the annie blog

I had a pretty good day.  I actually got some stuff done at the office – unlike yesterday.  So that was good, but I still have things I need to do tonight.  Homework,  homework, homework.
 
The summer is almost over, and I’m starting to get a little sad about things.  Isn’t that awful?  I remember being young and the summer lasting forever. I was always thinking I would forget the names of my classmates because it had been such a long time since we’d seen each other.  Now, of course, as we get older, time moves differently. I don’t think that’s such a good thing.  I wonder why that happens?  Like, when Christmas would come around I could barely remember the year before, it seemed like eons ago.  Now, I totally remember every detail about last Christmas and can’t believe that I’ve actually started Christmas shopping.  There is some sadness in having time move so quickly.  I know that we kind of control that though.  Our lives are so busy.  When we were little, all we had to do is climb trees and play baseball with the neighborhood kids.  Now, our schedules are busy from morning to night – no matter what season it is. 
 
I remember my mom saying that the summer would go by so fast and I couldn’t understand what she meant by that.  Now I do.  unfortunately.  It really is a sad thing.  But, I guess that’s part of life.  I would love to lounge around all day by the beach or something for months on end.  But then there’s this part of me that wants to watch movies, go shopping, visit friends, get some yardwork done.  The two worlds don’t mix.  I suppose we could take it day by day.  Make one day a lazy day, and make the other a normal busy day.
 
I just read an article in the recent issue of “Time” magazine about Sunday.  How it used to be a day of total rest and relaxation – everything was closed and you weren’t even supposed to do anything.  Do I agree with that?  Yes and no.  Having a day with nothing to do is pure bliss.  But, when would get stuff done?  I’m busy with work during the week, and sometimes just having Saturday to run errands doesn’t cut it.  Times have changed. There’s just more to do. 
 
I feel this connection with the early prairie days for some reason. Now I know the work was hard and strenuous, but there were some positives.   Wouldn’t it be good to sit by the fire every night and sing songs and knit? Or to be outside all the time and not stuck in an office without windows (good thing I’m not claustrophobic).  They say that if you have a particular love of a certain time in history – there’s a chance that you actually were around during that time. I believe that.  I know the times of history that I am drawn to are most likely times I was around before this life. 
 
 But “time” is an issue in all those eras.  Time is relaxing and not so speedy.  Before coming to  Blogger tonight the computer was being slightly slow and I huffed and puffed and rolled by eyes at the screen. Seriously, it was only about a 15 second wait.  What is happening to us?  Can we control it?  How much is in our hands?  How much worse can it get?  I’m thankful I have my summers off of work.  It gives me time to re-group.  I need that.  Otherwise I turn into some cave-dwelling manic crazy person. 
 
 But the sense of peace I find during many summer days needs to carry me through the school year.  It doesn’t always. I try and think about the summer days, but schedules and commitments get in the way.  I need to become more aware of “time” and its effect on me and others.  More peace.  It can’t hurt anyone.

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span style=”font-family:lucida grande;color:#993399;”>Ok, I’m blogging again.  I had some thoughts – basically soap operas,chocolate, homework and the Schwan man. Allow me to expand.
 
I have watched General Hospital since I was in 8th grade.  The reason I started watching it was because my friend  – Stephanie – her mom watched it. So, one day at my house, during the summer Stephanie wanted to watch it.  I didn’t want to really, but I figured, what else is there to do? She told me who everyone was, what their storyline was, who was related to whom – everything.  She said we needed to watch the next day so we knew what was going on.  Well, that’s how habits form.  That whole summer we watched GH while drinking Shasta and eating sunflower seeds.  When school started I would get home in time to see the last 10 to 15 minutes of the show – which still kept me up-to-date on stuff.  Well, I’ve been hooked ever since.  I do not tape it – though there was a time in my life during college when I did. But I used to set my college classes around GH, and each and every frickin’ day my roommate and I would watch GH religiously.  She watched it before I met her, so that was awesome. In grad school I still watched it and I met someone who had been watching it longer than I had. Mark!  Unbelievable!  His mom was a big fan and Markie watched it with her all the time. So he knew things from WAY back when.   During the summers I fall right back in the habit of watching, of course, all my vacations – Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break.  If I get home in time I’ll turn it on and catch up.  I feel this odd loyalty to it though.  Like I don’t think I could stop watching it. All those characters have been in my life for years now.  I think I’d feel guilty if I stopped.  But I can’t wait to see what happens next.  I can’t stand Sam by the way.  I wish Sonny would just stay with Carly and forget everyone else.
 
Chocolate – when I was little I only liked fruity candy.  It wasn’t till high school that the chocolate cravings hit me.  I prefer chocolate flavored stuff over anything else.  I sometimes NEED it.  When I have it, then I feel better.  I guess I’m addicted to chocolate AND soap operas.  We usually have some form of chocolate in the house. Mark’s not a big candy eater or anything, so it’s mostly for me.  I swear, I think my cravings for chocolate are chemical or hormone induced because it’s a necessity.  Water, air, chocolate – guess that’s about all I need – oh, and General Hospital!
 
Homework – I call my teacher prep work “homework”.  When I did homework in high school I did it on the floor at the end of my bed.  My grandma made this big ole pillow with a blue and white crocheted cover, and I leaned up against the footboard with that pillow.  Sometimes I would lie down, but mostly I just sat up cross legged.  When I went to college I did homework on my bed.  I know I had a desk, but no one did their homework at their desk.  That wasn’t cool.  At my desk I put on make-up and did my hair – important things. One must impress the frat boys afterall.  (Unfortunately that’s the motto for my college years)  So I would pile stuff on my bed and do homework.  If I was tired, I’d just lie down – on top of books, papers, pens, whatever.  Then I could sit back up and do homework when I was awake.  In grad school I did homework on my couch.  I had a really, really big apartment for a college kid for some reason.  The bedroom was way far away from everything, so the living room seemed the perfect place.  Once in awhile I would sit on the floor and use the coffee table to write upon.  But mostly it was the couch.  Now I am the teacher. I feel best doing my homework on the bed or couch.  It’s usually the couch during the evenings and weekends, but late night studies require the bed.  I don’t sleep on my books anymore though.  But last night I was sprawled on my bed with papers all around, books opened up, pens and highlighters strewn about – and I had a college flashback.  I think that’s why the bed seems like a natural homework place for me.  I like to lug my laptop in there too and work from the bed.  Is there a problem there?  I just re-read this and I’m wondering if I have some strange sexual issues to deal with – what would Freud say? Nevermind, I don’t think I want to know after all.
 
The Schwan man – Schwan’s is a company that sells frozen groceries.  They come every two weeks and you tell them what you want and they get it off their truck.  They started selling ice cream, so they’re really known for that. Well, my guy is named Bobby.  I think I have a love/hate relationship with him.  Most of the time he’s totally fine, but if I place a small order or no order at all – he gets all grumpy and pulls a little attitude with me.  He pulled it on Mark once and Mark just shot some attitude right back at him.  But, most of the time he’s funny, nice and really cool.  I thought about him because he will come today – don’t worry, I’m ordering food so he shouldn’t get all bitchy.  We have a saying in our house everytime we mention Schwans “Don’t piss off Bobby!”  It’s like this warning of impending danger ahead.  One day all the Schwan men of the world may rise up and demand large orders from all their customers.  “What? No ice cream this week?  That’s bullshit!  You’ll have ice cream and like it!”  I’m scaring myself.
 
Well, that seems like enough for right now, I’m sure I could keep writing, but I think the bathrooms are calling.   Yes, I can clearly hear the sink in Mark’s bathroom saying, “For the love of God woman, come clean me!  I have whiskers and toothpaste all over me!”  Ok, ok, I’ll be there, keep your pants on.  In our house, the sinks wear pants.

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I went to work today and *tried* to get stuff done, but some former students were on campus and stopped in for about 40 minutes.  Then an employee stopped by for about 15 minutes. So, there I was with an hour lost.  I will need to go in tomorrow again to get a few things together.   I did take time to go to the campus library and get some stuff for fall.  I need to start working on that stuff asap. 
 
Mark is at school all day today.  They are rigging the theatre for flying.  Then they have their first flying rehearsal.  I wish I could fly – but the weight limit is 100 pounds.  Hmmmm – I think I’m over that limit, so no flying for me.  I’ll have to watch vicariously. 
 
I have no idea what to have for dinner tonight since Mark will be gone.  I have some ideas, but we’ll see…  I am feeling kind of lazy actually.

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I got very little sleep last night.  I was feeling fine till my head hit the pillow around 11:30.  Then – my neck suddenly tightened up on the right side.  It’s like my right shoulder and right ear were practically glued together.  I could NOT find a position in which to get comfy.  I would doze off for a little bit here and there, but I would wake up the minute I tried to move.  I’ve never had such a painful stiff neck before.  So, this whole ordeal stresses me out.  I can’t figure out why I am like this.  Well, we all know what happens to Bethanie when she’s stressed – she breaks out in hives! 
 
So, at 2:30 I get up to take a pain reliever because I couldn’t stand it anymore.  I decided to wander out and watch TV till it kicked in. So, there I am, wandering through my dark house with hives forming on my body, my right ear and right shoulder are stuck together, I look like hell because I haven’t slept, and I stink! Why do I stink?  Well, while I was in KC visiting my mom I bought this novelty pillow thing that’s stuffed with these awesome squishy micro-bead things.  It’s so soft and scrunchy – I fell in love with it right then and there.  I bought it.  Well, that morning, Mark said that he thought I was stinky?!  I had showered – my clothes were clean – what was up?  It was kind of a chemical smell – like dry cleaning stuff. Well, during my attempt at sleep earlier I rolled right into the middle of my new squishy pillow. Voila – my pillow was the culprit! So, that’s why I was stinky at 2:30 am.
 
I decide to watch TV – we all know there’s nothing on at 2:30, so I watch music videos.  I see some good stuff – like Modest Mouse, Train, and Jet.  Then I see some horrible stuff – like Maroon 5, Brittney, and Usher (Though I do have to admit the Usher video made me laugh.  Throughout the course of the song he proceeds to remove articles of clothing.  Now, the boy is cut and mighty fine to look at, but when in the world do people randomly sing and remove clothing?? I mean, come on!) I watch videos for about an hour (and yes, for those of you playing the home game – that means it’s 3:30.)
 
I can finally turn my head some and move my shoulder a little bit.  I decide to head back to bed because I’m pretty sure I can find a good position now. So, I turn out the lights and pad back to my snoring husband, my purring kitty, and my stinky pillow.

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Here is today’s Friday Forum:

1] Describe your ultimate favorite pizza. What type of crust? Which toppings? What kind[s] of cheese? Stuffed crust or not?
Great question. I’m thinking of going out for pizza for dinner tonight now!  Ok, I love very thin crust, not much sauce, lots of REAL mozzarella, lots of spicy pepperoni.  Then when it comes out of the oven I want to top it with cold anchovies.  That is the best!

2] Which beverage do you prefer to drink along with your pizza?
Pop usually fills me up so much and can make my stomach upset when I’m eating.  I actually prefer water.

3] Where’s the best pizza place ever, in your opinion?
I’m not sure what it was called. When I was in Chicago once, we stopped at some “hole-in-the-wall” pizza place and it was awesome!

4] How do you eat your pizza? With a fork, with your hand, folded in half, or some other way?
I usually start off with a fork till it cools down then I eat it with my hand.

5] Which toppings would you absolutely NEVER want on your pizza? What’s the strangest kind of pizza that you’ve encountered?
To me, chicken and pizza just don’t mix.  I can understand other combinations, but that one confuses me.

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Mark and I went to see I, Robot today.  It was ok.  I would probably tell people to wait for the DVD.  I really like Will Smith, but this wasn’t the best.  He does have his shirt off a lot and my God!!!  That boy is cut!!! 
 
I will finish packing tonight and hit the road around 7am.  I should be in Kansas City around 10:30ish.  I return Wednesday afternoon. I will probably have to audioblog during my time away.  My mom’s PC is antiquated and SLOW!  Plus it freezes up all the time and boots her off.  The last thing I wanna do it be in the middle of the post and get booted.  That always pisses me off.  So,  I will keep in touch via the phone. 
 
TTYL
 

Well, I’m back from vacation and I said I’d audioblog while I was away and I didn’t. Why, you might ask – because my mother had us on a strict schedule with no down-time whatsoever.  Here, check it out:

Sunday – I arrived at 9:30 in the morning – I know, I left at the crack of dawn, literally.  We sad and visited that day.  I could have blogged then, but there was nothing going on.  We had lunch at her house and headed to my brother’s and his wife’s house around 4:00.  They had pictures to share from their recent trip to England, and gifts to pass around.  Mom had pictures to share of her trip to Arizona.  We also celebrated my brother’s and SIL first wedding anniversary – champagne and photos.  We then headed out to eat at Bravo’s- around 7:30.  We had drinks on the terrace first for about 30 minutes. Then had a nice leisurely meal and coffee.  Around 9 we walked around and looked in the store windows and headed back home.  I was in bed by 10 because I was up at 5 that day.

Monday – up at 8 – out of the house by 9:30.  First we went to Gordman’s and bought some stuff for Mom’s kitchen.  Then we went to Claire’s had Chipotle for lunch.  Went to Kirklands, Kohl’s, Linen’s and Things, Bed Bath and Beyond, Michael’s, Hobby Lobby, Pier One, another Hobby Lobby.  Then we went to see “The Notebook” – I wasn’t sure I would like it, but I  bawled my eyes out.  We had dinner at Quiznos.  Then headed home to hang up the stuff we bought at the stores that day.  I hit the hay around 10 that night too – I was exhausted!

Tuesday – up at 8.  Back to Hobby Lobby.  Then we went to a nearby town that’s set up so cute!  It has lots of different crafty shops and antique stores. We toured all those till noon.  We had lunch at the Main Street Tea Room.  I’ll post pictures and stuff when I get motivated.   That afternoon we went back to Michael’s, Steinmart, another Bed Bath and Beyond, DSW, Barnes and Noble, back to Steinmart, back to Hobby Lobby then stopped for a malt at A&W.  The rest of the afternoon we put things together around the house and organized all our shopping.  Dinner was at El Cerro Grande’s – service was kind of slow so we were there awhile. At home we changed into our jammies then we played with my tarot cards.  Again, we were in bed by 10. 

Wednesday – up at 8. Hit the road at 9.  Arrived at noon.  Unpacked, took a much needed nap and waited for Markie to come home.

So, I think you can see why I didn’t audioblog.  We were a shopping machine!  I am sick of shopping right now. I don’t want to go again for along time. I did get good stuff for my dining room, but it’s still in packages on the table.  Not in the mood to even look at it.  I feel like I need a vacation from my little vacation.

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Here are my Friday Forum answers for this week:

1] Do you prefer to wear name-brand clothing, or does it matter? Which clothing labels were popular when you were growing up, and did you feel like you *had* to wear them in order to fit in?
The whole name brand thing doesn’t affect me anymore.  In fact, I’m more turned off by name brands now than I was when I was in high school.  In high school it was imperative to have jeans like Jordache, Calvin Klein, Gloria Vanderbilt.  And to wear these big sweaters from Forenza. The shoes had to be top-notch penny-loafers or top-siders.  Life is different in high school.  You are absolutely judged on appearances.  I’m glad I’m out of that era,
 
2] Which brand of toilet paper do you prefer? [And, the big question: Do you prefer your TP to come over or under the roll?
Honestly, whatever I have a coupon for – it’s usually Charmain, Cottonelle, or Angel Soft.  I don’t care if it’s over or under.  I know a lot of people do, but I don’t even think about it.

3] What name-brand products have you used so far today?
Goodness, ok, let me go through my shower routine.  Shampoo – Suave, Conditioner – Pantene,  Body Wash – Suave.  Face cleanser – Cetaphil.  Face lotion – Ponds.  Deodorant – Secret.  Lotion – Bath and Body.  Gel – Aussie.  Hair Spray – White Rain.  Toothpaste – Crest.  Mouthwash – Listerine. 

4] Do you usually buy generic/store-brand soft drinks, or do you prefer to stick with big names like Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, etc.?
With pop we only buy Coke.  But I don’t drink it – Mark likes it.

5] Do you have a favorite brand of laundry detergent? Fabric softener? Dryer sheets? Bleach? Stain stick?
For all my laundry needs I use the store brand or off-brand or the dollar store brand.  Makes no difference to me.
 
I am enjoying playing with the new Blogger stuff.  Well, today was our little daytrip – guess what?  We slept in instead.  HA! The alarm went off and we looked at each other and went right back to bed.  We are so spoiled.  So, all we have to do today is go out for dinner and watch the play tonight.  Other than that, it’s relaxing around here. 

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Ok, I have a link to my dining room – finally. It’s in my Yahoo photos.  Click on the Gallery button on the my sidebar.  It’s got a picture of a camera on it.  They’re basically for my mom, but you guys can look too.  I don’t know how much it’ll make sense for you though.
 
I slept like crap last night!  I was up the whole darn night.  Darn period!!!  So, I took a two hour nap this afternoon. I needed it! 
 
I’m doing better and back among the living, but I am tired.  I’ll be hittin’ the hay soon tonight. Tomorrow Mark and I have plans for a little day trip and then we’re going out to dinner and going to see a production of Peter Pan.  This theatre about 45 minutes away from us is doing it too, so we want to go and check it out.  Mark is probably Peter Panned out by now.  Then Saturday we want to see I, Robot. 
 
Then I leave Sunday morning to visit my mommy.  I will miss Markie and the kitty so much!  I have two books on CD to listen to while I drive.  It’s a 3 1/2 hour trip. I’ll take it slow and stop a lot and check in with Mark.  Half the journey is country roads and the other half is highway.  They both have their pros and cons. 
 
We need to wake up early tomorrow, so I better get my book and get some reading in before it’s beddy bye time.
 

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I have been remiss in my blogging as of late. It’s crazy busy here. Lots going on. Let’s see…I am getting the dining room in order. I will be visiting my mother next week, so hopefully while we go on shopping sprees I’ll find stuff to finish it off.

My online class is good. I was finally able to log on. They gave me a user name that was already in use. So, they had to assign a new one to me, blah, blah, blah. I have actually spent a lot of time on it. I am trying to work ahead since I’ll be on out of town next week. I won’t have as much time to work on it obviously. I would rather visit my mom than do homework anyway. I am learning a lot about the online program in which I teach. Some of the functions I have kind of blown off thinking they were a little gay, but now I see how they can be of use. I will have to get to work on my fall class an include all these new functions. Just in time too!

My laptop has been acting up. Mark has spent time working on it, but it’s not perfect. So, I’m not online like I usually am. The PC is basically Mark’s and the laptop is what I prefer to use. I like sitting cross legged in my chair with it on my lap. I can actually work very comfortably that way.

So, what else – oh, Mark’s dad is pretty sick. He’s always had heart problems, but things aren’t looking real good right now. His dad is a very stubborn man, so hopefully he’ll fight his way out of this. Mark’s been on the phone with family and everything talking about what to do. His dad lives in Ohio, and everyone else is in Milwaukee – only Mark is out of the Wisconsin. So, there’s really no one to help him. Hopefully they’ll convince him to get his butt back to Milwaukee where he can have family around. That would be the best solution. But, like I said, he’s stubborn.

I have been packing for my trip to KC to see my mom. I leave Sunday. She has major decorating stuff for me to do. She needs something for this wall in her kitchen, she needs something for the wall in the guest bathroom. She needs a window treatment for the guest room. And she wants to do something with her downstairs half bath. She moved in a little over a year ago and hasn’t really don’t anything. So, we’ll get stuff for the walls and towels and all that stuff. I like decorating, so it’ll be fun. Plus, I’m gonna look for stuff for my dining room while we’re out and about.

I have been heachache queen lately. I’m pumped up on migraine medicine. I don’t know what gives, but sometimes it just happens that way. I’m doing ok. The trick is to get it at first, then you aren’t in pain for very long.

Ok, that’s about it for now. I think I may be a sporadic blogger for the next week or so. I’ll try and keep up though.

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My, my, my. It’s been busy around here. Ok, let’s see… Mark repainted the dining room for me in a dark taupe color. Much better! The furniture is in place. The stuff is where it should be. One wall is totally empty – I don’t know what should go there yet. And this one corner looks kind of naked, so I’ll have to work on that. Also, the light fixture needs to be put up. Other than that stuff – we’re done! I will post pictures – I am super busy though right now.

Today I was in interviews all day again. This is it though, it’s the last day. Then I came home and cleaned the kitchen and the bathrooms. Then the power went out for some reason. All over the block. So when it came on I had to run around and reset all the clocks.

I am enrolled in an online class – about how to teach online classes. It begins today. I tried all morning while I was at work to log on, but it says my password and stuff don’t match. So, I emailed the help line and they kept telling me to keep trying. When I got home I tried again on my home PC – same crap. So, I emailed again and still haven’t heard back from them 2 hours later. They do have a hotline phone number, and I guess I’ll have to do that because I have got to get going on this. They mailed my textbook to me and everything. So, I will be a student for the next 6 weeks.

Tonight I need to work on this lamp we have – I need to paint it or something so it goes in the dining room. I need to do something to this mirror we have too. I need to paint my toenails. And I need to eat some ice cream. I have my priorities in line, don’t I?

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