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!

Affirmations

I think that sometimes I forget the power of affirmations and giving thanks. Last night I began with my obsessive thinking just as I wanted to go to bed. This is so frustrating. I lay down for bed and all of a sudden, right when I am about to fall into a deep sleep, a loud voice inside my head asks me: "What do you have to do tomorrow?" and, reluctantly, my brain answers with a list of different things I should do. I am trying to get back to sleep when I begin thinking about all sorts of things, each thought leading to a new thought and so on. This goes on for at least 20 minutes when I decide I will try counting my blessings to see if that will help me sleep.

Sure enough, after counting about 10 blessings and telling myself how fortunate I am for this and that and what I am good at, etc. I fall straight to sleep.

So I recommend trying this if you are anxious or are suffering from sudden insomnia - I know I will do it a lot more often!

"Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be."Abraham Lincoln

The Sirens

I have a host of sirens trying to distract me from my goals. I tried so hard today to write some on my thesis but I failed - miserably.

My sirens all day were many: the clothes calling me to wash them, dishes screaming at me from the sink, notes asking to be taken from the pile of books sitting on my desk, books longing to be read before class tomorrow, and un-read e-mails sending out vibes to be responded to.

"Tomorrow I will do better, I will get up early, I will exercise and then I will write the rest of the day, and I will be motivated!" - this is what I say every evening and every day I find some reason to stray away from this relatively simple plan.

So - here is my answer to this:

"There is always a siren singing you to shipwreck.

KILL THE SIREN!"

Here is just one of my thoughts on how to do this:

On another note, here is a blog I found that I like: http://shamash.typepad.com/shamash/humor/

Obsession

I obsess.

I obsess when I am not busy about things that do not matter.

Death, mostly - How/when/where will I /my family/my friends die... but other things too.

Did I leave the straightener/oven/stove on?

Did I lock the door?

Does everyone notice that my car is dirty/my pants are tight/my makeup is splotchy?

Did I get an A on the paper? Did they like the paper? Am I really as smart as I think I am?


It seems to be more like a problem now than just a weird quirk of mine. I am making a lot of lists again... like 4-5 a day. I check our account balance at least twice a day. I wonder what is causing my sudden obsessive behavior? Hmmm...

I am a Fat, Lazy Housewife...

Yeah, this is pretty much how I feel today. First of all I will clean the house all day but I will not do the clothes!! They are so daunting! I HATE FOLDING, HANGING UP, WASHING, DRYING, and ORGANIZING CLOTHES!!!!! Give me a toilet to clean any day! Anyway....I had a physical at my house by my life insurance provider and she brought out a brand new, fancy scale. At first I thought, no problem, I know how much I weigh and I am okay with it. But no...the scale had to be new and weighed me differently than the old scales I have been using. So...I step on. It reads: 158.7. Shit.

When I got married I weighed 138-145 lbs (it fluctuated a lot right before I got married). But I worked really hard to get it down that low. So this means that after a year and 2 months of marriage I am 14-20 pounds heavier. What if I do this every year for the next 10 years? Let's see, let's say and average of 18 pounds a year for ten years I will weigh: 338 pounds! What about over the next 40 years?? I will weigh 878 POUNDS! AH!

So, I knew I had gained weight because my legs look like sausages instead of bean stalks but I didn't think I was nearly the heaviest I have ever been!! (I weighed 165 when I moved to Valdosta and lost it all...but now I am going to be right back up there!!!) So...what is the decision? Work out?...I really just do not have the patience right now. Drinking a lot of water? YES. Stop drinking alcohol? NO. Stop eating bread? NO NO NO. Limit portions? YES. Pizza? MAYBE. UGH...I hate the process of losing weight...and I hate it too because everyone always says "You don't need to lose weight!!" and then I just feel like I can eat whatever I want...So please, do not tell me I do not need to lose it, I DO...I weigh closer to 200 pounds than 100 so this is not hard to figure out, I need to lose weight. The healthy weight for my height is 135-155. I want to be at the 135.

*~Summer~*

I am done with classes and my assistantship for the summer! Yay for keeping my 4.0 average! Derek and I will be working this summer - in Warren County teaching and organizing the youth activities at the church here because Nick, the youth director, is leaving.

I am considering finding a full-time job for next year. This semester was busy but my next 2 semester are going to be a piece of cake and I really should work if I can - and I can! So - the job search begins for a full-time, salaried job (benefits do not matter because I get those through Derek), and a little flexible for my 2 classes I am taking next semester. We will see what happens.

Daddy has a new boat - it is WONDERFUL and I love it so much ! We are going to have a blast on it this summer! We went to the lake yesterday but it was way to windy to do anything so Mama and I just sat around and talked, it was nice.

Things are going considerably well in Sandersville. It is Spring and so nice outside, we can walk the dogs alot. We are trying to keep our chins up because in reality Derek loves his job, I am doing great in school, and we are doing okay financially (and will do a lot better when I get a job!!!). So, between the two of us Sandersville is not bad - it is just some of the social politics that bother us sometimes, I guess the good part is, the politics do not touch us very often - but it is sad to see other people go through the slander-mill here.

Anyway - Derek and I are going to be in the community theatre play this summer - the last weekend in June I believe. I will be Rapunzel, a very small role, thank God. Derek is the Baker which is the lead role, of course, because my husband is such the talent!!! I am nervous, don't know why I am doing this - but Derek is so excited, he really loves getting on stage for singing, acting, or both. He is so gifted in those areas...unlike his wife. But, if you want a laugh, come see the play.

The end for this morning.