I was 12 the last time that I was this unprepared

Lump me in with the group of people that didn't see any of the movies nominated for pretty much everything in the Oscars (yes I know that's the majority, but I'm not usually in it, I'm comfortable in the minority). I have had a rotating list of Must-Sees that we Never-Saw and they are ALL on here. We even rented some and never watched them.

Sad.

I'm living somewhere between 2000 and 2002, I think

So since Dr. J decided to go out of town for five days, I decided to start up The Gilmore Girls Season 1, which I had borrowed from a friend. I indulged in way too many days of that and once Dr. J returned, we've been catching up on all the Season 2 Episodes of 24 that TiVo'd while I was out with The Girls. I know I'm way late on both these bandwagons, and I have no one to vent my frustration with about how oblivious Laureli is to Luke's interest because everyone else is literally years ahead of me. It does calm me down to know that L.A. is not going to be melted by a nuclear bomb since I have definitely seen Jack, Tony and the gang in random Day 4 episodes. Helps me sleep better.

Misc.

I'm so behind on my blog reading! I doubt this is something I should be ashamed of, but I certainly do miss them. It's been all I can do to squeeze in half of the first season of the Gilmore Girls - whew!

I'm also looking forward to seeing this outcome. Those guys apparently need some time in a private, perhaps barred, room to see the error of their ways.

On other news my former St. Louis surrogate mother (aka, my friend that had the graciousness to let me live with her for a month) is coming to see me, not-so-coincidently on the weekend of the Oscars!! There will be much tiara and feather boa wearing to accompany whatever snooty appetizers we can muster. My friends here in Columbia are in for a serious awakening of my need to be shallow and mock others.

Tissue anyone?

I’m not sure what her initial goal was, but right now, the lower half of Professor McGonagall’s body is protruding from an almost empty Kleenex box. Something tells me those last tissues aren’t really going to be up to the job after she emerges. She’s also started doing this thing lately where she walks around with about one-quarter inch of her tiny little tongue poking out between her lips. It’s the cutest thing ever. I’m on a mission to get a photo.

Back!

I've tunneled my way through to victory! Well, that's probably a bit of an overstatement, but I at least have part of my days back to myself. Sadly, Dr. J is out-of-town and I have to celebrate alone. Even more sad is the fact that Columbia, South Carolina does not carry CheezBalls in ANY OF THE GROCERY OR CONVENIENT STORES and how is a girl to celebrate without CHEEZBALLS!?!?

I have been looking for months in every store I go into and I've finally reconciled with that fact, but it doesn't make it any easier to swallow. This past weekend would have been a perfect weekend to curl with with a canister of cheezballs and watch a movie, but alas, it was not to be. Any of you that feel like UPS-ing me a crate or two, we're BFFEs.

More to come, but not now

It's a never-ending world of turmoil in la casa, things never stop-a changin'!

Panic ensued since I returned from Christmas Vacay to find myself buried under mountains of work. I'm slowly tunneling my way out and hope to see you all on the other side soon enough...

Home Beauty Shop

The weekend was full of not-as-much-work as it should have been but yet way-more-errands-than-imagined. Blick.

The Professor is now free of her post-op stitches, has a new manicure, and got her first full bath yesterday. Amazinly, she liked the warm water being poured over her, but shrieked with pain at the in-between times and the soaping-down when she shivered miserably. It was almost too much for my little heart to take. I certainly couldn't let her dry her little shaking body without some intervention, so I gave the hair dryer on a low setting a go. Although, she was quite obviously afraid at first, she gave it a chance since it was, at least, better than the cruel 70 degree room temperature, and it was only a matter of time before she was rotating so I could get her other side and ultimately, holding up her back leg for me to expose her wet underside.

What a cutie!

Dance to the Rhythm

YES!!!

Two of my favorite things will be colliding on March 5th.

So do YOU know how to do it?

In the past, I have failed to include what I like to call Paige Stories. No one to blame but myself, but you guys are overdue for an intro to the fun. Paige has a way of saying exactly what everyone else is thinking, but she can get away with it because 1) she was raised by my family (see below post) and 2) she's mentally handicapped.

For example. You have that friend that talks all the way through the movies at the theater, no matter how tense the movie is, or how involved you might be. You are probably obligated to maybe nod politely, or attempt in vain to ignore her. However, Paige's options are considerably more open in this same situation in one smooth motion, Paige will turn directly to her and say, "TRY TO LISTEN". In similar circumstances, when maybe your Grandmother is becoming a little overly advice-ey when perhaps, your vehicle is stuck in the mud and snow out in the Texas Panhandle and you have little option for getting it out since there are, of course, bovines blocking your only path, Paige will gladly verbalize, "Grandmother stop talking".

I loved those two days.

Anyway, so I was home having lunch with my mom and sister and we were discussing the details of the Afternoon Popcorn (the girl needs a plan to hold on to and Afternoon Popcorn is part of The Routine).

Mom: Missy can probably make the popcorn for you later.

[Paige lets out a small burp]

Mom: Paige, please cover your mouth

[Paige covers her mouth]

Mom: No, please cover your mouth before you burp

Me: Dr. J and I are working on the exact same thing at the Casa, but for me, not him

Paige [to Missy]: Do you know how to do it?

Me: Yes, of course

[Missy takes a napkin from the table, places it over her mouth, and forces a dainty little BUUUURP behind the napkin]

Me: Now you try.

[Paige mimics the taking of the napkin, the placing of it over her mouth, and the even more dainty BLURRRRRRRRRRRP behind the napkin]

Paige: So do you know how to make the popcorn?

Introducing Professor McGonagall

Whom you are free to refer to as simply Professor or Mona, but please, upon introduction, use her christian name.



Here we see The Professor in all her might, defeating her most hated enemy, George the Mouse. Many of The Professor's enemies (aka playthings) are rejected hand-me downs from the I'm-above-such-childish-things-predecessor, Daisy. The Professor doesn't mind how long the enemies have haunted our home, so long as it is the desire of the Big Cats for her to defeat them.



The Professor has not yet conjured a strategy for defeating The Evil Vacuum, and the fact that she was forced to retreat behind the Guest Pillows is utterly humiliating for her. She won't accept this sort of imposed humiliation and has resolved to learn more about The Vacuum. Below you can see she and Dr. J doing some afternoon net reserach so she has a slight hand up in the event that Vacuum emerges. She fully expects to be on the defensive, until she has considerably more time to learn the ways of such a threatening foe.

It's a Girl!!

We bailed her out just this afternoon (maybe that's what grandmother meant?!) 12 weeks old, grey/tan with black stripes, has better than average computer skills, very purr-ey, snuggly, clingy, very stinky (and can't be bathed for 10 days due to yesterday's removal of the femal organs), wants to scratch everything (10 minutes in she'd poked 3 holes in the side of the leather couch) and very nameless. She has to stick around for a couple of days and we'll try on a few of the early bids (Dobby, Bennie, Priscilla, Alice). The naming auction is still open though, and you have gender direction now.

The best part? She's a lap kitty. She likes to stay there while I work. It rocks.

"I've simply had a wonderful Christmas and I'm just so thankful none of us are in jail"

Per the finale of my grandmother's I'm-so-glad-everyone-could-be-together speech just after family Christmas rituals had concluded. My grandmother, queen of all that is inappropriate and untimely. Props to grandmother for pulling through the knee replacement surgery on tuesday with flying colors. She's a tough cookie. Now just a little bit tougher ... watch those groins, gentlemen.

This just one of many delicious nuggets from Christmas 2005. More to come.

Mexican Tuesday

As is our new Tradition, we'll be picked up from DFW airport tomorrow and shuttled directly to a Mexican Restaurant of our choosing. I am quite the ball of excitement about this, all except that I feel like poop and I'm afraid of feeling like poop tomorrow. Wish me luck that I overcome the poopiness before christmas and that I get along swimmingly with my neph-pup (to avoid further confusion on this issue, neph-pup would be my Brother's Dog).

Signing off till next week. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

I'm not even getting paid for this

Coke zero rocks and this is a plug to get more people to drink it so it doesn't find itself in the wasteland of Tab and Pepsi Free. Even Dr. J, the sworn enemy to all that is diet, loves it.

Now that I'm of the late-twenty variety, am I still obligated to report my grades to my parents?

Remember those days of yesteryear when you would go home at the end of a rough semester for the Christmas holidays, indulge on free food and free laundry at Mom's house, maybe go out with some high school friends with a 10-spot from Dad that felt like 100 bucks since you hadn't actually held 10 dollars in your hand that wasn't already predestined for laundry or groceries since the last time you came home to visit the parents? Yeah, me too.

Remember how exhilarating it was to finish your finals, pack up the car and drive home? And how you used to wallow in the freedom of having completed another round of coursework and how you didn't even care how you did on the final because you were just so glad to be done with it? And remember how you would wake up feeling completely relaxed and thrilled with the fact you didn't have to study that day, or do homework, or go to classes ... right up until the day that you could call in on the Automated Phone System that would give you your grade report for the semester and then you wish that you had studied a little more for your finals, and the fret and the praying would start all over again? I probably have a few readers who had to look at Posted Grade Sheets the next semester when they returned, or something very archaic like that. Today the hip kids (I think the mere fact that I call them The Hip Kids makes me Not Hip) are checking those grades online. And the grades pop in as the professor decides to post them. So I don't understand why my one teacher is holding out on me ... UGH! Although I can't imagine how distracted I would be if I still had finals to take and I already had posted grades in other classes ...


I wonder if I'm still entitled to that 10 bucks? Maybe I can finagle an extra 5 bucks since I'm married now. Or does it go down by $5?

The Ultimate in Sell-Out

So today, at my conference, I was having a conversation with a certain someone that is the Assistant Director of a certain organization that funds (or more importantly, doesn't fund) university projects ... potentially my own. Apparently Mrs. Assistant Director's mouth was exceptionally full of fresh saliva because she accidently spit all over me in mid-sentence.

And what did I do?

Nothing.

I simply pretended like Mrs. Assistant Director had not spat on me and that I didn't all of the sudden have droplets of said saliva drying all over my face. I didn't even flinch or consider embarrassing her by wiping it off.

I've sold my soul.

Semester 1. Over and Out

One semester less. Doesn't say much since I only took one class, so I'm 1/6 of the way there. But 1/6 is better than 0 - hooray! This is just a quick hoorah before I skidaddle to Atlanta for the weekend. Don't get too excited, it's for work. However, there is shopping scheduled. At real stores. Some of the many millions they don't have here in the S of C. Be back next week, kiddos.

I absolutely LOVE Christmas

Love the songs, the houses dressed top to bottom with lights, the movies, the wreaths, the jingle bells, the snow (or thought thereof), the mistletoe, the ornaments, the s'mores, the christmas pageants, the egg nog and apple cider, the spicy candles popping up in all the stores, the vacations from work and the days off from school, the holiday sales!, the giving of gifts, the green, the red, the silver, the gold, santa, rudolph and the gang, the family home videos, the lazy days of winter, the smell of fireplaces burning, the holiday cheer. Love it, love it, love it all. Never get a bit tired of any of it.

God Bless You, Everyone!

One Week In

Last set of house photos, I swear. I know some of you are interested and requesting photos but there are still others who could not care less.

Witness. Christmas is in full swing at La Casa, inasmuch as christmas can swing sans Tree.


I can practically hear the reindeer's footsteps clacking on my roof.


That's a little Leonardo Da Vinci via the History Channel in the background. A perfect Advent accompanyment if you ask me.


Yeah! The newly installed refrigerator hosting many a christmas treat (and many a Thanksgiving leftover)


If you squint through the darkness you can see a stack ... ahem ... a mountain of boxes and plastic wrap. That's the trash. Ready as can be to find a new home. Wonder who's job that is.


Unplaced decor stacking up in this room, on the bed and furniture. I'm sure it will be sorted last. It did help in upping the box count in the hallway though.


Forgive the poor photo. It's hard to see from this angle but there are pencil markings surrounding the perimeter of that shelf. That shelf there, the one that almost became the bane of Dr. J's existince.


The official study/work area. We are currently accepting donations in the amount of $25. No personal checks please.

Cupcake Day!

It has just occurred to me ... back in the day, when I was at A&M, on the first day of finals each semester all the engineering professors and staff would each bring in about 3 dozen or so homemade cupcakes. For those of you that think that's not that many cupcakes, there are about 900 Civil Undergrads at any given time and I could always eat cupcakes until I was sick to my stomach. They actually lined the corridors with them.

Sweet, luscious, mouth-watering cupcakes.

Somehow I doubt I have that to look forward to here. I have a feeling that not every university does that. Come to think of it, it may have only been the Civil Engineering Department. I do, however, have my very own professor that I sleep with every night. Maybe he'll make me a private stash. I like the white ones. With the pink icing. Maybe rainbow sprinkles inside too.