Tommy Bahama - Very Cool

I went perfume shopping yesterday. This is sometimes a frustrating task, because once you have smelled two you have smelled them all. If you're lucky, like I was yesterday, one of the first two will smell so good that it becomes your final choice.

It did come down to two scents for me: Tommy Bahama and Tommy Bahama Very Cool. The regular Tommy Bahama in the pink bottle was more floral and flirty while the blue bottle of citrusy Very Cool caught my nose coming back for more with a clean crisp scent of tangerine, clementine, pink pomelo and cactus flower. Kim and Dave both initially thought that the Very Cool disappeared when they smelled it. I thought perhaps the first scent was just overpowering the cooler scent. So we went back and forth: left wrist, right wrist, which do you like better, smell this one again, now look at me and smell it, close your eyes and smell it, smell fresh air and then smell it again, compare it to this one -- it was really quite ridiculous! But it helped me make a final decision: I just ignored everything they said and bought the one I liked. 

Tommy Bahama Very Cool is going to be my new signature summer scent (I used to wear Clinique Happy).  It is clean and calm, summery and citrusy.  The scent doesn't call attention to itself -- it is subtly intriguing. (It made me want to smell my own arm every ten minutes after I sprayed myself at the fragrance counter.) The bonus was that the 6 pm spritz on my wrist was still lingering when I woke up the next morning at 6 am. I am Very Happy with my choice.

Water Cooler Moments...

Water Cooler Moments...

with Dave and Anne 

Because, isn't the internet just a big water cooler, anyway?

 

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Moment 1

Dave: "My you sure are tan!"

Anne: "I've been tanning in the beds a bit."

Dave: "Oh yeah, how much does that cost?"

Anne: "$7.00."

Dave: "Seven dollars!!  I could buy a tanning bed for that much!!"

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Moment 2

Dave: "Hey Anne, what's the difference between a trampoline and a pile of dead babies?"

Anne: "That you're a Nazi?"

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Moment 3 

Dave: "What were we just talking about?"

Anne: "Jeez, I can't remember...Don't you wish you could have a camera recording everything so you could just rewind?"

Dave: "Yeah! I'd call it KonstaKam, with two K's!"

Anne: "Um, that sounds like a laxative."

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Moment 4

Dave: "I'm hungry, do you have any snacks?'

Anne: "There's something in my desk with your name on it!"

Dave: (finds 'David' sunflower kernels) (laughter ensues)

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Moment 5

Anne: "Hey Dave, listen to this song, you'll love it!" (hands him headphones)

(Anne starts dancing that little finger dance boogy)

Dave: "It's not on."

Anne:  "Oh, oops."

 stay tuned for more ...

Water Cooler Moments

Top Ten Things That Annoy Me

Although I have been insanely happy for the last few weeks, I am still a normal person with normal mood swings.  I have been racking up this list of things that just drive me insane, and I'd like to be an annoying blogger and annoy you with them.  Maybe I'll make your top ten list of things you hate!

10.  Slow computers - Whether it is my Frankenstein computer attempting to make me tap my foot until it falls off or computers at school taking *just* enough time to boot up that I go to another one, only to be locked out because the other one finally logged in.  I am an impatient person, and it's 2007 -- computers are supposed to be fast!  Don't get me started on dialup.  Or the web browser on my Treo, ironically named "Blazer".  Shyeah.  Right.

9.  Microsoft Word Formatting - If I wanted to make a list, I would click the number button myself.  Can't I just hit enter and not have the entire text moved into next week?  And, no, I don't need your help, 'Annoying PaperClip'.  I'll figure out how to change the settings on my own.

8.  Bumper Stickers on New Cars - This one beat out black sneakers for a place on the list.  Basically, if you have a nice new shiny car -- do not ruin the back of it with STICKERS!!!

7.  Getting the car keys out of my purse - Mostly because I cram too much stuff into my purse because I refuse to carry a ginormo hobo bag everywhere.  Picture this: I'm holding like seven things (my phone, a coffee mug, ipod, purse, rubber chicken, kitchen sink)  and I'm approaching the car and I still haven't unzipped the bag to retrieve the keys.  Now comes the annoying part.  More than likely, I will need to systematically remove items from my bag until the keys are reachable.  Usually, they will still manage to snag on something that will fly out of my purse at the same time as the keys, forcing me to put everything down anyways and pick up the thing that fell on the ground.

6.  Radio Commercials - These only come on right after I have tuned in and turned up the volume on a station that I want to listen to while I am in the shower.  Therefore, the entire shower, I will be listening to people shout about things I need to buy tickets for next weekend.  I have had a cd skip while I was in there too, and I can't decide what's worse.

5.  Shopping, in general- Tangled hangers usually torment me at home, but they also find me when I'm racing through the clearance rack.  I just want to look at one thing and then that hanger is stuck on another one and items start to fall to the floor and then I just want to give up and go home.  But what do I do?  I carry six items into the dressing room and get all sweaty trying on things that look great under the store lighting and then need to be returned because they look more red in the natural light.  ARGH

4.  VoiceMail Instructions - Okay, I don't know who, in this day and age, really needs 'the voice' to tell them how to leave a message.  "You have reached the automated voice messaging system for _____.  The party is unavailable right now, so please leave a message after the beep.  The beep will sound like a beep.  If you do not want to leave a message, you may leave a number to be called at by pressing 0.  Okay, are you ready for the beep?  Here it comes, okay, are you ready, because this is the part where you have to speak into the receiver.  When you are finished recording, you may hang up, or press 1 for more options.  Then after that, you will be done with the phone call completely and you can go on living life, or you can finally shoot yourself."

3.  Every Other Driver on the Road - Does this one need an explanation, at all?  I mean, this is you.  You cut me off, you turn in the wrong lane, you don't use your blinker, you drive too slow, you drive too fast, you eat while you drive, you are on the phone, your kids are staring at me out the back of your minivan, you lucky bastard, you can get in the carpool lane, I hate YOU.

2.  Pulling Sleeves/ Pant Legs Right Side Out - Again, with the laundry.  I just hate reaching in there to pull the sleeve out.  It's time consuming and irritating.  I usually try on like 6 different outfits before I leave the house, so this happens all the time.  Inside-out-things, I hate you!  I'm getting dressed, I don't have time for you.  Or when you take your pants off and they are like all stuck at your calf.  Or when you are putting pants on and you go to step down and you have bad balance and you step on the pant leg and you stumble around and eventually almost fall.  Yeah, that's me. I'm awkward and uncoordinated and clumsy.  (But it's the laundry's fault.)

1.  The Shower Surprise - This is when you reach in the tub to get the water ready and someone left the shower on.  Then you get a nice cold drenching.  Good for waking up, Bad for the attitude.  This only made number one because it happened to me the other day, but I was the one who left the shower on so I couldn't even get mad!!! 

Actually, making this list was pretty fun.  A lot of the things are things I could just avoid or do something differently and I'd never be annoyed again.

Shyeah, right!!

I look like crap for a good reason...

I look like crap.  My hair is in an 80's ponytail and it's all greasy and out of place .  I'm wearing a dingy tshirt and sweatpants.  My face is red and oily and I'm not wearing any makeup.  Oh, and I stink.

But these are all good things!

Because I just came from the gym.  I have been working out for the last three days in a row.  Go me!  I joined Cardinal Fitness, which is one of those no contract, no frills, $20 per month gyms.  Cuz hey, what do I need frills for?  Some of the gyms we visited had a mini spa in the locker room and complimentary laundry service and padded benches in the locker rooms.  I don't need all that-- I just come in, work out, then go home.  Bam.  Twenty bucks.  No biggie. 

It feels so great to jump right back in to this whole exercise thing.  I am tempted to overdo it, though.  I'm walking on the treadmill and a great song comes on and I'm like, "I could so run right now, for like at least 15 minutes."  But I know I have to work my way back up to running.  I hate that, when you try to pump it up and then you have to stop maybe 5 minutes into it because you bit off more than you could chew....

For now I just did 35 minutes on the cross trainer thingee and 30 minutes on the treadmill (on an incline!) 

I don't know if I'm really trying to lose weight or not.  I just want to be in better shape.  Or have the option to blow off steam with a workout if I need to.  I haven't weighed myself because I haven't weighed myself in more than a year.  The number, I think, would haunt me.  It did haunt me pretty badly right after I lost all the weight.  But once I stopped caring what the number was, and just focused on how I felt and how my clothes fit, I was a lot better-- well, that and Overeaters Anonymous and several counseling sessions.

But anyways my point is, I'm working out.  I'm not expecting to be a size 6 by June or anything.  I just think I can feel better by doing this. 

I'm going to take a shower now.

Death by Dyeing...

Have you ever heard of painted glass fish?  They look like this:

Very pretty, right?  Well, the name implies that they were painted, but the store assured us that it was a naturally occurring color.  So we bought three, and put them in our new fish tank (we have three tanks now).  A few hours later one of the fish began to show signs of ich (small whitish dots on its fins which are a sign of disease).  We still had the receipt so we took it back and they said that they would refund the money and treat the rest of the fish in that tank.

We came home and did a little research about them and it turns out that this is a horrible, horrible thing that is happening to tons and tons of fish.  The fish are injected with brightly neon colored paint.  This is not just one injection, but many injections with a large gauge needle.  On top of that, the fish need to be dunked in some sort of chemical which strips them of their protective outer slime coating and then after they are injected they are dunked in another chemical that stimulates their bodies to reslime themselves. 

This process is so shocking for the fish that there is an 80% mortality rate.  Even the fish that do survive will be prone to disease and will most likely die within a few months after purchase.  And if they do survive, the paint will fade off of their bodies in a matter of time.  It just stays long enough for the unsuspecting customer to be fooled into purchasing them!

Doesn't this sound like cruelty to animals?  Well, it is not technically classified as cruelty to animals because those laws only apply to mammals.  The dyeing process occurs in places like Malaysia and Thailand where unskilled, low wage workers are injecting the fish.  Any shop that sells these kind of fish should be boycotted, and we are abandoning our favorite fish shop because of this as well.  We were going to the small mom and pop fish store, because we like to patronize small businesses whenever possible.  But just the fact that either the help has been instructed to lie, or they do not know what they are talking about at all, makes us not want to go back there.

I feel so stupid for not having thought about the fact that a freshwater fish probably does not have a naturally occurring blue, green, yellow, orange, or purple stripe in it.  Fish are so beautiful in their own natural state, there is no reason we need to torture them for our own sick purposes.

If we wouldn't have been lied to (or if we would have done some reasearch first) this would never have happened.

Grand Ball

I went to the MATC Grand Ball on Saturday night.  (It's like a prom for adults)  My sister was my date.  I was joking around like, I hope when we walk in, we look enough like sisters that nobody thinks we are lesbians.  Somebody was like, "They will probably just think you are friends."  I'm like, "Oh yeah."  And it was too funny, when our cousin was helping us get ready, somebody said something like, "Dont flirt with any boys"  And I'm like, "Why are we going, then?"  Tom would be upset at this but I was kidding of course...

Jesse did my hair up all cute.  She hooked me up with the huge hot-roller springy 50's style curls with tons of body.  I pinned a little flower clip in my hair and it was stunning until about five minutes on the dance floor....

My dress was a black halter cocktail dress that came just below the knee.  My shoes were hot (for Payless shoes).  And I had ear bling, arm bling, and ring bling.  I just felt downright hot.  I also got to walk in the court because my friend Chris was up for King and I escorted him.  Damn that spotlight was bright!

After a few drinks, I just danced and danced.  I was instructed to 'save a dance' for like six different people (I'm probably exaggerating but at least three).  I felt so popular because I actually knew a lot of people there from the Senate, so there was always someone to go and talk to.  None of this awkward looking around bullshit that makes me usually hate shit like that. 

Anyways my feet were killing me by the end of the night.  I really had a great time.  And I don't usually do things like this so I am very proud of myself.  The other thing I am very proud of is that I did not tell a bunch of people that I don't dance, because then they MAKE you dance when you don't want to.  I learned that if you just keep your mouth shut, the chances of being pulled onto the dance floor decrease tenfold.  But still, my sister pulled me up there, and by that time, I was glad someone did, because I was ready to have a good old time!

We did the mandatory 2 a.m. breakfast at 1 a.m., and then went home and crashed. 

You know what?  I kind of told myself that I was going to start attending more social stuff even if I am scared and nervous most of the time.  Because with each new thing that I do I'm learning that it really does make me feel better and not worse.  So yes, I am patting myself on the back.

Looking For An Excuse

I got a C on the exam I took the day that I went through all that hell with the tow lot.  I used that as an excuse.  I did poorly because I was tired and cranky and I hadn't eaten.  I hadn't cracked a book all week either. 

But only one person in our class and one person in the other section of the same class got anything higher than a C.  And the prof is sitting here letting us all have it about how we need to know this stuff. 

I think a lot of the questions were ambiguous and poorly worded.  I also know from experience that this prof comes to expect things that she hasn't made perfectly clear.  She want us to read her mind when it comes to formatting, etc.  And then she swears up and down that she told us exactly what she wanted.  Lady, there are at least fifteen people adamantly saying that, No, you did not tell us this. 

So back to the original subject.  The test.

Doesn't that tell you something when the majority of your students did quite poorly on your exam?  Half of the class got D's and three people failed!  These are all students who have received nothing but A's and B's their entire college career.  I know this isn't the kind of test that would be graded on a curve, because a lot of the answers were essay and such.  However, I think that most profs (and maybe they have been too easy on us) would look into it and perhaps take some fault of their own, or maybe offer some extra credit.

This was enough to make a few people get quite upset.  One girl was in tears and was about to walk away from her entire college career over this.  Granted, she's going to need a bit tougher skin than that, but this goes to show you how important it is to students in this program to perform well.  This is a program where a D as a final grade is considered not passing.  And this is the last required course before students enter their internships!

I've probably lost you by now, dear reader.  You've been to college, you know it's tough.  At the university this may happen all the time.  I have a feeling that they have a great deal more slackers and less time to grade and sit down with individual students.  This is a class of less than 15 that I am in.

There are better things to get worked up over than a C, I just needed to rant and rave about this.  What do you think: If everyone does poorly on an exam, do you think it is through some fault of the professor?

I just need someone else to blame I think.  Wait, don't answer that.  Unless you totally agree with me.  Or if you wanna set me straight, now is the time to do so. 

Wild Party

On Saturday I went to a birthday party.  No, not one of those cake-and-balloon parties --

...A wild-irresponsible-college-kids party.  I normally try to stay away from these, but I actually had fun.  For the most part, I tried to make conversation with the few people who weren't completely blitzed, which required yelling over the music and saying "What?" a lot.  Finally I gave up on that and just got blitzed.  Four green beers later and the fun began...

I was not, however, so wasted that I was gonna let some kid put his hands all over me.  This 22-year-old kid was wasted beyond belief and walked by and grabbed my ass!

So I got to do something I have always wanted to do...

I smacked him clear across the face.  And hard!  It felt so good!  I was not that drunk, and I am too old to put up with that shit.

I found the person he came with and told him he needs to be beat up if he does that again.  (I was joking!)

So, a group of us went to get some 2 am breakfast, and when we came back, the host was showing us the trail of blood that was left from that kid getting stomped.  There was literally a trail of blood from the kitchen to the front door.  I guess the kid tried to flush his tshirt down the toilet?? ( I told you he was fucked up!)

Rumor has it he came back the next morning to show off his stitches. 

This is why I don't go to wild-irresponsible-college-kids parties.  (makes for a good story though, no?)

Endorsements

I'm going to get a nose job tomorrow.  I'm just sick of my nose, it's right in the middle of my face and its always in the way...Im just getting it moved to a more convenient location.....

Just kidding!  Boy you were thinking I was the most ridiculous person you ever met weren't you?!  There's really no point to that.  Here are some things I want to endorse though, so just bear with me through that:

The Chancery:

If you are ever in Wisconsin and you want a fun experience, visit the Chancery Pub and Grill.  Unique things about this restaurant: they serve you free popcorn on the tables, have a cute menu that you don't want to part with after you order, and they have very Wisconsin-ey foods like hot bean salad, beer cheese soup served with a hot pretzel, shredded onions....and the portions are very Milwaukee -- what I mean is they are huge.  The entrees are about $10 but you will never finish them unless you plan on unbuttoning your jeans after the meal.

Musicovery:

Thanks Anthonyc!  This is a streaming music site where you can specify what genre of music, what tempo, what mood, what era, and it chooses what you might like.  If you don't like what they chose, you can usually find another bubbly link to something you do like.  Or just change your settings with one click.  I've had it on all morning and I've discovered all sorts of new music that I like.  And here I thought I only like indie rock.  Turns out I like almost anything if the mood and tempo are right!

Mia Rose:

Controversy over whether she's backed by a label aside, this young lady can SING.  I love her sound, her look, her American English accent, everything.  The first time I heard "Say It Right" was Mia Rose singing it on YouTube.  She owned this song completely.  The link is to the video of her singing Say It Right and I just love her shades here.  If you like that check out her channel, there are lots of good songs there.

Absolut Raspberri:

Went to a party on Saturday night and this drink was a hit.  Just Absolut Raspberri and pineapple juice (pine-orange works well too) in a shaker, shake, pour, ice, enjoy.  Probably tastes better in a glass but we had the drinking party red plastic cups and those do it justice so whatever works for you.  Warning: just a few and you may wind up like the people in pic behind the link!

Ordering From Amazon

So, I'm just about to order a few things from Amazon.com when I can't muster up the courage to double the cost of my order just to ship it.  I might as well not save any money and buy it at the store.  Ridiculous, I tell you.

At first I just wanted to order a charger for my phone because I lost my original.  I found one for only 75¢ so I ordered two.  Then I thought, I might as well get a car charger, too, because they start as low as $4.  Now I had two items in my cart.

I thought to myself, "This is sweet.  It's Sunday and it's snowing out and I'm shopping from the comfort of my desk chair."

So I spend a few minutes looking over Treo accessories.  A 1GB SD card for $14.95?  Sign me up!  I click 'Add to Cart' excitedly.

What else can I buy?  Handbags, Dvds, Books, Jewelry?

Yes, Jewelry!  I found a lovely celtic ring for $10.99.  Add that, quantity one, in a size 7 please.

Time to proceed to checkout.  I only spent $33-something.  Not bad at all.  I can't get out of Target spending less than that.  But after I went through all the filling out of forms and such, the total had jumped to $52!!!

Forget it!!  I started deleting items.  First the ring, because I have enough jewelry, and besides, it might turn my finger green.  Then off came the SD card because I already have one, and I might lose such a small thing as that.

So now I am down to just the two charger cables.  Retail value $6.45, but to ship it I pay more than $14!!!

Cancel my order, I'm outta here. 

I'm going to the store.

Blathering On...

I got contact lenses!  Yay for me!  I haven't had them in about ten years and they are much easier to care for now. No rubbing and rinsing and such, and I don't have to be as careful because they are disposable.  I could buy an entire year's worth for $200.  The last pair I had cost $100 alone.  So I'm very happy now.

I got this sweet gig typing papers for one of my classmates.  Sometimes it's last-minute notice, but it usually doesn't take me more than an hour to do, and I make a quick $20.  The thing is, I notice while I'm typing his paper that sometimes he's missing the point of the assignment a bit.  And I could help him get an A on the paper if I just changed this, and that.  But then I'd be writing it, and that would be like cheating, so I don't say anything.  Now of course, I feel guilty because I could have helped him....

I've been studying with this other guy and it's so funny because it's hard to keep him on track.  He gets sidetracked really easily, like economics reminds him of all these other topics and he just starts talking...so it was really hard to get him on track until we came up with this system.  I just start clicking my pen until he realizes he's gone off on a tangent and then we both start laughing.

Something was really wrong with one of my professors yesterday.  She could barely read out loud and she was all flushed in the face.  She was getting distracted really easily and slurring her words.  After she let us out early, some discussion started forming of course, that she had been drinking.  I had heard another story earlier that day, that she has high blood pressure, and I wanted to stick to that to give her the benefit of the doubt.  But you know how gossip starts. In fact, I'm no better because here I am telling all of you, and the whole world for that matter.  I suppose it's not as bad because I didn't give any identifying information.  Yeah, that's different.  That would be terrible to have her reputation ruined like that, if it is a drinking problem...

I've been listening to the Marie Antoinette soundtrack, it's absolutely lovely....I saw the movie the other day at my friends and I need to own it as soon as humanly possible.

Oh one more thing.  I have this thing where I cannot STAND the smell that the dish sponge takes on after about a week and I throw it away.  I can smell it from the next room, but it seems I'm the only one with this bionic sense of smell and Tom can't understand why I throw it away so quickly.  I would rather buy a new pack of sponges than smell that putrid smell of dishrag. 

That reminds me, I need to go to the store and buy dish sponges and Marie Antoinette.  And a new mouse.  The scroll wheel is broken on ours.

Have a great day!

President's Day

In honor of Presidents Day, I want to briefly revisit this topic before we go any further:

Do you think Alexander Hamilton was a Hottie? Yeah! Let's go back to the 18th century! I dunno. He's alright. No way! What are you, nuts?!?! View Results

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Okay so I just got back from the DMV, apparently they are closed on President's Day. Just a heads up to anyone else that was gonna try and get up early and get out there to be first in line next year on President's Day - don't waste time doing that.

I am going for an eye exam today.  My vision has been getting worse, I think.  I like to sit in the back of each class but the problem with that is I can't see a thing unless I put on my very old glasses and look through the scratches.  But usually I have forgotten those and just squint as hard as I can, writhing around in my chair this way and that just to read five words or so and then copy those down hurriedly because I know at this rate I will run out of time to write everything before it is erased.

I want to get contacts.  Hopefully my vision has deteriorated enough in my right eye to warrant having a contact lense in that eye.  The last time I went for contacts I was told that since my vision is near-perfect in that eye, they could not issue just one contact lense, nor could they provide a 'dummy' lense.  My only option was glasses.

Anyways, I cannot forget to bring my sunglasses because I just know they will be dilating my eyes and that is the most painful feeling in the world.  Well, probably not the most painful, but quite uncomfortable if you don't have proper eye protection. 

Am I Crazy?

I should have posted something on Thursday night.  It never fails, I get the most traffic on Thursdays.  I do not know why.

Okay anyways.  Guess what I did.  Go on, just guess.  ( I do this to Tom, too, it drives him nuts)  Give up?

I joined the Student Senate!

I guess that rally the other day inspired me to be a part of something that can make a difference. 

This is not going to be like that time I joined the MATC Times and then never wrote anything.  I actually already requested off for the meetings on the first and third Fridays of the month.

Here's the back story:

I take notes for several people in my Econ class.  One of those people is a very nice guy who also happens to be on the Senate.  He was talking to me while I was copying my notes for him (he says I take very good notes, by the way) and invited me to join.  It was the last day possible and we had to get 25 signatures from students in order to get me on the ballot. 

Well, I'm so glad I was dressed nicely and my hair was looking cute because that made it easier to approach some of the guys (one said he wouldn't sign unless I gave him my number but he was kidding and then he signed it anyways).  After I got 25 signatures, I filled out the paperwork and went to write myself in on the ballot.  (I guess all you need is one vote, the process is just a formality.)  Then I took a tour of the Senate office and saw some of what they do and so forth.  So now it is official, and I have already made some friends, and I have something great to put on my resume!

Am I crazy?  I have a part time job, a freelance job, two note-taking jobs, I'm taking 12 credits, I'm joining a gym, I'm on the student senate, and I have a family and a boyfriend.  And a blog!

 OMFG

Got Contract?

On Valentine's Day, I was on campus eating lunch when I heard the faculty at the table next to me talking about a strike. 

"Are you going to the rally?"  "Man, I wouldn't be seen down there"  "I'm going"  "Hold a sign for me"

Soon after that, I heard a ruckus going on.  People yelling "Yeah!" and such.

I went to investigate.

 

SO.  Drama time!!!!

The faculty at MATC is pissed because the president, Darnell Cole, remodeled his personal office, gets 6 weeks paid vacation after only 6 years, and has health care benefits for life.  And what do they have?  None of that. 

This Valentine's Day Rally slogan was, "Got Contract?  Cole Does."  (Meanwhile the ceiling caved in on 12 students on the fifth floor last week.)

I didn't even know whose side I was on but I got so fired up by that guy on the platform thingie that soon I found myself yelling "Yeah!" when he asked if they deserved all the perks Cole has and "NO!" when he asked if it was fair.

The teachers are excellent, they make themselves available and do their best to prepare us for careers, and no, I have never seen Dr. Cole in the flesh.  But I started to think that being on their side was like signing a something without reading it.  I didn't have all the facts.  So I stopped yelling and just observed   hehe I'm such a fence-sitter.

The end of the rally:

MATC Faculty Rally

"We are the union - Mighty mighty union - What do we want - Contract - When do we want it - Now - Who's got a contract - Cole's got a contract"  I love how that one woman was late on that last call... lol