The Plans are in Place

I am very excited because we are going to the new Harry Potter Theme Park in Orlando. I want to try some butter beer and maybe ride a broomstick.

In the meantime, the following tune keeps going through my head:

Snape, Snape, Severus Snape.
Snape, Snape, Severus Snape.
DUMBLEDORE!
Snape, Snape, Severus Snape.
Snape, Snape, Severus SnapE.
DUMBLEDORE!

I don't think God made me a Blogger

When I started this blog about two years ago, I was very excited and planned to write every day. But just like the small diary with the keylock I had as a teenager, one or two pages were posted and then the diary was forgotten.
I still hope that when my life eventually slows down, I will have more opportunity to express myself to myself thru this medium so one day I can look back and remember how I felt at specific times.
So, what's going on with me now............
I am about half-way through my fourth semester of grad school. The courses I am taking this quarter are both electives - Christology and Philosphical Foundations for Theology. Christology is interesting and I am doing fine with little effort. Philosophy, on the other hand, has never been easy pour moi and the class has been a struggle. I am hoping to escape with a "C" - yuck.
My full-time job is great; I love what I do and I feel like I am making a positive impact on the world. The part-time job is super busy. Money is very good, but I am about to the point where I want to give up that job altogether. It's been a fun ride, but I am tired.
I miss my daughter. She and her boyfriend plan to come here for Christmas and I am uber-excited!
The weather is decent and the bills are paid. Count your blessings!

Aging and Maturity - the Great Equalizer

I just spent the past weekend with a bunch of girls I haven't seen or spoken with since May, 1980. 30 Year high school reunion.

Some of these fine ladies never shared classes with me, and we never got to know each other while at school, but we all spent time catching up with each like we have always been family. The common experience of four angst years of high school is a bond which can't be broken.

We missed many of our classmates who could not be with us and hope to see them in five years!

It's Movie Club Thursday!!!!!

The local chapter is definitely meeting today. On the agenda - this sweaty little number:

Crabby Attitude

I don't know why but Saturday just wasn't my day.

I spent most of the day alone at home reading the latest tome for my homework assignment. Not my favorite book, but I am open to expanding my mind in the name of a Master's degree.

I went to work in the evening. For reasons I still don't understand, I found each and everything there.....irritating. I snapped at everyone. Fortunately for me, they didn't snap back. I would have deserved it.

I suppose the most telling part of this post is "I, I, I". Almost every sentance begins with it.

Companionship

OK - even though the nest has been empty this past year, I am not lonely. However, companionship has advantages.

Today is my first class in summer semester for college. Last semester, I took two classes, and I was the sole student here at my local campus, even though I had a number of classmates in Tampa (via teleconferencing). My physical classroom is shared by two other live bodies this semester, and what a difference that makes. The course is Ethics and we have already discovered that I take a much different stance than they do on matters, but we are all happy to learn from one another.

Companionship - a guilty pleasure that we social creatures should not have to do without.

The mother/daughter bond

The past nine months have been an adjustment since my daughter moved across country. So many years it was just the two of us. We have the quintessential Gump "peas and carrots" relationship.

Cell phones and unlimited minutes/text plans have made the adjustment somewhat easy. Rarely a day goes by when we don't communicate several times.

Last week was nice - she came to visit during her spring break. The time flew by so fast - doctor's appointments, pedicure/manicures, movies, beach, shopping. By the time she arrived, it was time to take her back to the airport again.

I shouldn't fuss too much, this was the fourth time we have travelled to see each other in nine months. Is that too much?

She is moving on with her life, and I am very happy with the direction it is taking.

A good night's sleep

The azaleas are barely, oh so slightly, beginning to bloom. They should be gorgeous for Easter next weekend! Oh, and those dad-gum gnats are back, too.

On a random thought, I dropped a cool $225 last night at Target. I can remember a time when that seemed like half of the world's fortune! The money was well spent, mostly on linens for the daybed and a fancy-schmancy new blow dryer. I did splurge on my bed by purchasing a new mattress cover. Top of the line, too, at least by Target standards.

The combination of a cushy new mattress pad and fresh clean sheets created such a blissful slumber. I didn't want to climb out of bed this morning :)

It was a very cold winter

It dawned on me today just how cold, and how prolonged the winter stayed here in Savannah.

One week from today is the high holy day for our city. I can't recall a time in recent memory (at least 10 years) when the azaleas had not already been in full bloom and were dying or gone before St. Patrick's Day.

There aren't even buds on the bushes yet. We may be fortunate enough to have azaleas for Easter!

My Waterpik

I didn't update on my snow post because it was a bust. Imagine that.

Anyhoo, about two weeks ago, I decided now that I am a grown up of 40+ years, I needed to protect my periodontal investment with a Waterpik. After checking the company website, I decided the hand-held model suited my needs just fine.

Thank goodness there were no hidden cameras video-taping my early uses of the toy. For four days straight, the closest comparison I can think of would be to turn a ceiling fan on high, then throw a water balloon at it.

I now have the technique down pat and love the results. A couple of pointers out there for anyone who is about to use the Waterpik for the first time:

1. Use warm water. Even room temerature water feels like ice when it hits your gums and a throbbing rate. (I tried using distilled water from a bottle - from now on, warm water from the tap)
2. Wear a raincoat.

SNOW!

The last time it snowed in Savannah, GA(not pronounced Georgia, but pronounced "G" "A") was Christmas 1989. I wasn't here for it :(

So 21 years later I am 47 years old and as giddy as a kid in Montana anticipating school closings in September due to wintery weather. By tonight, we could have as much as 3 inches!

Imagine that.

Home Depot, II

Just further proof that the Home Depot ROCKS.

The Loyalty Program

How did we get suckered into the marketing? Who was the genius that came up with the affinity program?

I have become that person who won't buy it unless I'm getting some miniscule kick-back. Cashiers hate me. I whip out that debit card, but then insist they process it as credit - thereby forcing them to produce an extra slip of paper, await my signature - credit gives me kick-back points I can use for Barnes & Nobles gift cards.

I am at the point in my life where I now fly at least 4 times a year. Not impressed, you say? It's a big deal for me. And I'll pay $30 extra to get those onepass miles over a slightly more affordable route. By 2012, I should have my first free round-trip!

The hugest delimna is hotel loyalty. I have points with Hilton, Marriott, and Starwood. When I travel for the job, I don't have the control over where to stay, and I have nightmares over even a 5,000 point bank expiring due to non-use.

The one loser in my little consumerism game is Delta Airlines. I am one of those people who have always used their middle name, and several years worth of skymiles was accumulated with that name. New TSA guidelines show tickets must be issued with the name matching the identification, and my id has my first name, my middle name, and my last name. Do you think that the good people in Delta marketing were willing to change the name on my one pass mile from my middle/last name to first/middle/last name? HELL NO. So, bye-bye, Delta, hello, Continental!

This says it all:

Men are such peacocks

My new favorite show - "Conveyor Belt of Love".
Roosters, peacocks, bower birds, all males are the same. Love it, Love it, Love it!