no one really close.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Sadly, yes.

5. What countries did you visit?
No foreign travel in 2008. Not much domestic travel either.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
Health insurance.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
August 20, 2008: Moved in with John.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting a real job that is using my college degree.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I choose to suppress such memories, but let's just say that I don't email people at my work anymore.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing more than the sniffles.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Yarn splurges! I've got Sublime yarn under the bed waiting for me... I'm a kept woman now, though, so best gift would have to be my laptop. So much easier to deal with than a desktop when I don't have my own computer at work. Though, I do miss my screen saver of pretty men pictures.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My mother's, for not kicking her part-time working, no-rent-paying, food-eating, water-using, grown daughter out of the house after college. Love you, Momma!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
I worked retail for most of 2008... you don't get normal people coming into retail shops. I feel like half of them could / should be my clients now that I am a counselor.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Yarn! I worked at a yarn shop, for crying out loud; it couldn't be helped. Then, after moving, I spent a lot of money on a new "career Barbie" wardrobe. Lots of dress pants, button-up shirts, and cardigans.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Moving, getting a new job, starting working in my field.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
I've never been one of those "our song" people. But new songs of 2008 that I liked: Paralyzer by Finger Eleven, Addicted by Saving Abel, and Bubbly by Colbie Caillat.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?
Happier. I've moved in with my sweetie and have a real job. I feel like a real adult. Can't beat that.
Fatter. Victoria's wedding failed in that it did not make me lose weight like Lara's wedding did in 2007. Maybe I need more family members to get married, rather than friends.
Richer. Better (though not great) paychecks help out a lot. As does not having ANY local yarn shops to visit.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Saving some money. Not that I wish I'd bought less yarn, but that somehow I could still buy yarn and put some aside in savings. The college attitude of living paycheck to paycheck, only needing money for fun stuff lingered a little longer than I would have hoped. Grown people put money aside for rainy days and retirement.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Procrastination and delay. If you want something, don't wait around for it. As preachy as it sounds, life does not come to those who sit on the couch and watch tv all day.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
Christmas 2008 was whirlwind-y, as you have already found out. Multiple people to visit, the first actual Christmas with John's family, and Victoria's wedding added to the fun.

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?
Already was in love with a certain geeky boy

22. What was your favorite TV program?
New: Moonlight (damn you, CBS, for taking it off the air!)
Reruns: NCIS. Gotta love the back-to-back-to-back run they have in the afternoons.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
... Can't think of anything. Though, I try to "hate" people by ignoring them, not by fixating all my energy upon them.

24. What was the best book you read?

I've burned through a good bit on trashy romance novels, especially over the summer.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I don't even know what that means. I'm not a talent scout. I guess the largest musical discovery for me recently is that there are no radio stations out in the mountains.

26. What did you want and get?
A real life.

27. What did you want and not get?
Health insurance.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Duh, DARK KNIGHT! I also really liked The Bank Job (minus the one bit of gruesome torture and killing of a character), Iron Man, and Wall-E.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 24 and me, John, his family, and Momma all went out to eat at a really nice restaurant in Richmond. John took me shopping.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A personal thing that I don't want to share because the lack of it depresses me when I think about it.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Beginning of the year: Twenty-something casual.
End of the year: Teacher-chic

32. What kept you sane?
John. He is so much calmer than I am.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I've always been a sucker for fictional characters rather than real people, but some of my favorite famous men are Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Mark Dacascos, and Edward Norton.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
I run and hide from politics because it's just a bunch of arrogant people trying to force their ideologies and beliefs upon you. Seriously, no one has known "what is best" for me since my parents were taking care of me in grade school.

35. Who did you miss?
I miss living with Victoria, though I accept that our respective boys would not approve of the foursome. But I would have settled with near-by apartments.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
My old boss, Sharon, at Knit Wits. She is awesome, quirky, vivacious, and totally insane. Gotta figure out how to work my way into her will so I can inherit my very own yarn shop.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
For the love of all things holy, don't email people at work!!

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year
You have to make a living / But you'd rather be at home ...
AND GET A REAL JOB / GET A REAL JOB
-- Get a Real Job, by M.O.D. (I'd never heard of the song, but it fits, no?)

Your turn!

Resolve and Revolve

NEW YEARS RESOLUTION! I'm not one to write down resolutions in a diary and keep track of them throughout the year, but I do like to think of things I want to do differently / change / enact in the upcoming year. And maybe if I publish them then I will be more inclined to remember them and work on them! So here goes.

1 - Work out consistently…not constantly, but consistently. Everyone has those ten vanity pounds, and I am no exception. But I am trying to save my ego by making it a “fitness” goal and not a “weight loss” goal so that I don’t become obsessive about a pound or two. I’ve been pretty good since last November about going to the gym; I was in a panic because I gained 10lbs since moving in with John, and needed to fit into Victoria’s bridesmaid’s dress at the end of December. Though I admit that I got into a rut after the wedding-- I mean, as far as “fitness” resolutions go, I started mine in November, and given that most people taper of sometime in March or so, that puts my taper point in January. AND, I was prepping for a specific event, and that event had passed, so motivation was low. But I believe that my brief stumble is acceptable – provided that I get back up and keep on trucking. Which I believe that I am capable of. (I have a possible Weight Watchers joining date if I can’t get back on track by myself)

2 - Find satisfaction / advancement / self-actualization in my job. I don't know what that means yet, but I think the honeymoon period, but I think the honeymoon period is officially over, and I don’t want to be one of those people who quits after a few months because they can’t hack it. Step #1 is to re-apply for a salary position (salary rather than hourly; we don’t go by “part-time vs. full-time” because I am working just as much as the “full-time” salaried people, I just don’t get benefits or vacation time). I’ve got a few more months until my arbitrarily-decided date to re-apply, and hopefully it’ll succeed in the first application. If not, I’ll wait a few more months and try again. Hopefully, if they reject me, they can tell me what I need to do to make myself desirable to have as a salary employee so I don’t waste my time continually reapplying without knowing what they want me to change.

3 - I have a secret goal for the year that I don’t want to broadcast. There’s just something that I want to have happen in a sooner-rather-than-later way.

4 - Pare down some of the yarn stash. I’ve got yarn that is meant for very specific projects that I just need to get started on. The puppy helps me realize that I have too much yarn because every time she comes to visit, that damn dog runs upstairs and finds a new ball of yarn to destroy (thankfully, none of it has been the good stuff…yet). But if I get some of the “waiting” yarn used up, then there’ll be no way she can destroy it! haHA, dog!

5 - Become a real, independent adult. I feel like I’ve been faking it for a while, but this year, I have to pay my own taxes and my car payment is being transferred from mom’s name to mine. So now I will have a car loan, a student loan, an IRA, and taxes to manage all on my own—if that is not the definition of a real adult, I don’t know what is. Also, John has been mentioning apartments every now and then, so there might be a rent bill added to my list of grown-up responsibilities.

For Mom

Mom really wanted a nice picture of her daughter all dressed up from Victoria's wedding, and these are the only ones I have from my camera. The photographer got one of me and John, but I'm not sure if Vic's gotten all the pictures back yet. And yes, I was being silly down there on the right, but it's still a good picture.

I also realized that out of all those pictures from the big wedding post, not one really showed off Vic's dress-- which I think is absolutely gorgeous. So, I hope she forgives me for posting the one with the funny face, but it's the best one. All the other shots of her, some flowers or some guy's arm is blocking the front of her dress. Sheesh! Get out of the way of the dress people!

Victoria's Wedding

Yay! They finally did it! Victoria and Aaron made it official on December 27, 2008. Mazel Tov! (This picture of them with their license cracks me up; like they just got a diploma or something)

They had their wedding up in Pennsylvania at this really nice country club-- why PA? Well, as freak chance would have it, their extended families live within about an hour of each other. How weird is that? But Vic says that it makes it really convenient when they need to meet everybody at holidays! So John and I made this power drive to get Christmas in Lynchburg, Christmas in Va Beach, and then a wedding in Pennsylvania ... all within four days! whew!

BUBBLES!!

The Wedding Party: Best Man Tim, Maid of Honor Me, Bride, Groom, Bridesmaid Stephanie (Aaron's sister), flower girl Chloe (Aaron's niece), and Groomsman Sean (Vic's brother)

The not-so-glamorous side of being a bridesmaid: running around after a bride (who fidgets more than an ADHD two-year-old, may I say) trying to keep her train clean and lying flat.

The ceremony was on the old Mansion side of the country club, and the reception was in the Party Hall building. Sit-down dinner and dancing... and, MAN, was the food good! They could have just kept the appetizers coming, and I would have been happy. My favorite were the tiny spannicopitas (how on earth do you spell that word?!) but there were also crab cakes, crab/shrimp Rangoon pouch thingies, coconut shrimp, and sesame chicken skewers. Then came salad, and then the main course: fillet Mignon or sea bass. John and I signed up for one of each because at the time the invitations went out, it wasn't finalized what "beef" and "seafood" would be served. I felt like a heifer because I was the only one at our entire table to clean my plate. :( But the food was good!

The outcasts of Table 9, aka "Victoria's College friends who wouldn't enjoy themselves sitting with family members." We didn't mind so much except for the fact that we were on the VERY edge of the seating area out in social Siberia. On the plus side, we did get food first...

The reception was lots of fun. Besides seeing a good chunk of all the college friends who have scattered to the winds since graduation, it was just good times had by all. Vic and Aaron's first dance was the dance from the end of Dirty Dancing... no, not just using that "I've had the time of my life" song; they choreographed the actual dance from the movie! It was so cool! When the dj announced what they would be dancing to, I heckled them, "I want to see the lift!" Needless to say, Victoria stuck her tongue out at me, but the lift was a part of the dance. (You could hear her warn Aaron, "Don't put me into the ceiling!" just before it.)

Cutting the cake and the backside of the dress


For, verily, I ask thee, what is a wedding reception without the Chicken Dance? Yes, most of the dancing was done by the wedding party or the college kids, but darn it we had fun! (We also made sure to have the Electric Slide and the ChaCha Slide, too!)

And I might have made the bar make me a Toasted Almond. (Why do bartenders never know what goes in one? I always need to eh'splain it to thems.)

Happy Birthday to me!

Not that I am fishing for presents (really, I''m not) but I just had to share my birthday cake with you all. First off, though, I have to admit, I was doubting if I would get a cake this year, as I am the baker of the household. John cooks really well, but a main factor of our cohabitation is that he is the Chef and I am the Baker. Want a steak? Go to John. Want cookies or pie or bread? See me. So you can see how I was in doubt of getting a birthday cake that I would not have to make myself. (And frankly, making your own birthday cake is more depressing than not having one at all.)

So. We all went out to a REEEEEALLLLY nice dinner over in Richmond yesterday, and part of the nice-ness was asking if we were celebrating anything. Mom, and her irrational hatred of restraunts that sing for birthday parties, was about to say "NO!" ...though I reminded her that she can't lie when she is holding a big bag that says "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" across it (she was). And, they didn't do anything crazy during the meal, but when dessert was brought out, this is what I got:


And the swirlies were chocolate, caramel, and raspberry drizzle! yummy.... cake. I like cake.

Re-donk-ulous

Has anyone seen these things on the road? I saw a set in Target and laughed to myself, because surely no one would want to dress their car up as Rudolph! ...Then I saw one in a parking lot... then another on the road ... and another...

Seriously, people, have a little pride. These things are ridiculous.