16 posts tagged “life”

A few months ago, inspired by my sister Angie’s impending summer totally off work, I looked into what I need to do to get my teaching certificate.  I applied to one of the local universities that has a certification program geared towards people who have to work full-time while going to school.  I learned that I needed to take six classes and then do student teaching.  Student teaching would of course require that I quit my job, because it’s full time for five months.  Jay was pretty supportive of this plan.

I filled out the financial aid paper work and officially applied.  I’m supposed to be taking one class this fall but I haven’t heard from the school.  Yesterday I received an email from the financial aid program (FAFSA) and they basically said, “jeez lady you are pretty close to maxing out on how much you are allowed to get in financial aid from the TWO degrees you already have.” 

 It became pretty clear to me in that moment that I may have majored in all the wrong things in college, if I have a bachelor’s and a master’s and still am not sure what I want to be when I grow up.  That is totally depressing.  I should have majored in social work or human services since I’m really into the idea of helping people and for all the jobs that I find interesting that are available in my area, I need a SW degree.  But no, I majored in English, because nobody told me that all I could do with that degree was live and die in a cubicle or work in retail.  And my master’s degree?  Totally useless.

What decisions do you look back on and wish you had known better? (Besides the bad boyfriends.)

I must admit one of the things I loathe about being a grown woman is the responsibilities of showers.  No, not the kind that makes me all fresh and clean; I'm talking about the showers of the bridal, baby variety.  All those tacky games and pleasantries are not really my idea of a good time.  The problem is that I am a professional bridesmaid and my family is trying to populate the earth, so I go to alot of showers.  I also plan them.

My pregnant sister Angie actually HATES these showers but because she's pregnant and has no baby stuff and because she has gone to everyone else's showers, she is having a baby shower of her very own.  Tomorrow. Guess who planned it?  That's right, yours truly. Guess what we won't be doing?  Playing any of those fucking games!

Me, Angie and Marianne all bought cute little dresses to wear and that's really all it takes to get me excited about a social function...that and free food!

How do you ladies feel about the showers, bridal and baby?

A husband who is surprising me with delicious chicken/veggie lettuce roll dinner.

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Pets 002

A coupla dogs who can't wait to give me smooches.

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Pets 008

One old grumpy cat

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One ornery cat trying to sneak outside by pretending to be innocent

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My little house filled with all the creatures that love me...

There have been some monster storms in my neck of woods over the last week.  I love storms; the poor bastard that bought the house behind me probably doesn't.  He's only lived there a couple of months and this happened:

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Trees 002

Last night I went outside to take these pictures and they were getting ready to clean up some of this.  About a half hour later I heard the sounds of a chainsaw, which coincidentily was about the time it was getting ready to storm again,  Poor guy can't get a break.

Dear Fashion Industry,

After visiting some clothing establishments recently it has become apparent that you may have forgotten about the basic shape of a woman's body.  You can't possibly believe that grown women want to wear nothing but short-shorts in the summer.  You see women carry most of their weight in their stomach and thighs and it is very common to have a bit of cellulite in the thigh region.  This is why short-shorts aren't the first fashion choice for grown women, normal women who eat actual meals and are over the age of 20. 

You may be saying that there other summer options out there, like jean skirts or jean shorts that go the knee.  The problem is that the jean skirts appear to have been washed in hot water and dried for a long period of time, because they are so short that I can't bend over to pick anything up without giving everyone a good eyeful of my nether regions and contrary to what the commando hollywood poptarts telling you, those areas are private.

Don't even get me started on those pencil skirts, that probably look great on your 19 year old stick figure models, but make my hips look as wide as a river and my thighs look like they are made of pounds of grated cheese.  They make me walk like a mummy and if I am retaining any water, odds are breathing is out of the question or the zipper is going to burst.

I don't want to walk out a department store and feel the need to go to therapy, so I'd appreciate some consideration here.  Can I get a flowy skirt and shorts that are flattering to my figure?  The thighs and hips aren't going anywhere.

Next week, we'll talk about the shoes.

Thanks,

MKC

I woke up this morning in a great mood, stopped and got myself an iced decaf mocha on the way to work. I was fully prepared to write my little tech releases and give them to my grumpy boss.  Positive thinking right?

So I sent my boss the second draft of this release like I am supposed to and he sends me back his comments.  He made the usual grammar corrections, nothing big but then near the end I notice there was something in parentheses.  And this is how it started "(Well duh????...)  Does that seem professional to you?  Me either.  It was followed by him explaining that he thought the sentence prior to his nasty little comment was stated a little too simply and I should rephrase. Then he had a replacement suggestion.

Here's the thing, when you edit something, just edit it!  Put the replacement sentence in there, don't be a prick. 

So he walks by my desk and I call him over and I point to the "Well duh???" and I say, "What is that about?" and do you know what he said to me?  "Well did you read that sentence?  It's dumb.  It was a dumb thing to say."

WTF!!!  Why didn't he just come right out and call me a dumbass?!  Basically I spent the rest of the day seething.  That was just so unprofessional and insulting.  This happened at about 11:30 am.

All I wanted all day was to come home to my husband who was off work.  I wanted to talk to him and lay on the couch and relax.  So at 5pm when I walked through the door imagine my surprise to find the my husbands closet has exploded into my living room.  I am talking two jumbo bags of clothes for the goodwill, for trashbags of trash, a couple shoeboxes and some other random items.  ALL OVER!  I was so annoyed but I didn't want to take it out on him so I changed and told him I was going to stop by my sister's while he finished.

On my way over there I decided to treat myself to a fountain soda from BP because I love fountain soda, it tastes the best.  I go marching in there and...(perhaps I should mention here that I hate eating or drinking out of styrofoam. I can't stand the sound when utensils scrap it or the straw.  I hate the way water tastes out of styrofoam. It all makes my teeth hurt.)  So anyway I go marching in there to get my coveted fountain soda which is going to cure all my ails.  I go to grab a cup and what do I find in place of the usual plastic?  That's right...fucking styrofoam!  What kind of gas station serves their ridiculously large sodas in plain white styrofoam cups????  No soda for me.

I stayed at my sister's for a little while and I left feeling better.  When I got home the house was clean and I got to chat with the husband AND he had hooked up the DVD recorder/VHS player that I got bought to put together a  movie for my Dad's 60th.  I was really excited to get started and play around and start the project.  I got out the remote and tried to turn it on, nothing.  I checked the remote batteries and they were in right, checked the chords and they were hooked up right.  Then I turned it on on the machine and hit eject on the DVD player.  NOTHING!  I pulled the machine out of the entertainment stand and guess what?  There was a big ole dent in the top right hand side of the back, which I almost didn't see.  The thing is totally fucking broken!

Can a girl get a break? I should have stayed in bed!!!

I have been really good lately with this positive thinking business.  When I get all grumpy at work I just tell myself, "Be grateful that you have a job." 

I keep telling myself that if I keep my eyes open for opportunities eventually one will present its self to me.  I will eventually be doing something that I like.

In the meantime I've been making things and working a movie project for my Dad's 60th birthday.  I feel good when I create things, especially since I'm not writing that often.  I know that I have to keep doing that stuff when I'm not at work, otherwise I am not a happy camper.

I'm still reading the books on how to change my diet to help with the panic attacks.  Since I'm back on the first medicine I haven't been having them.  I'm hoping that if I start doing all of these good things and get them to be habits that when I try to switch again in July, I will have an easier time.

See look at me being positive.

I have come to the conclusion that my job is not for me.  Tech writing, even though I don't think what I am doing is really tech writing so much as reporting, is not fulfilling to me at all.  Sitting in a cubicle everyday chained to a desk is not good for my level of personal happiness. (Not to mention I think that it's making my ass bigger!)  I've been trying to be positive and think that maybe something will reveal itself to me, like some sort of magical job fairy, that I'll stumble upon something while looking or not looking because the universe is always sending us signs we just have to be open to them (this is what I've heard.)  Of course, I'm still doing job searches and checking company websites.  I'm trying to be patient but that has never been my strong suit.

I've also been toying with the idea of getting a master's in counseling; I am interested in leading group therapy and working with people who have anxiety and panic disorders.  I have a master's already in Student Affairs, which is academic advising, financial aid counseling, career services and things like that on college campuses.  I have not had much luck with that field since I graduated, lack of job opportunities in that field is what led me to the tech writing.  But the other day I did apply for an assistant director in career services position.  So who knows, I could get lucky (that's the positive thinking.)  Back to the counseling thing, I've been looking into programs online and you would be surprised how many schools try to hold back the cost of tuition.  I finally got one school to admit it was $30,000 a year!  I already have a nice hefty student loan tab; I am not about to add another $60K to it.

I'm going to keep thinking positive and keep looking around; hopefully something will pop up.  Send me good vibes.

So when I got back from the beach I was really calm and peaceful.  I felt light and inspired.  With scenes like this, how could I not?

Mexico Beach 122

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The day after I got back I went to pick up a few things; a jar for the sand and the shells, and you know, clothes. While I was there I saw this nice incense holder that is like a box so I won't get ashes everywhere, and then I saw this incense that was supposed to smell like the ocean.  The collection was called "High Tide," and it has three scents, "Mimosa Magic," "Skinny Dipping," and "Ocean Mist." 

 I came home and made my little sand and shell jar and loaded my beach pictures.  Then I lit the incense. Oh.My.God!  That stuff reaks and it does NOT smell like the ocean or even freaking tap water.  It smells like cologne!  Strong old-man-gigolo cologne.

It's going in the garbage and I am going back to hippie incense.

There's this blog that I read because it's really positive and inspiring.  Recently, the blogger was talking about putting things out there and then sitting back and waiting to see what manifests.  She was talking about her dream house and it got me to thinking about what I would like to have when we buy another house (b/c this house is so fricking small!  where am I supposed to put a baby?  in a rolling rubbermaid container under my bed?)

Anyway I thought now would be a good time to make a list of my little dream house and maybe by the time we are ready to do it, it will magically present its self. 

Here goes:

4 reasonably sized bedrooms

a big covered porch

trees

a little room with a window on the main level for all my books and my computer

a nice sized yard for my four legged children

hard wood floors

big windows

There it is, come on universe!!!