Rain, Rain, Go Away! Come Again Anytime After 9 a.m. Saturday!

Since I started working with Relay For Life of Edmond in 2005, it has rained every other year.  My first year it rained and that was the first time they had ever had to move it indoors.  This is now a trend that can't seem to be broken.  I had high hopes for this year though.  THIS was going to be the year we broke that pattern.  THIS year we were going to have good weather.  But as of right now, there is anywhere from a 40% - 80% chance of severe weather on Friday.  This is Oklahoma though and there is still a chance that could change (many years there was no chance of rain on Monday and 80% by Friday...I'm hoping it works in the reverse for me this year.)

Must Be Said

I cannot stand the word "juicy".  I don't know why, but that word alone grates on my every last nerve.  I have such an aversion to the word that I won't purchase anything that uses the word.  Juicy Couture...will never own it because of its name alone (not that I would pay that much for their stuff to begin with).  I can't even bring myself to say the word.

Okay, now that I have that off my chest...

My Favorite Picture From the Royal Wedding

A picture says a thousand words!

Click on the picture to get a better look at her face.  Love it!

Why is it…

When you’re a teenage girl, you hear lesson after lesson about how you should be discerning about who you date and who you marry. How you shouldn’t settle. Be selective. Wait for the person God has chosen for you.

In college you hear even more lessons about how you should be wise when choosing a mate. Marriage isn’t easy and shouldn’t be taken lightly. To be careful to choose someone you are compatible with personality-wise and spiritually.

In your twenties, people praise you for taking your time. They tell you how much work marriage can (and you’re starting to see first-hand proof from some of your friends who have already married). They tell you to enjoy your single years…that there is plenty of time to be married. Take your time. Find the right person.

THEN you reach your thirties and all of a sudden, everyone seems to retract all that advice they gave you when you were younger. They begin to almost force marriage on you. They start deciding to fix you up with any male they know realively close to your age (or in some cases MUCH older) because if your over 30 and single, then you must automatically be a perfect match. They tell you if your not married yet, you’re being too picky. They also begin to point out every little fault you have…which seems odd to me because I know lots of people who are train wrecks that are married. I am by no means under some dilussion that I am without flaw, but obviously having personality flaws is not a deal breaker for most people.

I must say, the double standard annoys me. I hate being told I’m being too picky. I know the difference between picky and discerning. Picky is saying I won’t marry someone who doesn’t play the guitar, or doesn’t make 6 figures. Picky is saying he has to be this height and have this color of hair. DISCERNING is saying I won’t marry someone who does not treat me respectably. Who doesn’t share my faith in God. Who I don’t enjoy carrying on a conversation with, spending time with, or attracted to. And let me just say…if are aware of some of my “celebrity” crushes, then you know that I’m not looking for model-like looks. The most attractive guy I ever dated I wasn’t even interested in the first few years I knew him because he always refered to himself as a dumb jock and I don’t date dumb guys. I did eventually get to really know him and found he had an amazing heart and that was what got me (and he was NOT dumb).

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it every day until I go to my grave…I would much rather stay single for the rest of my life than to end up in a miserable marriage. And I am by no means saying that all the guys I’ve dated haven’t been good enough. I have been privelged to go out with some pretty amazing guys, but up to this point we’ve either not been right for each other or the timing just wasn’t right.

So you might be wondering what brought on this little topic of conversation today. For the last two years, I’ve had this problem with guys thinking my place of employment’s website doubles as a dating service. I get random, out of the blue emails from guys who start their email out with some work-related question and end it with personal questions and the line “maybe sometime when I’m in town we can get together.” And this question does not come after I have responded to their emails…its part of their initial email. Sometimes I respond to their work-related question and don’t address the other questions. Sometimes I ignore the email all together.

Well, there is one guy who has sent me a few emails over the last year. Yes, I realize I should be flattered, but I’m also annoyed by it. I didn’t recognize his name at first even though he said we had met, so I turned to the trusty Facebook and found his picture and knew right away who he was. Nice guy, but not my type…not even remotely.

The first time I responded to his work related question, but did not answer or address the “I’m looking for a date” questions. The second time I didn’t respond at all. Thought this took care of it. Then last night, I got yet another email from this guy and this time he didn’t even beat around the bush. He flat out said he wanted to know if he could email me so that we could become friends and see if it leads to something more. Not knowing how to respond to this (because I don’t want to be rude, but I really don’t appreciate being put on the spot like that) I said something to someone and their comment was “You shouldn’t be so picky.”

So why is it that married people get to be selective about who they married, but us single girls over 30 have to just take whatever comes a long? Just say’in.

Hello Spring

My back yard February 1, 2011

This is how much snow we got in less than 24 hours.

A view of the front porch.

And THIS is my backyard on Wednesday!



Even more tulips came up this year (with one random yellow one...hope that means more yellow ones next year).  And the phlox has tripled in size from last year!  Yeah!  I love it when my perennials are actually perennial!  This picture makes me happy. ;o)

Is This Worth It?

Right now I’m wondering why the world I decided to go back to school.

My current class is challenging (and not in a good way). 35% of my grade depends on a group project and so far, only one of my group members (besides me) has attempted to communicate with the rest of the group. We have an assignment that we are supposed to do together this week (online) and so I’m starting to get a little nervous.

Then last week, I found out that two of my classes had been scheduled at the exact same time and instead of being 7-8 weeks like the rest, they were now 5 weeks. Thankfully, when I emailed the school to see if one of them would be offered again before next summer, they gave me the option of replacing it with another course.

Then I discovered today that tuition fees have gone up by almost $400 per class, so now I have to try to get a $1,300 increase on my student loan…which has me somewhat panicked because there is no guarantee that I will be able to find a job right away after I finish. And it’s looking less and less likely that finding a job that won’t require a move to a new state will be possible. Which then gets me to thinking about all the stuff that would need to be done to my house before I could sell… AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

When I try to pray about it, I start thinking about it, and I start to panic all over again.

So I find myself sitting here wondering what in the world I was thinking going back to school?  Do I think its worth it?  Ask me in a year.

What You've Missed

Which sadly is not too much, but well...posting is low on the priority list these days.

Tulips Are Coming Up
And it looks like there are more this year than last.  YEAH!!!  Now as long as the freeze doesn't get them.  My Day Lilies are also starting to come back.  I love it when my perennials are actually perennial.

Transplant
I transplanted my lilac bush a week ago Saturday.  And the good news is that is looks like I didn't kill it.  Probably won't bloom again this year, but after scoping out the yard, I decided that when (or if) I ever get around to putting up the fence I have wanted since I moved in, that I wanted to start it in a different spot than originally planned, so I needed to move the lilac bush so it would be in the yard.  I actually wish it would bloom this year to mask the scent of the neighbors dog poop infested yard.  YUCK!  By the way, said transplant lead to this...

Got Locked Out of My House
I have a sliding patio door that leads to my back yard.  Said patio door is not that secure, so I keep not one, but two bars to keep someone from jimmying open the door.  One of the bars is attached and flips up out of the way.  The second fits down in the track at the bottom and I usually just prop it up inside the door frame.  BIG mistake.  The last time I went out the door, I guess I closed it a little too hard and the lower bar fell.  Locking me out of my house.
I tried to see if I could still jimmy the door open.  Could not.  Tried sticking something under the door to see if I could pop it loose.  Didn't work.  My neighbors down the street have a key, but the security bar on the front door was closed so a key was not going to work.  I did try to call these neighbors to see if they had something I could try to break my window open with, but they didn't answer.  So I tried going over to the next door neighbors house.  He wouldn't answer the door (but I know he was home).  I tried calling another friend.  Turns out he was asleep and didn't hear the phone.  So I call my mom to whine.  That wasn't going to do me much good either, so I tried the neighbors down the street again.  This time they were home (and having an equally unfortunate day).
We tried everything we could think of with no luck.  The husband then decided that my weather stripping was in pretty bad shape, so maybe we could peel all of that off and pop the window loose.  That started to work, but then a small piece at the corner cracked, so we pryed it loose, and unlocked the window and He was able to get me in.  This of course meant getting yet another window replaced, but I was in.

Don't Be Hate'n
For about two or three years now I've been trying to talk my mom into crocheting me a Snuggie, and this Christmas (I think because she was desperate for a new project) she agreed.  Last Thursday, this arrived in the mail.

I LOVE it!!!

Snow Days Stats

• Days since I’ve left home = 2
• Times I’ve stepped outside the house = 1
• Days since I showered = 3
• Human beings I’ve seen since Monday = 0
• Injuries = 1 (Sliced finger open. Probably needed stitches. Decided not worth leaving the house for.)
• Pipes frozen = 0 (technically, but the drain upstairs froze and the water was building up in the sink. Fixed it by turning on a space heater. Will be closing the bathroom door tonight to keep bathroom warmer.)
• Hours spent working = lost track. (But I think my butt is permanently stuck to the couch.)
• Episodes of "Toddlers & Tiaras" watched = 2.5 (Got curious after a discussion at work. Those people have issues.)
• Movies watched = 3 ("Princess & the Frog" and the first two of the "Anne of Green Gables" trilogy)
• Household chores done = 2

 

Office is still closed tomorrow. I’m not in a huge hurry to go back to work, but I’m dying to get out of the house.

 

Amen to THAT

I found this article today on MSN talking about what men's bad habits say.  I ran across this particular one that left me saying "amen":

Twenty years ago I would have said this was not a big deal to me because frankly I have two arms and I am capable of opening my own door.  I actually was taken back a bit when I was in college and guys would hold the door open...not just for me, but any girl.  Not something I was used to guys my age doing before reaching college.  I thought it was nice.  And even in my early dating years, I thought it was nice when I guy opened the car door for me, but the practical me thought it was unnecessary.

Then I dated a guy that always opened the door for me.  And I got used to it.  And I liked and appreciated that about him.  But it wasn't until after that relationship ended and I started dating other guys that I realized that little action speaks volumes.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to get into a huff if a guy I'm dating doesn't open a door for me now and then, but when he rarely does or never does it speaks volumes.

Raspberry Beret

Today I'm standing in the UPS store waiting to ship a package when Prince's "Raspberry Beret" came on the radio.  It was all I could do to not laugh out loud and I'm sure the guy helping me had to be wondering why I had the weird smile on my face.

Here's the deal...when I was a kid and that song came out, my best friend told me "beret" was another word for "bra" (obviously she had it confused with "brassiere" but both of us were still too young to wear one, so we didn't know the difference).

So now when I hear "Raspberry Beret" I automatically picture a raspberry colored bra (which when you replace "bra" for "beret" in the song...kind of gives the song a whole new meaning).

Sorry

Yeah, not posting much these days.  Not really anything post-worthy or postable going on.  The excitement lately has consisted of:

• Going home for Christmas and only leaving my mom's house if I absolutely had to.
• Replacing my mixer (which I do need to use the new one soon to make sure its working.  I just got cookied out over the holidays)
• Got a steal on a dress coat I really wanted after Christmas.
• Taking 3 days to put away my Christmas decorations (no I don't have that much stuff...I just wasn't in a boxing up mood).
• After multiple people and tech support trying to help me, I FINALLY got my wireless network set up at home on my own (thank you eHow...you saved me from paying Cisco $30 to trouble shoot the problem).
• And I start school tomorrow...now just praying I get to stay in school.  The financial aid office at UMass is stressing me out!

So that's it.  A new post.  And that's as good as it gets for now.

Make It Stop

I get random songs stuck in my head all the time.  And sometimes their annoying.  The whole time I was in Brazil, Copacabana was stuck in my head.  At least there was some rational about it.  I was in Brazil, the home of the Copacabana (actually saw it while I was there).

There is almost always some song stuck in my head.  Usually I know why (even if I can't get rid of it).  This time, I'm at a loss.

Since Thanksgiving, I have had this stuck in my head: "Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel.  I made you out of clay.  Dreidel, dreidel, dreidel..." and that is ALL I know of the song.  Its constant.  Its annoying.  And I have no idea how it ended up there.  I never sang it in school.  I did not grow up in communities where there was any sort of a Jewish population.  I had never even seen Hanukkah decorations in a store until I moved to OKC.  But at some point during my post Thanksgiving shopping, that song played somewhere in my earshot and it has been stuck in my head ever since.

Maybe I just need to learn the rest of the song so that I at least don't get frustrated because I don't know the rest of the words.

Figures

I have always believed that there is a big difference between having "bad luck" and making poor decisions that lead to undesirable consequences.  It is actually a pet peeve of mine for someone to complain they have bad luck when ultimately it is a result of a poor decision/planning on their part.  I admittedly have made some bad decisions that have ultimately led to undesirable outcomes, but more times than not I am just a magnet for actual, legitimate "Bad Luck".

My whole life, my brother has always been the lucky one, I have always been the unlucky one.  My family has no idea why this is, but I digress.  I could dedicate several blog entries on my bad fortune (actually I could write a book) but today I'm only going to lament about the current run of bad luck.

I posted earlier about how I was planning on going to back to school.  This has been a challenging process, but after months of researching and going back to the drawing board, I finally found a program that would be most beneficial to me.  I applied, I was accepted, I secured a student loan.  Only thing I was waiting on was confirmation from the school that they would in fact accept my student loan (which I wasn't too concerned about since it was one of their recommended loan resources.)  Since it has been almost 4 weeks and they still hadn't approved my loan, I decided to call and find out what the hold up was and to see if there was anything I needed to do to speed up the process because I can't enroll until they approve the loan.

I called the 800 number on the acceptance letter I received and when the lady on the other end went to enter my information, I couldn't be found in the system.  I gave her the confirmation number.  Couldn't be found.  Gave her my SSN; couldn't be found.  Tried my date of birth.  No luck.  Even tried switching my first and last names to see if there was a mix up.  Nothing.  To that lady's credit, she tried everything she could think of because like me, she could not find a logical reason why my information wouldn't be in their system since I had proof I had in fact been accepted into the program.

So now I wait to hear back from said school to find out what to do next.

And THESE are the days of my life.

I'm Having A Dilema Here

I cannot decided if I'm attracted to the State Farm Guy or if I'm creeped out by him.  Depends on the commercial.  Jury is still out if he gets added to "the list".

I Want! I Want! I WANT!!!!!

Dear Santa,

Please bring me one of these:

and if you're feeling generous, you can bring me one of these too:

Thank you!

November in a Nutshell

I’m not sure what happened to November, but it flew by. So here is November in a nutshell:

School
 Decided to go back to school. Actually, I have been wanting to do this for long time, but it just never seemed to work out until now (and still everything in tentative). It was a stressful month trying to figure out the direction that would be the most beneficial in the shortest amount of time. Lots of going back to the drawing board only to end up where I first started. I’ve been accepted to the program, had the student loan approved, and now waiting for the school to approve the student loan so that I can enroll in my first two classes. All goes well, starting in January I will be getting a Certificate in Meeting and Event Management from the University of Massachusetts. If everything goes according to schedule, I should be finishing up this time next year. Nervous about going to school online (requires much discipline on my part) but excited to finally have a speck of light and the end of this tunnel that has felt like a dead end.

Mixer

I recently posted about my mixer that was leaking oil. Getting it fixed was going to be pricy, so I was going to borrow my mom’s through the holidays. Well, my mom went off and left hers at her house before coming to see me Thanksgiving. Even though I wanted a larger mixer, I was okay with getting mine fixed, but after my mom forgot hers, we decided to price them the day after Thanksgiving and she said if we found a good deal, she would get it for me as an early birthday present. As luck would have it, we ran across this is Sears:

It’s a Kenmore instead of a KitchenAid, but many of the accessories I had for my KitchenAid fit the Kenmore, plus the Kenmore has a more powerful motor than the KitchenAid of equal bowl size and over $100 less. I’m looking forward to putting it to use. Now I just have to figure out what to do with my old mixer. I hate to just throw it in the trash, but not sure where to recycle something like that. A co-worker suggested putting it on Craig’s List which I might do because if someone is mechanical and knows how to repair small engines, they might be able to fix it.

 

Window

This was the most eventful part of my weekend. Wednesday night, a fly ended up in my house. I spent the next two days trying to kill it but was not successful. Friday afternoon, I was in the other room when I heard my say “Oh No Stacey!” I walk into the kitchen and she has her hands on her face and just kept saying “I’m so sorry!” I look up to see a big hole in my window. My mom saw the fly land on the window and thought it would be a good idea to just smack it with her hand. Problem: 1) it was really cold outside and 2) my windows are really thin. She got rid of the fly all right…and put a big hole in my window in the process. So I now own the title of neighborhood redneck until Wednesday.

And sadly, a JCPenney sack and duct tape is equally energy efficient as my current windows.

BTW, the place that was recommended to me by a local hardware store is almost $100 cheaper than any of the other places I called. If they do a good job, I’ll let you know.

Anniversary

I have officially been in my house five years today (just realized that).  What is monumental about this five year point is that I can now officially sell without penalty.  Not that I plan to do that anytime soon, but I can.  I remember when five years seemed so far off, but it has flown by.  Wish I had time to reflect more on those five years or do an anniversary special linking to all the highlights, but I really don't even have time to write this...but I didn't want to let the moment pass.  So happy 5th Anniversary to me.  The only anniversary I'll probably ever celebrate. ;o)

In Case Your Wondering

If by some off chance you noticed that my Etsy box is blank...its because my shop is on an indefinate vacation.  Over the weekend I noticed that my mixer is leaking oil...badly.  Since oil in cookies would not be good for business, I am temporarily out of the cooking making business until 1) I can afford to get it fixed or 2) I can afford a new one.  Neither is looking good at the moment.  This might just be the first year in FOREVER that I won't make Christmas cookies.  But, my mixer is not required to make pies so this may be a total pie year.

New Favorite Website

A friend sent me a link to the Pioneer Woman's blog today because of these.  I LOVE LOVE LOVE them (might just have to get some).  But they came from this website which I totally love because it is so my sense of humor.  Watch out family, I know where I'm buying your Christmas presents!!!

USPS You Are NOT My Friend

Late Friday afternoon I got an email from a lady in NYC wanting some Halloween cookies for her child's party at school this Friday.  This was going to mean a quick turn around time, but didn't want to turn down the money so I told her I could do them.

I worked on them most of the day Saturday and a better part of Sunday afternoon.  Carefully packaged them so that they would not shift and break in the container I put them in.  I put them in a larger box than necessary so that I could put lots of packing materials around them.  Nothing was moving inside the box when I took it to the post office.

Before I package them...this is what they looked like:

This is not the actual picture of the cookies I baked this weekend - its from my Etsy site, but you get the idea.

THIS is how they arrived to the lady on Wednesday:

Thankfully I purchased insurance, but not only do I now have to refund her money (which means a waste of my weekend) BUT I didn't charge her enough for shipping and if she doesn't want to go to the hassle of filing the claim herself, I told her I would refund her the shipping costs to send them back to me, so instead of making some extra money, I LOST money on the deal.

USPS might be cheaper, but I've kind of lost faith in them.