Seniorita May 7, 2009

Ahem.

Important news people.

Are you ready for this?

Ok. Good.

I just finished my junior year of college on Tuesday. So…this makes me………

A COLLEGE SENIOR!!!!!

I’m so thrilled!!!!!

And I can’t believe it…it seems like just yesterday that I was graduating from high school…now I’m not that far from college graduation. Weird.  I love college, but I’m ready to be done.  It seems like it’s flown by and like I’ve been there forever all at the same time.

Now I can sit back, relax, and enjoy a few months off…oh dear…I just realized something. This is (hopefully) my last college-length summer. I don’t know anywhere else that lets you be off from May-End of August.  Sigh. Oh well, I’ll trade it all for a degree and a steady paycheck.  For awhile. I have decided that eventually, I want to pursue my Master’s and Doctorate, but not for awhile. I’m ready to teach. I’m tired of being the student.

Long Time Gone April 21, 2009

Wow, so Rachel+School=No Posts.

Thankfully (THANKFULLY) this whole mess learning experience is about to come to a conclusion (for the summer anyway) and I will effing rejoice be happy.

Another reason for no posts (why do all I write about anymore is how I haven’t posted in awhile, sheesh.)  is because I seem to have a sieve for a memory. I will think of something, then it decides to use the emergency exit of my brain, never to return again.

Anyhow, school is winding down (ok, technically it’s not winding down, it’s speeding up faster and faster and faster until it will either burst into flames or collapse in a heap.)

I just thought of what I meant to write about.

Updated List of Books Read! February 22, 2009

Books Read In 2009

1.” Possible Side Effects” by Augusten Burroughs

2. “Sellevision” by Augusten Burroughs

3. “A Wolf At The Table” by Augusten Burroughs

4. * “Ramona The Pest” by Beverly Cleary* ( My mom first read this to me when I was five years old. I love children’s literature.)

5.*”Beezus and Ramona” by Beverly Cleary *

6. *”Ramona and Her Mother” by Beverly Cleary*

7. *”Ramona’s World” by Beverly Cleary*

8. “The Miner’s Daughter” by  Gretchen Moran Laskas

9. “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian” by Sherman Alexie

10.  “What Happened to Cass McBride?” by Gail Giles

11.  “A Girl Named Zippy” by Haven Kimmel

12. “Mermaids In the Basement” by Michael Lee West

13. “Schooled” by Anisha Lakhani

14. “Looking For Alaska” by John Green

15. “Sold” by Patricia McCormick

16.* “Twilight” by Stephenie Meyer (yes, AGAIN!)*

17. *”New Moon”* by Stephenie Meyer (ditto!)*

18 *”Eclipse”* by Stephenie Meyer*

19.*”Breaking Dawn”* by Stephenie Meyer*

20. “Waiting for Normal” by Leslie Connor

21. *”Tales of a Fourth-Grade Nothing” by Judy Blume*

22.* “Fudge-a-Mania” by Judy Blume*

23. “Double Fudge” by Judy Blume

24. “Pretty Little Devils” by Nancy Holder

25. “Skylark” by Patricia MacLachlan

25 down…175 to go….I think I can do it! I have several more lined up to read, and got behind on my new book reading while I took a break to re-read the “Twilight” series. There have also been a few that, honestly, I just wasn’t loving it and read them about half-way through, and then just returned them to the library. Oops. I don’t think that that is so bad though…can’t waste our time reading books we don’t like!

Why My Pants Keep Coming Off February 19, 2009

Now, now, bad children, it’s not what you think.

My pants keep falling off because I keep exercising and…gasp…eating right!

Now I really don’t pay that much attention to what I eat on the weekends, but I have been watching what I eat more, and I have tried to swim at least 3 times a week. I know there are other forms of exercise out there, but anything other than swimming or wii fit sort of makes me want to scream after about 20 minutes or so. Not because it’s hard, but just because it’s so boring after awhile.

I don’t really know what I weigh, I just measure the BMI on wii fit, and I have always been in the normal range on that, so I don’t stress about it too much.

I did attempt to weigh myself after using the sauna today, but I couldn’t get the scale to balance right. I’ll try tomorrow on my wii fit.

But honestly, I think how your clothes fit is the greatest measure of how well you are doing-if my pants are too tight, I need to lose weight. If they’re loose then I must have gotten smaller. And, as a friend of mine said, just because your clothes are getting bigger, doesn’t necessarily equal weight loss, it just means that you are toning up and your shape is changing.

Maybe I should have measured how many inches I was instead of  how much weight. Oh well, the point of everything was for me to become more fit, and I really do think I have done that.

Relaxation January 31, 2009

I feel like this semester has gotten off to so much of a better start because I am allowing myself time to relax.  I made up my mind that I was not going to spend my weekends off worrying about school, because a) it is ineffective and b) it is irritating to those around me.

So I have, in effect, scheduled in relaxing time.  Last night was great, D painted my nails and toenails (because I had mentioned I would love to go to the spa for a few days, so he gave me a “spa night” at home, it was great…is there anything better than having someone lavish attention on you?) we watched “The Shawshank Redemption” which was just fabulous, and we just lounged around ( not that that is anything unusual).

I guess it’s not so much just doing relaxing activities as telling yourself that you are not going to think about “x” for “x amount of time”.  If you catch yourself thinking about it/worrying about it, then go do something to take your mind off of it. Read a book. Watch a movie. Call someone. You can do it. I really do want to stop worrying so much, it is not good for you.  And I think I’m doing quite well so far!

Ring Ring January 13, 2009

So I guess I should let the cat out of the bag and tell you that D and I are currently engagement ring shopping. We have known that we wanted to get married pretty much from Day 1, but we wanted to make sure that we got the perfect ring for me.  This is really important to me because I do not want to “trade-up”  like some women do. I just don’t get it. I feel like an engagement ring is something you only get once, not after you are already married. (If you did this, please don’t take offense, it’s just not the way for me to go.)

I’ve narrowed it down to the cut I want (cushion-cut) and I know that I want a white gold or platinum band. We found a ring last weekend that I think could quite possibly be the “one” but I want to look around and make sure we are getting our money’s worth.  So I found a website that the lady at the jewelry store had mentioned- bluenile.com.  They seemed to have quite a large selection, and they had a diamond that I was particularly interested in, for cheaper than the jewelry store price, but I am just not sure about buying that huge of an investment online. After all, you can’t really see it.  I want to make sure that thing sparkles in the shade, not just under the lights at the jewelry store.

What do you think about buying things like this online? Worth the bargain or should you make sure you are getting what you pay for?

My Public Service Announcement January 3, 2009

Not only is this a handy public service announcement, but also a rant! How fun for you, friends inside the computer!

So, I’m nosing around on um….a popular “social networking” site, looking at friends pictures…being a nosy bitch interested friend.  I noticed a common theme- pictures of people that are really, really drunk.  Not only is this gauche, it can also be an employment hazard! Really people, we don’t need to see pictures of you holding a red plastic cup ( can you put ANYTHING other than alcohol in red plastic cups?) captioned “wAsTED!”

So apparently, you people need rules for alcohol consumption, so here you go:

1. Getting tipsy is ok. Getting really, really, really, drunk is NOT ok. That’s called alcoholism.   (By really, really, really, drunk, I mean so drunk that you either severely  embarass yourself  or someone else, you damage something, or are forced to depend on someone else to tend to your basic needs (i.e. getting into bed, using the bathroom, etc, etc.) ) Getting tipsy means that maybe you might tell the story about how you caught your hair in a blow-dryer. Twice. In the same day. (Not that I know any such stories, no sirree!)

2. For the love of  everything holy, we do not need to see pictures of it! Really! I mean, I’m so happy for you that you just love that wild-eyed feral look that you have, but really, you don’t have to share it with me. I don’t need to see shots of your beer gutted self lying drunk on the beach. Don’t need to see you dancing on someone’s coffee table. Don’t need to see you proudly posing with all your empties.  Don’t need to see your collection of liquor bottles.

3. Don’t save the tops of beer bottles and wine coolers. This is not only tacky, but also strange.  What, may I ask, are you planning on doing with these? Decoupaging your end tables with them? Hot gluing them into sculptures? Really, we do not need to see evidence of your fondness for cheap malt liquor.

4.  Don’t decorate your place with your empties. I  have personally seen people line them up on top of their kitchen cabinets. Ya know, for decoration? Blecch! It’s one thing to maybe have a few pretty bottles of wine just laying around, but entirely another to have an empty 40 oz bottle of smirnoff’s green apple.  It doesn’t scream “chic and sophistocated” it screams “cheap and too lazy to haul these babies down to the recycling bin”.

5.  Don’t force alcohol on someone.  They may not drink for personal reasons, or maybe they have very specific tastes and do not care to finish the cranberry hard lemonade that no one else likes. Either way, don’t push the issue. Nothing worse than a pushy drunk.

6. Eat something. Anything. A liquid lunch is just not good for you. Or anyone around you.

7. If you happen to do something uncouth while under the influence, apologize. Don’t pretend that you don’t remember. (Even if you don’t remember, you should still apologize.) A bouquet of fresh flowers and a self-deprecating card work wonders.   Oh, and if you think you behaved badly, you probably did, so you should check your outgoing texts for evidence of any poor behavior.

8. Drunken texts…..ok, now you really don’t have to be all that inebriated to screw up here. Please check your outgoing texts  after a good night’s sleep and a liter of water. If you find any evidence of wrong doing, see rule 7, if you find puzzling or poorly spelled texts ( incoming text: “hey, what r u up to?” outgoing text: “fgsfds”) , you can just ignore them, or fess up to your altered state of mind. It depends on the friend. And always, always, always double check who you are sending the intoxicated sms to. It’s one thing to send “omg so drank plz come hlp” to your best friend, and  a different thing entirely to send it to your grandmother, or your boss, or your grandmother who happens to also be your boss.

9. If you happen to over-imbibe,  and end up spending half the night praying to the porcelain god,  it’s best to just sleep in the bathroom. It’s easier to clean puke off of tile than off of the wall beside the bed that you projectile vomited onto because you were too drunk to aim for the trash can on the floor by the bed.  It’s nice if someone is nice enough to hold your hair back for you, but certainly not expected of them. Buy a pack of ponytail holders and a few liters of water and suck it up like a big girl.

So, those are my rules for drinking. I’m sure I could write more, but I’m bored of typing and my ADDness is forcing me to click on interesting links on the other tab, which consequently is causing many, many pop-ups.

First Post of The New Year January 2, 2009

Happy 2009 to all!

Well, this year has started off pleasantly. No big New Year’s Eve celebrations or anything, but D and I did have a very nice dinner date for New Year’s Day.

This year makes getting out of school seem even closer, because now I can say I am supposed to graduate next year. Woo Hoo!

I have 3 New Year’s Resolutions:

1. Eat Healthier Foods…no explanation needed here

2. Be More Active….do not continue to define “activity” as typing on a keyboard

3. Stop Washing My Hands SO Damn Much….seriously, this is getting ridiculous. I am a bit of a germaphobe. Ok, not a bit. A big germaphobe.  I wash my hands with scalding hot water and excessive amounts of soap  AT LEAST 10x a day. More if I’m cooking. I love to cook, but if I touch a raw egg or raw meat, my hands must be thouroughly sanitized  each and every time I am forced to touch it.  I shudder when I watch television chefs because they all seem to have a disdain for hand-washing between steps in cooking.  (Obviously, I am not one of those people who enjoys licking the batter out of the bowl….It is contaminated and must be sprayed with scalding water in the sink.)  Anyway, I have no interest in giving up my germaphobia, but I am tired of my hands being dry and cracked all the time.  Also, I think the skin on my hands is beginning some sort of rebellion against me. Not only do I get the normal cracks and flaking, I am now also getting these red angry blistery  bumps on the joints where my fingers are connected to my hands. Which according to Dr. Google  could be anything from measles to baby acne.  Hand cream does help, but then again, hand cream is easily washed away.

So those are my 3 resolutions. I know number 3 does not speak well of my overall mental health, but hey, no one is perfect.

What are your resolutions?

Phew December 8, 2008

I just typed a 10 page paper in a little over an hour. Good, no? I’d like to credit the sounds of the band Muse (if you don’t listen to them, I want you to start right now, ok? You can go to project playlist and check them out for free.) with fueling me on to get it done.
Only two more finals, and then I will be DONE for a little over a month.  Woooo! Done with my 5th semester! Yeah!!!!  I am feeling pretty perky today.

I believe I will go wake D up now, so that he can enjoy my perkiness.

Yay! An award! November 30, 2008

Thanks to Middle-Aged-Woman over at unmitigated, I now have my very first blog award!

my award!

Awesome.

Now I must pass it on to five others. Ok. I pass it onto:

beagoodmom

Que, Sera, Sera

beagooddad

Mindless Mumblings of A Martyr Mom

So Close

Rules of the Game:

1. You have to pass it on to 5 other fabulous blogs in a post.

2. You have to list 5 of your fabulous addictions in the post.

3. You must copy and paste the rules and the instructions below in the post.

Instructions: On your post of receiving this award, make sure you include the person that gave you the award and link it back to them. When you post your five winners, make sure you link them as well. To add the award to your post, simply right-click, save image, then “add image” it in your post as a picture so your winners can save it as well. To add it to your sidebar, add the “picture” widget. Also, don’t forget to let your winners know they won an award from you by emailing them or leaving a comment on their blog.

Now for five of my fabulous addictions:
1. Reading. I could read all day long, everyday.

2. Burt’s Bee’s pomegranate lip balm. Awesome for the windy winter months

3. Twilight, so much that D is tired of hearing about it. hehe. Sorry D!

4. “Frasier”- I don’t get the chance to watch too many new shows, but this is one rerun that I’ll never get sick of.

5. Snuggling with D…now don’t let your minds go to the gutter. He had the heat turned down to SIXTY FIVE DEGREES last night, and he is very, very warm.

Now get to it!