Let me Just Say... "Hallelujah."

Yay for the premier tonight at 9:00.

To Fall...

Thinking of everything Fall means today.

I love mornings and late afternoons in the Fall.

I love the feeling of "falling" in love.

Falling down isn't fun, but free falling is!

Basically, a lot of formations/definitions of "fall" make me happy but the season is definitely the best. The pumpkins, colors, weather, and need for new clothes always makes me happy. I really look forward to Halloween, gord/pumpkin carving, brisk morning walks, crunching leaves under my feet and shorter days. Mountains, festivals, Thanksgiving, corn chowder, sweet potato pie, souffle's, casseroles and crock-pot specialties are coming my way =).

A Fat Lazy Housewife No More!

YES! The above picture is how I feel now! Honestly, I am not a housewife and will probably never be one, but the fact that I go to school while Derek brings home the bacon (and I contribute only a third of our income a month) means that I guess I can parallel my role in this house right now with that of a beautiful, glowing 1950's housewife (if you are going to make this comparison why not specify what kind of gorgeous housewife you are right?)

In a week I have lost 3 pounds and that is not water weight people - I have counted calories and have decreased my portion sizes. I have been drinking lots of water and have walked over a mile every other day. AND, I have had FUN - imagine that.

Speaking of housewives, I love the article below.

Baby, it's COLD inside!

I am freezing right now here at GCSU. So cold I had to eat my hot sandwich and drink my coffee earlier than usual to help me warm up a little.

Re: the "I'm A Fat Lazy Housewife" post --- I have begun a public food journal to keep myself accountable. It is an excellent resource, you should try it. Here is the link to my site: http://fitday.com/fitness/PublicJournals.html?Owner=crystalparten

And also by the way - I may boycott lipstick until November. And pork. - (as in the meat from pigs, not trash that comes to politicians). If that doesn't make sense to you then watch the political news and see how utterly ridiculous the McCain Camp is being...and in all reality, how ludicrous the race is as a whole. It is also annoying that presently, the Propoganda Sandersvillian has added to his/her collection of right-winged billboards "McCain 2008." I understand that this is quite normal but come on, must I be reminded of this mysterious persons' political beliefs and agenda of either converting or offending Democrats on a daily basis on my way to the Walmart (AKA: The Sandersville Mall)? I don't think so.

I may have to vote for a 3rd party since I obviously was never voting for McCain and since I constantly have been reminding myself of how much I wanted Hillary in office... and Obama just doesn't compare in my mind! What should I do? An Elvis write in, perhaps?

Male Excuses

So - now there is supposedly a gene that makes men cheat. (uh -huh, who else thinks this is BS?)
(Re: to http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/01/AR2008090102087.html )

There is also concern that boys are increasingly doing worse in school... here is an excerpt form an article on MSN:
"Some experts suggest we are witnessing an epidemic of ADHD and say boys need more medication. Others say that environmental pollutants found in plastics, among other things, may be eroding their attention spans and their ability to regulate their emotions. Those experts may be right but I have another suggestion. Let's examine the way our child rearing and our schools have evolved in the last 10 years. Then ask ourselves this challenging question: could some of those changes we have embraced in our families, our communities and our schools be driving our sons crazy?" (re: http://www.newsweek.com/id/157898?gt1=43002 )


Do you want to know my opinion?

People need to stop making excuses for the bad behavior or lack of motivation in males and make them take responsibility for it! Women cheat, but that is always considered "emotional" not GENETIC! This gives men a free pass! I do not care what evidence is there, gene or no gene, it is a man's personal responsibility to his wife to be faithful and if he is not then he has given in to selfishness and personal desire - not to a "cheating gene."

The same with these boys who are bad in school or who cannot concentrate in school - yes the teachers and parents have a lot to do with it but you cannot always blame boys' problems on ADD, ADHD or an abnormal amount of energy that, when not released in the boring classroom, makes them behave badly! And why - oh why - does a reference in this article assume pollutants are making boys have ADHD and ADD but not girls??? Also, why do the changes in the schools and home tend to ONLY affect boys and not girls? See the issue here?


There is something called self-control, people, and boys in classrooms and men in marriages are smart enough and strong enough to use it - if they want to.

It's my Birthday! and I didn't cry!

My birthday was this weekend, specifically yesterday (Sunday the 7th of September).

It was a blast! For real, here is what I did:

1) Locked myself in the upstairs of my grandparent's Plantation home all day Friday and Saturday, the two days leading up to my special day, to write my first thesis chapter that I could not focus myself on at home.
2) Typed 20 pages of text, worked on citations, and even edited my draft a little.
3) Sat on the front porch of Moma and Papa's house each morning and night from Fri-Sun drinking coffee and talking with them.
4) Ate steak with my parents, grandparents, Edee, Derek and my great-Aunt Shirley on the deck of my parent's house. Opened 2 gifts and received 2 checks.
5) Listened to my Papa and Derek sing hymns in harmony while my Mama played the piano after birthday dinner Saturday.
6) Watched Derek watch the Florida game after everyone else in my family had gone to bed.
7) Ate all day Sunday (breakfast, lunch and fish-fry dinner) and in the middle of it all took a long nap on my bed in my room at mama and daddy's.

And...although this sounds like a boring weekend, I loved every minute of it! I really needed that time with my family, I miss them!

Oh the joys of Savannah!

I absolutely LOVE Savannah. I always have, but this time I really really enjoyed it. Now, I am not saying that it is St. Augustine, it doesn't quite compare to the appeal, beauty, or intrigue or the Old City but Savannah does have its charm!


Derek and I went down there for a cross-country meet and stayed overnight (we let the other coach ride back with the team). I did some research at the Georgia Historical Society, while Derek put his head down on a table and went to sleep.


We ended up staying at the Planters Inn. Have you heard of it? It is only one of the best historic inns in Savannah and on top of that...it is on the Haunted Tours. Yes, it is haunted - but fortunately, we slept safe and well all through the night with no interruptions. Now, we ended up staying there because - just like in Asheville, N.C. - everything was booked, and we wanted to stay near River Street (so that, after intoxication, we could walk back safely). But it cost us...$200.00 for that ONE night! Dear Jesus! But it was so clean and so beautiful and the pillows were the most comfortable I have ever laid my head on! They also gave us complimentary wine and cheese hour - in which I partook whole-heartedly so that our evening out would be cheaper. So I guess, in all reality, it was not that bad. Oh - and you know how in many nice hotels they put Evian water in your room for like $10.00? Well, this one gave us as much Evian water as we wanted - fo' free! Not that we really need Evian, but it did make us feel classy.


We met a couple - Aaron and Katie. They were from St. Louis and very nice. They were in Savannah for her 30th birthday. We enjoyed talking to them during the wine and cheese hour. We wanted to meet them later on that night, but my heels were killing my feet and it got hot so we were both sweaty and therefore we just felt gross like we needed to go back to the hotel and get a shower. Plus, we had been up for over 20 hours at that point and were slap worn out.


We did see a crazy thing happen on Friday though - a car smashed into the Freemasons Building - the Old Cotton Exchange in Savannah and knocked down the over 100 year old Lion Statue, sad day. The driver survived, btw.

Let's see though. We ate at a great tapas bar which was delicious, except for the empanadas - they were actually disgusting and I don't say that about hardly anything! We went to Wet Willies, Derek's favorite bar in Savannah...not mine though b/c all of the drinks are frozen and I'd rather have one on the rocks. And...oh yes...my birthday present.

So Derek took me to Victoria's Secret for my birthday. He was so worried I would think "Oh that's such a man thing to do," but I sure did not! It made me feel like a million dollars! Anyway, he picked out some things that he liked and we bought them and now I am keeping him in suspense - he has no idea when I will decide to model them for him. Anyway, I thought it was a very thoughtful present because he knew it would make me feel 1) pretty and 2) wanted ... 2 things a girl needs to feel now and then right?

Well...need to actually do something productive!