Let's get this party started

So I’m already feeling quite unmotivated at work this week, and I’m not even past lunchtime on Monday yet. I think it’s a variety of things, but mostly having to do with the holidays. It’s this sort of restless feeling I get every year around this time, a mix of excitement for a break from the mundane and a little worrying about the fact that time passes much too quickly as you get older. I know, I’m only 26 years old, but I’m already starting to feel like the years are blurring together. Vacations that feel like they were just this past summer actually happened two and a half years ago. Dan and I argue about what we did last Christmas because our holidays together are now part of the routine, not all sparkly and new like they were the year we got engaged, or the first year we were married. Weird how that stuff happens isn’t it? It’s not necessarily a bad thing, I even find some comfort in the safe stability of it all, it’s just that it sort of snuck up on me.

As a whole, I’m really looking forward to it this year. I can’t wait to have my brother home, I really truly miss him on those nights we are sitting around the dinner table at my parents’ house. There’s a noticeable void. And as fantastic as it is that he is in Chicago, doing his own thing, making a life for himself, it’s strange to know that we will probably never have the whole family living in the same city again. Except for the holidays. Therefore we all cherish that time that he is back home with us. There really is just something about having the three of us siblings all together, bickering and laughing, sitting around the dining room table. It’s usually inexcusably loud, irreverent, and sometimes we even say really horrible things to our poor mother (and sometimes she deserves it.) I just can’t wait.

Thus, my lack of motivation here at work. One more week of this, and then its family and friends visiting from out of town, heavy carb-laden food from casserole pans, crazy children running frantically through the house with sugar and present-induced hysteria, long leisurely dinners at my parents, followed by coffee, laughing, and plans for late night movies, waking up early on Christmas morning to join in the fun as Dan’s brothers and sisters discover what Santa brought them this year, and After-Christmas Sale shopping and lunching and all that is in between.

This weekend I watched White Christmas and Home for the Holidays, and I wrapped presents and finished most of my shopping. I am ready for this holiday.

This week is so going to drag.

I rule at Christmas

I am seriously so pleased with myself and my internet shopping abilities. Basically, the internet = awesome, and I have been able to do so much of my shopping online this year that I have almost completely obliterated holiday stress from my life. Kick ass. My favorite sites for fun and different gifts, you ask?

Uncommon Goods
Creative Kidstuff
Etsy
Oh My That's Awesome
See Jane Work
Rare Bird Finds

Check em out. I'm thinking today is pretty much the last day for internet shopping if you want to avoid heavy rush shipping charges.

Anyways, I don't have much else to talk about. I just ate a ridiculous amount of crock pot food and christmas cookies and random snacks, as today was our company's annual potluck holiday lunch thing. I'm stuffed and feeling a bit sick. Also, I have tomorrow off, so that is awesome. I think I will clean like a mad woman and maybe do some gift wrapping (my all time favorite thing about the holidays). And tonight is the last night of class until January 10th. High five! Unfortunately we were assigned one year ago, to have read by tonight, a book I have presently barely touched. So I'm taking the afternoon off to plow through it. My procrastination these days is making me very nostalgic for undergrad. Hey girls - remember when I dropped that Lit class after a near-meltdown the night before a book was to have been read? A book I had not read one single word from? Man, good times. Remember when I hung out and watched movies with my lump of a boyfriend instead of studying for my Macroeconomics exam? Never fear... I'm still the same stupid girl.

Surprisingly though, I'm quite upbeat about it. =)

Just breathe

Ok, I am feeling much better about things, just 4 days later. I got the marketing paper done, and have another due next Thursday that I feel like I have a much better handle on. So I am no longer feeling so spastic and inclined to write annoying "woe-is-me" blogs. I'm much more calm, and hopefully there will be no more random posts out of nowhere about how horrible my life is. Because it isn't. But I guess we all have the right to freak out a bit once and a while right?

So tonight, I finally get to run on the treadmill, which I haven't had time to do all week. A week where I really could have used the endorphins and exercise-high, but there was just no time for it.

Monday - I was too busy with my freakout that you all witnessed.
Tuesday - I ended up staying at work until 8:00, trying to avoid wasting my entire night on a snowfall-induced 3 hour commute.
Wednesday - I had to interview my grandpa for a paper I'm writing about him (due next week).
Thursday - Work, class, wine, sleep. No Time!

Tonight I have to bake cookies for a cookie exchange with some friends tommorrow, and I am so excited! I am a terrible baker, but I love it anyways, and a night in the kitchen with the ipod blasting Christmas music sounds almost perfect.

And hopefully tommorow, out with the girls, I will be able to get some Christmas shopping done, since all we have is a few random things purchased the day after Thanksgiving. Crap. Seriously... what am I going to get for Dan? Argh. Whatever, I'll figure it out, I always do. See how optimistic and cheery I am? A different woman, I swear, from two days ago.

Happy Holidays (this is seriously AWESOME!) I just hate how elf-Dan is so much skinnier than me. Bastard.

I am stressed

Ok. I am "this close" to crying right now. For the last half hour I have been writing about how exhausted and stressed out about school I have been, and how it is impossible for me to enjoy the holiday season, and how sad that makes me because it really is my favorite time of the year, and a whole bunch of other crap. And I just some-how erased it all. ALL OF IT. And all those feelings of relief I had from getting it all off my chest and straightening it all out in my head are GONE, because the words are all GONE. Ugh.

I need to go eat like 14 cookies or something. I think that will make me feel better.

I can't wait until December 14th. This will all be over December 14th. Maybe I should go meditate and chant that knew little mantra. Because god forbid I actually go work on the paper due Thursday.

Dan and I did take an evening last week out of frantically writing up our marketing case studies to put up the tree and decorate for Christmas. Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks. The softness of our decorated living room soothes me... and the first snowfall on Thanksgiving felt like a reminder of better things to come. At least that is something.







She deperately wants to investigate this foreign being...


... and evenutally gives into the temptation.


Finally, she attempts to destroy.

My (snotty) Comeback

Things that piss me off about being a woman, especially on days like today when I am PMS-ing and eating a Lean Cuisine for lunch:

- Maybe it’s just me, but I find the entire process of sneaking a tampon from my office to the bathroom completely irritating and quite simply, exhausting. I despise the whole song-and-dance and really just hate that I have to deal with it at all. I can’t count the number of times that I’ve been mid-route and an obnoxious contracts guy stops me to ask a question, which I try to answer as I maneuver myself so as not to reveal what I am carrying. You have to be uuber sneaky, and I try to change up my methods, which usually depend on what I’m wearing. With long sleeves, I do the trusty “up-the-sleeve” move, which requires a lady to walk with her arms stick straight, (so as not to cause the sounds of rustling plastic to be heard by those she passes), while awkwardly clenching the ends of her sleeves. Other times I will stick it in the waistband of my pants, but this method almost always produces the rustling sounds, so I have to compensate by making a bunch of extra noise as I walk. It also causes a bulge, so it cannot be done right unless one’s shirt is loose and long enough. Cardigans help. Finally, the best way is really to hide the tampon in a file folder or notebook or something, and walk like you’re on the way to a meeting. However, I don’t like to use this method too many times in one day, because I tend to pass the same people on the way to the bathroom (smokers heading outside every 15 minutes - I’m looking at you), and I am paranoid that they will notice I’m carrying the same fricken file folder every time I go to the bathroom. Whatever. Maybe I am seriously crazy and am the only one to go to such lengths, but all this work to change my tampon is just really aggravating.

- It also pisses me off that I have to worry so much about what I’m eating for breakfast and lunch, so as not to completely ruin my day, because I will inevitably over-eat in the evening. If I indulge myself and have a donut or bagel for breakfast, I am regretting it almost the instant it is in my belly, because then I have to try to eat either a tiny lunch, or forgo my couch-snacking in the evening. Or that glass of red wine with my TiVo. These are treats I allow myself after making it through another 9-hour day at the office, so if I’ve screwed myself over already by 9:00 AM, what kind of day do you think I’ll have? Ugh. Today’s a good day so far though, I had a Kashi granola bar and a non-fat strawberry yogurt (with, of course, coffee). High five for me. Whoo!

- Tights. I hate that they are both soooooo freaking cute, and so fricken uncomfortable. Why God? Why? By the way, I’m wearing tights today, and I think I might have found some good ones that create minimal waist-bulge and crotch-drooping. It probably helps that I bought the biggest size there is, “supposedly” for women that weight 25-60 pounds more than me. That is such bullshit. Just add that to the list. The sizing method of tights.

- While we’re at it, sizing of ALL women’s clothing is just ridiculous. I hate that I have to try on every single thing I buy because no two retailers have the same sizing methods. How freaking aggravating.

I sound so pissy. I’m not even having that bad of a day, oh well. Maybe it will make it better if I say something nice. Ok, here goes. I love Jesus and puppies. That should do it.

What I'm thinking about

I am sick, and miserable, and exhausted. But here I am, at work, trying to keep my spirits up. What I seriously hate most about being sick is that it completely ruins any fun that playing hooky from work would usually involve. Monday I left work early in the afternoon, feeling crappy ever since returning from lunch, and then didn’t go in at all yesterday. Well, I swear, yesterday was the most boring, uneventful, depressing day I have had ever. I thought it would be fun and relaxing to spend the day on the couch, watching movies and soap operas and Regis and Kelly. However, being as I was actually sick, I did not truely enjoy any of this. Simple tasks like changing the channel or getting up to fill my waterbottle took every ounce of motivation and energy in my body to accomplish. Sucky. What a waste of PTO.

I’m feeling a bit better today, and I have meetings this afternoon, so that is why I’m here.

So all the old men at my office are constantly striking up conversations with me about Garrision Keillor because I have one of those Dwight (from The Office) bobbleheads. I’ve always found it incredibly annoying having to try to explain why I would have a television show character’s bobblehead on my desk because none of them “get” The Office, but I had never actually taken the time to do a comparison of the two, and holy crap, the old guys are totally right. The resemblence is UNCANNY! Check it.

I just had to get out of the house last night, and since Dan had a fantasy football draft, I called up my mom to see if she wanted to go see a movie. So we saw Becoming Jane, which I was formerly on the fence about. I am a die-hard obsessor of all things Jane Austen, and Anne Hathaway just didn’t seem good enough for her, not to mention the fact that the trailers I had seen looked absolutely terrible. But of course I couldn’t not see it, and I’m glad we went, because it was pretty incredible. Now I want to go watch Pride and Prejudice, or even go read it again. Or rent the Colin Firth mini-series. Or all of the above. Swoon.

I’m going to a wedding this weekend in Sandusky, Ohio. I don’t know what there is to do in Sandusky, Ohio, but it should be interesting. We’re making the 14 hour drive in a coach bus driven by the friend or brother or cousin or neighbor or college roommate or something of someone related to someone related to Dan. We have entrusted this person with our lives. Scary. Also, we heard a rumor that there will be NO STOPS on the trip, which, if true, will be absolutely dreadful. How is this possible? So we’re supposed to pack lunches? And we’re supposed to poop in the little bathroom at the back of the bus? WHAT?!!! Also, drinking is allowed on the bus, and this side of the family is known for their sometimes “excessive” drinking habits. Case in point: our wedding. Not only did his uncle literally have some sort of table-war during dinner in which they threw around the little pink M&M’s we had spent hours carefully packaging in cute little white boxes which were carefully tied with cute little pink ribbons, but his cousin was actually drunk enough to pinch the bottoms of a few bridesmaids on the dance floor. So we will soon see what this weekend has in store for us. I’m sure the wedding will be beautiful, and I have a super cute dress that I bought at the beginning of the summer that I finally get to wear, I’m just a little nervous about getting there in once piece. We will see… dun dun dun.

Good things

Lots of good things happening in my world lately, but I have to start with the most awesome: FREE coffee at work. Not only is this FREE coffee FREE, but it is really ridiculously tasty FREE coffee. There had been much grumbling around the office after one of my co-workers returned from some training out east with some very unsettling information – that they all had free coffee out there! Wait, that’s totally underselling it, let me re-phrase that. They had full out espresso machines and starbucks coffee out there. For free. We of course all cried foul immediately, and in the months that followed rumors of this free-coffee-coming-soon-to-an-employee-kitchen-near-you ran rampant throughout cubicle land. Funny what things actually instill passion and excitement in an office, huh? Anyway, as I have already stated, they weren’t just rumors, and we now have delicious free coffee coming out of our ears. Also, hot tea, hot chocolate, caramel swirl drinks, it is CRAZY!!! They really went all out. However no espresso machine, but I’ll take what I can get.

Cool thing number two in my world was my birthday, which was on Sunday, and which I milked for all I possibly could for the last week. Poor Dan. However he did put his foot down just once, by refusing to do the one thing that I wanted to do on my actual birthday. He wouldn’t go see Hairspray with me. The nerve. ;) Actually it was a wonderful birthday, and I had a great weekend. We went out with friends Friday night, hit up one of my favorite places, and proceeded to drink way too much. My brother-in-law bought me a shot, which managed to both surprise and disgust me by actually being spicy. He informed me after I took it that it was a prairie fire, i.e. tequila and tobasco sauce… yuck. Here is the aftermath:



I did end up drinking too much that night. Dan of course told me the next day that I was wholly irritating, stubborn and nonsensical in everything that I said. One thing I will say, is that I have this strange drunken habit of finding the ONE person who is not drinking ANYTHING and striking up a long and ridiculous conversation with them. Poor Corey. Liz, be sure to tell him I’m sorry. I am completely embarassed. Also, I smoked a cigarette. The first since, I dunno, 1984. Well, not really, I was three years old in 1984. But it’s definitely been a looooong time. I think I was trying to impress Betsy’s sister and brother, Abb and Tom. Hopefully I succeeded. Because smoking is the coolest. The best way to make people like you. Tell that to your children.

I have lots of these pictures… basically of me hugging the crap out of my friends. I love you guys, but you all know I am not much of a hugger. So yea. Drunk.



And finally, one of my favorite couples got engaged on Saturday, and I am so happy for them! Unfortunately, it had to be the day AFTER I drunkenly berated poor Andy for taking too long to pop the question. Poor guy. Bets – did he tell you that we were driving him so crazy that he broke down and told Dan that night that he had the ring and was going to ask you? I’m so glad Dan was able to keep that secret, because it was so much better hearing it from you. Anyway, here’s the happy couple, the night before they were engaged. So romantic. ;) Contratulations Bets... I can't wait to help you plan... and shop!

Blah Blah Blah

Some quick notes:

- I just joined Facebook, and am officially, obsessed. Seriously, everyone is on there… it is scary. For some reason, on MySpace, I always had these ridiculous high-school-esque popularity contest anxieties about asking people I may have known back in the day to be my friend. But Facebook is a whole different story, I’m searching and scrolling and adding people as friends left and right! No anxiety! No shame! Oh, I worked with you for 5 minutes at Applebee’s that summer of 2001? Let’s be Facebook friends! I knew you mostly from a-far in high school (we were in the same sculpture class!) and it’s doubtful you remember me? Who cares, let’s be Facebook friends! We were in the same dorm our first year at college and barely knew each other’s last names, then you transferred, but we got drunk together a few times… so let’s be Facebook friends!

- My stats final is tonight and then no more class until… SEPTEMBER! Yay! I am ecstatic, Dan and I have even agreed to go out afterwards with some people, to celebrate, and drink… on a Thursday night! Aren’t we wild and crazy… going out on a weeknight?! Also, I love that class and I have the highest amount of points in the class, which is… all the points. I know I’m totally bragging and that is totally bitchy, but I don’t care, I love being the best.

- I bought a huge box of granola bars at Target because they were a part of some special “bulk” offering they’ve got going on (back to school college stuff maybe?). There were such amazing deals, that we also got bulk packages of toothpaste (4 tubes), hand soap (3 dispensers), and men’s deodorant (3 bars), and now they are sitting on our kitchen table because I have no idea where to put all of it. Damn you Target! Anyway, the point is, I am now officially sick of the granola bars, and I’ve only eaten 3 ½ of them. There were 28. Argh.

- I just started watching that show Psych on USA and I can’t get enough of it. Are people watching this show? You should be. It is so so hilarious, and I want to lick that James Roday dude.

- I met Liz and Betsy for happy hour yesterday and even left work early for it, so I could be there by 5:00. Yea, the weather and traffic had different plans for me, I finally made it there at 5:50. It was worth it though, the margarita was huge and super tasty, and I loved catching up with the girls. I just wish we all lived closer, or worked closer, or something! Isn’t the point of happy hour to make it to the restaurant/bar before happy hour is over, and isn’t it supposed to be a relaxing way to unwind after work? Stop-and-go traffic for an hour and a half, I have to say, is not relaxing.

- Question for you ladies… boys, skip over this part. What do you do about your bikini line? Do we shave, Nair, wax, what? I shave, and I have very sensitive skin, which means… red bumpies, and I need to know how other people handle this. Does anyone have any product recommendations? Technique suggestions? Help me. It seems as though I am in a swimsuit every weekend this summer, and I am not complaining, because really this speaks to how beautiful it has been and that my social life has not been lacking. But I need help in this area. I would love to just get it all lasered off, but that is expensive, and drastic, and something that I think would be best done in the winter months anyways.

- I am contemplating getting bangs again, just some long ones, should I do it? Will I hate them immediately? I can’t help it, but lately I am jealous of every woman I see with cute bangs.

- My birthday is July 29th, and I am finally getting with the times, and getting an iPod. Well, that is my plan anyways. Hint hint. Buy me an iPod.

- My mom’s birthday is also coming up, two days before mine, and I am completely stuck on what to get her. She wants one of those corn on the cob butter-application things from Pampered Chef, but I checked it out, and they are $3. I think I’m planning on spending a little bit more than that. I hate shopping for my mom, she is honestly, the worst. I feel like I’ve tried everything, and she returns everything. I need ideas for cool stuff. She’s not a normal girlie lady at all, bath products and perfumes, etc. make her gag and she refuses to wear anything that must be layered, for the most part all her clothes come from thrift stores. She loves old stuff, antiques, but every time I’ve gone that route, I have gotten it totally wrong. For Christmas, I got her popover pans, and a CD. She made me take the CD back.

- I don’t know how to sign-out here, after a list of just random thoughts that have no correlation to each other at all. Also, I’m just very out of practice. So… um… later.

Inspired by my friends blogging again

So I’ve become very restless lately and feel desperate for a vacation, but a conversation this weekend with the Hubs just kicked my ass right back into reality. That bastard* will only have like 2 days of PTO left for the year after taking some time off around the 4th of July! Argh. So, I’m thinking I should stop surfing the web for dreamy tropical vacations and cease planning out itineraries for weeks in Peru and Anguilla when my restlessness inevitably kicks in every afternoon in the office at around 2:30. No more travel message boards. No more Trip Advisor. No more of this awesome website.

We had a glorious week off of school between the end of our last class and the beginning of the next (tomorrow), and do you want to know what I did during that time? Practically nothing. I am so lazy. I think I thrive much better on a busy schedule, I need the discipline. Because last week, my friends… I was a MESS! On Tuesday, after the long weekend, I got to work at 7:30 only to walk into my office, turn on the lights, hang up my jacket, and finally notice that my laptop was not in the docking station on my desk and I had left the mother f-er at home, in the den. So, a great start to the work week, I had to drive back home in rush hour traffic, grab the computer, and drive back to work for a second time, again in rush hour traffic. Essentially, my normally 30 minute commute was 2 hours long, and I was at work until almost 7:00 to make up the hours. It was awesome.

On Wednesday, I decided that I seriously must have left my brain at the cabin over the weekend, because I forgot to brush my teeth, and didn’t realize it until I was half-way to work. I had to stop at a convenience store to buy a toothbrush and toothpaste, because no way in hell was I going to try to stick it out. This might seem like a very minor problem, but for me, having un-brushed teeth has to be the grossest feeling in the world. I just refuse to be in public with nasty, scummy, slimy, un-brushed teeth. Anyway, because I am a self-conscious ninny about everything, I had to buy more than just the toothbrush, because then the clerk might “know” that I forgot to brush my teeth. Yea, I know. I’m a sad, pathetic individual. So I bought a couple Sobe Lean drinks to put in the refrigerator at work, a piece of fruit to eat with my lunch, and, of course a bottle of water for the actual act of brushing my teeth, because I also couldn’t imagine the potential embarrassment of even walking into my office building with my scummy teeth. I took my loot out to my car, sat in the parking lot of the convenience store, and brushed my teeth, occasionally propping open the door to spit. Why do I do these strange things? Well, of course someone pulled up right next to me after my final spit and I quickly closed the door in embarrassment and started to get everything together so I could get out of there and actually get to work at a reasonable time. I averted my eyes from anything outside of my vehicle as I tidied up, and was sufficiently startled when I heard a knock at my window and turned to find a small Asian man looking in at me expectantly. My first instinct was to kick the car into reverse and get away from this whole situation, but my rational side convinced me that I was being, well frankly, irrational. I opened my window and found out that this man didn’t speak a lick of English outside of the words “city” and “go”. I figured out he was lost, and I believe trying to get to downtown Minneapolis. At least I hope that’s where he was trying to go, because that’s the way I sent him. Anyway, so in the end he wasn’t some kind of police officer out to give me a citation for spitting on private property, or a scary rapist preying on scatterbrained women who forget to brush their teeth at home, both of which my irrational side would have had me believing.

Where was I going with all this? Oh, yea, I am a mess when I don’t have a busy schedule keeping me on task. A complete mess. Although I can’t tell you how fantastic it felt coming home from work the last week and a half, knowing that I didn’t have to write a paper, or type up a stupid reality posting, or read a horribly dull article about IT in business written in 1998. I actually made good, healthy dinners every night and we took the dog for walks, it was fantastic. Ah, but all that ends tomorrow. Oh well.

* I feel bad about the bastard comment, it’s not Dan’s fault that he gets a measly amount of paid vacation and my family decided to take a ski trip in January that pretty much slashed his quota for the year in half. I become snotty and irritable when I want to be somewhere that I’m not.

I should be writing a paper

I should be writing a paper right now (due Tuesday), or maybe showering, seeing as it's 2:30 in the afternoon, or, on that note, maybe I should be running, since that's the reason why I keep telling myself its ok that I haven't showered yet. Getting all sweaty and smelly on the treadmill sorta negates the whole showering thing. Anyway, the point is, I'm not doing what I should be doing, because I'm lazy, and because I was sick of seeing the same entry at the top of my blog. (Noone's fault but mine, I know.)

So I thought I'd quick say hello and post a few pictures of the pretty tree in our backyard. I seriously love spring, it's so gorgeous here right now!

But first, here's what Dan and I do on Thursday nights when we don't have class... sit at home and take pictures of ourselves. And watch The Office, of course.

Fashion Challenge!

Sarah presented this really fun fashion challenge over on her blog to try to come up with an outfit for under $50. Here it is in her words…

Put together a cute ensemble for a party, for under $50.00. It must include at least clothes and shoes but if you want to try for a matching handbag and jewelry like I did then by all means do it! And if you decide to accept this challenge, let me know so I can check it out.

So, since I have sort of hit that “I can’t handle this anymore and I refuse to start anything new after 4:00” wall here at work, I thought it would easily help me pass the time! Also, it goes without saying that I love this kind of stuff, which is why I love Sarah’s blog so much. Here’s my outfit, sort of a sassy retro look, I’m digging it…

The dress is from Charlotte Russe and costs $24.99.

And these darling peep-toes can be purchased from GoJane.com for $17.99.

And finally, the earings are from Forever 21, and are super cheap, just $2.80.

So for just $45.78, I think this is a fabulous party outfit, and I'm quite pleased with myself for putting it together. Even though I never shop at any of these places. Hmm... maybe I should?

Snowwww... I'll wash my hair with snow

This weather is seriously out of control... and I absolutely love it! When else does your boss come to you at 8:00 AM to tell you to feel free to leave work whenever you'd like, to not worry about making up the hours, to just leave him a voice mail the next morning if you're not going to make it in? Snow days are seriously awesome. I remember back in college sophomore year having classes cancelled because of crazy amounts of snow, but I suppose I remember that very well because that same day Kate and I, despite the weather advisories and the fact that our ENTIRE COLLEGE TOWN had shut down because of the conditions, attempted to make the drive to Decorah, Iowa to pick up Lisa and rolled her Explorer and missed hitting a semi by about 3 feet and almost died. Yeah... good times.



Anyway, back to today, the awesome snow day. The one ironically crappy thing about today is that it is Dan's and my first week without class since we started grad school and, of course, if we had had class, (I hate when sentences end up like that, with two had's right next to each other, I suppose it's probably simply a product of my crappy writing and it doesn't actually happen to anyone else), it would have been cancelled. Isn't that just how life goes?



So I went outside to try to take some pictures, because for all the bitching people do about snow and how it disrupts our lives and all that, it is so ridiculously gorgeous. I absolutely love it. (That may be because I am not the one outside shovelling right now... husbands are quite nice to have on days like today.)



Oh, and Nathan, could you please call me or email me or something? What's going on with you? Do you still love your family at all? If you do... you should really call and tell us that, because we're starting to really wonder. Sorry to do this so publicly, but we're running out of options, short of driving down to Chicago and busting down the door at Banana Republic with the producers of Intervention. Love you.

Whining

This "studying" thing is, admittedly, a little irritating. Going back to school has just added this whole new element of planning to my life that I hadn't had to deal with since college. Don't get me wrong, I love sitting at the coffee shop with my laptop (loving it!) and I seriously don't mind filling my brain with something useful as opposed to fashion magazine articles, celebrity gossip, and random bloggers' self-obsessed ruminations (no offense!), but there is just not enough fricken time in the day! When you add all these new school responsibilities to my already over-loaded schedule of working and tv and socializing and spending time with the pup and once-in-a-while giving my husband a little bit of much-deserved affection, it just feels like I am never doing everything that I want to be doing. I mean seriously, my DVR is like 90% full, and most of it is crap that I just haven't had time to watch. I hate it. I feel so left out when I read my TV gossip blogs, I have no idea what's going on. Case-in-point: 24. I was SOOO excited about the new season, but I haven't watched any of it yet. That's like 6 hours of television right there! But of course, I can't keep away from the stupid blogs, so I know that yummy Curtis dies and Jack goes all vampire on some guy and kills him with his fricken mouth, and I started reading something about someone being Jack's brother but quickly stopped myself from ruining anything more.

I am such a whiner. Oh, woe is me, I don't have time to waste my life watching ridiculous amounts of TV like I used to. I don't like myself either.

Also, about 99.9% of the fights Dan and I have gotten into in the past month have been directly related to our study habits not really jiving. Fortunately for you all, I don't have time to get into that, because it's really not that interesting. Just know that there have been slammed doors and crying over when to study accrual accounting concepts. We're dumb.

Gotta go get back to work, I'm at the coffee shop, trying to study a bit for tonight's exam. (The instructor calls them weekly quizzes, but who here has ever taken an hour-long quiz with 78 possible points? I didn’t think so, those are fricken exams.)

Ha, I just re-read all this and realized I used the word “fricken” a ridiculous amount times. I am so lame.

I'm bringing blogging back

Updates:

• Someone requested that I fess up as to how the 5K went on Thanksgiving. God, that was a long time ago, but I will say that it went fabulously, it was a beautiful morning, weather wise, and I ran all the way to the free t-shirt table at the end. It was a great way to start out my day of gluttony, even though I ended up eating myself sick. Argh, I have no self-control. (One thing I should note, however, is that I've ran maybe three or four times since the Turkey Day 5K. Inspiring huh?)
• I'm back in school, working towards my MBA, and it's been going good, really good. However, right now Dan is in the other room reading about liabilities and stockholder's equity while I am here in the living room blogging for the first time in months. Can we say procrastination?
• Oh! Guess how it is that I am blogging in the living room? Yes, we got a laptop a few weeks ago and I am in lust with it, it makes me so happy. It is pretty and we have wireless internet and I got a cute new red laptop bag/tote to carry it around in. Yay!
• As my title dorkily hints at, I went to the Justin Timberlake concert last night in St. Paul with some buddies, and it was completely fabulous. Over the last few months I have felt a little ashamed of the fact that I was going to see Justin, just as I am ashamed to admit that I have been to very few concerts in my life and one of the few was the Backstreet Boys my Junior year of high school. But I no longer feel shame, because the concert was just incredible, that boy is outrageously, almost obnoxiously, talented, and uuber sexy, and I had a blast. And I will shout it from the rooftops and tell anyone who will listen to me that I am now an adoring Justin Timberlake fan. So yeah.
• Dan and I went to Colorado at the beginning of January with my family. Pictures are on flickr, however they're not very exciting. I hate how I can't take pictures that accurately protray how incredibly beautiful that part of the country is, because it is just breathtaking. You should still check out the pictures though, because I really sacrificed to get those mothers, I forgot to bring my camera out on the slopes every single day until the last day we were skiing, which was of course, freezing. It felt like my fingers were going to break off when I was up at the top of the mountain holding up the entire group. Also skiing with a big honking camera bag strapped across your chest really is not as kick-ass fun as it sounds.

• A few days ago I got these beauties for 40% off, and I just can't decide if I should keep them. They seem really well-made, and I've been looking for brown cozy/furry/warm boots like these all season but haven't been able justify spending the money. So I just can't decide, I really am leaning towards keeping them, but I need someone to tell me to do it. (Seriously, if you think I should return them, don't tell me, because it might break my heart.)

It seems we're all relatively caught up now, so this is where I promise that I'm going to try to start blogging more often again. I'm just pretty sure it won't be from work anymore because for the past few months I have just been incredibly busy there, and it doesn't seem to be letting up. Actually, it's started to get pretty stressful, but I suppose they are paying me for it, so I shouldn't complain. Anyway, this unfortunately means that gone are my slacker 9-5 blogs. However, I'm thinking that I like this blogging-as-procrastination thing for studying, so that might just be what gets me back in the habit. Who knows, we'll see, I feel like I've written this exact thing 10 katrillion times before.