Weekend Ups and Downs

The weekend started on a good note that ended up being quite a downer. Josh told me Friday morning that my flowers had come in. I was THRILLED to hear that. Until I go home and say them. They are quite hideous. Not at all what I had ordered. Unfortunately, I was unable to reach the company Friday afternoon to go ahead and arrange for a return. I called my sister Jackie and I was hysterical. She promised me that everything would be ok and we would get flowers this coming weekend and get everything done. Nothing but time helped me to calm down. At this point, I really don't care if we have flowers at the damn wedding or not. We should have eloped. It's easier!
Momma and I spent the weekend on the dress. It's nearly finished. We did the hem and the sleeves and finished attaching the skirt. We even did a homemade garter for me to wear. It looks good. The only thing left to do is press it and add the drop beads. And she didn't want to do that until right before the wedding.
At least the rest of the weekend went ok. I think I might have even passed my final, although I don't think I could fail the class if I tried. YAY for me!!!

More Wedding Gifts

Josh got his present at work this afternoon. He got his knives. Everyone went together and bought him the Calphalon Katana series Chef and Santoku knives. They also got him a knife sharpener. We still don't have a knife block to put all our knives in, but someone is bound to get that for us. Bed Bath and Beyond has a nice univeral one. I think that will do us good. If no one buys it for us, we've gotten some cash that can be put towards it. But there is still plenty of time for all that. I just wanted to let everyone know about Josh's present.

Foreign Students

Don't take any of this to mean that I have problems with students that aren't American. I actually respect all of them. Going to a different country to study for a year or more is amazing. Especially when it is a county with a very different culture and one that speaks a different language.
However, I was just noticing something and felt like sharing it with everyone. It seems like the students that come from Africa are always the most polite, and have the best grasp of the English language. Of course, the second one doesn't apply to students from England. There was just an African student in the office for some assistance. He was incredibly well spoken and I only occassionally had trouble with his accent. And that was only when he got a little excited. He started talking a little faster and didn't control his accent quite so much. It got a little bit thick for my poor ears. But he spoke so well, and he was very nice. I wish all the exchange students that came through were like that. However, a lot of them have trouble with English, and a lot of them are a bit rude.
Even foreign professors that come and live over here for years aren't as polite, or have such a grasp of the English language, as this kid was. I wonder if it is a cultural thing.....

Breaking 100!!

This post puts me at over 100 on my blog. YAY! Not that this is anything really important. But at least I have good things to say in it.

There was a wedding shower at work for Josh and I today. We got lots of good stuff. We got china, and pyrex, and silverware, and knives. Tonia bought us a gorgeous picture frame. It's a tree with small picture frames hanging off it. We got two small crockpots. We could hang on to both of them, but we really won't have room to do that. We got a lot of kitchen gadgets, and a cast iron skillet. Brandi bought us a lot of scrapbooking stuff. An album, and pages, and a collection of scissors. And different punches and stickers. I'm honestly not sure what all is in the bag. I'll find out about all of it tonight. There were a lot of items where people went in together on stuff. I hope I get all the thank you notes right. It's kinda scary worrying about that. But people will either forgive me for screwing up, or they will ignore it. Hopefully they will tell me if I do so I can fix it in my book.

I also talked to someone to someone at the flower company. After several e-mails and messages left, I finally managed to get a real person!!! He was very nice, even though what I was asking him about had nothing to do with his job. He found out that they hadn't recieved a container from China that was supposed to have my flowers in it. They have since changed vendors and are supposed to have a shipment in the middle of this week. He said that they were going to put together my order when everything came in and that I should get it around the end of this week. I'm going to plan on getting it next week just to be safe. But at least someone finally told me what was going on. I was beginning to freak out because no one would tell me anything on it. I was being completely ignored. I won't have my flowers as early as I had hoped, but as long as I get them by the end of next week I should be able to get everything finished.

I can't think of anything else major. I think I posted yesterday that I had received word from the rental place that we most likely had an apt waiting for us. I told Grant about that today and he said that he thought the area I was talking about is in the newer buildings of the complex. That would be cool. Not that I mind an older building either. I just want a solid roof over my head to be honest. I know nothing about the apt except that it has w/d hookups. I'm not even sure how much the rent is on it! I don't really care right now though. Josh and I will manage. But, anyway, lots of good stuff today!!!

Happy News! Happy News!

Josh was beginning to get upset because we didn't have any definite word on an apartment yet. He was ready to start going around and talking to other people. However, this morning before I was able to try and contact anyone my cellphone rang. It was McMahan Realty. She told us that she was fairly certain she had an apartment, complete with washer and dryer hookup, for us. She wasn't 100% certain though. The couple currently living there is trying to purchase a house, and they hope to close on it at the middle of the month. She asked us to please not be rushing off to find something elsewhere because she felt this would be perfect for us. I told her I could be patient until she finds out for sure. She promised to call me as soon as she knows.
I don't know if this is a one or two bedroom apt, or even what the rent on it is. I only know that it is in Westgate. I think.... Not even sure on that. But we are fairly certain we will have a place to live now. And with me getting a raise in July, it's not too big a deal if the rent is a little higher than what we wanted. Because I'm hoping to be bringing home a lot more than I do now. And with a little scrimping we would be able to make the rent anyway. YAY! Things are looking up!!!

Various Junk

Well, I don't think I have any earth shaking news today. Just my life continuing for the most part.
I have almost finished with invitations for the wedding. There are just a few more addresses I am trying to get people to give me. But that isn't going so well... Hopefully things will look up and people will get them for me this week. Especially since I am coming up on the 4 week mark.
Momma seems to be moving right along on my wedding dress. She keeps telling me how she has this or that done. So hopefully it will be done soon. I can't wait to see what it looks like now though. I know she is A LOT further than she was when I last looked.
I have a new duty at work. I'm not responsible for every work order that leaves our office. I have to make sure that the technician that took in the call did everything they possibly could, and that all the info the technician receiving the call will need is in there. Means if something is wrong, it's my head that gets chopped off. Lots of fun, huh? I'm just hoping that it eventually results in me getting a pay raise. It's definitely a lot more responsibility than I had just last week.
Between wedding planning and work, I now longer have any operating brain cells. Robin says they reset at midnight, but I'm not sure he's right. I've been forgetting entirely too much lately for that to be true. But come June I should have a life again, so it will be ok. Or, at least, I'm going to keep thinking that!

Educational Joke

I got the cutest joke in a joke-a-day e-mail this weekend. I don't take credit for it, but I thought everyone would appreciate it. Especially since a lot of people that read this are in an educational environment.

DOES THIS HOMEWORK LOOK FAMILIAR?

We professors have a memory for names that is best served in one of the following ways:

Your name is an eponym (you’re named after a famous person or place),
An epiphenomenon process occurred (you told me your name and I remembered it), or
An epistolary action occurred (you wrote your name down on the homework).
Of the three choices, the last is the best because not everyone can be named Abe Lincoln and we have trouble remembering where we put our wallets.

Professor Johnson, 4/19/00, written comments posted on his office door with the suspect homework

Nails!!!

I put on a set of fake nails last night. I'm having trouble adjusting. I couldn't fasten my own bra this morning. That's a bit sad.
It think I just need to get the shorter ones. However, I had to buy a stick of crazy glue this morning to glue two of them back on. I think they might go away tonight when I get home. I can't have Josh having to dress me every day!

Dentist

I went to the dentist this morning. He said my teeth looked good. He even went so far as to say that he barely had to work on them. But he did tell me to be more vigilent about flossing. I admitted to not doing it regularly.
I like Dr. Hall. He's fun. He asked about work and school and all that stuff. Told me to go have some fun this summer, not just work. I also bought the really expensive Crest WhiteStrips in his office. I want to have pretty teeth in the weddign pictures. And maybe they will stay white afterwards!!! He told me I could by the strips at Wal-Mart, but they wouldn't be as strong as the ones he sales. I went for it.

Wedding Dress Work

Momma and I worked on my wedding dress over the weekend. Things are going fairly well with it.
I got all the danglie stuff finished for it. So whenever Momma is ready to put that stuff on she has it all.
However, what was so funny was when the pinned the skirt to the bodice Saturday night. She wanted to figure the hem out. The skirt was a good 7 inches too long. I found it rather amusing.
Of course, I had to take pictures to show Dee. She sews too, so I knew she would like the opps. Apparently the pattern was designed for an amazon. If Momma had realized just how much too long the pattern was, she could have saved at least a yard of material, if not more. I'm not posting the pictures though. Too close to letting everyone know how I will look in it!!! Dee did say to tell my mom 'Better you than me!'

Daddy and Ashleigh Easter 2006

Daddy and Ashleigh Easter 2006
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

My niece Ashleigh is simply too adorable. Daddy sat with her for a while watching Winnie the Pooh. What was so adorable is that later on she walked in that room and just stood looking at the screen saying 'Bear.'

Bad News, Bad News

Well, I got two pieces of bad news this morning. I'm waiting for one of them to be turned into good news.
First off, lets do the not so devestating one. I made a 68 on my Spanish test. Well, it's the teacher's fault. She knew we weren't ready and didn't understand the material.
Secondly, this is the bad one. Somehow Payroll only cut iTech employees a one week check. We only get paid everyother week. Thank God they got the stubs posted early so we know about it. I'm just waiting for word on what will be done to correct the problem. I, luckily, can last until the next pay period if I have to. I only have one bill, that is slightly less than the current check amount, that has to be paid out of this. Unfortunately, Josh and I are planning to get his wedding band this weekend. That makes things a bit difficult. I may not be able to afford it.
I hope I don't get any more bad news!

Unity Candle Holders

Unity Candle Holders
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

This is the unity candle holder set I have ordered. I can't wait for it to come in. I hope it looks good with my candles, but we will have to wait and see, won't we...

Baker and Baker

I met with two bakers last night.
The first was Stephanie. I like her. She's really nice, and had her work put together in a very professional matter, with JUST enough casual for someone who bakes cakes in her home.
She is trying to raise her prices on wedding cakes, she is WAY below normal, and tried it out for the first time on us. It didn't go so well. Ms. Cindy had written down where she had quoted a previous price of half what she did while we were talking. She backed off. The cake I want, sized to feed 156 people, is $197.00. And her groom's cake price is wonderful too!!! $75.00 for the cake sized to feed 75 people. I think that is plenty of cake for us, don't you.
We drove out to see another lady who does cakes out of her home simply because we said we would. That was a disaster, and I am slightly sorry I did it. Her organization was horrid. She is using photo albums, designed to be opened occasionally not constantly, to showcase her pictures. Needless to say they are falling apart. Also, her cake pictures had a tendency to showcase the bride and groom more than the cake. And her prices were higher. $247.50 for a wedding cake to feed 150 people, and $112.00 for a groom's cake to feed 68. That didn't really match her per piece prices she was quoting either. I think she forgot how to do math. She was a nice old lady though. And yes, I mean old.
Stephanie is making my cake bigger than the kit I found, but that's cool. There will be pleny of cake. I'm wondering a bit about how much she charges for her fruit arrangements... I can't help but wonder if it would be worth it to hire her for that too...

The Fun Bridal Shower

Bridal Shower
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

I've always enjoyed Pepper's Parties, and their bridal showers are just as good! Bridal Showers with a TWIST! Ronda, pictured to the right, was a trip during the party. Apparently Dee, on the left, had taken her to one of these kinds of parties before. It wasn't very good though, because she nearly freaked out when we took a break and were told we would get into the good stuff when we got back.
Anyway, I had two large mudslides, a double shot of tequila and a buttery nipple while I was there.
I got lots of fun stuff too, but y'all don't need to know about all that...

Stupid Women!!!

Some women really shouldn't have a job in customer service. I just called Taylor Rental to place my wedding rental order by phone. I know what I want, and it's nothing major. I need a column, 12 tableclothes, 2 15-candle silver spirals, and 60 candles. They lady INSISTED that I COULDN'T place my order by phone. She might not pick out what I want. How can she not? How many different 40" columns can the place have??? I would switch to another place if it weren't for the fact that they are the only place around that HASN'T been known to deliver stained tableclothes to weddings.
You know, I really had something fun and cool that I wanted to post about today, but that damn woman has driven it out of my head and ruined my day. At least I will be finally meeting with the baker tomorrow night and have that settled.

Today

Test = Bombed

The Search for Enlightenment...

Can it occur successfully in one day?
There was a change to some of our systems last night. They are trying to do a universal password for all systems at USM. Last night they switched the e-mail system over. Needless to say, it doesn't work this morning.
Our phones are ringing off the hook, and I have a test in Spanish this morning. I am very not prepared for my exam. I will very much fail my exam.
I knew I should have went back to bed when I woke up. Maybe I can go protest.
However, if I make it through this day without losing my temper I will know that I have reached Enlightenment.

Yesterday

Yesterday was a good and not good day.
Spanish is going to kill me. I just KNOW it. I did really bad on a take home quiz (USING THE BOOK), and so did the rest of the class. The teacher, however, doesn't cake that we don't understand the material yet. She is giving us the test tomorrow anyway. So it really sucks.
I wanted to run by Belk and get some of the registry items that are currently on sale 65% off!!! They didn't have it in stock, but the lady said they get it in all the time. I think I will go by Friday, and if they don't have it see if I can just order it. We've only gotten $190 in gift cards for Belk.
Josh and I ate supper with William at O'Charleys. That was fun. We don't see William a lot anymore, and we usually only hang out with him when the entire group gets together. As much as I love everyone hanging out together, I enjoy hanging out with just one or two of them too. Everyone seems to act just a little different in a bigger group. I think I do too, and it's nice to be able to see both sides of everyone.

Wedding Invitations

I'm serioulsy considering address labels. I'm not too sure I want to address all the invitations. I have already decided that I am going to use return address labels. I do know that. I just have to go buy them. Hopefully I can run by wal-mart and get them today!

Another Wedding Shower

I had my second shower this weekend. It was good. Three of my school teachers showed up. I got pictures with them. Now I'm just waiting for my sister to get the pictures to me. I want to send copies of the pictures of us in their wedding invitations. I would send them in the thank you notes, but the notes I bought are two small for that. I was surprised to see three of them there. I was fairly certain that two of them would show, and they did!!! I got a lot of kitchen stuff. I have more than enough kitchen towels. I think I removed all the kitchen towels off my registries, except for a couple of special designed ones. I got a lot more pyrex, and a couple of pieces of corningware too. I even got a SmartSpin!!! I'm thrilled because I've wanted one since I first saw the tv add for them.
But my favorite gift was from my Aunt Brenda. She got a large basket and put two big beige towles, body wash, body creme, two small wine glasses, and a bottle of sparkling grape juice in it. She is so cool!!!!! All the other gifts were wonderful too, so no one feel bad that their's isn't listed here. I just don't have that much room.
The only bad part is getting all the thank you notes done. Hopefully I can get them written and addressed tonight. I'm not mailing the ones for people from church, at least, I don't think I will. Momma can hand deliver those later!!! I have either 36 or 37 thank you notes to write this time. I just don't know where I am going to put all this stuff.
Oh yeah, I even got my present from Aunt Pat today in the mail. I wasn't expecting it for another week at least. It's wonderful too. Kitchen gadgets and a COOK BOOK. Can anyone tell I like to cook?

With Friends Like These....

It's a good thing I love my friends, because otherwise I would probably kill them.
Last night Josh had to go to Meridian on a job. So I decided to punish Stimpy with my company. It's not like I had anything better to do. And I don't see him enough anyway.
We had fun. We went to Petsmart to get a brush for his cat, and then ate at Logan's Roadhouse. The one here in Hattiesburg just opened. It was good. Then we went to visit our friends Chuck and Joe at their apartment.
Chuck flew out the door to give William and I a hug when we got there. He almost stepped on my foot in the process. Then Joe decided that he had to give both of us a big hug. He grabbed William first and pulled him in. Then he reaches and pulls me in.
And slams me straight into William's elbow.
It still HURTS!!!

Wedding Goings On

I got my napkins in yesterday. They're nice. They are grey/silver with blue foil. They have a Precious Moments bride and groom on them. I'll try and get a picture or something to post.

I have a shower this weekend. I can't wait to get home. Not so much for the shower as just to see my family. I haven't seen Daddy in a few weeks now. And I need the instructions for doing the beads for my dress. Since Momma has the pattern, she's the one with the instructions. I'll have to copy them while I'm home.

Brandi told me that she and Dee have my other party put together. It's on the 8th. I'm kinda scared. I know they are planning to do their best to embarrass me. Since they are two of my best friends, they should be able to do it without a problem. Brandi's mother is also going to be there, and that just makes it that much worse. I'm not sure who all will be at the party, but it will be more than enough I'm sure. And I already know that chances are good for some of them to be strangers. And that makes it that much worse! I'm so much easier to embarrass when I don't know everyone I'm around. Oh well, maybe they will get me so drunk I won't care first!!!

I also kinda freaked the people out at the post office this morning. I just went to the one on campus, and asked for 13 books of stamps. They were slightly bewildered. They are probably hoping I'm not planning on mailing them all through them. The thought of that much extra mail probably scares them!!!

Wedding Plans

Things are going well, I guess.
Jackie sent me the costs of the invitations. Only $130. Not so bad. Stamps are another $100, but we'll survive.
I also have an appointment for my hair trial run. I'm going Thursday afternoon. I can't wait!

Something Funny...Even if you don't know much about DND

http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=608704&page=1&pp=30

Postage

Postage is ridiculous these days. For just my first shower it's $15.60 to mail the thank you notes. I'm dreading postage for the invitations. For my next shower I am carrying everything up to Momma's and going to do that thank you notes that night. Then I won't have to worry about as much postage. For anyone from the church, she can deliver the damn things for me!
I did get some cute wedding stamps though. They are purple, with a dove sitting on a branch. The picture is just a sketch in white and it is really frilly and stuff. Now I just have to print return address labels for the thank you notes. I refuse to write my address that many times!

Photo Shoot

Photo Shoot
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

This is one of the pictures Jackie took of us Saturday. I think it is my very favorite. We took another one that is going to be reworked and put on the invitations. It's a secret as to esactly what she is doing with it. I might post it after invitations go out. Just in case anyone is interested. Anyone that doesn't get a real one anyway. I really do wish that my ring hadn't been twisted around though. We may try and reproduce it when we go up to my parent's for my next wedding shower. We'll see what happens. If nothing else, I might use this one anyway. I have a use in mind for this. Wonder how it would look in black and white???

New Handbag

I got my handbag last night at David's Bridal. $16.04 Of course, spending that much on a small purse hurt, but I'll survive. It's a cream color with a lace overlay. It has the silver snap-closure (ok, so I don't know what that thing is called. So sue me!) and a short silver chain. It isn't large, but it will hold my id, debit card, a coin purse (CASH!) and lipstick. And still have a little room left. But I don't need anything big for the wedding. And this will be a nice purse for going out later on.

We picked up a few packs of Pirates of the South China Seas last night too. Josh says the junks have terribly hard to build, until you get the hang of it. I haven't tried yet. We got a decent chunk of the new nationality, Jade Rebellion, too. We bought out what the Hobby Center had. And Josh bought a big fuzzy d4 and I bought a new set of dice. They are chessex, but they look cool. I just hope they roll well.

We also saw V for Vendetta last night. That was an awesome movie. I want to go see it again. I don't want to spoil it for anyone that hasn't seen it yet. But go see this movie in the theatre. This one SERIOUSLY needs to be seen on the big screen for total appreciation of it's art. Which I always find an interesting thing to say about what it basically an action flick, even if it is deep.

We saw a trailer for the new X-Men movie too. I can't wait to see it either. It's going to be good. I'm still going to keep my expectations low. Just in case they showed all the good stuff in the trailer. I don't want to be disappointed in it.

Wedding Plans and other Assorted Things

I'm doing well on the wedding planning, ok, maybe not WELL. I'm getting things done anyway. I've ordered a wax seal stamp, and a wax gun and wax to play with the wax seal idea. I should get those tomorrow if UPS can do their job right. I've gotten napkins ordered for the wedding reception too. I can't wait for those to come in.

We know a lady that can do both the wedding and groom's cakes for us. I just haven't had a chance to really talk to her yet. But at least I'm moving ahead on that a bit.

Josh and I had our first shower Saturday. It was at First Baptist in Columbia. We got a lot of very nice stuff. We got a 61 piece set of our china, we got a few pieces of crystal, nothing we had registered for though. We got a lot of other stuff too. Some of it I am thinking about using at the reception. We'll see though. I've gotten the thank you notes written and addressed already. I'm just waiting for the wax stuff to come in.

Spanish seems to be going ok too. I made a 74.5 on the last test, but that's ok. I missed class Monday, but seemed to be better prepared than the rest of the class today. Ok, maybe not ALL the class, but better than some. And I have finished the homework for Friday too. There isn't much homework left now. I've thought about working on some in advance, because the next section is easy. But who knows. I need to work on typing my notes too.

I'm going to go buy a new handbag tonight after work. It's kinda for the wedding, but I will continue to use it afterwards. When I stopped by David's Bridal last week it was on sale. So hopefully it still is and they still have it. I really don't want to spend $30 for a purse for the wedding day. That's a little much.

Work is going ok. They moved Thomas up to sit with me at the front counter. It keeps me from being lonely up here, and from worrying about having someone to relieve me. He's here unless he's on one of his breaks or at lunch. So I have nothing to complain about. And we get along fairly well. He's a pretty cool guy.

Ok, I should really get back to work now. It's getting late in the afternoon and I have work to catch up on after being sick for two days.

I got invited into Beta Gamma Sigma. It's kinda funny actually. I just transferred into the College of Business this semester, and I'm already high enough to get an invitation. You have to be in the top 7% of the Junior class or top 10% of the Senior class to get an invitation. WOW! Also, there are only 504 colleges that are part of the organization. I think that really says something for the program that I have entered. That means we are in the top 25% of business schools! I'm a little impressed. :)

Costume Preview

While the guys were playing Pirates Friday night Dee and I basically just chatted up a storm. However, she got the wild idea that I could probably fit in one of her bodices. Well, it's done tied up as tight as it's supposed to be, but it gave the guys a preview of how it would look, and gave me an idea of how it would feel. It was actually comfortable!!! It forces you into proper posture, so you don't have to think about it. I have had bad posture for years, and it takes a little concentration to sit and stand properly, although I'm getting much better. I couldn't breathe how I was used to either, but I could breathe! I don't look positively thrilled to be wearing it in the picture, but I really did like it. I can't wait to go shopping for materials for my costume now. I think it will be great!

Driver's Ed

I love jokes about kids learning to drive. I don't know exactly why, but I have yet to hear one that I didn't think was funny. Here's one I just heard.

I pride myself on being patient when teaching driver education, something I have done for 30 years. I have encountered many, many students, who didn't seem to be able to hit the floor with their hat. But one incident was just too much.

I had a sweet young thing behind the wheel for the first lesson of the semester. She had volunteered to go first and seemed ready to show the other two kids how well she could drive. We left the rural school and started toward town.

As we approached the first stop sign, the young lady gave no sign that she saw it. We got closer, but she still did not slow down. Finally, I used the "teacher's brake" pedal, on my side of the car, to get us stopped.

When I asked her why she didn't slow down to stop for the stop sign, she replied, "but, Mr. Smith, the speed limit is 35 ALL the way to the stop sign!"

Damn Bookstore!

hawking
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

The bookstore on campus sells this card. They sell a different one too, but this one is cheaper. Therefore, all the kids buy them.
They suck. We've started seeing all the kids that bought them at first start coming in the office. And they don't work anymore. And we can figure out nothing that will fix them. They just die after several months.
So damn the bookstore for selling such shitty equipment.
Ok, now I'm over the bad mood!!!

10:00 AM, and Good News Already

I got the flower samples in this morning!!!!!! I think they look good. I'm going to try and get around to show a couple of people today and see what everyone else thinks. I hope everyone thinks they are acceptable. Of course, it's nearly two weeks before I get to go home again. And I won't see Jackie then, that I know of. I might have to order a sample and have sent to her. I know I will see Momma next weekend, so I know I can wait that long.
Also, the groom's present arrived this morning. It was so cool to open my box and find 2 package pickup notices. And they are things I've been waiting on!!!
I also got an invitation to my cousin Darlene's baby shower. I hate that I will have to miss it. But I just really can't make it to Tennessee on a Thursday night. But that's ok. We'll have her present ready and it should be there in time for the shower. Of course, with any luck they will be able to come down for my wedding shower, the weekend before hers. OH! I'm so exicted!!! Things are beginning to move along now!

Mardi Gras, Revisited

Ok, I'm not sure if the holiday was too long or too short. The kids in my Spanish class were all either still drunk and needed an extra day to recuperate, or the holiday was so long that they forgot what they were doing.
The stuff that wasn't TOO terribly hard on Friday was apparently the hardest thing they have ever encountered come today. And, of course, a good sized chunk of them didn't do the homework. I'll admit to having trouble with the part of the homework that we hadn't covered in class before, but the difference between preterite and imperfect tenses isn't that bad. I know I don't get it right EVERY time, but most of the time I can easily tell you which tense to use. Ms. Biron was going crazy wondering what had happened to the class. She reminded us all to practice and review before coming back to class on Friday. I just spent the entire time wondering if I should just ask to leave since I mostly knew what was going on. However, I sat and endured. I think I should get a medal for that. I think I was more frustrated over it that Ms. Biron. We stayed on the topic so long that I started to get confused. So I just quit participating. I hope that if she really noticed, she thought that I knew what was going on and just let everyone else have her attention.
Nothing personal, but our test is supposed to be on the 13th, and we are already at least 2 days behind on this chapter. Either the rest of the stuff will be super easy, or I'm going to pray that she will put off the exam one day. I'm probably not that lucky, but I hope I don't end up suffering because the class can't understand a few simple rules.

Have You Talked to This Guy Before?

I think I have talked to him before. On several occasions. (The tech guy, not the mistreated customer.) Of course, sometimes I want to just hang up on everyone like that. Of course, when I do, I want to tell the customer exactly what I think of them. He's more diplomatic. I don't think such customer service would go over well though.... Oh well, I can always pretend that I spoke my mind!

Mardi Gras

You know, this is an awful holiday. They let the students and faculty have two days off, but the staff has to work. My job IS students. If they aren't here, I have nothing to do. So, for today and tomorrow, I have to be bored at work.
Luckily, they can up with a couple of things to do. Homer wanted everyone to clean up their work areas and get rid of stuff that wasn't needed anymore. I did that this morning. Now I have only to wait for people to come get stuff.
And our office needs new headsets. The ones we have are kinda old, and they work for the most part. However, we don't have enough of them. Robin told me to look at some and let him know what I found. What I found and liked is the same thing that the networking team got. So my recommendation is going to be for us to get the same damn thing. They paid $300, but I found it for as little as $216.98. It just depends on where they let us order from. Hopefully it will be the cheap place, since we have to order at least 7. We have 8 stations right now, but I don't know if they plan to fill them all right now. One for each phone would be ideal. It would save is well over $600. We'll see what happens.
I also heard that the department is considering starting a small computer store on campus. I sent the boss-lady an e-mail today saying that I would be interested in working with that. Don't get me wrong, I love my job working at the Helpdesk. However, after 4 years I'm ready to advance in the organization. I think I could run that without too much trouble. We'll just have to wait and see what happens though.

Happy Birthday Cat!

In the midst of everything else I completely forgot Cat's birthday was yesterday. Needless to say, she let me know about it this morning.
So Cat, HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hope it was a great one. Now, go get a drink!

New Hobby

I've decided I want to really start sewing once Josh and I get our apartment. This is the one that I'm thinking of getting. Wheither I have to buy it or get it as a wedding gift. Free stuff is cool.
I just know that Josh and I are going to be running on spare pennies for the most part. For lots of clothes you can make something similar for a lot less. That will be one way I can expand my work-friendly clothing. The majority of the stuff in my closet that fits is either t-shirts or sweaters. So I need some more stuff that will be acceptable for work.
What do y'all think?

Happy Birthday Robin!

Robin's Cake
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

Since I just posted the only picture of Robin the other day, I'll post a picture of his cake today.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Robin!!!!
Hope you have a great day, and what are you doing actually working on it?!?

Blog Comments!!!!!!!!!

I love when I get comments on my blog, because they don't happen often. However, sometimes they just confuse me.
If get them so rarely that I turned on the e-mail update so that I know when I get one. Sometimes I can tell exactly what they are for. However, sometimes I get one like the one today. It was from Anonymous and simply read 'BEWARE!! He is not who it appears to be.' So strange. Needless to say I was very confused. If you look at a couple of links you will see what it refers to and it finally makes since. It makes for a great laugh after I stop being confused.
Anyway, if anyone wants to lay claim to that statement and tell me who it was from, that would be cool. Or leave me hanging... At least someone is reading occassionally!

Missing teen's mom faces charge

Oh My God!!!!! I know the woman in this article . That is very frightening. Not only do I know her, but she works at the cafe on campus where I get breakfast every morning!
Luckily, she is always just running the register. I might be even more worried if she had been making the food.

New Shoes

These are the shoes I'm wearing the picture of my dress. You can tell I've never worn shoes that laced up before, can't you? After wearing them with the dress at the house last night I'm not sure about them with the dress. Miss Cindy REALLY doesn't like them, but I do. They have a high heel on them, but I can walk without any problems, as long as I don't do something stupid, like try to turn 90 degrees in one step. Needless to say, I tried to do that last night. Wasn't very fun, but didn't hurt for long. :)

I need everyone to give me there opinion of the dress and the shoes. I'm not as sure about the dress as I was in the store. I kinda feel like I picked it just to be done. But I honestly do like it. Just not sure if it looks good on me or not. I want honest BLUNT opinions on this!!! This is what I will be wearing to my wedding shower at the church down here. I don't know any of these people, and I really want to make a good impression. I can always try to get something else if this isn't good.

Shower Dress

This is the dress Miss Cindy bought me last night. We looked EVERYWHERE in the mall before going to TJ Max and finding this. It looks more blue in this picture, but it looks more purple in person.
The top has beads won the sleeves the the drapy-thingie on the top.

New Boss

Robin
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

This is Robin at the end of Friday. And he actually came back at the start of week two!
He's doing pretty well in his new position, at least, I think he is. So far I have no qualms with him.
Of course, he'll never live down scheduling our Friday meeting for a Saturday in June, but that's ok.

A Joke to Brighten the Afternoon

One night a police officer was staking out a particularly rowdy bar for possible DUI violations. At closing time, he saw a fellow tumble out of the bar, trip on the curb, and try his keys in five different cards before he found his own. Then he sat in the front seat fumbling around with his keys for several minutes. Everyone else left the bar and drove off.
Finally he started his engine and began to pull away. The police officer was waiting for him. He stopped the driver, read him his rights and administered the Breathalyzer test. The results showed a reading of 0.0.
The puzzled officer demanded to know how that could be.
The driver replied, "Tonight I'm the designated decoy."

9 Things I Hate about Everyone

I can't take credit for this, but I loved it. Thanks for sending it to me Dee, hope it makes everyone else smile too.

1. People who point at their wrist while asking for the time... I know wheremy watch is pal, where the hell is yours? Do I point at my crotch when I ask wehre the toilet is?

2. People who are willing to get off their ass to search the entire room for the TV remote because they refuse to walk to the TV and change the channel manually.

3. When people say "Oh you just want to have your cake and eat it too". Damn right! What good is cake if you can't eat it?

4. When people say 'it's the last place you look'. Of course it is. Why the hell would you keep looking after you've found it? Do people do this? Who and where are they? Gonna kick their asses!

5. When people say while watching a film 'did you see that?' No Loser, I paid $12 to come to the cinema and stare at the damn floor.

6. People who ask 'Can I ask you question?' Didn't really give me a choice there, did ya sunshine?

7. When something is 'new and improved!' Which is it? If it's new, then there has never been anything before it. If there's an improvement, then there must have been something before; it couldn't be new.

8. When people say 'life is short'. What the hell?? Life is the longest damn thing anyone ever does!! What can you do that's longer?

9. When you are waiting for the bus and someone asks 'has the bus come yet?' If the bus came would I be standing her, dumbass?

Finalized

We have finalized on the tuxes for the wedding. Unfortunately, it's $120 if you have to rent shoes. We went with the cheapest tux the guy had though. We're kinda hoping a lot of our friends have black dress shoes they can wear to save them money. If not, they will simply have to pay to rent them. But I don't think that's really too bad for a tux rental. I'm not certain how we will handle all the pick ups on the rentals, probably have one person pick them up. We can either gather money before hand, or afterwards. That or we can make everyone responsible for picking up their own tux. Who knows though!

I still haven't ordered a sample of the flowers to see if I want to order from the place I found online. Don't know when I will get around to doing that. Probably the end of next week.

My shower down here is on the 18th of March. Josh's Mom has decided that I need a new dress to wear to my showers. She is taking me shopping one day next week I think. If she wants me to have something new to wear, I wonder if she is paying for it..... Something to wonder anyway. I won't have money for something like that until I get paid on Friday, so I guess if we pick out something before then she will have to pay either way.

My shower at home is on April 1. I think it's kinda funny myself. I haven't heard a final date on my other shower. Or the one for work. I guess they will figure that out eventually and let me know.

Well, I have homework to complete, so I guess I'll catch people even more up to date later.

Long and Lazy Fridays

Fridays always seem long, and they are always boring. But now that I am alone up front they seem so much worse. It's lots longer, and much more boring. Brandi and I would talk occassionally, but with the rest of the office being so far away I have next to nothing here. I just wait for customers to show up!!!
Oh well, Robin says he will have an interview early next week. Maybe that guy will be starting fairly quickly. Even if he isn't stationed up at the front counter he will be helpful. He would be just a few feet away from me either way.

Belated Merry Chrismas

Belated Merry Chrismas
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

Well, we discovered Christmas again at the Helpdesk this morning. Somehow our autoattendant at work got changed. Instead of saying that the caller had reached the Helpdesk, it said that the Helpdesk was closed for the Christmas Holidays. So MERRY CHRISTMAS to all!!!!

And sorry it isn't a better picture, but it was something quick to post!!!!

Inconvenience!!!!!

A gas leak on campus has put me at quite the inconvenience. I had left my car here after having to drive to work on Tuesday. I figured, hey! we'll save some gas because I need my car again on Thursady. Well, apparently it's not that simple. The city of Hattiesburg has to have a major gas leak that leaves my car STUCK!
And me in a bind. At least the doctor's office is in walking distance. Even if I don't want to have to walk that far.
Hopefully something better will come up. There is supposed to be an update in about 10 minutes I think, so hopefully the update will be an all clear!

New Boss Thought

I just had this thought, I don't think I've seen very much more of Robin in the past couple of days than I was used to seeing Derek. This is no comment on how I think of him in the position or anything, just an interesting thought.
I have started reviewing some training tapes he found in a cabinet. "Achieving Telephone Excellence" It's kind of interesting. A bit cheesy and feels old, but it's not too bad. The first tape hasn't been anything I really needed to learn, ie didn't know, but further tapes seem more interesting. I think I might reccommend it. There are 8 tapes, but the first tape isn't even 30 minutes long. This entire series might be short and helpful. We'll see as I continue listening....

Spanish, and others

I got my grade back on my Spanish test. 75. I would have done better if I had been in class on Friday to get the extra points. Damn migraine!!!!!!! Of course, I still felt like shit on Monday too, so I'm guessing that the 75 isn't too bad. I think I can imporove upon it. And people usually do bad on a first test anyway. They don't know exactly what the teacher is expecting. I had told my friend Jana that I wouldn't drop if I passed the test, so it looks like I'm still going strong then. Of course, the teacher's been told that she can't give us hand-outs anymore, so I'm working on figuring out how I can get them anyway. She has 150 students this semester, so the banned her from making copies for everyone. I'm thinking I might can sweet-talk Ms. Cathy, the foreign language secretary, and figure something out. But that's only if it isn't something that Ms. Biron, the teacher, can easily e-mail me. Maybe the department has a scanner......

And, for something else, check out the following link. This a site that Grant found and is pretty fun!
http://chir.ag/stuff/sand/

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope everyone has had a good one. Mine has been alright. I got to work early, had a little talk with the new bossman and got put in charge of evaluating some possible training materials for the Helpdesk. And we've had printer issues. Robin is going to see about getting me a new one. YAY!!!
Also, I didn't get flowers this morning from Josh, but I like what I got better. I got some cooking dishes from the Anchor Savanna pattern. It's a cake pan, a baking dish, and a quiche. It may not be flowers, but it will last a lot longer. Assuming I don't break it! But, it doesn't have a flower pattern on it....

halloween costume

halloween costume
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

I'm definitely liking this for a costume possibility. It would be my halloween costume AND the costume I would wear to the renaissance festival in December. I'm definitely not going bare-belly, but I like the other one pictured. What does everyone else think?

wedding shower cake

wedding shower cake
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

This is the basic idea that I was telling you about on the wedding shower cake. The only difference is that you would do the small squares over the entire cake instead of the center portion as pictured. Let me know what you think Jackie.

Happy Belated Birthday Lynn!!!

Lynn's birthday was on Friday (I think. Someone correct me if I'm wrong so I can feel stupid, but not do it again!). Since I was non-functional due to a migraine I didn't get to post a happy birthday to her.
Sorry Lynn, I don't have a good picture of you. Just a really bad one that I refuse to post.
However, for anyone interested in seeing a picture, she is on the right-hand side of the one I posted of Dee on her birthday. So you can just scroll down a little further for a picture.
Lynn is the wonderful new mother of a precious little girl Reagan, born in October. She is also a great friend that puts up with the rest of us immature folks.
Happy Belated Birthday LYNN!!!

New Boss at Work

Ok, after months of waiting we have a new boss at work. He is currently working with Derek to get the strings down. Robin has been working with us for a couple of weeks now as a temp. I think his having worked here will help us in dealing with him. He'll have an idea of where we are coming from.
I'm not going to say I will like him as a boss right from the start, but I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. We'll see what happens!!!

Spanish

I did better on my Spanish test than I thought I would. But, I think she might end up one and two pointing me to a big fat F. Hopefully I did better than I am currently thinking though. Either that or she will have pity on me. But I doubt that. I did study, honestly!!! I'm just not confident in this course. But if I pass this test, I will stay in the course. If I fail this test, I will probably be going through the motions of readmission to the university next week. Hopefully I will find out on Wednesday though. I don't know if I can handle the suspense of waiting longer than that!
I was the first one finished though. Hopefully that means something good.

My Health

I know everyone has been worried because I haven't been feeling well. Rest assured, I am feeling better. I'm just having a lot of trouble with migraines at the moment. I spend a lot of time suffering, but as long as I can manage to only miss one day of work out of the week I've been doing so bad, I think I'm ok. My head is a lot better today, although it still isn't perfect. Hopefully I will continue to feel better as the days pass.
I think this outbreak is from stress at work and the stress of my Spanish class, AND the stress of wedding planning. So , at the worst, I will feel sucky until May. But hopefully it won't be that bad.

Happy Birthday Dee!!!

100_0223
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

I just wanted everyone to know that my wonderful friend Dee is celebrating a birthday today. I won't give her exact age, but it is in the 30s. She says that the 30s rock! So everyone remember, turning 30 is a GOOD thing!!!!, or at least, so says Dee.

Hope you have a wonderful birthday.

Classes

I've figured out that I have 28 courses left before I can graduate. So, if everything goes well, I'll have a degree within 4 years. That will be nice. I only started college in 2000......
I only have 6 non-business courses left, and three of those are computer related. However, a lot of the courses are offered online or at night, so that should help me in getting courses done. I just have to figure out the order I will be taking them in. I'm hoping to get two of my computer courses and my two accounting courses out of the way this year. I have advisement on Monday, so I guess I will find out then.

Business Major!!!

Just to let everyone know, yes...that is you Jackie!, I am now a business major. I have almost completely given up on the Spanish language and will be studying information management from now on. The almost part is because I have all intentions of finishing Spanish 201 this semester. And then leaving the language behind forever.
I have advisement on Monday afternoon and have been planning out my next two semesters. It's been tough. I have almost all of my core requirements out of the way. I think I have 6 non-business courses left, 2 of which are computer programming. Then there will be few options each semester because everything will have prerequisites. At least it will be fairly easy to pick what to take!!! I just wish there were more online options. Oh well, maybe more classes will be offered online in the coming years.

Night Landscape Mode on Camera

100_0382
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

I like my new camera. This is a shot where I was playing on the way home last night. The colors of the sky were beautiful, and I just started snapping using the night landscape mode. I have some shots with colors, but this is my favorite. Since we were driving down the road I couldn't really hold the camera steady. I just love the way the car lights turned out!!!

program

program
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

Everyone let me know what you think about using this for my wedding program, I was going to use the Calla Lily program, but when I changed evertyhing else, I think I want to change the program too!

Possible Matron Dress

drapeneck dress
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

This is the only thing I saw in the JCPenny catalog that I liked for the matrons' dresses in the wedding. It comes in periwinkle, which looks very nice.
Take a better look, and let me know what you think!

LOTV corsage

LOTV corsage
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

This is the matching corsage. I love how it looks like a miniture version of the bouquet for the mothers. I showed it to Josh's mom last night and she loved it. I asked Momma to look, but I don't know how soon she will get a chance to. Hopefully within the next few days she will let me know what she thinks.

LOTV boutonniere

LOTV boutonniere
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

I know I say below that I hate the boutonniere, but the two sprig one looks kinda neat. I don't like the smaller one though. It looks lonely. Vikki, one of the girls I work with, says it looks like something a guy picked his teeth with and threw down! I agree. But I like the look of this one.

Lily of the Valley Medium bouquet

Lily of the Valley Medium bouquet
Originally uploaded by dragongoddessd20.

This is the bouquet. Josh says it wouldn't be his pick because he thinks of it as just filler. But I LOVE the simplicity of the bouquet. There is nothing to take away from my dress, just a lite complement to it.

Felicit� - Lily of the Valley - Bridal Collections - Silk Specialties

I like this for a new flower idea. Although I would want to choose my own ribbon for them. And I HATE HATE HATE the boutineer!
What do you think?

Felicit� - Lily of the Valley - Bridal Collections - Silk Specialties

Wedding Dress

Well, we went shopping to get the material for the beautiful wedding dress I had picked out.
Only to find out that the pattern had been discontinued and I can't get it.
So, we picked out a different one!!!! It's going to be in ivory. The materials we picked are gorgeous too. I'll have to try scanning those in to post for everyone. Also, for more detailed pictures of the design, visit sewbridal.com.
I'm going to have to string the beads myself, but that won't be too bad.
It was me, Momma, my sister Jackie and neice Ashleigh, and my cousin Regina shopping. It was lots of fun.
The bad part of this is that I don't think the Calla Lilies I had chosen will look right with this, so I have to pick out new flowers. I think that Jackie and I will end up doing all the flowers though. I'm still looking to see what I'll come up with.

Ashleigh was a darling most of the weekend. Towards the end she just got tired. But she even treated us to a dance show! She is such a cutie!!! Of course, she wasn't letting go of that phone either.
While we were shopping for fabric at Hancock Fabrics in Tupelo she was all over the store. She's walking so much better than she was when I had last seen her at Christmas.
It's hard to believe that she is over a year old!!!

Well, I'm off to do a bit of work, and to hopefully have a few minutes to see if I can find a new flower idea for the wedding.

Things are back to normal....

Somewhat.

I've survived the first morning of our office being open after the fall rush. The afternoon has been kinda slow though. I slowed down right when I left for lunch. But that was a good thing. Because I had accumplated four computers that I didn't know when I would get to work on those. Brandi is out on assignments across campus so I am holding down the front desk all by myself.
Luckily, I managed to get everything done. I don't know how I'm going to survive this on a regular basis though. It's incredibly boring without her to talk to.

I've been drafted to plan the wedding shower for one of our technicians. Ms. Becky still hasn't let me know when she wants it to be. She had mentioned early next week. I haven't been to a wedding shower since my sister got married, and that was ten or so years ago. I've never actually given one. So I honestly don't know what to do. But I did come up with one good idea. I bought some blank postcards to make my Save-the-Date cards, and I'm going to make some advice/note cards for everyone to write him stuff. I think they will appreciate that.
Our systems on campus today have been ridiculous. Nothing stays working for very long, and some things have been broken all day long. Like our e-mail system. The system that updates passwords isn't talking to the e-mail server. So I haven't had e-mail all day.

Well, this post has taken all afternoon and I don't have much written. One of the temps asked me where the prozac machine was so he could go get me one. LOL Well, maybe I can at least go find a drink somewhere on the way home!

Yes....It's been FOREVER!

Ok, so I haven't posted in forever. I've been a bit busy, and a lot sick. But I won't suffer everyone several weeks of details.

Work has been incredibly busy this week. Classes started Tuesday and things have just been awful. I've been putting in 9 and 9.5 hours days. And not really even managing to keep the office kept up!
Of course, I had the bad luck to miss all day yesterday with a migraine. I still have it today, but it isn't quite so bad. It kinda sucks though cause I was looking forward to those extra hours of pay. I might just have Derek go ahead and put a whole 8 hours of personal time in instead of trading my extra hours. I could definitely use the money.

On a good term, I got my W2 form today and did my taxes during lunch. I'm getting $237.00 back this year!!!!!!!!! I've always had to pay nearly $200 in the past. Needless to say I am THRILLED! Of course, I'm going to be putting it all on bills. I would have more taken out of my check, but I think having more during the year is a little better.

I've started in a new Dungeons and Dragons game. I love my character! She's an elven fighter warmage. We've only met once, but we had lots of fun.

I can't think of anything else just offhand. Just let me know if you want to hear about anything in particular!!!

Another Wedding Registry

Josh and I went to register at McRae's because everyone told us too. Apparently they give out free stuff, but we didn't get any when we went yesterday. We were able to register for our china and that type stuff. However, their system was down and we couldn't register for anything else. Also, the lady told us not to come back until January or February to register for other stuff. They have been bought by Belk, and are in the process of getting their McRae's merchandise out and their Belk merchandise in.
Anyway, here is the registry, if you are interested in looking.

Back To Work

Ok, so I never really got to leave work, but we have a meeting with the CIO, Homer, this afternoon at 5. I heard that there might have been a change to not include the technicians in this meeting, but I haven't heard anything for sure. We are all eagerly awaiting a chance to tell him what we think.
Things have been ridiculus with other departments not doing their job. And, of course, since everyone sees us and comes to us, it gets blamed on us. And we are the lowest paid employees in the department. You think the part that gets seen and dealt with would get paid good money... But no, we are the red-headed step-children...
Well, complaining isn't going to do that much. But I will hopefully hear something good at our meeting tonight. It had better be good because I am skipping class for it!!!

Wedding Planning Can Be FUN!!!

Josh and I went Saturday to do our gift registry. We registered at Sears, Wal-Mart, and Bed Bath and Beyond.
We arrived in Hattiesburg at about 11 a.m. and first ate at Willy T's. We registered first at Sears because it was right there. That wasn't the best experience in the world. The scanner kept breaking. We tried to keep things realistic there. Please visit our Sears Registry and take a look.
Then we walked through JC Penny, but I decided that I wasn't sure if I wanted to register there after all.
So, next stop, Wal-Mart, because I knew we should register there. We had some fun there. I went to the little register station and set up our account. Then proceeded to wait ten minutes for an associate to help me out. Lots of fun, let me tell you. Although we did have fun registering. We registered for a few silly things, well, they made some of the people I work with laugh. Can you identify the funny items? Check it out here.
We were planning to go see The Exorcism of Emily Rose, but we finished at Wal-Mart with a couple of hours to spare. So we decided to check out Bed Bath and Beyond because it was just across the street, and neither of us had been in since the one in Hattiesburg opened. After a 15 minute walk through the store, we decided to set up a wedding registry there. We had to wait a few minutes while the registry consultant finished up with a couple. She got everything set up for us, and we taught us how to use the scanner. I noticed a referral box on the form, and remembered by friend Chad telling us that he and his fiance had registered there. I put her name in, and found out that I had gotten them a $25 gift card. We got our scanner and went to have fun. Needless to say, our registry got to be a bit ridiculus. Over two hours later, Heather, our consultant, was happy that we showed up because she was about to leave for the day. Take a look and see if you can identify the joke items!!!
We ended up having to see the 9:45 showing of Exorcism, and greatly enjoyed it. It was a freak-out movie. It's the kind of horror flick I like to see, because it doesn't try to gross you out with blood and gore. It just does little things that are meant to make you think, and then the thinking just freaks you out. Kind of like a Japanese horror film.

But anyway, Now that you have links to all three of our wedding registries, BUY US STUFF!!!

A BAD Day Already...

Ok, it's not even 8:30 and my day is already bad.
I woke up early with a leg cramp that refused to go away. When I say early, I mean before 5 a.m. It still hurts.
I forgot to take my medicine at supper last night because we ate at the mall, so I could barely breathe this morning.
I got all my stuff together and left the house at a decent time, so at least that is something!
I get to work and start going about my normal morning routine. I work at a high counter and have a laptop for work. Becuase I have nothing that locks at work, except our office door, I normally carry my laptop home everynight. I set the laptop backpack on my chair as usual, and turned around to do something. Now, I didn't bump the chair or anything, but my bag falls off. Now, take into account that I have not gotten out my laptop yet. So I pick it up and put it back on the chair and go to get breakfast, not really worrying about the fact that it fell. Apparently I should have worried. The corner of my laptop that isn't protected by padding is what actually hit the floor. While my laptop works normally, The back corner is busted up. Now I have to hold the corner of the case together in order to eject the CD tray.

To top things off this morning, Brandi is out because she has to carry her daughter to the dentist this morning. And the temp, Chris, hasn't shown up yet, or at least, not that I have seen. I'm beginning to think that when I could breathe and my leg was cramping I should have went ahead and stayed in the damn bed. I really hope that this day manages to get better!!!!

Wedding Update!

I have now gotten my tiara and my unity candle! They finally came in the mail. I am hoping to hear from the baker pretty soon about going in to talk to the other girl about doing my wedding cake. And I am going to make an attempt to get my flowers ordered this week or next. I think I am just going to mail the order in and have them send me the bill, with how much and when I need to make a deposit. And I have to figure out about the reception rentals pretty soon too so I can get those done. I'm just ready to have all this stuff figured out already!!!
But I will hopefully be meeting with my sister next month to design the invitations so we can get those printed and all that. Hopefully I can get them printed through the printing center on campus for a decent price.

By the way...I HAVE MY TIARA NOW!!!!!

I hate Doctors!!!

Ok, so normally I don't have a problem with doctors. I even have some that I am incredibly fond of. Such as Dr. Folse. She's terrific. However, Dr. Lancaster should be shot. I started having trouble breathing on Saturday night. I waited until Monday morning to go to the doctor because I was at my parents' house this weekend. I went to the family clinic/after-hours clinic because they are designed to take walk-ins, and I wouldn't be able to see my doctor even if I went to his office. He listened to my breathing, did a few chest x-rays, and checked by bloodox. Nothing on the x-rays, bloodox of 98%... He put down a diagnosis of painful breathing. I just looked at him, and he decided to an pluerisy (sp?) because of the dirty look. He only gave me an anti-inflammatroy... I feel like shooting him!!! It hurts a lot to breathe, but I can't stay at home JUST because I'm having trouble sleeping and it hurts to breathe. I have to work. Hopefully I will get to feeling better soon.
Because I went to the doctor, Josh had to take me because I hadn't gotten any sleep, I missed class Monday night. That was the last absence I can have. However, I did better in the class last night than most of the kids that had been there. We were studying grammar though. I can get the grammar down no problem. I just have trouble with the vocabulary... Hopefully I will have time to study that soon.

Work May be the Devil....

...But things are maybe getting better.
They figured out how we can take care of the virus that has been running around campus. It requires two separate virus scans and fully updating Windows. You would be amazed at the number of students on campus that do not have Service Pack 2 installed for Windows XP. Some of these students have NEVER updated Windows. Luckily we don't do the work for them. They have to sit here and we basically help them out with it. We have had some serious problems with some of the computers, but most have gone smoothly. We also finally have students telling us that they appreciate our patience with them. We had some trouble the first day we started working with them and getting things taken care of, but it has mostly smoothed out.
We still cannot get the desktops cleaned though. And those students are rather upset. But they are hoping we will be able to start with them by the end of the week. I certainly hope so because it is a mess.
The managers in itech had a meeting today and one of their topics was 'Is moral low in iTech?' Derek sent out an e-mail asking for our opinions on the matter. Everyone in the office said that our moral was low and that it was the Networking team's fault. It was rather amusing.... Since Brandi went all out and wrote a lot, I thought I would post what she had to say. I share the exact same opinion on it as her, so it keeps me from having to write it out. :)



I believe that the Morale could be better. I believe that the worse problem that we have with this issue is that other departments in iTech appreciate exactly what the helpdesk has to put up with on a daily basis. You have students paying for services that they are not able to use due to ip addresses not available, virus’, and stupid students running routers, and we have to get cursed out on a daily basis due to these issues, then we are the one that in the end who smooth it over with the students to try and make them feel better. I know that a lot of the networking issues are not anyone’s fault so to speak; however, we are the ones that see these students everyday and take whatever they dish out to us. Also in that same respect is the virus issue, we are the ones that have to put up with these students who are NOT happy. I totally understand that we need to do what we have to protect our Network. Bob totally understands what we have to put up with since the virus issues have come out he has been up here at the Helpdesk working with us. However, I believe that iTech in whole needs to know what we have to hear and put up with in a days time. The other departments are separated and they do not see what the other one is going though, sometimes I feel like other departments within iTech are not working with the Helpdesk it almost feels as though they are working against us. We need to be in the know of what is going on and when things are going to happen so that we can prepare ourselves and know what we are going to say to these students who are fixin’ to come in here and EAT our LUNCH so to speak. HOWEVER EVERYONE on the campus comes to the Helpdesk and we have to be the ones who REPRESENT each department of iTech. So if it wasn’t for our smiling faces everyday and keeping the students happy then the name iTech would have a serious bad name on this campus. I love my job and I love working with the students. I do believe that within iTech our fellow family members really do know deep down know what we are going through over here; however, they look at us as the low man on the totem pole and we get left out of the loop, but yet we are the MAIN contact for this department. I am not sure if this helps you out or not but I will stop now. LOVE YA!
-Brandi



Now, that you have skipped the several inches of writing above, I'm going to finish up for the day's notes.

I made a 90 on my Spanish test Monday. I was very proud of myself. But she graded it easy too. YAY! I have an A in both of my classes right now!

I got approval for the topic of my research paper in my human sexuality class. It's on sexually transmitted diseases on college campuses. If anyone has any great resources or stories they want to pass my way, I would love the assistance.

And now, last but not least, a belated birthday to my friend Stimpy. He's a year older, but not a bit better! :)

Notice the New Name???

I went to eat lunch with Josh at Willy T's today and he started calling me Ms. Fressange as we left, so I decided to rename my Blog.
Inez Fressange is a scientist in the anime Martian Successor Nadesico. She spends most of her screen time explaining things.
Josh asked why the doors leaving places are always PUSH doors. I decided to explain that people are always tired and lazy after they eat, so doors are arranged this way so they can just kinda fall on it and the door opens so they can leave. People generally have more energy when they are going to eat, so they don't mind having to pull open a door.
Josh said that this was quality , and he would almost accept it as a reason. He has called me this before because I have a tendency to explain things. I really like to make up stuff to explain those hypothetical questions.....

But anyway, that explains the new name.

No More..No More..No More

Ok, so I can wish I could chant that in my office anyway. I can never say it enough, this would be an alright place to work if it weren't for the damn students. Right now we have a virus running around our campus network that we have no idea how to clean. That means, any student with that virus is stuck without internet until we do figure out. We would love to leave them on the network and all, but the network would crash it is so bad. Unfortunately, Brandi and I have to listen to these students all day long about how they cannot do their homework for their online classes because their internet doesn't work. Well, use the EFFIN' computer labs on campus. There is a reason we pump money into the things. It's for STUDENTS to use for school and play. So why can't they just be reasonable???
I know, I'm whinning...But at least I was able to purchase my new book today, High Druid of Shannar: Straken. I so can't wait to start reading it. It's really short though, I don't think any of the other books have been this short. But oh well. I'm sure it will be great. It's going to be the first book I've read in a few weeks. I stay busy with stuff for school. But right now school is just going to have to wait for a little while. I want my book!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, just needed to rant for a minute!!!

No Time to Breathe

I hate not getting to post on here. I know not many people are reading it, but it's still fun. Lately though, I haven't had time to breathe, much less have time to post anything here.

Being in Columbia we had a hard hit from Katrina. Luckily we didn't have any real damage at the house. But it's taken weeks to get the yard work finished. And then, here comes Rita this weekend giving us more yard work to do. But at least it isn't nearly as much as we had before. We were lucky enough to only be without power 4 days. We live down the road from the local water association. It's a great place to live during a natural disaster. They are high priority for power. We only lost water for a few hours, and that was because the generators lost power in the middle of the night the day before we got power back. However, we were without a phone for a little over two weeks. No internet at home. :(

I enjoyed my week and a half off work, and spent it doing homework for my online class. I had that book here at the house, and had saved the assignments to my laptop. At least I was able to accomplish something. Unfortunatly, I really needed to work on my Spanish, and ALL my Spanish stuff was at the office. Opps!!! Hopefully I will be mildly prepared for my test a week from Monday. Right now I am far from prepared. But since I have internet at the house I have been able to work on the homework. That has helped.

Work has been busy since the semester pretty much started on Sept. 12th. We have had so many new students at Southern. But at least things are slowing down in the office now. People are finally getting settled into things again. Brandi and I have been slammed at work up until Thursday of last week. That's when people finally started getting everything finished. Although, from what I hear the other iTech office is still very busy. At least I don't have to work over there. Like to have things calmed down. I can start using the time to study for my A+ Certification at work. I have decided that it would be something helpful for my job. I will most likely be stuck in it for a while.

I saw two movies this weekend. Josh and I went to see The Corpse Bride. It was a fantastic movie. It wasn't The Nightmare before Christmas, but then again, it was a different kind of story. I think everyone will enjoy seeing the movie. We also went with our friend William and some people from iTech to see Episode III. We had seen it before, but it was fun to see it again. While The Corpse Bride was playing at the mall, Episode III was at the new theatre. All 14 theatres are stadium seating. It was fantastic. The theatre even had that new car smell. It was wierd. The theatre had only opened Friday, and we went Saturday night. The tickets were $6.50, and they don't appear to offer a student discount. At least, not yet. They are mostly showing old movies right now. Katrina put their opening off a few weeks. We're kinda hoping that they put Broadacres Cinema out of business. That place is old and in awful shape. And they have a tendency to get a lot of the good movies we want to see. They will not be able to put the mall theatre out of business though. It's in the mall, so it will always have customers. But that is ok because the theatre at the mall is kept in great shape. It is just mostly small theatres, although I think they have 8 screens.

My DnD game is up and going again. I love my character Dayne. She is insane. And she will hopefully break the epic barrier in a couple of weeks. She hasn't been leveled up since the beginning of March! We went to a Dwarven celebration on Friday night and the majority of the night (5:30 pm-12:30 am) was taken up with the party. But we did get in a fight towards the end of the night. My character killed two creatures whose species had never been killed in the history of the world. It's nice to do cool things with her!!! Of course, these weren't normal creatures from the DnD books. The DM has created his own world, and these were his own brand of vampyr (I think I spelled that right). It was great though. Kudos to Daniel for presenting us with a great night of gameplay!!!

Oh, and I'm going to see my parents next weekend. Finally! I haven't been up there since before Katrina. It will be nice to go home for the weekend. I have a test the next day though, so poor Josh will have to drive all the time so I can study!!!

It's Finally Friday...

...And I'm not FREE YET!!!!!!!
I have to work move in tomorrow at USM. It's evil! I have to work outside, 1-5. I'm dreading it with a passion. But at least it will be overtime. Overtime might make it worth it.

Today I had to work what they are calling PUC, Personal University Committment. I basically left my normal job of answering the Helpdesk phones to go sit by a girl I don't care for from 1:15ish to 4. Not fun. But the change of pace was nice. Instead of helping people over the phone I was setting up wireless for students in our billing system. I was faster at it than the other girl, and she actually does it for a living. I thought it was amusing. But we'll keep that little secret between just us.

My neice Ashleigh started CRAWLING today. Check out Jackie's blog for more details.

The wedding plans are currently at a stand still. I am waiting for music selections from my wedding planner Cat. She needs to get her butt in gear! She goes on maternity leave before long and I want those music selections! Hopefully she will get them to me next week.

Great Story

I just want to put the following address out in the open.
http://www.lastocp.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=2944
My friend Chuck sent it to me and it is WONDERFUL!!!

Stupid University Stuff

If anyone is famialar with universities, they have to do stuff the hard way.
USM offers each faculty, staff, and student a free e-mail address. These username for these addresses used to be some variation of your name. Then the university decided to go to id numbers for everyone. At this time, new students/faculty/staff where given usernames of w+id. Now, they go off and decide to make everyone's username this.
This was not well thought out. I work for the Helpdesk. We were bombarded with calls this morning related to this change. And there were some big problems with e-mail that developed. Like people losing all their e-mail. And a few accounts ceasing to exist. I hope it is all fixed tomorrow.

But something great did come of all this. A guy called the girl that sits next to me this morning. He told her that he was working on the e-mail stuff, but was getting a UTS error. She said she had never heard of that, but would try to help him get it straightened out. He let her go on for a minute before asking if she really didn't get it. She, being the brunette in the office that gets accused of being a blonde, admitted that she didn't have a clue what it was. He then proceeded to explain to her that it was a 'User Too Stupid' error. The entire office got a great laugh out of it. While I was all right, a couple of the other guys needed a little pick-me-up. This was a great one.

To help you understand how hectic this morning was, we have an office of 5 technicians and a manager. We were all taking calls this morning. For close to an hour, we didn't have less than 20 calls waiting to be answered. At least we have a more laid back office than we used to. One of the girls that used to work there would have went crazy with that many calls. I kinda enjoyed it though. Maybe I am just a masochist.....

V A C A T I O N

I finally got a well deserved vacation. I took Friday and Monday off from work. I drove home Thursday night.

It was great to be home. I haven't seen my parents since Father's Day, and hadn't spent the weekend at their house since before then! And Daddy's birthday is today, so I have to remember to call after I finish with my blog! I got him a new shirt because he gets everthing he wants himself. And he has over 600 DVDs!

Momma and I got to go shopping. It was fun. I bought a new purse and she got new sneakers. We also had fun window shopping in the Wal-Mart craft department. She picked out the dress she wants to make my neice for my wedding. Ashleigh will be 1.5 years old then. A little too young to be a flower girl, but that's ok. :)

We also made a baby blanket for a girl at work. I'll have to get her to take a picture of it because I didn't get a chance to. I'll post it once I can get one from her.

I also watched some movies with Daddy. We watched Sin City and Kung Fu Hustle. I liked Sin City, but Hustle was a bit of a let down. But then again, one of my friends had been talking a lot about going to see it, so I just set my expectations too high. It wasn't really a bad movie.

I came back early on Monday to talk to the florist, baker, rental place, and tux shop for the wedding. The baker was the one I was really worried about getting to. But her shop was closed because of storm damage to the HUGE oak tree right at her front door. I guess I will have to do that stuff by phone. If I can remember to call her....

That pretty much covers my weekend, other than saying I got to spend time in my parent's pool. LOVE THE POOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was my only time to go swimming this year. I loved it.

Maybe it's a Monday Week...

Ok, today just doesn't seem to be that much better than yesterday. Aren't Tuesdays supposed to be better than Mondays???

Well, I did get my grades. I got an A in all three classes. And I got my final essays back from my Theatre Appreciation teacher. A's on all of them. Out of the the 9-ish pages I only had one typo. So pretty good.

They finally got my financial aid posted so I could buy books. $241.77! That's more for 6 hours this fall than I paid for 9 hours this summer! And I will be using the same binder from the summer! At least one of the books will cover the next three semesters of that subject. (I had to get a Spanish book) But that is still much more than I expected.

We have had drama over baby gifts today. We have having a baby shower for a girl I work with tomorrow. It has been a struggle to get her gift together. The item she wanted, a video baby monitor, has been discontinued. But I won't go into that drama. I'm not even sure of the outcome.

To go back to a bittersweet topic, I am glad I was able to get my books. I need to review my spanish. I took 101 in the beginning of Summer 04, but haven't done anything with Spanish since then.

And now, it's almost time to go home!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I might hate Mondays

Ok, I generally don't do Mondays well anyway, but every seems to be having one of those not so good Mondays today. When everyone is off, it just gets worse.

This weekend wasn't too bad, other than the fact that Josh and I did next to nothing together, even if we did stay home all weekend. Saturday we did some house and yard work. Then I read a book while he played Diablo II. Then we watched an episode of Wolf's Rain.

Sunday we went to church. It was my first time to sing with the Choir since October. I really enjoyed it, even if it was HOT. Then we did more reading, playing, and watched another ep.
Really exciting weekend.

The book I read was another Kay Scarpetta novel. I've read nine of them now. I need to see which ones I need to get. I've just been picking them up at random lately. I do have three or four novels in order though. But I want to try and get the rest of them.

I'll be going home on Thursday. I'm taking a couple of days off work to visit my parents. I haven't been home in a while. I'm excited about it. I'll hopefully get to go swimming while I'm there. I haven't been this year. The weekend cannot get here soon enough.

I also haven't recieved my grades yet. THEY NEED TO GET THEM POSTED!

More Successes

I've done more on the wedding. I've had a coupe of people tell me that I needed to hire a wedding director. So I've picked one out. Now all I have to do is ask her. But it's hard to find this blasted lady when I need to talk to her!!!!!!!!
And I found Rachel's blog. It's listed in the sidebar. Rachel is a friend of my sister. She's a complete and total sweetheart. Hopefully she will put something up on her blog soon. Right now it only has a welcome message. But that's ok, you have to start somewhere.
I think I mentioned that I had picked out a couple of songs for the wedding... Or maybe I didn't. I'm honestly not sure...Anyway, I may have picked out the song I'll walk down the aisle to. I'm not positive yet. I may find something I like better when I really start listening to stuff. But for now I really like this one. Guess I should tell you what it is. 'To A Wild Rose' by some guy whose name I don't remember right now.

Ok. Now that I've shared some things, I'm going to go away. And probably find out that I had already posted some of this. ;)

Success! Success!

Ok, things appear to be moving along smoothly for me. At least at the moment.
I got my paper handed in for my Criminal Justice class. I'm wondering if I will be able to get my final grade by the end of the week. She appears to be very behind in grading for that class.
I finished my final for Family and Marital Relations. I got a B on the final. If I calculated everything properly that gives me an A for the course.
I took the books for those two classes to the bookstore and they gave me $68.25!!!!!!!!!
I finished one of my three papers for my Theatre Appreciation class. I will miss that class. It was lots of fun. I will hopefully keep my A in there. Now I just have to finish the two essays for the final exam.

Josh and I also picked out two songs to have sung at the wedding.
'I Will Be Here' by Steven Curtis Chapman
'Til the End of Time' by Steven Green
I was surprised we picked them so easily. I was expecting to have to get a few more songs for us to listen to, but Josh really liked those!!!!!!! I'm so happy-We have the music. Now I know that I only need on tenor to sing at the wedding.

Brandi started back at work today!! She's been out on maternity leave for three months. I'm thrilled to have her back. Now I don't have to walk across campus to bounce wedding ideas off someone. I have some sitting next to me.
She's also going to be one of the wedding photographers, so it's even better.

One other good thing happened for work. Jan worked out the Fall schedule for the Helpdesk. Brandi being here has eased the schedule up for all of us. And I was able to get my lunch changed to 11:30. I can go eat with Josh whenever he is in town now!!!!!!!!

What a great start to the week!