Firsts

I haven't blogged in awhile so I thought I would. Currently, my life is full of Masters work. Next week is the last week of the first fall session. I currently have a 100 in one class and a 98 in the other. I just finished a powerpoint that wasn't due til Thursday. It feels good to be done early. I now have one final due this Sunday and another that I have to request to have sent to me. That one must be completed that same day and must be completed by next Friday. I also have to write up my cultural immersion project. Sigh. I can do it though.

On the work front, I had a first. Today was the second day of school pictures and I opted not to have my picture made. It wasn't automatic like it usually is since I didn't have a class to take. It will be the first year I won't be featured in the yearbook. It is sad but I am in a horrible hair phase right now. I work really hard to curl my hair each morning and by thirty minutes into my day, it looks like I haven't done anything. I think I am done rocking this haircut. I started this one last Labor Day. It is the haircut I had when Brad proposed ( a year ago this coming Sunday), when I started my Masters, got my new job, got married ( though you couldn't tell that day) but it isn't working for me right now. I am thinking a bob or something a little bit longer and with less maintenance. We will see. Like Jennifer Aniston with short hair in the later year of Friends maybe? This picture isnt exactly what I am thinking but it is a bob.

Then on the home front we had a first last night. I made our first pot of chili for the fall last night. I love chili . It is so simple yet so satisfying. Dad and I used to eat it over noodles or rice. Now Brad and I eat it with cornbread and I tend to make it spicier than Dad. We had a picnic in the bonus room last night and watched our slew of Monday night programming ( Dancing with the Stars, How I Met Your Mother, Heroes and One Tree Hill) as we savored the warm goodness of cold weather foods. It was a great time. I can't wait til it actually gets cold and we can take the chili out on the back patio to eat in the cool by citronella candle light like we did last year. There is nothing like it. Tonight we reheated chili and had it with baked potatoes. Later this week, my hubby will be able to enjoy chili dogs. Another good thing about chili...it is plentiful.

A Victory!

Yesterday my mom and I headed out to the Avenue at Webb Gin to go shopping. We hit Aeropostale first and that is where we celebrated our first victory in the battle against jeans. While I tried on several pairs with much success, I ended up with a pair of 3/4 short and a 1/2 short curvy. They are the exact jeans, but they fit differently. The 1/2 curvy short actually fits looser than the 3/4 but I don't mind because that gives me a great, big ego boost! My mom was just happy that something worked because she didn't want to hang out with a grumpy Meredith!
Overall, at Aeropostale I bought two shirts and two pairs of jeans for $60. Really great deals.

Then we mozied down to Gap which was having a big sale. While I tried on many things, the only thing that managed to come home was a significant find: a pair of black dress pants on clearance for $18. They are a size 2 and are actually short enough I can wear flats with them! Unheard of.

The rest of our day centered around a venture to Yankee Candle Co. Mom bought some pretty autumn candle holders and spice scented candles, a light lunch at Doc Green's and a quick trip into Kirkland's and DSW. Kirklands was full of great holiday items, both Halloween and Christmas. I especially fell in love with a little scarecrow man with a pumpkin face but at $40 I couldn't justify purchasing him.

Overall, it was a great day with my Mom and I scored a victory in the battle against the pants manufacturers.

All the Hard Work Paid Off

I received my midterm scores back. I got a 100 on my Advanced Psychology midterm. I received a 97 on my Counseling Multicultural Populations midterm. In both classes, my score was above the class average! Yay!!!

Jeans....not a Girl's Best Friend

Due to the generosity of a fellow colleague, I have been able to wear jeans to work every daythis week. Teaching is usually a Friday Only Jeans Setting. However, we are having a Dress Down for the Cure Week to raise money for our Relay for Life team and Suzi very generously paid for my participation. This has caused a problem because I only have one pair of jeans I can fit into right now. This means there is a lot of washing going on at the Dillard house. Yesterday, I tried to solve that problem.

I had a 30 % off coupon so I went to Kohl's. I picked up size 5 and 5 shorts in the Juniors Dept, 2 Petite and 4 Petite in the the Petite section and a 4 in the Misses department. Not to mention a various selection of different brands. Here is a little recap:

2 Petite - Too tight, the right length

4 Petite - Fits in the rears and thighs but too long

4 - TOO BIG

5 - Fits but way too long

5 Short - Too tight ( does that make sense when a five fits?) but right length

I was very frustrated by the time I left the store. I almost purchased a pair of Levis that was a 3 short and fit but I decided they weren't really what I wanted. I prefer a dark wash and the Levis weren't that. I have been through this frustration recently at Old Navy too. The styles that they offer in the store in a short length ( don't even get me started on how it is discriminating against short people that I have to pay extra money to get jeans they make but don't offer in the store...sizes 1 and 2 Short) don't fit me in the hips and thighs but then the styles that fit me in the store and I decided I would be willing to pay extra for by purchasing online, they don't even offer online at all. AHHH.......

I have said for a long time now that the woman who ventures out and decides to size female clothes the way they do mens' with a width and length measure would be a millionaire, and I am more convinced of that more than ever now. It is ridiculous to assume that two women that are the same waist size are automatically the same height. It truly feeds into the negative body images that teenagers ( and me in my late twenties) suffer from. I have gained some width since I got married but I still weigh the same and I would be okay with that except the clothes manufacturers don't think I should be able to find pants short enough for me if I get wider. My last efforts to find jeans is going to be this Saturday with my mom as we go through the Avenue or the Mall of Georgia looking in Aeropostale ( I have had luck with them in recent years and better yet they are $20 on sale), New York and Company ( I have a 30% off coupon) and Ann Taylor.

Sorry to rant. It just gets me a little sad and frustrated. If anyone has any suggestions, then they are welcome :0)

Little Things Help Get Me Happy

Well I underestimated how busy my midterms would keep me this week. I have spent a lot of time in our bedroom this week ( the last two nights) alone working on my midterms and sadly away from my husband. I think Brad could tell it was taking its toll on me because yesterday when I got back to the bedroom after a meal, this is what I found:

My husband had set up my own cheering section to encourage me to smile through the hard work. How can you stay discouraged after something like that?

One Less Thing to Miss

I saw Carter for a short time on Sunday. He was decked out in Falcons gear though his bib blocks it in the picture. We had a good time. I used the excuse of needing to use Jack and Christina's internet connection to send one of my Masters assignments off in order to get to see my nephew. Now only if I could come up with a Masters related excuse for getting my haircut.....

I Miss My Blog!

Wow! It has been too long since I blogged. A week actually seems like a long time. That is because this week has been FULL of Masters work. I just completed a ten page paper that was nothing but a busy work assignment. I had to provide an intense summary of the first nine chapters of the book. Since it was a busy work assignment, I put it off til today. It is due tomorrow. All week I have been reading the boring book I had to summarize. Next week should be less work even though it is midterms. This is because in light of it being midterms I have no reading to do. One of my midterms will be sent to me on Monday and is due the following Sunday. The other one will be sent to me Saturday and is due by the end of Saturday. So while I won't have an exciting Saturday next weekend, I will have a less hectic week.

I am still loving my job. Yesterday I actually had a cookie decorating party with my favorite group of third graders. They were so into decorating their two cookies and were so appreciative of being given the party as a reward for their good behavior in FOCUS for the month of August. Then we watched a Wallace and Gromit short. It was so precious how deeply engaged they were in that film. We have a great time when we are together.

In the personal life, Brad and I celebrated five months of marriage yesterday. We went out to eat at Texas Roadhouse and had ice cream at Marble Slab. It was fun. My husband is being the most supportive force in my educational endeavors. He has cooked dinner every night this week, done laundry, washed dishes, acknowledged it was our five month anniversary before I remembered and even went to the grocery store. I am blessed to have someone in my life that will afford me these conveniences so that I may make these steps forward in my education.

Overall, life is good. Sometimes the Masters thing just takes over a little too much. Other things that I have missed as a result of being too consumed with Masters work:

* A haircut....I need one badly

* Carter.... Brad saw him yesterday and I didn't.

* My mom....I think it has been a month since I saw her

* My friends... Although I happily saw Sarah at the John Mayer concert last week, I miss most of my friends and have been missing them for a while. Jen....Nicole.... it has been too long.

* A decent night's sleep

* Jogging