Misspelled Words

It really irks me that so many people cannot spell congratulations. I was walking by a car in a parking lot today, and on the back of it, it read, "Congradulations class of '09." Why do so many people think there is a D in congratulations?

Another thing that bothers me is when people spell things wrong on signs. When I went to school in Florida, I lived on campus and there were always signs on the hallway walls. When I saw them misspelled, I would go back to my room, get a pen, and cross it out and put the right letters. It's embarrassing to be in college and see misspelled signs all around campus.

Now I'll admit that I mess up now and then, but it's usually just typos.


All this talk about misspelled words reminds me of a funny story. My old roommate got a tattoo our freshman year, and she wanted it to say unforgettable on her wrist. She came home and showed it to me and it looked like this:

It's hard to see, but it says, "unforgetable." I asked her, doesn't unforgettable have two ts? It does. She had to go back to the tattoo artist to get another t drawn in. It was pretty funny.

Short and Sweet

School starts on Monday and I'm so excited!!!

I'm such a nerd.

Lucky Me

My summer payment for school at LSUS was due on Tuesday. My financial aid had not showed up on the website yet, so I went to the financial aid office unsure if I would have to empty my bank account or if I would get amazingly lucky.

I got lucky.

It took nearly an hour, but they finally found my financial aid in whatever system it was hiding, and awarded me $400 more than I even needed. So I get a reimbursement check! I'm getting paid to go to summer school!

It's really bad, though, because since I'm getting money that I wasn't expecting, I keep feeling like it's okay for me to spend more money than usual and it's not! I went shopping with V yesterday, and almost bought a pair of tennis shoes (but didn't) and almost bought a shirt or dress (they were super cheap, but I didn't). How's that for self control?

Party of One

The love of my life left today. He's gone to boot camp. He left Tuesday, but he couldn't be processed to leave because it was so busy. Tuesday night, he was in the hotel and I was all alone in the house. It was very empty without him here. Soon after he left, I started putting away his shoes, his clothes, and all of the things he left out. I wasn't sure if it would be harder to put them away or harder to look at them and know that he wasn't coming home for a while. Hopefully I'll be able to remember where everything is when he comes back.

Going to sleep Tuesday night was difficult. Crying a lot wears me out, but I kept waking up in the night. Then in the morning, I woke up much earlier than I was planning to, and I couldn't go back to sleep. I was hoping to have a full day with plenty to do so I wouldn't be focusing on him being gone, but for a good hour and half I didn't really have anything to do.

On Wednesday, he called me and gave me the wonderful news that I would get to see him one more time before he left. V and I picked him up around 3 (I was afraid I would get lost if I drove by myself; we got lost anyway because my baby accidentally gave us the wrong directions). She brought us home, and I took him to lunch before we drove around so he could say goodbye a second time to everyone.

Then he and I came home to spend the rest of the day and the night together. We woke up early this morning, and I brought him back to where he was supposed to be. After a second tearful goodbye (on my part, not his), I left him and came home to an empty house.


He should be on a plane to Fort Benning sometime today. He's really excited about boot camp, and I hope he enjoys himself. I'll be waiting impatiently for his first letter and counting down the days until he's home again.

Pictures from Six Flags

V's Guy:
V and her guy:

Me and my guy:

All of us:

Me and V:

Six Flags Weekend

V, V's guy, my guy, and I all went to Six Flags this weekend. My baby and I left early Saturday morning and spent the day at Six Flags until around four o'clock. It was supposed to thunderstorm, but it didn't, which I am very happy about. The clouds even cleared and it turned sunny early in the day. I kept worrying about my sunglasses flying off my face on the rollercoasters. It was a pretty great day: I almost blacked out on the Titan, bought some ridiculously expensive french fries (they should really get a vegetarian stand at Six Flags), and tortured my feet with hours of walking.

Then I walked some more. Because after four o'clock, my baby was so sweet as to indulge my shopping tendencies. We went to the Galleria, a three story shopoholic dream with an ice skating rink. He and I shopped by ourselves until V and her guy got there around 6:30. I bought a bathing suit for 11 dollars. 11 dollars!!! Women, you know what a miracle that is. It was on super sale. Then I bought the most divine drink from Godiva. Who knew Godiva had drinks? It was a dark chocolate raspberry drink. I don't know what was in it besides dark chocolate and raspberry sauce, but it was amazing. And a decent price: only 5 dollars. I wish there was a Godiva store here. I would so get fat off of those drinks. Then I bought a beautiful pair of white summer heels from Payless. I was looking for a summer dress, but I couldn't find one I liked. V and I tried on the same dress. It was short, strapless, and made for people who do not have wide hips and shoulders. I couldn't get it off. Very embarrassing. My guy had to come in the dressing room and help me. I repeat: very embarrassing.

The next day at Six Flags,it was also supposed to thunderstorm, but we only got a few drops. If anything, it was sunnier than the day before, and I have the sunburn to prove it. We did most of the rides again (except I didn't ride the Titan again; I didn't like that whole almost-blacking-out thing), and they all rode Superman. It's not my kind of thing; too high, too much stomach fluttering. We all rode the Roarin' Rapids, and we sat on opposite sides of the boat to see who would get more wet. At every single bump of the rapids, V and her guy got soaked. V's hair got soaked, which was a disaster, because she straightened it. My shorts got wet because I sat down on a wet seat. That was the extent of the damage to me.

We left the park around 4:30 (after walking around the entire thing once more so we could find a certain kind of candy that was only at one store in the entire park). I was ready to get home. All that walking made me sleepy. As soon as I have the energy to put the pictures on the computer, I will post some.

Today's Latin Quote

Today's Latin quote is a keeper: Bene legere saecla vincere. To read well is to master the ages.

Briefly Normal Kitty

I caught Kitty acting like a normal cat last night. I wish I had taken a picture because I don't know if anyone will believe me. It was late, and I got out of bed to look for my water bottle. When I walked into the living room, Kitty was curled up in the middle of the couch. Very normal and very unlike her. But she was back to sleeping in the sink when I got home from work this morning. So I guess the normalcy isn't sticking.

The Reason You Should Never Put Money In Your Mouth

I was watching America’s Funniest Home Videos, and there was a video of a 2 or 3 year old standing by the stove in her birthday suit. Stuck in the crack of her hiney was a quarter…

A Not-So-Comfortable Afternoon of Reading

I went to Books-A-Million today for a comfortable afternoon of reading a book I didn’t have to pay for. And when I say comfortable, I mean sans shoes and sitting Indian style. I was about 6 or 7 pages from the end of a book when a guy around my age came over and said hi. I said hello and he walked away. Then he came back a minute later and sat down in the empty chair across from me. Then he began to try and have a conversation with me. While I was reading my book. This is a pet peeve for me. I don’t want to be disturbed when I’m reading. Especially by someone I don’t know trying to get a date. So he told me his name, and I told him mine (he seemed harmless enough), but he wasn’t picking up on my disinterested body language. I kept looking down when he stopped talking and trying to read, and then he would start talking again. I didn’t want to be rude, so I would look up when he did. He interpreted my disinterestedness as shyness.

Then he sat up in his chair and scooted forward and said, “I hope you don’t mind me asking you this, but would you like me to massage your feet while your reading?”

(Pause for dramatic effect)

“No thank you, I’m good.”

Tip for men: This is not a good pick up line. It’s creepy

Kitty Might Be In Heat

When we got my Kitty from the pound, they told us she had already been fixed. She had purple stitches in her tummy and everything.

But here lately, we're not so sure... She sleeps in the sink (have I mentioned she's weird), and in the morning there are little blood spots all over the sink. And Kitty hairs, of course. Another worrying sign is that she has been so nice lately! Apparently, being affectionate is a sign of a cat in heat.

Since we think she is not as fixed as she is supposed to be, we're not letting her outside for a little while. And hopefully we're not too late. Hopefully I won't have lots of little kitties in two months...

Jane Eyre

I’ve decided not to finish the Lord of the Rings series. It wasn’t interesting enough, and I gave up.

I did finish Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre. This was the second time I read it, but the first time, I was so young that I really couldn’t comprehend what it was about. Even now, there were a lot of words I had to look up, because I had never heard of them before. I have to say, now that I understand it, it has become one of my favorite books.

Jane Eyre has been hailed a love story, but the love story is such a small part of the overall novel. Jane’s journey to autonomy plays a larger part than her love with Mr. Rochester. She is able to rise above her identity as an orphan relying on the dubitable charity of her aunt. She blossoms at school as a student, and again as a teacher. She strikes out on her own as a governess for Mr. Rochester’s ward, and she and Mr. Rochester slowly and subtly fall in love…in a very unusual love; a sometimes detached love. They are very plain with each other, always telling the absolute truth and not sparing any feelings. It is made immediately aware that neither the hero nor the heroine is especially attractive, though Jane’s beauty heightens as Mr. Rochester’s love grows.

The author of the introduction writes, “Men must be stripped of arrogance and women must become independent for any happily ever after to endure between the sexes.” Jane and Mr. Rochester’s love reflects this. Bronte’s view of love is more modern than many of her contemporaries. Even though the novel is more than just a love story, it is the love story that makes it most appealing to me. It is definitely worth reading.

How Awful is This?

Babies born on the same day in the same hospital were switched at birth and found out 50 years later. I would be so sad if I were one of them. Or if I were one of their mothers.

Ready for School to Start

I finally have classes for summer and fall. I'm so excited! Six months out of school after 15 years in school has been a little miserable. My brain has gone to waste. I'm taking as many classes as possible so that I can catch up with my credits, because not all of them transferred as requirements, but I don't really mind. For the summer sessions, I'm taking 2 classes in the first part, and 1 in the second part. It will be a good way to keep me occupied while my baby is gone. Biology, linguistics, and astrology are my line up for the summer. In the fall, I'm taking six classes, but only on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and then one on Wednesday nights. That way, I can still substitute 3 days a week. I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm so nerdy...

Belated Mother's Day Post

I didn't have time yesterday, but I want to wish all moms Happy Mother's Day. I found an interesting article on how much moms would make if they were paid for their job, which is, admittedly, one of the most tiring jobs ever. You can also calculate how much your mom would make. When all three of ous kids were living at home, my mom would have made between $55,000 and $88,000 a year, in addition to the two jobs she had at that time. That was living in Louisiana. Now, she would be making between $64,000 and $103,000. That's with one kid living at home that she still supports, and one lives with his dad. She's in Massachusetts, and cost of living is higher there. It's too bad moms don't really get paid for being moms, but it's great that they do the job anyway. I think they love us :)

Today's Latin Quote

Today's Latin quote seems appropriate for today. He'll be gone for six months: Ut incepit fidelis sic permanet---As loyal as she began, so she remains.

My Whining Blog

The love of my life signed up for the Army Reserve today. He leaves for boot camp May 26th. 18 days. He'll be gone for 6 months.

He's been talking about joining some branch of the military for about the past two months, so I've been mentally preparing myself for it for that long. Both of my parents were in the military, so I've experienced the military life, but it's an entirely different prospect when the man you love is going in. I am really going to miss him. I had to be away from him for nearly 4 months while I was in Florida finishing a semester of school. This is longer. The only bright side is I might get to see him a couple of times. His actual boot camp ends in August, then he goes to San Antonio for additional training. I'll get to see him at his graduation, and hopefully get to visit when he goes for the extra training.

It's going to be hard without him. He won't be here to keep me warm when it turns cold; he won't be able to bring me with him to awful movies that he'll like; I won't be able to force him to see New Moon with me when it comes out; he's going to miss my birthday; no double dates with V and her guy. I won't even really get to talk to him much. I'm hoping he'll write me letters fairly often; I know I'll be writing him.

I guess I'll have school and work to keep me occupied. Summer might be the hardest, because I'll have more free time. But his family will be here to help me, and I have friends to get me through it. Hopefully that will help it go by quickly.

Photoshoot

Remember my photo shoot for V's final? I have pictures! Here is my personal favorite:

The sun was in my eyes, and just as I was going to tell her to wait because the sun was too bright, she snapped the picture. I'm very photogenic; can you tell?

This is the one she used in class. Her professor said it was strong:

Kitty kept getting in the way, so V took a few pics of her too. In this one, she had climbed the tree...then fell out.

It was a fun afternoon, and hopefully V will get an A.

Vet Visit

I took Kitty to the vet yesterday. Well, after I finally found it... My gps told me to turn left in the middle of a field, and there was no vet there. But I did find it, and I took her in, and me and V tried to keep her from being too terrified of all the dogs running around. When I took her into the exam room, I let her explore, hoping it would calm her down a little. It didn't work. She explored, but she knew something was up. She wouldn't even drink out of the faucet when I ran it for her. I told the vet she has worms, and he believed me and gave her a shot. I have to give her a pill in two weeks to make sure they're completely gone. Then I can take my pills and get rid of my worms!

The First Invisible Car

This is so cool!!

The Fellowship of the Ring

I finished J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring last night. I have to admit, I wasn't impressed, and I think I know why. There was too much description of the landscape for me. Mostly, I just scanned the description paragraphs for anything that looked important to the plot of the story. I love dialogue and the thoughts of the characters, but excessive descriptions bore me.

Since it's one of the few books I've read after I've seen the movie, it was interesting to see how they are different. They really did cut out many parts of the book. My boyfriend, who has read the books, wished they hadn't cut out Tom Bombadil, one of his favorite characters in the book. I thought Bombadil was scarily happy. It kind of creeped me out, even though he is a good guy.

I found it interesting that only two female characters featured very prominently in the book: Tom Bombadil's wife and the lady elf towards the end of the book. Both seemed very ethereal. Arwen was not in this book as much as she was in the first movie.

I'm going to finish the series, but I think it's safe to say that I won't fall in love with these books. I'm still working on Jane Eyre, but I should be done soon.

Weekend Events

This entire week has been singularly uneventful. I was not called to sub once. I did not work at Coldstone all week. My man worked all day every day. The only times of interest were when I went out with V on Monday and Tuesday.

This weekend hasn't been too bad, though. Saturday, V took about 100 pictures (no exaggeration) of me. She's a photography major, and one of her finals is to take some portraits of people. So we spent nearly an hour outside, trying to work with the light changing and the camera adjusting before every picture. Sometimes, the sun would be out and I would make funny faces when she took the picture because the light was hurting my eyes (when she emails them to me, I'll put up a few). Other times, the sun was hidden behind cloud cover and the pictures were too dark to see. Kitty was outside at the time, and I caught her climbing a tree. She had a hard time getting out of it; she fell rather ungracefully on some stone. Her tail was in one picture. She scared us a few times, running away from things too little for our eyes.

That night, my baby and I went to see Wolverine. We loved it (even though we had to sit in the front row because the theater was so crowded). I would recommend going to see it. I love the X-Men movies, and Wolverine is one of my favorite characters, so I loved learning his story. And if you read my Australia post, you should already know my views on Hugh Jackman...

Last night, we had an awfully loud thunderstorm. It woke us up in the middle of the night and the thunder was almost scary. It made a lot of different sounding noises. I'm used to that boom it always makes, but last night it was making crackle-booms and all kinds of other sounds. Apparently, we're supposed to have more tonight...

After work today, we went next door to my darling's parent's house where his mother had dinner for us. She made the most amazing veggie burgers! His parents are vegetarians too; he's a carnivore. They were much better than the usual Morning Star brand. She even had guacamole spread to go with it. I've never had guacamole on a burger, but I like the way it tastes.

So that was my weekend! I only have 20 pages left of The Fellowship of the Ring. I might even finish it tonight. I'll let you know what I think.

All Grown Up

I went to the doctor today for the first time all by myself. I got lost in the hospital all by myself. I got blood drawn for the first time all by myself (that one's really big because I abhor needles). I lost my car all by myself. It was a day of doing things alone. I'm all grown up now! I kind of hated it...

Anyway, remember how I was sick and couldn't do anything all day because I was nauseous? Since that was something that has happened pretty frequently, I thought I should get an official opinion on why it keeps happening. I formed a theory about 2 weeks ago: I got worms from my cat. Lovely. I told the doctor this, described what had been happening, and she agreed with me. She gave me the prescription to get rid of them, but warned me not to take it until I got the cat dewormed. Otherwise, I would just get it again.

And then! She told me that I needed to have blood drawn. I didn't think I would need that, so I didn't ask anyone to come with me. I have never not had someone to hold my hand before, and I haven't had blood drawn since I was eleven or twelve. She said I could come back and have it done when I had someone with me, but I said I would brave it on my own. It was easier than having to come back anyway. Well, I survived to tell the tale. The nurse was nice and gave me tissues for the tears when it was over.

Oh and I might be a little anemic. I'm a vegetarian, so I expected that one. I guess I'll get the lab results on Monday.