I will be on a plane for Disney.
I mean.. a family wedding.
Oh fine. I’m going to Disneyworld for the third time in a year. But it’s for a good cause – a family wedding! :)
Maybe I can get this whole e-mail by blogging thing to work…
…
Or maybe I’ll just enjoy my time away from the computer.
What do you think?!
I’m not one who really cares about my privacy online. I figure if I type it, I need to make sure that everyone could read it – even my parents.
By reading my blog and Twitter, I’m sure you could find out what Midwestern city I live in, what I do for a living and maybe even where I work. It’s not like it’s a state secret! I mean, I’m not one of those people who avoids putting photos up on the blog to maintain anonymity.
In my blog-wanderings this afternoon, I came across a website (http://www.reclaimprivacy.org/) that can check your Facebook privacy settings to make sure you’re not putting yourself out there too much.
There are certain things that anyone searching Facebook shouldn’t be able to see. You can see that I exist, you can see my network and you can request to be my friend. Pretty much anything else requires at least a friend’s link in order to see. I think that’s a safe level of privacy – for me, at least.
Reclaimprivacy.org just made me feel better that I’m safe to my requirements. And it was really easy to use! So if you’re worried, check it out and see if you’re safe enough for you.
{And no, there was no compensation for this review. I just think it’s a neat site!}
Last weekend, I decided to take advantage of the lack-of-Husband-because-of-law-school-exams-thing and so I stopped by the thrift store after church. It’s my favorite one – seriously, they have the best selection in the city.
I ended up with lots of stuff – a skirt, pair of pants, two tops and a dress - for only $16.50!
This black dress definitely qualified for a “new” outfit from a thrift store, don’t you think?
It’s sleeveless with a high neck and a little peekaboo thing in the middle. It’s also got a really nice line under the bust to make sure the girls are taken care of.
You can kind of see the details here, including the little frog clasp near the neckline.
I can’t wait to wear this one out on the town!
On Saturday night, Husband and I had a double date with G and C. We’ve been trying to find a time to use our latest Groupon purchase – a gift certificate at Llywelyn's Pub. It’s a great place for fish and chips and yummy hard cider. I went with the Strongbow and it comes in a can.
Now that’s klassy – classy with a “k”. ;)
Our awesome Groupon got us $35 worth of food for something decidedly less than that. We ended up paying $0.12 for dinner! I had to take a picture. Please ignore my attempts at blocking out semi-private info. I’m trying to get better at Photoshop, I really am.
After a great conversation and too much fried food, the four of us went back to SLU to meet up with some friends.
Normally this wouldn’t be news-worthy – basically a bunch of law school students and their significant others hanging around in an apartment, drinking beer, and watching the best of UFC matches on Spike. Yeah, I didn’t get it either.
But I have to tell you about what happened on the way from the parking lot to the apartment. There’s a long stretch of campus that used to be streets but has since been paved over to make the campus more walker-friendly. There are a lot of gorgeous trees and nice flowers to decorate – honestly, the beautiful scenery is one of the reasons I went to SLU in the first place.
But near the law school, the law students (Husband and G) got excited about nearing a particular tree, asking if their friend the blackbird would be there.
I had no idea what was going on but C was getting excited too. She wanted to see this thing for herself.
You can kind of see in my bad iPhone photo but there’s a blackbird on the top of the lamp. Apparently, this bird is VERY territorial – and it thinks this tree and lamp is HIS.
The bird goes dive-bombing every time someone comes near him. The second after this photo was taken, the bird came off the lamp and dived for G’s head. It swooped past him and barely missed him!
So C decided she needed to experience the bird as well. The thing actually pecked her hair when she approached its lamp. We have it on video and if she puts it up on YouTube, I’ll have to post it here. It was the FUNNIEST thing I’ve ever seen in my life!
We were all giggling the rest of the way to the party. Then we had to show everyone there the video and relive the moments.
I found out later that the law students would spent hours watching the bird do this to students – it’s right outside the law library and there are big windows for them to have a front seat view. Um, yeah, instead of studying? I’m so not surprised.
As part of my 101 list, I asked my best friend J which Jane Austen book I should read first. She said Pride and Prejudice and it just so happened that it was pre-loaded on my new nook that I got for Christmas!
So even though it took me WEEKS to read a 400 page book that should have been a breeze, I finally managed to get through it.
I must admit that it took longer to really get in to the story than I thought it would. Basically, I’ve chucked it up to the writing style. It’s like reading a story written in a different dialect – you know the words are in the same language but with a slightly different slant. I would have to read some sentences twice in order to understand what’s going on.
Another friend has said now that I’ve read it, we’re going to have to start on the six hour mini-series with Colin Firth. I think I’ll be ok with that! Although… I’m not quite sure what Elizabeth sees in Darcy. I may have to warm up to him…
Husband called me up on Saturday and asked me to come pick him up at the library and take him out to lunch. Given that he only had three more days before finals were over, I thought it would be a good idea to get him out in the sunshine and spend a bit of time with his wife. :)
We were going to hit up our favorite local BBQ place, Pappy’s Smokehouse. You can check out their AMAZING food when they were showcased on the Travel Channel’s Man vs. Food [their segment starts about 6.5 minutes in].
But Husband changed his mind after we parked and so we decided to go to the Buffalo Brewing Company next door. We hadn’t been there before so we thought it was good to try it today!
I still had a head cold and apparently wasn’t very hungry. I tried the sides – veggies, dirty rice and smashed potatoes. Husband tried the buffalo burger and thought it was pretty awesome. But it was so big he just couldn’t eat it all! I chucked it up to the sweet potato chips we ordered for an appetizer. They were ok for me, but Husband sure enjoyed them.
I don’t know if we’ll add it to our regular rotation of restaurants (like Pappy’s and some of our other favorites), but it was good to venture outside our norm.
Isn’t that what my 101 list is supposed to do?
The end of finals, that is.
Tomorrow morning, Husband will take his properties exam – the last of four exams over the past two weeks.
The laundry is piled up, the kitchen is a mess, we haven’t spent more than twenty waking minutes with each other in almost two weeks, but we’re almost there.
He’s spent the majority of his time when not sleeping in the law library prepping for all these crazy tests. Property will be one of the hardest ones – two hours of closed book multiple choice questions followed by a two hour essay (he’s allowed to use his notes for that one).
Basically, that’s my idea of hell.
Ugh. I wish we were like one of the other law school couples I know – and know that the end of finals means a bit of a break for a months before the craziness starts again.
Unfortunately, Husband and I aren’t so lucky. He has two weeks off, then a family wedding in Orlando (and a quick side trip to Disneyworld!) and then he’s back for his MBA orientation.
And with that small break, he’ll be going to school 8 hours a day three days a week and twelve hours a day the other two days of the week.
I think it’s going to be like finals week all summer. God save us.
This morning, I was given the opportunity to lector at my new parish. Now I’m officially in the rotation and I’ll get the chance every few weeks or so.
I love proclaiming the Word. It makes me feel so connected to my parish and enhances my Mass experience.
After being sick all week, I wasn’t sure if I’d be up for it. I even skipped ushering at a show last night to be sure I could rest up and not sound like a snotty mess up there at the lectern.
But when I woke up this morning, I was sounding a bit better and I figured I could suck it up and make it work. This was my first official time lectoring at the parish after all [the Easter Vigil doesn’t really count, because it was, um, special and I didn’t have to process in or anything].
When Husband and I got to church, he went in to the pews and I headed to the Sacristy to check in and make sure I knew what in the world I was supposed to do. I’m a trained lector, but every parish has their own quirks and special procedures. It was especially good to check in today because it turned out that there were no deacons – which made for some rearrangement of certain things.
I hadn’t actually introduced myself to the pastor yet. Yes, he had heard me proclaim at Easter Vigil, but so much was going on that night, I would be surprised if he remembered me. So I approached him and told him who I was and that I was the lector assigned to the first reading.
He stopped for a moment, looked at me, and then asked if I had attended SLU and lectored at College Church. I smiled and said, yes, that was me. He said he had heard so much about me and how wonderful I was at proclaiming the Word! Wow. He was so happy that I had joined the parish and was able to lector for them.
So yeah, there was totally no pressure for me to be awesome today, now was there?
In any case, the reading went well. :)
A few people approached me after Mass to say how much they enjoyed my reading. It’s always nice to hear those things!
But even better? The woman who approached me in the parking lot who said that her six-year-old actually perked up and paid attention through the whole reading. She even told her mom “I really like that lady’s voice!” while I was reading.
And isn’t that the whole point of lectoring? Making the parish really understand the words and hear the story that is meant to be told aloud?
That’s my goal at least – and I think I achieved that today.
A few weekends ago, I went out with my friend, M, and her mom and aunt, the garage sale gurus. I wanted to learn from the masters and M offered that I ride along [sounds like a police-thing, doesn’t it?] on what it supposedly one of the best neighborhood garage sales in the area.
This neighborhood nearby hosts its garage sale each year around the same time. The city hall even creates maps of all the houses that are participating each year and passes out signs for people to put in their yards to make it easier to find the houses. It’s really a great idea! The houses are so cute that when Husband and I start looking, this is definitely an area we’ll start looking at first.
At the first house, the four of us got out of the car and made a bee lien for the tables. I found a few Tupperware containers there and was kind of intrigued. Those things are really expensive new and even though I’d been wanting them for a while, I didn’t want to spend the money.
But the other ladies didn’t find anything at the house, so we went on to the next few down the street. But I kept thinking about the Tupperware and decided to stop back at that house on the way back to the car. M’s aunt, the real master, went with me to make sure she could coach me in The Garage Sale Way.
I asked the lady how much for the containers and she thought about it for a moment (there wasn’t a tag on them or anything) and said she’d sell all three for a dollar. I said I thought I could do that! After we’d exchanged cash, she said she thought there was a fourth container that matched the set and that I should take that one too. :)
I ended up with four Tupperware cereal containers for $1, pajama pants with penguins on them for $0.50 and a Weight Watchers 20 minute cookbook for $0.50.
All in all, I’m starting to get the hang of it, spending a morning going to garage sales. :)
I hate shopping for presents. You would think I’d be better at it, since I love shopping for myself. But I never know what to get people.
For my mother’s present for Mother’s Day, I wanted to buy her something fun. I found the best necklace on Etsy from seller BuySomeLove.
It was SO cute and I knew she was going to like it!
After some wavering back and forth, I decided to just go for it and I ordered it, despite Husband’s protests.
I waited and waited for my package, even though I had put a note in with my order to ask them to mail it as quickly as possible because it was needed earlier than Mother’s Day, when Mom was actually in town. In the end, I realized why it took more time than usual to get here – it was coming from Canada! Who knew. :)
In any case - I was totally right because she loved it! And really, who wouldn’t love something sparkly from your favorite daughter?
85. Buy something from 5 different Etsy stores – 1 down, four to go!
Over the weekend while my parents were in town, my dad asked if we could go out for some Mediterranean food. Taken aback, I wasn’t really sure where we could go for that in our little Midwestern town. And to boot, my dad is FROM this town – what was he thinking?!
Then I remembered there was a place down the street near the old apartment that might do the trick. Friends had told me they have great tapas. So off to Aya Sofia we went.
The food was great! The four of us split an appetizer platter with hummus, tabouli, stuffed grape leaves and yummy fried feta cheese. Then we also had a dish that had a beef patty that kind of resembled meat loaf without the tomato sauce plus a whitefish that was grilled whole. Holy Cow Batman, it was amazing!
I’m really glad we went there because I remembered we have a gift certificate from Restaurants.com that we haven’t even thought of using yet. We’ll definitely put that restaurant at the top of the list the next time we’re looking for a place to eat out. Yummy!
This definitely counts for my 101 list. One down, nine new restaurants to go!
84. Get a massage – done!
Husband and I have a friend who is a massage therapist in addition to being a great actor and stage manager. She has her own table and comes to us.
For the rest of the tax return we received and to get Husband ready for finals, we had her come to the townhouse last week and give us both an hour-long massage.
Oh and how lovely it was!
I wish I could get one done every week – if we only had the money!
If you’ve never had a massage, please go out and get one now. If you’re a law student or law school spouse, please sign yourself and/or spouse up for one right now. You probably won’t find someone who comes to your house, but if you can, more power to you! Because it’s seriously the only thing that got us through finals.
Counting the minutes until our next one…
