Forget the Irish. Today it's all about the luck of the Russians

I have been having quite the stroke of good fortune over the past 48 hours. It all started with my gem of a husband insisting that I go skiing yesterday even though he couldn't come on account of his knee being injured. So I went skiing and it ended up being one of the most magical days in the history of the greatest snow on earth (described in detail by my sister here).

After I came home Butch and I went to run errands together and neither one of us got bored, irritated, or impatient even though we had to stop at both Michael's (which Butch hates) and Sam's Club (which I hate). For two people who dislike shopping as much as we do it was quite the miracle.

Then we went to dinner with the Cassitys and the two options everyone got to vote on were Famous Dave's and Morelia and in my head I was thinking "please not Famous Dave's" even though what I said was "I'm good with whatever Butch wants" because I know of the fondness he has for Famous Dave's and I am a fantastic wife like that. And guess which one everyone picked? I'll give you a clue: I ate a chile relleno with rice and beans for dinner and there were no bottles of barbecue sauce in sight.

Then through a course of events that is too boring to get into right now I ended up going to bed at 9:00 last night. Which I haven't done in years and oh was it ever a dream come true for a grandma like myself. It's amazing what going into work feels like when you've slept for a solid ten hours hours. Too bad I know I won't experience it too often.

So could all these events be coincidence, or maybe just a result of a sunny outlook on life? I would totally think that if it weren't for what I picked up on my stroll past the office candy dish today:

DOUBLE PINKS!!!!!!!!! Which makes it official. I am on a legit lucky streak and need to get myself to Idaho to buy a lottery ticket stat. Unless of course I just jinxed myself by writing this blog post. Which is fine by me cause I'd much rather spend tonight eating curry and watching Waiting for Superman than driving up to Idaho (although the true test of this lucky streak will be if Butch agrees to watch that movie with me. I'll keep you posted).

In a related note, can someone tell me why Starburst doesn't wise up in the manner of Mentos and start making packages of all pinks? I mean, if they did any kind of market research they would know that's what people want. And instead they keep messing with us by throwing in all the nasty yellows and oranges. If it didn't make me look like a loon with too much time on my hands I would probably write them a strongly worded letter.

February the 14th

Remember that post where I wrote about how much more awesome Valentine's Day is if celebrated in an elementary school fashion? Well, apparently my co-workers got the memo cause when I walked into work this morning this is what I saw (please ignore the hand lotion and other various messes cluttering my desk):

Just now co-worker Frank walked by and presented me with a Sponge Bob valentine and a Reese's peanut butter cup. I love Valentines Day. And don't you worry, I also did my part in spreading Valentines cheer in the office by handing out these treats:

Also making me happy this Valentines Day is the fact that I actually sort of decorated for my favorite holiday this year:

It may not seem like much to you crafty types but I thought it was quite domestic of me.

Now moving on to what is making me unhappy on this lovely holiday. It is the fact that Mike's professors are apparently Valentines Day scrooges so he has a test tonight and a paper due tomorrow. Which means that we will be spending most of the day apart, and I kind of like to have my husband around on holidays devoted to love.

But I'm going to make the most of this situation by using the alone time to cook a nice dinner while listening to the old jazz music that I love but isn't really Butch's cup of tea. So Billie Holiday and I will spend the evening together lamenting the absence of men in our lives. I don't know why but I almost think sad love songs have more of a romance to them than the happy ones, and no one does sad music better than Billie. Her voice is like the musical equivalent of dark chocolate in that even her happiest songs have a bit of melancholy longing to them. Perfect for Valentine's Day.












Not diggin Billie? Maybe Andre 3000 is more your jam (this song gets stuck in my head without fail every Valentine's Day. Hence the title of this post):


Happy Valentines Day! Hope yours is filled with love. And candy.

Say it ain't so

Of course we knew Jerry wasn't going to be around forever, but I never thought it would end like this:

http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=304&sid=14327951

I'm gonna miss that cranky old man.

Just some whining and Peter Pan syndrome going on over here

Sometimes I feel like the guy in this song:



Although I would be an ungrateful idiot if I didn’t recognize that, for an English major, I’ve done pretty well for myself. I have a full-time job with benefits that actually requires me to use the skills I learned in college (although no one has asked about my thoughts on Derrida or Foucault yet, thank goodness), the company I work for is awesome, and I make enough money to avoid the “living on government cheese” stereotype.

But there are still times when I get anxious about the future and this week has been one of those times. As of last week I’ve been at my job for three years and have this feeling that it’s time to move forward somehow but so far none of the options I’ve explored have panned out and it’s frustrating. More frustrating, though, is the fact that I can’t pinpoint exactly what direction it is that I want to move in.

I’ve been toying with the notion of going back to school for a Masters in rhetoric and compositon but am having a hard time getting excited about that idea. And if I’m not excited about it now, I’m sure as hell not going to be excited about it when I have to scrounge up letters of recommendation, take the GRE (again-ugh), and juggle the craziness that is full-time work and school, so what’s the point in even applying?

But I could just be thinking that way because I still have a bad taste in my mouth from my prior grad school experience, which consisted of two semesters spent trying to convince myself that I wanted to be a public school teacher while repressing the little voice in my head that kept telling otherwise. Quitting that program was one of the most liberating things I’ve ever done, yet I’m still kind of angry about the waste of time and money and can’t bring myself to repeat that experience.

I guess the underlying frustration here is that, career-wise, I have next to no idea of what I want to do with my life. All the ideas I had going into college–law school, journalism, teaching—ended up being things I was not passionate about. People always tell you to “follow your dreams” and crap like that, but what they don’t tell you is that sometimes the hard part is figuring out what that dream is. I’m not a lazy person, but I don’t like to work hard for the sake of working hard. I like to feel like I’m accomplishing something or working towards a goal, so going to grad school just for the sake of keeping busy or because I always thought I would is not too appealing. Especially since going back to school will probably leave me saddled with student loans, something that I have avoided up to this point in my life.

I really just need to figure things out one way or another though because this funk I’m in is making me do crazy things. Like the other night when I was at the grocery store and a huge bag of Marshmallow Mateys found its way into my cart. It’s like my subconscious was saying “Hey, you know how being an adult kind of sucks sometimes? Might as well take advantage of the perks by buying the sugary cereal you were denied as a kid.” So I did. And then ate two bowls for dinner. Which I can do because I’m a grownup, dammit.