I've been sliding backwards in the working out and eating well categories.

It's pure laziness on my part.

Today, I got up early, forced myself to change clothes, and ran a mile.

Now I'm eating breakfast, and heading out to run errands at 8:30.

I don't want my health to be worrisome anymore.

How you play:

You find a friend who has a 6 month old baby, works from home, and has to get the house ready for the Thanksgiving holiday.

You inform her that you have Monday off, so you're coming over to be her 1950s housewife. While she attends to Baby and Work, you will be doing the house and the laundry.

When you get there, you begin by dusting everything in sight, then carefully polish all the crystal knickknacks and bibelots in the china cabinets. You then wash all the windows, scrub the two bathrooms, and vaccum the dining room, kitchen, office and front great room. In between these chores, you check the washer and dryer in the garage to keep the laundry cycle moving.

You win the game because you have a slight OCD complex that is only satiated when you see order brought to unclean chaos, and your friend wins because she has a clean house and calm nerves.

YAY! :) Everybody wins!

I can't get over how idiotic some men are.

Nov. 14 night: Soccer Player throws himself a birthday party. It's a huge success, great mix of people. I meet the ex-girlfriend, and am not surprised. She proceeds to get completely trashed. I decide to leave around 3 a.m. when Soccer Player and Ex begin drunkenly salsa-dancing. My friend Gaby and I leave at the same time. She hisses at me, "Do you SEE what Soccer Player is doing??"
I shrug and say, "Yeah. Ten to one they hook up."
Gaby: Don't you care??
Me: Umm...eh. (shrug again)

Wed night: Soccer Player and I get together to see "2012". I'm in a fantastic mood, due to a lot of energy drinks consumed at work. Soccer Player (SP) says I'm acting like I just got laid and won the lottery at the same time. I giggle hysterically at him, and just say I'm having a great afternoon: dinner with my favorite cousin at Cheesecake Factory, now a movie with John Cusack. I like SP; I figure he's smarter than most guys. Mind you, I've been wrong before.

The movie is good, if a bit over the top on SFX.
We go back to his place afterwards to hang out and talk. Around 11, I get home since I have to work early in the morning.

Saturday afternoon: SP calls me around 3 as I'm driving back from my best friend's house. He asks me what I did Friday night. I had attended a party thrown by a friend of his; SP couldn't go b/c his mom is in town. He asked how the party was, who was there, did I have a good time, etc. I mention I'm not feeling quite stellar, so I was going home to rest. He says he'll talk to me later.

Around 5, I'm sleeping. The phone wakes me up. SP has called me to ask me a question. The transcript below is almost verbatim of what was said:

Ring, ring
ME (half asleep): 'Lo?
SP: Hey...were you sleeping?
ME: Uh..yeah.
SP: Oh. Well, I need to talk to you.
ME (eyes still closed): What 'bout?
SP: Well..I need you to help me figure something out.
ME: What?
SP: It's about my ex. I don't..she's messing with me, and I don't know why.
ME: Huh?
SP: Well, see, she called me last night asking if I was going to see the fight. (Translation: Some mixed martial arts fights that SP's a fan of) I told her I wasn't sure, I hadn't planned on it. Then she suggested that we go together to see them. And I said sure. But..she called me today and canceled, and it really bothers me...
ME: It bothers you?
SP: Yeah, b/c she's done this before, and I don't understand...
ME (sitting up on the couch, fully awake): Let me try to understand. You are calling me, the girl you dated the last couple months, who you went out with on Wednesday, to help you solve an ex-girlfriend problem?
SP: Well, you have a very good analytical mind, and you have a way of looking into people that is very clear.
ME: Yes, I do, and it's very clear that you have no sense of social mores or good taste.
SP (doggedly going on with the subject): I mean, I don't want to have a relationship with her, b/c if you take away the physical side of our relationship, the relationship wasn't good. It wasn't.
ME: Gee, I wonder why?
SP: But I figure, if I can just have the physical side with her, that will be fine, b/c I'm moving after all. I mean...last week at the party, we kinda..hooked up.
ME: Oh please I knew that was going to happen.
SP: You did?? How did you know?
ME: I'm very good at looking at people, remember?
SP: Well...I just think if I could just do the physical...See, I want to rewrite the rules of our relationship this time, so what..
ME: Here's what I think. I think you wanting to use your ex-girlfriend as a convenient sperm dump before you move tells me volumes of how you value her as a human being. I also think that you're an ass for calling me, and requesting I play armchair psychologist to your ex-girlfriend's actions. That tells me how much you considered MY feelings. You don't ever do that to someone you've been with. And if you think you can get your mental and verbal stimulation and fulfillment from me, and get your physical rocks off with her, you're sadly mistaken. Those are MY rules. Don't call me again. Erase me from your phone.
*click*

/shakes head/

Anyone have these?

*looks at all the "bitch, please!" stares she's getting from her readers*

OK, guess you do.

How do you handle them?

I signed up for 2 kinds of loans for grad school, and payments start soon.

I'm just wondering how to afford my normal life (with a LOT of extras cut out for a while)along with making monthly payments.

Any ideas? I'm already in line for 2 part-time jobs.

Pumpkintini
1 graham cracker, crushed into fine crumbs
Ice cubes
1 1/2 ounces rum (3 tablespoons)
3 tablespoons pumpkin pie filling
1/2 ounce Sortilège Maple liqueur (1 tablespoon)
1/2 ounce half-and-half (1 tablespoon)

Place the graham cracker crumbs on a small plate. Wet the rim of a chilled martini glass and dip into the crumbs to coat. In a cocktail shaker filled with ice, combine the rum, pumpkin pie filling, maple liqueur and half-and-half. Shake, then strain into the martini glass.

I need to make some money this holiday season.

But for the life of me, I can't think/decide about what to do.

I don't want to go back to waiting tables.

But maybe I should. If I worked Sunday, Monday and Wednesday nights, I'd make 50-100 a week.

/sigh/

I'm reading success stories on eharmony.com.

Why?

Because I subscribed for a special 3 month deal.

Let's see if I have any success.

Got up.

Was very tired after 9 hours sleep.

Got to work.

Began coughing on way to work, into office, and throughout morning.

Took my temp in my office. Yes, I have a thermometer at school.

It was 100.

Figured I caught a flu bug from my friend the social studies teacher that came back to work on Thursday. She didn't have pukey flu, just tired achey exhausted flu.

Notified Administrator I was feeling sick.

Signed out, drove home.

Now I'm here. Tired, achey, feverish, and bored.

Social-y stuff this week:

Monday night--"Zombieland" with Hot!Steve and Wendy. Hiiiiiilarious movie. Loved it.

Last night--JLGO meeting with new provisionals (a/k/a "Training to be new members" people)

Tonight--my one night at home. I had a whole evening planned, replete with cleaning out, organizing, and paying of the bills. Instead, I had some carbs, put in "Wolverine" and fell asleep for 2 hours. Score.

Thursday night--movie with Soccer Player. Going to check out "Paranormal Activity."

Friday night--making gourmet pizza at my friend Leslie's.

Saturday night--choice--either a Halloween party thrown by Blondie and Co., or else a dinner party at one of my Junior League pals' house.

Wow. I'm actually being social. Such a lovely change from this past spring.

Also...getting my hair done on Friday!!! Just as the leaves turn red in October, so am I this Friday!! :)

Social networks can actually make you feel completely alone and non-social. :{

Birthday is on Sunday.

Leaving Saturday on a trip.

More details to come...if they do, indeed, come along.

I would like to get good and properly rogered.

I'm in a series of one-acts that opens tonight in Winter Park.

A local group, Playwrights Roundtable select 7 plays written by its members, and local actors portray them on stage. We get to orginate characters, which always fun to do!!

So, I open tonight in two productions: FInger Food and The Commission.

What makes me happy is that a rather large number of local friends are coming out to see them. THeir support and attendance gives me a happy, bubbly feeling in my tummy.

I have been rehearsing for two shows the past month or so.

Both are 1 acts, so they're not too long, but the stories are hilarious.

They're original pieces, so I get to originate 2 characters. ROCK!

I would say more about them, and the characters I play, but there are some readers on this blog that may be coming to see them, and I don't want to spoil the shows. :)

Yoga and Pilates is kicking my butt.

But an hour after I was finished, I feel pretty awesome too.

Definitely going to see:

1. Funny People
2. The Ugly Truth
3. Harry Potter/Half Blood Prince

* I spent a half hour on the horn last night with a good friend in Chicago. She's flying down in July to spend the weekend in Orlando. YES! I stayed with her last summer in Chicago, now I get to return the favor. She lived here for a couple years, so we don't have to do the theme park route.

Thank God, especially with this heat. I was actually thinking I'd like to hit up Magic Kingdom some time soon. But this heat beats all. There is no way this side of Space Mountain I'm going to stand in long hot lines with tourists. :P

* I recently changed my hair color. I was a redhead for about 4-5 years, and in March I went back to my natural brunette. I'm lucky my coloring allows me to play with both colors. But now that I'm back to my natural, I get constant questions about "Where do you get your highlights done???"

A friend took a picture of me in the sunlight, and I saw that I have gold, red, and blond highlights back in my hair. LOL. Guess my natural shade is prettier than the concocted one!

* I'm not dating anyone seriously at the moment. For those that have been wondering.

* I have another year in the Junior League coming up. I am no longer in charge of the resale store. YES!! *pumps fists in the air*

I enjoyed my time there, but I've been doing it for 2.5 years...my entire active time in the league. It got old this past year.

I am now a Provisional Mentor. It's like a PX (Rho Chi) for those girls that have been through Sorority Rush. A mentor/go-to person for new members. I'm a den mother! :) My best friend Ana is also a mentor. I foresee a LOT of fun in the next year.

And that's some of what's going on!

I have a feeling this is going to be an excellent week!

On a large blank wall in my bedroom, I have decorator hooks screwed into the wall in varying levels. I display a lot of my handbags that way as art and as a space saver in a tiny condo.

After surveying them, I picked up a dark brown, thick leather one, thinking it's not the most attractive one, and maybe I should either clean it, or toss it.

I just checked the inner pocket (just in case I left some money in there!) and found out this bag is by Coach as well!

Color me shocked!! I got this in a "as is" sale on ebay, and there was no mention of Coach in the description of the bag.

Gonna clean it up!!

Last month I bought a Coach leather-and-canvas bag at a resale store for $4 bucks. (Damn good price, huh!)

It's been sitting on my jewelry cabinet for the last month. I'm going to take it to the dry cleaners this week.

I just checked an outer pocket I hadn't noticed before...

and pulled out a $100 bill!!!

Score!!!

Why do I keep 3 quarters of the junk that I keep?

I am cleaning off my bedroom bookcase, and found my old ID cards from my first teaching school. WHy do I keep them? My hair is awful in the pictures, the outfit a travesty, and I ended up detesting the school in the end.

Should I keep these so I can look back in 40 years and say, "Oh, look how awful Mom looked back in her late 20s?"

OK, I'll answer my own question: No.

Actually, not just No. It's a Hell, No!

*gleefully shreds her ID badges*

*flexing my Livejournal muscles*

I feel the plight of needing to write.

And record everything that happens to me in my life.

In bullet points, natch.

JOB
I gave the UPS guy a high-five and got a huge smile in return.

OK...let me Tarantino it.

IN late May, the school district sent out a long list of open vacancies to teachers whose jobs would end on the last day of school, just as mine would.

On Monday, June 1, I glanced through it, not really interested, because by this time of the school year, I was burned out on teaching. I was looking forward to ripping down my boards, throwing away all the useless papers, cleaning up and packing up all my stuff.

I saw there was an open position for a Media Specialist at a middle school near my old elementary school (Read: where I started teaching 5 years ago). I polished up the resume, did a good cover letter, and sent it to the principal Monday night, not really expecting anything.

Tuesday morning, I got to school at 7:15, checked my email,and found a response from the principal, saying they had an open interview slot at 11:00 on Thursday, and would I email her my references?

::cue mental freaking out::

I cleared it with my current principal that I had an interview on the first day of post plan (she was excited for me b/c she knows how much I love Media), spent Wednesday putting together a portfolio showcasing visual displays I put together, how I improved the media center at my old school, and a few copies of rec letters I got from teachers I helped.

Thursday: I get to the school. The principal greets me in the front lobby, leads me into a room with 9 ppl around the conference table, and announces, "I make decisions by committee. This is my interview committee." SHe introduced the players around the table, wished me luck, and said, "They'll talk with you, then let me know what they think." She then said goodbye, and left.

They interviewed me for about 45 minutes. And I didn't feel uncomfortable or unprepared. I felt confident in what I was saying, how I was presenting myself. That's just further confirmation that I know what I'm doing!

On Friday, I finished up my kindergarten job, and that was all. *cue the hallelujah choir*

I attended a week's class of ESOL the following week, and didn't hear anything from the principal (Dr. T) Monday or Tuesday. I was freaking out b/c someone at my class mentioned they heard every Media Specialist that was out of a job (about 20) were interviewing for every Med Spec job available in the county (about 3).

Wednesday, June 10, I missed a call, and the display was not a number I knew. I exited the class to the front of the school, hit redial, and the middle school's recording picked up. I asked to speak to Dr. T; and she asked me if I was still interested in coming to their school. I said, "Absolutely."

This is occurring while I am in front of the school in the blazing heat, standing next to a UPS van. The UPS man exits the lobby, walks past me, and sees me grinning from ear to ear. He smiles back at me, and I spontaneously throw him a high-five.

So, I am now the Media Specialist for a middle school, and I've been working out there for the last week or so, learning about the resources, meeting different teachers, and seeing some of the kids in the summer school classes. Irony is--my OLD elementary school feeds in to this middle school, so I'm seeing some of my old students.

Job is GOOD!!!

Health

Health has been good. I am going for another B-12 shot next week; hopefully my last one.

I'm also beginning the tracking and losing weight of the summer. This spring did a doozy on my weight going up and down. I didn't like it, not one 'ittle bit. Tomorrow starts the tracking.

Social Life

Social life is booming. Lots of stuff going on here and there. I need to find some more ways of having "cheap and/or free fun" though. Summertime for teachers is a lean time.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I've been catching up on friends' lives little by little. In order to break my obsession with Facebook, I need to start reading my friends' page daily.

What's going on in YOUR life I need to know or you're just so excited about you want to tell me???

Michael Jackson died today.

I can't believe it.

I can't write about what this is making me feel.

The first album I ever received.

The first interracial crush I ever had.

The first real "rock star" I thought was awesome.

I really can't believe it.

Why do I feel like I've made a breakthrough on understanding life on late nights, when my cat decides he MUST sit on my hands...or at least my keyboard...when I'm typing? Also, my contacts are gone, so I squint the hell out of my eyes while typing this.

Disclaimer: If you have any objections to these ideas/motivational spiels, don't address me with them. I don't care. I am not a lifestyle guru. I'm only imparting some things I've learned in the last 10 years, 10 years full of things about growing up, some which I wish I hadn't learned at an early age, and some I wish I had known at a VERY early age.

But seriously....

1. Don't be so serious. So much in life will have to be "taken seriously" so once you have the education/credentials/worksweat to claim as your own, don't be so serious. Let stuff roll off your back. If you're not dying or anyone dependent on your health insurance is dying, don't worry!

2. Whatever your job is, it's not worth worrying OR dying for. You may feel like the linchpin that keeps your job's cogwheels rotating, but you're NOT! And why would you WANT to be?? Too much pressure. Too much neededness. It's NOT the definiton of your need for the world. Concentrate your effort on unasked for kindnesses; unrecorded acts of helpfulness. I truly believe there is Someone watching all of us, so it does not go unnoticed while you're here. And if the atheists/agnostics are right, and no act of kindness means anything, then the smallest act can mean the most. Either way, you win.

3. Show love. Show love from sunrise to sunset and in between. Love for yourself, for your family, your friends, your fellow man, your coworkers, the person you smile at every morning at the bagel shop, at the person you let walk ahead of you in the crosswalk before you drive you car.

4. Smile. Smile when you show love. Smile at the person across from you at any setting---the breakfast table, the crosswalk, the checkout counter, the bank counter, the conference table...Smile!

5. Talk to children normally. Don't treat them like backward idiots. Inquisitive children want to KNOW how the world works. Don't talk down to them, thinking they will "never" undertand. Couch your info in terms they can understand. They are smarter than you think.

6. Have fun. Have fun with the people you know. Have fun with the people you work with. Have fun with the things and work you do. If something stops being fun, it's time to stop doing it.

7. Sexual/romantic love comes in a few different forms. Physical, mental, and unreciprocated are a few forms. Mental and unreciprocated will fulfill a LOT of years in early teenhood/teenagedom. It's OK. It's an exquisite torture machine refining you for bad teen poetry, song lyrics, and crying jags that will stupefy your parents.

8. Don't rush into sex. It's so big and adult. A lot of so-called adults aren't ready for it till mid-20s, but they do it in their late teens...and are WAY confused for a while. Just
enjoy your high school years. And if you feel you MUST indulge in sex, consider this....

9. The expectant length of a human being's life is 84 years. If you take that expectant and divide it by 12 inches on a ruler, you have 7 years per inch. Therefore, by the end of the first "inch", you've completed first/second grade. So when you're done with 2.5 inches (meaning 16-18 years of life), you still have 9 inches of life left on the ruler. If someone has talked you into sex before you're ready in those years (be you male or female), and it results in a pregnancy, you are tied with responsibility of a child AND to the person who convinced you to have sex for another 9 inches of life (or 63 years of life.) Do you really want to risk that much of your life on 5 minutes of "oh it feels so right at this very moment"?

10. Keep your old friends close. Not the ones from this year to a few back, but the ones from eons. They are the ones that knew you when, and remember what. They can give you valuable perspective. And call you on your grandiose shit when you get too big for your britches. You're never better than those that know you. And you're never better than your friends. (God willing.) Also, some of them can retain the fun memories you forget in your waning years. Already, I've been asked, "How can you remember that stuff??" I guess I find my classmates more important than normal. :)

11. Love your family. Love your individual family members. Never plan against them not being alive. My greatest regret was one day, at age 13, remarking how I wouldn't want my father to walk me down the aisle, due to some childhood vengeance. In my today reality, my father won't walk me down the aisle. I live with the memory of making that offhand remark to my mom. And I'll hear it in my head when I do walk down the aisle. No, I didn't know what would happen, but it taught me--never darkly forecast. No, I'm not THAT superstitious, but I'm Irish enough to believe--words have resonance.


_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~__~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~

I only have 11 points for tonight. Strange, thought I would have more.

Then again...who reads this anyway?



11.

Today was the first day of Spring Break 2009.

I woke up at 8:30, did some stuff around the house, went to the movies and watched "The Haunting in Connecticut".

VEEEEERY creepy movie. Was very pleased with it.

Afterwards, went home, changed clothes, went to Tipsy's house to being pre-demo prep. Her house is being demolished in 3 weeks to make way for her new house. I hate wastefulness, so I offered to come take off faceplates for her sockets and light switches, as well as undo the electrical wiring, so she can donate to Habitat for Humanity.

I met her husband and his parents there at noon, and went to work for 4 hours. I unscrewed faceplates, wrestled with stubborn copper wiring wound around the light switches, sliced my fingers open on sharp screws, discovered black mold behind the switches in the bedrooms, and accumulated a dog's worth of hair on my shorts. I had a ball.

I love working with my hands. Doing small, intricate detail work. I loved it.

I came home, took a shower, then napped till about 6. Tipsy called me at 6, said she had a glass of wine waiting for me. I got to her house, nd had a couple glasses of wine with her neighbors, her parents, and in laws. Such a great group of people.

Dinner was BBQed chicken, cooked by Tipsy's husband, Bob, and sweet potato fries. Afterwards, we headed out for ice cream at Stone Cold Creamery. I was told by a 3 year old that I was a hottie cowgirl.

We went back to Tipsy's house, talked for a bit more, had some more wine, and then I left.

It was a greatly positive night. I had a great time.

I totally love Adam Lambert.

He's my Tuesday night best friend.

He would be my Tuesday night boyfriend, but I have had a Tuesday night boyfriend (see icon)for the last 8 years, and he gets very very jealous.

Plus, I don't think Adam would like me that way.

Best part of his performance last night: Shades of Matthew Bellamy from "Muse." Fan-TAS-tic!

I must have been saving up all this stuff for when I had energy and some time to write.

As "Will and Grace" plays on Lifetime (and it's an episode that has Gregory Hines dancing, so obviously I'm going to stay up and watch), I am going to confess my current obsession.

The movie, The Lake House.

The somewhat sappy tale of two people falling in love through mere letters, against odds, against time itself, and bucking death, and sidestepping other Fates, manage to get together in the end.

It's sad. No, not sad as in a sad movie.

What is sad that I attach so much fervor to a Reeves/Bullock movie. But the story just gets me.

I want love to work out. I want them to find each other. I want them to fight and work towards each other, b/c that's what they really want.

I want that in real life.

/end sappy confession

I know how hard life is sometimes. The only thing that can get you through is focusing on things that will break up the badness, those little signposts that gleam like welcoming lantern lights in a dark night, letting you know there are safe havens on your journey.

Things I'm Looking Forward To (and that are noted on my iPhone calendar to be sure!)

March 17: St. Patty's Day with my friend Julie B. who's visiting from LA. California, ya'll. Swimming pools, movie stars.

March 18: Off school for dr. appts, and a phone call.

March 24: Blue October releases "Approaching Normal"!

March 26: Hair cut. (I love getting my hair cut. Shut up.)

March 27: First day of spring break!!

March 27: "A Haunting in Connecticut" opens!!

April 2: Going to Athens, GA to hang with birma for the weekend!

April 3/4: A day trip to Clemson!!

April 20: Going to Tallahassee to pick up my cap and gown.

May 1: "X-men Origins: Wolverine" opens!!!!!!!!!!!!

May 1: Leaving for Tallahassee.

May 2: Graduating from grad school!

May 21: "Terminator: Salvation" opens!!!!!

Yeah...I got some nice things to look forward to.

Finally watched American Idol from my couch this morning.

Adam Lambert...you are so awesome.

Lil Rounds...I like you a lot.

Redheaded Alison...girl, you can SAYNG!

Others...good job.

Spring Break---Going to Athens, GA to visit Birma for a weekend!!!