Costumes

This was pretty much about all of how much of a costume I could put on my dogs:

Yoho yoho! A pirates life for me!

 And this:

Angel in disguise

Momma, of course, giggled and loved her girls.  The girls, of course, hated it. The angel hated it so much that within two seconds of snapping the picture she picked a nasty fight with the pirate. 

Something tells me that dressing them up for the Christmas card is a bad idea...

Happy Halloween

--A conversation I had with my sister back in the (somewhat) early months of me and Mike dating.--

me: 4th of July weekend we're going to Michigan for his brother's wedding
amy: a holiday wedding.
me: Yep. His cousin got married new years eve last year. His family seems to like the holiday weddings.
amy: seems like it. Hey, if you guys get married what holiday you going to pick? Arbor day?
me: Halloween. It's his favorite holiday.

Well, we didn't pick Halloween, but Memorial day's a close second right?

Big person things

Mike and I are no longer in the market for a dining room set.  Cause we kinda sorta totally bought one on Friday.  After not having much luck with finding something we didn't hate at the traditional furniture stores (and dealing w/creepy sales guys), I poked around on Ikea's website to just to see if they had anything worth looking into further. There were 2 tables that each sat 6-10 who were contenders, but I know we need to see them in person before we even consider them further. Mike actually has to see something to get a feel for its' dimensions, and ikea furniture you really need to check it out since it runs on the small side since everything there is designed to fit in a 200 square foot apartment. Since I had the day off and Mike doesn't teach on Fridays, when we were out and about I asked if he was in the mood to go to the store and look. (yep, we live within less than an hour of an ikea. That could not be dangerous to our pocketbooks at all) So we did.

Turns out, one of the tables that I liked (and the cheaper one) was just too narrow for my taste. (I can't pronounce the line name since everything is Swedish. Mike solved this problem by just making up names as we walked along, and hilarity ensued) But as we're wandering around the dining room area, we see the larger version of the cheaper table. That seats 10 -14. Fourteen. For the same price as it's smaller counterpart. The design is the color we want. It's the size we need. It extends. (if the table didn't extend it wasn't even going to be considered).  The chairs are at a reasonable price...   
We look at each other, calculating things. We don't want to buy a table just to buy a table, but...  This is the first thing we've liked. At a price we like... And we do need it for this thanksgiving...  So with a few quick calls to our parents to ask if they wouldn't mind helping us out with the table for Christmas, we decided to go with it.  We arranged to have it delivered because there's no way we were going to fit anything in the car.

So now, we have a dining room table and chairs! We have big person furniture! To go in our big person house! To have big person holiday hosing duties!  And to continue our big person trend, we both kept peeking out our front windows to see if the delivery people had arrived, like little kids.  We're grown ups!

(When we opened one of the boxes, one of the table tops* was damaged.  So once that's replaced and we have everything assembled I'll*** post pictures)
* Another caveat of ikea furniture: assemble it yourself furniture and that you can't really inspect what's in the box** you're buying.
**though, only having 1 out of 12 boxes delivered having damaged merchandise is pretty good odds.
***That's probably a lie. I never take pictures in the first place, let alone post them.

State Lines

mom: Why don't you change your residency to Ohio honey?
me: Because that would mean that I actually live there.   

Of all the times I've moved across state lines, I've never changed my residency.  I lived in Ohio for 7 years total, and steadfastly held onto my Kentucky residency through that time.  Turns out, I really never wanted to live in cinci.  And then I moved back to Lexington and I didn't have to worry about changing anything on my licence.  Well, seeing as I have plans to live out the rest of my life and burden my children in North Carolina, at some point I really should become a North Carolina resident.  Plus, I need in-state tuition. 

It's really not that hard.  Once I finally got a job, I could finally establish that I live here.  So I switched to NC insurance, passed my drivers test (you know that if you make it a point to never break the law and drive drunk or buy alcohol for minors, you don't bother to learn the consequences for breaking them. So when you are asked those questions on said test you have no idea what the answer is), and finally switched my tags over.

So I'm officially a North Carolina resident now.  It feels a little anti-climatic honestly.  Twenty-nine years as a Kentuckian, and then, poof, North Carolina.  That's it?  Well, ok then. I won't give up my UK allegience and pride (I never fault anyone for cheering for thier alma mater. Even if it is the devil knows as Duke), and I still won't cheer for UNC either.  But now I can really say that the Panthers are my team!

Taking Chances

A few months ago, there were no library positions that I was qualified for of any sort close to me.  But by some magic of timing, 5 different library positions became available between 3 different systems. None of them required the MLS, and one was even full time, which is what I really, really want and need. So of course I applied.  (My library basket if pretty full at the moment.  Besides applying for those positions, I'm waiting to hear back from grad school. Don't ask me about it. I've applied and I'm waiting on pins and needles to know if I was accepted or not. The only way I feel about right now is anxious.)
The good news is that I landed an interview for one of the part time jobs and I was ecstatic. I thought the interview went really well and you can tell that I am completely qualified, and I'm passionate about the work. But in 3 days I received the thanks but no thanks email. I'm glad they let me know soon, even though it wasn't the answer I wanted.  And there was still some hope that one of the other positions might happen.

Yesterday I received and email from the full time position informing me that I had not been selected for an interview.  They appreciate my interest and encourage me to continue looking for employment with them that interests me.  Except that is the position that interests me and that I'm most qualified for.  I've interviewed with them before twice for positions that I really didn't know what I would be doing.  Obviously I didn't get them, but I was still at least qualified for an interview.

Mike keeps trying to tell me that it's not a reflection of my abilities and qualifications, and that I shouldn't take this to heart.  But try not to do that.  I am still waiting on some things, but it's hard to not get discouraged about everything.  I do have a part time job right now and I'm grateful for that.  But I'm still bummed about not getting the job I interviewed for.  But I'm even more disappointed about the full time job.  Because they didn't even give me a chance. 

Medusa-esque

--me: reading yahoo news feed--
me: Honey, did you see this cyclops shark discovery?
mike: Ye...
me: Wait. Of course you did. Of course you did.
mike: Of course I did. Why do you ask questions you know the answer too?
me: I don't know.
--I click on the article--
me: Wonder what this thing looks li -- AAHHHHHH!!!---
--insert terrified scream from seeing the ugliest thing since Medusa. I can't hit backspace fast enough--
me: WHY didn't you warn me?! That thing is terrifying!
mike: I don't know?