The Bottom Shelf Conspiracy

I'm convinced there's a conspiracy here somewhere.... I went to the library today to check out books. I had a very long list of books that might be helpful to me, and I somewhat randomly selected 6 that I decided to check out and peruse tonight. I found the call numbers and then went in search of said books. I found all of the books, and every one of them was on a bottom shelf in the stacks. Strangely enough, most of the books that I need when I go to the library are on the bottom shelves. I know it has to be a coincidence, but at the same time it's too systematic to be a coincidence. Therefore, I have concluded that I'm the victim of a conspiracy that targets tall people (or, who knows, maybe just me). I wonder, do all of the books that the really short people need belong on the top shelves?

The Silly English Language....

"Why do we say 'the alarm goes off' when the alarm actually comes on?" I've been helping a few ESL/NNS students (English Second Language/Non-Native Speaker) with some writing assignments lately, and I noticed that they tend to have trouble with prepositions. Being a native speaker of the English language, I don't often think about how idiosyncratic and idiomatic our language is. (Ohhh, big words!!) As a native speaker, I just know which preposition to use; I don't know why I use a given preposition instead of others, but I still know which one to use. Though I don't particularly like to just tell students the answers to their questions (I prefer to guide them on their search for the answers), I've given up on prepositions. I've resorted to the "It just sounds right, trust me" answer when confronted with questions concerning why we use certain prepositions in certain situations in favor of others....

My Tummy Hurts, and My Neck Hurts, and....

I signed up for a pilates class at the gym this semester. We've met twice this week (Tuesday and Thursday), and my muscles are screaming. It seems strange to me that my muscles are getting such a workout when I don't even break a sweat during our one-hour class. I'm hoping that my back and neck and legs won't be screaming out in pain for the entire semester....

Tired.

Yep, I'm tired. I stayed up late last night working on lots of random stuff, and I had to get up to teach class this morning. I hit the snooze button at least half a dozen times and slept until I didn't think I could sleep any longer and still make it to class on time. If teachers were allowed to cancel class because they simply wanted to stay in bed and get more sleep, today would have been one of my cancel-for-more-sleep days. I've been going through my normal Wednesday routine today, but I feel like I'm on auto-pilot. Though it's a little earlier than I typically go to bed, I think I'm going to go take my eyes out, crawl into bed, snuggle up with my Duncan (my teddy bear), and go to sleep....

Wine Tasting

Jimmy and I had a wine tasting party at my house yesterday. We've been trying to decide what type(s) of wine to serve at the wedding reception, and we decided to have a few friends help us make that decision. We spent nearly 2 hours sampling 9 different wines, and by the end of that time we reached a general consensus regarding which wines would be most appropriate for a reception. After tasting wines, we spent another 2-3 hours playing Apples-2-Apples. Though I'd played the game before, any game involving words and/or interpretations is different when played with a group of English majors....

Wedding Invitations

I mailed the first round of wedding invitations today. Though I'm glad that they're in the mail, I'm just hoping they all reach their destinations without any problems. I took a sample invitation in to the campus post office yesterday, and I talked to the guy at the window. He weighed an invitation and told me that it was merely fractions of an ounce from needing extra postage, but that it would be okay. He also told me that they would be able to hand cancel the stamps at the window in their little office. Today when I went back to the post office to mail the invitations, a different guy was there. He wasn't very polite or accommodating, he didn't offer to check the weight on the invitations, and he refused to hand cancel the stamps. (I realize that hand canceling stamps takes extra time, so refusing to hand cancel the stamps really isn't a big deal. I'm just a frustrated that yesterdays answers and todays answers didn't match.) Now I guess I'll just hope that none of the invitations arrive at their destinations 'postage due'!

One

One: The number of times my bumm met the ground today. Still icy, still cold, still slippery. Same story as yesterday....

One

One: The number of times I fell on my bumm today....

We've been hit with a wintry blast of ice throughout the past several days. The ice has accumulated, and now there's a 3-inch ice shell over just about everything. I spent most of the past few days hibernating in my little house, but I ventured out for school today. (School wasn't canceled today; I was surprised.) Even though I was all bundled up, I was still pretty cold for most of the day. The walkways and such on campus were all pretty clear, but just getting to campus was a bit of a challenge. I kept my stairs and the sidewalk leading up to my house clear, but the sidewalks near the streets were another story altogether. (I think I could have skated to work today more easily than I could have walked to work.) Anyway, I did walk to work. I figure I walked about a mile today (round trip) and I only fell once. While my bumm didn't particularly like meeting with the ice, one fall per mile really isn't too bad of an average....

The Miller High Life Guy

I was just playing around on the internet (which I do on occasion) and I found something of interest.... I was on the SC website perusing through the class notes in the alumni section, and one of them directed me to http://www.youtube.com/. I followed their links and directions and realized...that I went to school with the new Miller High Life guy. If you're interested, click on the above link and then search for 'Miller High Life' and either 'bistro' or 'grocer.' (There are two commercial on the site.) If you're an SC alum or were an SC theatre-goer, you'll see a familiar face!

Playing!!

I got to play today!! I'm babysitting for a four-year-old boy one day a week for part of the semester, and today was my first day at his house. Though I was only there for about 6 hours, we did a lot of playing. He likes games, so I got to play some of the old favorites and I also learned how to play 'Don't Break the Ice' and 'Mousetrap.' (How did I manage to miss those during my childhood?) Anyway, we had fun today, and I'm looking forward to playing again next Thursday!

Slightly Pinked

I'm 'slightly pinked'...or at least that's what the lady at the tanning place told me. I'm not sunburned and my skin doesn't hurt, it's just a little pink in a few places (that, and my face feels very dry).... I've never tanned before, so I don't really know what to expect. I don't particularly like the whole concept of tanning, but I decided that I would kinda like to get rid of my tan lines from last Memorial Day sometime before the wedding. (Amazingly, I still have tan lines from Memorial Day, and those lines don't work very well with my white dress. In fact, they look rather funny.) I'm hoping the 'pinked' stage of tanning doesn't last very long because it doesn't look very pretty....

More Wedding Stuff

Today was a 'work on wedding stuff' day. I went to 2 bridal shows today, but I didn't' come away with much of anything (except a set of heart cookie cutters). I did, however, come away with a sense of accomplishment; it was nice to walk through, see all of the vendors, and think "got that, that's done, that's done too." If nothing else, I feel like I'm making progress with the wedding stuff.

I spent a few hours this evening addressing invitations. I think I got somewhere between 1/4 and 1/3 of the invitations finished. Though they're addressed, it will probably be another week or so before they're ready to go in the mail. We still need to work out a few details regarding guest accommodations and rehearsal dinner type stuff.

I ordered the bridesmaids' dresses yesterday. They should be in in about 2 months (which I think is a ridiculously long time), and I'm just hoping that they fit the girls well so we don't have to bother with any alterations.

Bridesmaids' Dresses (Again!)

Well, here it is. After a shopping trip with Anna a few days ago, I managed to make a final decision on the bridesmaids' dresses. The color is a little darker than I originally wanted (more platinum than silver), but the style is very fun. The picture shows the general cut of the top, but it doesn't show the detail very well. The top has black beadwork on the straps, the upper part of the bodice, and around the bottom. It looks pretty sharp with the black skirts....

I'm making progress on other wedding stuff too. Tomorrow I plan to go scouting for hotels and making preliminary arrangements for guest accommodations....

I might go to bridal shows this weekend. As far as I can tell, there are three different shows happening in town this weekend (and all on the same day at the same times too). We'll see how much wedding stuff I can work in....

Subtract 3 and Add 6

Subtract 3 and add 6....that's how you get my new address!! (Actually, you need to subtract the apartment number and add 6 to the street address.) I spent most of the past few days moving. Jimmy, his family, and Anna (a friend who came down to visit for the weekend) helped a lot; they moved things from the apartment to the house, and I unpacked things and put them away. (I think I only made 3 or 4 trips from one location to the other all day.) While the move certainly wasn't very far (from the apartment to the house next door), I think it was a good one. The house is a 2 bedroom and has a lot of things that the apartment didn't: central heating and air conditioning, a washer and dryer, and a full-sized kitchen. It will be a nice little house for Jimmy and I come March....

I've also been working on some wedding stuff throughout the week. Anna and I went shopping for tops for the bridesmaids. (I think we might buy them instead of making them. It will probably be simpler, both for me and for them.) I also, with Jimmy's help, made the decision regarding the caterer. Now I just need to get the deposit in the mail. I like that some of the bigger things are finally coming together....

Merry Christmas!! (I'm back!!)

I went homehome for about a week over my Christmas break, but I'm now back in the world of technology....

I had a very nice trip homehome. I spent a few days making bridesmaids' skirts and helping Mom with things around the house. (And now I know that at least 2 of the 3 dresses fit my bridesmaids; the third bridesmaid hasn't had a fitting yet, but I'm guessing that the measurements were incorrect and I'll be redoing part of the skirt.) While at homehome, I got to see the snow storm that blanketed the Midwest and closed the interstate highways and the Denver airport. Though homehome is over 300 miles from Denver, we still got enough snow and ice to make travel a bit difficult. (Mom, Dad, and I were hoping to go to town one day to see my niece's Christmas program, to look for a mother-of-the-bride dress for Mom, and to test-drive ugly cars since Mom and Dad's van is getting old and tired, but the day of the program was also the day the weather was the worst, so we ended up stuck at home.) Though travel was a bit rough for a few days, the snow and ice were absolutely beautiful. The ice probably damaged a few trees, but the glimmer of the ice on the trees was gorgeous. The snow covered everything in a beautiful blanket of white. Though Mom laughed at me (and even threatened to get out the camera), I went outside and made some snow angels. (I tried to make a snowman, but the snow wasn't right.) While the ground was still covered with snow, the highways were clear and I managed to make it back to my home just before Christmas.

I spent Christmas with Jimmy and his family. It was a good day and a lot of fun, but it was very different than the general Christmas at homehome....

Now that Christmas is over, I get to pack up all of my things and move. I'm moving out of my apartment into the house next door. Jimmy and I will be living there after the wedding, and it seemed a lot simpler for me to move now than for me to move in the middle of the semester. Thus, I get to spend most of this week packing, moving, and unpacking stuff. We went shopping for a few things today (or yesterday--Tuesday), and ended up with several of the important things that we'll need for the house.