The Pre-Wedding List

It's Thursday, and you know what that means...it's time for a brain dump/list of what is going on with me.

• As of 7:30 this morning, I was ready to give up on today (Thursday tend to act like Mondays for me, after all).  I knocked my floating shelf off the wall and onto Delilah at 4:45 to start my day (and hers!).  She spent the rest of the morning thinking I was trying to kill her, and I spent the rest of the morning trying to get my act together and get to work at a decent time. 
• Speaking of, as I was getting into my car this morning, my skirt got hung up and I slid kicking the car door with the same toe that I messed up a couple weeks ago.  Which, of course, felt so awesome that I danced around screaming "Ow!" for a bit.  Luckily, it's doesn't look any worse than it already did.
• Today is my last day of school for the week, which is great.   Now if I can just get tests graded, grades updated, and sub plans written before the end of the day, we will be in business.
• My hair is out of control!  I have an appointment with Jen to get it cut on Monday.  And I couldn't be more excited!  (However, I know growing it out will be worth it when Jaime gets done with my hair on Saturday!)
• I haven't finished Sheena's spec-tacky-ular practice bouquet.  I keep changing my plan for it, but it will be done tonight! 
• Tonight is also going to be my mini-spa night.  I'm giving myself a pedi, a clay mask and all manner of other fun things.  I was going to pay for a pedicure, but with my toe still messed up it made me kind of nervous.  I don't do a bad job on my own and who is going to be paying attention to my feet anyway?
• I found cute and comfy shoes (for dress shoes, anyway) last night!  I was starting to sweat that a little.  It was also an excellent excuse to have dinner with Amber! 
• As excited as I am about the wedding of my friends this weekend, and the significance of them making a lifelong committment to each other, I'm even more excited about having a big party with the majority of people I like from my real world!  Reception karaoke, ya'll!  I think that says more than enough!

I promise at some point I will stop talking about this wedding, but please indulge for the next week or so.  It's been a while (almost five years) since one of my close friends have had a wedding, so this is a huge event for all of us!  (Not to mention it stands to be the best going-away party ever, since they are also heading to Ohio for the forseeable future!)  I won't be here much, but I do have a couple of posts lined up.  I plan to be back live-ish next week with all the wedding details!

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 10/12

1. Have you ever been 'asked' to report for jury duty? Were you chosen to serve? If not, were you happy or disappointed?

Yes.  And not just for my county, but federal.  I was picked to serve on a mercifully short trial, and then chosen as foreperson.  The civics teacher in me was fascinated.  The rest of me was kind of annoyed.

2. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being very), how mechanically inclined are you? Give an example to back up your answer.

I'm going to have to say a 2.  But it's learned helplessness.  My dad is a mechanic and I live next door to an auto body shop and a tire center.  If I need anything, I can get it entirely too easily.

3. Beets-cabbage-cauliflower-butternut squash....of the four, which is your favorite fall vegetable?

None of the above.  I have a texture thing with beets.  I will eat cabbage in slaw (oil and vinegar, not mayonnaise), and I despise cauliflower and squash.

4. What do you recommend to overcome self-pity?

I'm a big fan of allowing a short wallow.  Then it's time to pull yourself together.  Most of the times we throw a pity party it's not about something major, it's about something silly.  If you can manage to put it in perspective, it's easier to move on.  Of course, that's much easier to say than do sometimes.

5. Do you enjoy classical music?

Nope.  I want to, but I am a singer at heart.  I don't even like long musical interludes.  I need words, people!

6. October is National Book Month...what's on your reading list this month?

At the moment, I am reading Happy Accidents by Jane Lynch.  After that, I am going to read Belong To Me by Marisa de los Santos.  And after that...it will probably be November.

7. What is your idea of 'cute'?

Cute is a kitten or a puppy.  Cute is a little girl or boy doing something adorable and giggling.  It can be a wall hanging, a new shirt, or a pair of shoes.  It is not something that most women enjoy being called.


8. Insert your own random thought here.

I can't believe that Sheena is getting married THIS WEEKEND!  It's like we've been waiting on it forever and at the same time it's here all of a sudden!  I'm looking forward to a fun weekend!  (And an extended one at that because I took Friday off!)

2 On Tuesday: My Biggest Fashion Mistakes

Bless me, Anna Wintour, for I have committed many a fashion sin.  (And probably still do, depending on the day!)  I would love to share lots of pictures with you all, but I've managed to make several of the worst disappear.  I grew up in the 80's and 90's, so most of my growing up was one big fashion mistake after the next.  Big hair, bold patterns, it was a mess. 

Consider these Exhibits A-C, but only a small portion of my overall offenses:

But when it comes to my biggest mistakes, the first one that comes to mind was the perm I got freshman year.  I like to refer to it as my water buffalo hair.  It was bad!  I should mention that I have a lot of hair, it's fine but very, very thick.  Like it took two bottles of perm solution thick.  Add on the fact that I didn't have any idea how to style it properly and I was a train wreck of fashion.  Good news though.  It was perserved forever in the yearbook for that year.  (And no, I'm still not going to share the picture!)

Otherwise, I can think of one major infraction, but several minor ones.  I remember wearing different colored scrunch socks a lot, usually in an alternating pattern.  I was also a big fan of overalls.  And loud prints.  (Which I am still a fan of.  In fact, friends often see things and say "No one could get away with that but Katie.")  I wore a lot of plaid, in an unironic, non-hipster way. 

I love clothes, and if I had a bigger salary, I would be out of control with the fashion.  I can't wait to hear what everyone else has to say!  I know there are a lot of you all about my age who will no doubt have some similar stories.  (And I hear that perms are making a comeback...)

What I Thought I'd Be At 30 vs. What I Am

When I was in junior high and high school, my friends and I kept a time capsule (which we called the Time Bomb).  I got it in my head that I wanted to share who I thought I would be versus what I am at 30.  This offered a hilarious glimpse into my thought process.

What I Thought I'd Be At 30 when I was 13 (via a questionaire filled out on January 31, 1995):

• Future Plans:  Fall in love with ***** (totally not revealing every secret here); Get Married; become a journalist/lawyer/psychologist/singer/actress/architect; Have four kids (Ashleigh Lauren, Braden Alan; Christina Elizabeth, and Brett Aaron); Have lots of money (which I love donating to worthy causes) and most important I'm happy and so is my family.

I can safely say that I've managed to miss the mark on almost every plan 13 year-old me had for my life (Though I will say I did go out with ****** once upon a time *high five*).  I'm not married, I don't have kids.  I do not have mulitple employment in several fields of study.  But I am happy.  Even on the days when it's hard and I'm frustrated with my life, I'm happy with who I am and what I have become.  And my family is happy, it's just that the definition of family is a little broader than I thought.  It turns out that was the most important thing after all.

Kelly's Show Us Your Life: My Pet

First of all, if you are stopping by from Kelly's Korner, hi and welcome!  I hope you like my little blog because that's just how I am.  I want people to like me, even when I pretend like I don't.  I'm so not cool like that.  But, let's move on to the topic at hand, my pet.

I've written about my furry roommate before.  Delilah's poorly behaved to put it mildly.  She rarely listens.  She used to routinely climb door facings and curtains.  (That was before her width exceeded her height!)  She bites, randomly and with force.  She breaks things, usually only things that I like.  She's prone to psychotic fits and her favorite place to sleep is on a suitcase.  She's weird.  Recently, I've been thinking about getting a kitten, but I am not sure if she will adjust well.  (And I'd kind of fear for the kitten when I'm a work!  I've seen how she treats her stuffed animals.)

Here's the first post I ever wrote about her (which was actually one of my first posts ever)---Delilah, The World's Craziest Cat.

With all her quirks, I love her anyway.   At least 90% of the time.  You can read more about Delilah here, here, and here.

I Was Gonna...But I Didn't

• I'm typing on my lunch break because I didn't get a post done last night for today.  Why?
• Last night, I had a little meltdown.  It was a long time coming, and I feel much better now that it's over.  I wish I could pretend like I had one specific reason for it, but it was really more of a thousand different things converging on me at once. 
• Because of this, I didn't get the pictures uploaded from my birthday stuff.  Which means it may be tomorrow.  Or Saturday.  You know how these things go
• This weekend, I am going to clean my house.  No, seriously.  It's got to be done.  SO MUCH CLEANING!
• I am going to take a break to go see 50/50 with Amber.  I will give you a review next week.  I'm not a huge Seth Rogen fan, but I love me some Joseph Gordon Levitt.  (I could watch (500) Days Of Summer on repeat.)
• A student last hour, when explaining her love of Justin Bieber, "I don't call it stalking.  I call it obsessive love."  Even when it's stressful, this is why I love my job.
• I haven't told you all yet but two weeks from tonight, I am going to see Miranda Lambert!  Excited doesn't even begin to cover it!  I can't wait!

I don't really know how to end this, like most of my lists.  So, I'll just see you tomorrow, when I am hopefully a little together.

Wednesday Hodgepodge - 10/5

1. What's your favorite meal to serve on a chilly autumn evening?

      By now you know that I don't really cook.  If I was answering this about my kitchen it would probably be a can of veggie soup.  But if we are talking about my favorite thing to eat on a chilly evening, it would have to be my dad's chili or a big plate of lasagna. (Which I can cook, but rarely do!)

2. Are you a creature of habit? Explain.

    I think we all are to some degree.  I do like routines, but I don't freak out if something doesn't go exactly as planned.  I try to be as flexible as possible, but if you take advantage of that--look out!  My days do tend to follow a routine, but more because my life is so scheduled at work, and less because I am.

3. What food product (no longer readily available) do you remember and miss from days gone by?

     I am really having trouble thinking of something.  I used to be really addicted to Mr. Phipps Pretzel Chips.  But I have managed okay without them.  I don't usually have any trouble finding something new to love. 

4. What's something you've lost that you've never been able to find? Any theories as to what happened?

     I am always losing something.  Once I lost my Social Security card for, I don't know, six months, but it eventually turned up.  I've always been pretty lucky with important things.  Now, if it comes to socks, I will never understnad how you can start a load with matched pairs and come up missing a sock when you are folding.

5. Zoo~circus~ carnival...your favorite?

    Zoo!  If I lived closer to a zoo, I would be there all the time.  As it is, the nearest one is about three hours away, so it has to be a special trip.  There's just something about animals that I find completely fascinating.  I know people have very mixed feeling about zoos, but I think that it's the only way people can be educated and some species can be protected at this point and time.

6. What song makes you feel instantly happy?

     Brown Eyed Girl by Van Morrison.  It never fails to make me smile.  Same way with Whenever I See Your Smiling Face by James Taylor.

7. To what extent are you an argumentative person?

     Oh Joyce, you are hitting all the right buttons today!  I am argumentative if I know for a fact I am right.  However, I am much more likely to prove it, than to argue about it in words.  I have a longish fuse, but a very hot temper.  I will keep my mouth shut for a long time, but when I have finally had enough, I'm done with you.  I've been told by friends that others may have bigger tempers, but I am the one that they really don't want to make mad.  I've mellowed some, but I can still go at an issue when need be.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

    Short weeks seem to go by the slowest.  This weekend is a four-day weekend, and wading through the four days it takes to get to it is grating my nerves.  And I know that when it does get here it will fly by like nothing else!  But I'm okay with that because next weekend is Sheena's wedding!  (It doesn't seem real that it's that close, but here we are!)