Specialty Tupperware

A recent tweet thread of mine:

Like I said, it was from the dollar store, super bendy and wasn't all that great. It wasn't my good one.* But still. It's the principle of it. 

*which now I definitely won't bring in

Seriously. YOU. DON'T. TAKE. SOMEONE'S. SPECIALTY. TUPPERWARE.

Make Believe

I grew up in Kentucky where we have all 4 seasons, spring, summer, fall, and winter (or: March Madness, basketball camp, big blue madness, and regular season). While I definitely prefer the summer and hotter temperatures to the winter and colder temperatures, it's not like I haven't dealt with the cold before.

Except.

Now I live in North Carolina, and my blood has thinned to accommodate my new habitat. So I like the blistering summers and mild winters. But now there's this thing called a cold front or whatever sweeping through, and actually winter here. I keep hearing of this thing called "wind chill" and these low ridiculous numbers that think they are temperatures! I mean really, 25 degrees? That is clearly a made up number!  

novocaine

Last week out of the blue I had a monster toothache flare up. I really was in agony, the throbbing got so intense that I was on the brink of tears at time. At home I took a few anti-inflammatories and kept an icepack to my face to alleviate some of the pain, but my 7am dentist appointment the next morning couldn't come fast enough.

Thank god I was able to get an appointment though. I had tried to call them several times while at work and the call dropped and never connected every time. For a dentists' office that sends a snail-mail reminder, an email, a phone call and text message to remind you of an appointment, it was baffling not being able to call them. I decided to try their appointment request online, and about an hour later they emailed me back with a 7am or noon appointment. (Turns out their phones were down that day for some reason, but it was so frustrating to not be able to call them the one time i really really needed to see them.)

Anyway, 7am arrives and I am in the dentist chair, miserable and still holding the icepack to my face. The dentist figured the pain could be from one thing or another. Either the nerve was infected and created and abscess that would require a root canal specialist, or the nerve was just beat up from my bite and the whole area around the tooth was bruised. But to even figure it out they would have to do a bite adjustment. If the pain increased I needed the specialist, if it decreased I had the bruise. Before they started the bite adjustment though, my dentist said I probably couldn't take all the work they would have to so they were going to give me some Novocaine to help then get to work.

My reaction to the Novocaine? "Yay!" Apparently, that is not a normal response.

PS: I had the bruise. Yay again!

A Vote For Marriage. FOR EVERYONE

So I promise to recap the derby and bridal shower here soon enough and tell everyone that it was a perfect weekend and I'm so happy that I have friends and family who love me to and to do that for me.

But today is election day in North Carolina and there is a more pressing mater Amendment 1, which would define marriage as one man and one woman and it will be the only recognized legal union.
Vote AGAINST it.

Not just because it blatantly makes discrimination ok.
Not just because I want to see my friends Tiffany and Jill get married if only to see my friend Tiffany in a big poofy dress.
Because this constitutional ban is not designed to protect families, seniors and all women at all. It actually harms them.
And who is to define "family" in the first place?  How is a kid raised by 2 committed adults not a family?  If the goal is to have all children raised in a 2 parent household, that makes single parents not a family.  What about the guy who gets 3 women pregnant around the same time?  He can't marry all 3, so which one does he choose to define as his family? (probably the one that doesn't kick his slutty ass to the curb).
I could continue about the harms the amendment would do, but I'll let the other websites who say it better than me do so.
But laws like this make me indignant, and frankly, ashamed that they are even brought to the table in the first place.  And while my blog and soap box may be little in the grand scheme of life, it needs to be said that this is NOT OK.

Grey or Gray? Either Way, It's Not My Favorite Color

Apparently being too terrified to get the mail and doing nothing but worrying about getting into grad school was too much for Mike to handle.  So he made me call the grad school for my admission status this morning since classes start in a month.

I was right to be worried.

Someone in the grad school office looked up my name and the reason the decision was taking so long.  And then I talked to her supervisor to explain things. I was told that a decision has been made, but there are still some questions about my gpa.  So my application has been forwarded to the department head's attention.  Who is in Dallas the rest of this week and not looking at my application. So as of this moment, my admission status is still in a "gray area."

That? Is not a yes. It's not a no either, but... it's not a yes.

This has to be based on my uc gpa. Because my uk cumulative gpa was a 2.9.  I have nothing to show for my 6 years at uc except a low gpa.  And there is nothing I can do to change that.  So now I'm just wishing and hoping and praying that cincinnati hasn't kept me from something I want once again.  Last year when I walked at my graduation, I believed I had finally triumphed over that school.  I had nothing to be embarrassed about anymore. I could hold my head high and say I earned this, and cinci couldn't take anything away from me anymore.  I should have known better.

Needless to say, I'm even more anxious now.  I've said that I would apply again and look into other programs if it didn't happen this year.  But if my gpa is the reason for their hesitancy, there's nothing I can do to change that and this is just going to keep coming up, no matter what school I apply to.  I'm still at the mercy of other people's acceptance.  

Gray sucks.

Commission Hell

Mike and I are in the market for a dinning room table. Even though we're hosting Thanksgiving this year (for 9 people, maybe even 10! (my first thanksgiving and I go BIG!)), we're going to wait until after the wedding to furnish our dining room.  In other words, we're not going to get a table now just for the sake of getting a table. The table itself isn't what's all that expensive, it's all the chairs that get you. But anyway, we were in the area of a lot of furniture stores and since we had some time, we popped in a few of them to see what was available.

We didn't have much luck.  The formal dining room isn't something that my generation wants in their house now*.  So all of the dining room sets in the stores were old fashioned rococo massive ornate stuff.  Just because we want a traditional dining room doesn't mean we want traditional furniture in it.  Finding something we both like and isn't exorbitantly priced is going to be more difficult than we thought.**  

The last place we looked at was Haverty's Furniture.  I can't really tell you too much what the furniture there was like because I was too distracted by the sales guy following us around the entire store.  It was so, so creepy and awful.  Mike's actually pushing me to walk faster, and I'm about to grab his hand and run out of there.  We couldn't make snarky comments to each other, let alone even talk to each other without the guy over hearing. We made the mistake of pausing a few seconds at a table and the guy piped in with unsolicited info on the set.  We didn't even want to look anymore since all we could think about was getting the hell out of there.  So that's what we did.  And just to nail that final nail in the creepy coffin, the guy sprints ahead of us to get the door for us as we leave.

It was so awful we're not going back. Which is too bad for them because they were the first store that had furniture we didn't immediately hate.  I know these guys work on commission, but that's no excuse for the creepy! It creates such a toxic environment and the people can sense it. It's not how I want to shop. If I want your help, I'll ask for it. I don't mind working in retail myself, but I have never worked on commission and never will. 

You know the saying: have a good experience, tell 2 people. But have a bad experience, tell 10? Yeah. I'm telling everyone.

*The young pups today also don't register for fine china either. To which I say, that's fine for now, but in 10 years when you are hosting the big family gathering and have no place to seat everyone and no fancy china to serve on, you'll be wishing you had asked for that wedding china.
**Good thing Mike likes to research and will shop and shop and shop. (I told him about library school and in a day he complied a list of at least 10 online programs for me to look into) Though once he decides something, good luck trying to change his mind.

4 weeks

4 weeks. That's how my summer is broken up, in 3 separate 4 week increments of class. I just finished one 4 week session (fyi, now I see why you need an override to take 2 of these classes simultaneously, I don't recommend it). The next 4 week class starts the day after tomorrow (I thought it was an 8 week but nope, turns out it's 4). And then then a different/another 4 week of class the day after the middle class is done. (I'm taking 14 credit hours this summer)

And then I have 20 days between the end of that class and the start of fall semester.

Me want frozen yummy drink.

2 + 2 = Oh Right, You're a Bitch

Person X: And you are doing pharmacy?
Me: ah, well, I wanted to, but turns out chemistry was just too hard for me.
Person X: yeah, when your mom told me that's what you wanted to do, I thought: "but she's not good in math!"
Me: (defensively) actually, I'm quite good in math. I like math even. It's science I'm not great in and had a hard time with.
Person X: Oh that's right. Well, I knew it was something you weren't good at. But you're doing something much better suited for you now.
Me: yes, sociology is a lot easier for me, a better fit. And I'm doing well this semester. Thanks.

Still me in my head: wow, what a backhanded compliment? You shrew, I know you think I'm stupid. Not good at math my ass. I know this: if a = b and a = you're a bitch, then b = it's no wonder your husband cheated on you for 10 years and still left you.

Low of me? Yes.

But stupid? No.

Laugh or Cry?

You know those situations when you don't know whether to laugh or cry? You know, when something happens like you hurt yourself and the pain is excruciating so you start cracking up because you need a release, any release. That's how I reacted when I skied into a lamp post. I started laughing hysterically becasue it hurt like seven shades of hell. (I ended up going to the hospital that night, and when my boyfriend called to break up with me that same night, he chickened out. Then a week later he still didn't have the kahunas to do so, so I ended up calling him so he could break up with me. Yeah.)

This morning there was a situation that was really frustrating for all of us, and all I did was watch helplessly. The whole conversation seemed so over the top, bigger than life and grotesquely comical that I wanted to laugh. At the absurdity of the situation. So I'm trying to hold back a giggle, because in reality the situation is the furthest thing from funny, and I know that. I didn't know if I was going to laugh or cry.

And then I felt sick for wanting to laugh, so then I wanted to cry for being a horrible person. Which left me holding back inappropriate giggles as well as tears that were starting to sting. And I thought to myself: hey look at that. You know those situations when you don't know whether to laugh or cry? Crying ultimately ends up winning.

Shin Spints

I'm pretty sure I have shin splints. Shit.

For them to heal, you are supposed to rest them and ease back into your workout. Umm no, s'aint happening. My first half is in a week and a half, the 2nd is 4 weeks after that. I still have to run and keep in shape.

It's not just the running either, how do you rest you rest your legs? I still need to walk the dog, I'm on my feet at my job, and I walk a lot on campus too. I elevate my legs when I can, I ice them for an hour after work, but still, I don't think that's going to help them heal, just stop me from exasperating the injury more. There's always the tape option, which I'll probably start using as well. And that's a sexy look. My thick man legs with tape wrapped from my ankles to knees. Great.

Lesser of the evils I guess.

Still. Boo.

Loot and Pillage

Remember how I dropped my wallet a few weeks ago but someone picked it up and handed it back to me? And I was relived I didn't loose my monetary life? And I considered it good karma for everyone involved? Yeah, that's kinda moot now.

My wallet was stolen yesterday. Not misplaced, or dropped or lost. STOLEN.

I went for my long run yesterday (10 miles, 101:28 minutes) and I was feeling pretty good after it. My weekend was going well, I just started spring break, I got to spend time with my sister, I got a pretty new dress and I had a great date with dr soc. I had a good run (I was tired don't get me wrong, but still, good run), and I had just watched UK squeak by with the SEC championship. Good mood.

So when I get to the locker room to put on dry clothes and go home, I see right way that I had forgotten to close the lock on my locker. I searched my gym bag to make sure everything was still there. Obviously not. My bag wasn't that full, and my wallet is, err, was, bright teal, so it's easy to spot. The thief who I know was a girl because it was stolen from the women's locker room, left my cell and car keys, and there was no cash in there. I had my ipod on me at the time, but still. MY WALLET WAS STOLEN.

I searched the bathroom stalls and I told the front desk. I knew they couldn't really do anything about it though since it was my own carelessness. I canceled my credit cards and suspended my plus account (uk money) w/in 2 hours of it happening, and I can get a new licence today. I lost my bus pass but I can get a new/different type of pass and work will reimburse me, so I'm not out that much money. Basically, the only thing this girl got from me is my bus pass that's valid for another 2 1/2 months and a fake id if she looks like me.

I'm mostly pissed about it being essentially my own fault. The steeling part sucks and it's still steeling which is illegal, but I was the one who forgot to lock my locker. I presented the opportunity. And I so rarely do shit like that. I feel violated, a complete stranger went through my stuff. But I acted quickly and I can replace everything. It's mostly a huge inconvenience on my part.

Lesson learned I guess. Still sucks though.