Rain, rain, seriously, time to go away...

Dallas/ Ft. Worth has been invaded... but lots and lots of precipitation. Now, I am just as happy as anyone else that we are getting rain so the grass is green and we're not in a drought BUT.... we're going on a week of gloomy weather. What does this equal, me wanting to curl up inside and sleep, not the most productive use of time. Since the outlook calls for rain at least through Thursday, here are some things that I had experienced while in the rain...

1. If I had any doubt that I was allergic to humidity, I know for certain that my hair still frizzes and goes crazy. Just in case i had forgotten the good ol' Florida days, I am reminded!

2. No matter what college campus it is, drainage must be horrible. Baylor when it rained=flood. SMU when it rains= even bigger flood.

3. The Mary Poppins umbrella, which I have been obsessed with since I received it, has gotten some much needed use. Kiddos LOVE the umbrella as well! Makes Miss Parsons look cool.

4. My car was pretty dirty, so now I don't have to worry about washing it for awhile... it'll just get wet again as soon as I drive it outside.

5. My apartment has a garage, so I do get to avoid the mad dash from parking to my apartment.

6. It's not scorching hot... just mild and humid. Mild, yay, humidity, well I already covered that.

7. Sophie hates the rain. This has been the most fun development. When ever she goes outside, she doesn't want to. She gets crazy wet, dirty, and all around nasty. "Toweling off" time is fun, believe me!

8. I could only think of 7 items, but I don't like odd numbers, so random #8 I'm officially going to Disney World in October!!! Going to the sunshine state..YES!!

Routine is what routine does...

Seeing that many other people are updating their blogs, here goes an update on life:

Because I am a plan person, I have fallen into a comfortable, albeit, maybe boring routine.

- I wake up

- go to school or work whichever it is that day

- come home

- eat

- deal with Sophie

- watch TV

- fall asleep on the couch

- realize I've fallen asleep on the couch

- put Sophie to bed

- drag myself into bed

There are, of course, variations in this routine, but after getting Sophie, I have fully embraced the fact that i need to keep her on a schedule, thus keep myself on a schedule. Only 6 more months of puppyhood (hopefully).

Minus the joys of parenthood (yes, Sophie is like my child), I have found myself in an elementary school student "teaching", aka helping around various classrooms, one day a week. I could feel the energy in the school and I'm not going to lie, I got super excited. This plus the fact that I will be tutoring a little boy (Matthew) twice a week for the semester really has me stoked about teaching!

I do wish I had a more exciting blog update, but life is calm, which I don't mind a bit right now. Movie going, training the pup, hanging out with friends, teaching, and maybe, just maybe, a trip to Disney is on the horizon.

Those who cannot do, teach: or maybe not...

It has been forever and a day since the last update on my blog, so here is an update on my life:

- I've survived through 1/6 of my graduate program, yay, and I am knee deep in the next 3 hours
- These 3 hours are proving to be more bothersome than I would like:

And here comes the rant....

First of all, let me preface this rant with the fact that this is a math class FOR teachers... a professor is teaching us how to teach students. I was under the assumption that SMU would provide someone who was good at teaching. He can certainly do math just fine, the teaching us how to do it the way he wants it done, well, not so much. Here is what you need to know about George:
1. George is relatively new to SMU
2. George is VERY good at doing math, crazy scary and complicated math that he thinks we know how to do or care for that matter
3. George spent 20+ years teaching in a private all boys school
4. He is now teaching 27 women... he is not understanding we are different than boys
5. George lies- "NO, there will not be any problems on the test" skip to day of test "i've decided there will be problems on the test... a LOT of them!"
6. George makes up grades in his mind, not even kidding
7. George is freakishly unorganized... he loses people's papers every day
End of George and my rant, now on to other topics....
- Sophie is now 4 months old, my little terror is growing up, 2 obedience classes down, 6 more to go... she was the star of class last week, not in a good way!
- I am very excited that not only have i been able to hang out with the fam, but I have seen Celina, Tommy, and Amy in Dallas the last couple of weeks! I miss Baylor friends!
- I am more than caught up on movies... this is both good and bad
- I have now felt nauseous for 12 days, which is super fun for me, except not, any suggestions on how to fix this problem would be welcomed

A facelift....

If you are viewing my blog, you should notice it has been updated! Ashley did an amazing job re-doing my blog, and I am excited to write about all the new things in my life... after July 2 that is!

-For those of you who care... school is crazy, apartment is still in need of decoration, and Sophie is getting into everything!! There are TOO many things on my plate right now!

A bird's gotta fly...

Now I do know that it has been a while... a good long while since I last posted. I noticed today how far down the list I am on a friend's blogger list... hence the update.

I love Jay Leno, I have watched him every night since I came back from Florida. I watched him on and off for the better part of the last 8 years. Dad tried to get me to tune into Letterman, I was having none of that!!

When the announcement came that Conan was going to be taking over in 2009, I kept thinking, "ok, well, that sucks, but at least I have a couple years left." On May 29, 2009, that illusion of Jay being on ended. No more... Conan (which I have watched every night thus far this week, and I think he has some potential) has now taken over. The only solace I have is the fact that Leno is coming back in the fall, not The Tonight Show, but I'm sure I'll still love it!

My whole ode to Jay Leno thing aside... it had me thinking, this is really and end of an era. He was on air 17 years, that's a LONG time! I thought it was ironic that the day he ended his tonight show run, I was moving into an apartment to start my "grown up" life. I'm in Dallas now, working, and getting ready to start grad school on Monday, talk about starting a new chapter!!

So... Jay, you and I are kindred spirits, and sometimes, it's just time to start new chapters, spread our wings (forgive the cheesy pun, I had to include it!). See you in the fall!

And she has a plan...

I'm a plan person... if you know me, then you already know this.  I like to make lists, I like to know what I'm doing next, the uncertainty of situations scares me sometimes.  (This WILL be long-winded, fair warning!)

I knew where I wanted to go to college, I was accepted late September of my senior year of high school to Baylor.  I was an undecided major for maybe .5 seconds before I chose business.  It drove me CRAZY not to know what I was doing after college; then Disney came up.  Simple solution.  

Fast forward seven months... nothing.  I had NO idea what to do next.  Do I stay at Disney (quickly decided that was a negative), go home (check), get a job (uncheck... hmmm)?  I came back with a very confused mind.  Now was the true test... what do I want to do with my life?!

I started thinking, really thinking, about what I wanted to do with my life, goodness knows I had enough downtime to get stuck in those thoughts.  The more I thought, the more confused I got, it was frustrating.  

God always has a way of working in mysterious ways.  Everything started to click.... I love kids, working with them, Disney had solidified that.  I wanted to enrich their lives, how could I do that in a good way?  The Big Man Upstairs was giving me the perfect opportunity... teaching.

Now the scary part, I found a program that seemed perfect, a Masters degree in Education with Certification.  I took the plunge and applied...   Everything was turned in April 1, I didn't expect to hear anything yet... I hadn't even had time to work myself up over it... but there the envelope ended up, in my trembling hand yesterday.  It was a small, inconspicuous, white envelope; we are trained to think that is a bad thing: I stopped breathing.  

Good things do come in small packages sometimes.  I GOT IN!!  The program starts in June and sounds pretty intense, but I could NOT be more excited.  I've got a plan again, one that I'm SO psyched and excited about, so, for a girl who loves planning and knowing... 

Now, for a quick list of the top 5 things on my mind (besides getting into grad school that is!)

 

5.  Medieval Times with the fam for easter... so fun

4.  The weather, it's nice out, I even drove with my windows down today!

3.  Spring clothes, I LOVE all the colors out right now!

2.  The potential Europe trip (this one is #2 because grad school orientation may put a kink in that :(

1.  Hannah Montana:  The Movie (I am slightly obsessed with Miley/Hannah, so when this came out last week... I was there! Fave quote from the movie:  "Life's a climb, but the view is great.")

You can take the girl out of Disney...

but you certainly can't take Disney out of the girl...

I first of all would like to yet again apologize for the lack of updates. With my busy social calendar (insert sarcasm here,)  I should be posting like it's going out of style.  

On a side note, Ashley, I'm sorry for not getting you a title yet for the blog revamp, I haven't had inspiration strike yet... thanks for your patience!

I have been milling around the house, having a couple interviews and applying for grad school.  I should find out about both of them in the near future, prayers are needed and would be greatly appreciated!

Now on to the actual update... I was able to travel back to Orlando and visit friends all the while fulfilling my seasonal working duties.  Not only was it weird to be back, which it was, but I also had a weird sense of coming home.  I know waaay too much about Walt Disney World and that is not normal and healthy.

Instead of droning on about my weekend, quick recap in my favorite bullet points...

10.  The Florida weather... I did not miss this and it certainly did not miss me... everyone at work was joking I needed to stay indoors because I was like rain man, it kept following me!

9.  Driving to Orlando and back from Tampa 6 times.... I know A LOT about that stretch of highway 4.

8.  Staying in a different location every single night, my poor suitcase!

7.  Going to all 4 parks in one day, I felt SO old, my ankles were swollen and I injured my foot, you can't take me anywhere.

6.  Witnessing my manager getting laid off, THE most awkward moment ever...

5.  Going back to work, I felt loved and appreciated and all those other puppy and sunshine feelings.. I even had cute kid and grandparent interactions, I missed those.

4.  the vest, the black high-waisted pleated pants, and the nametag... enough said

3.  going to earl of sandwich, Texas needs this restaurant, I had it twice and miss it already!

2.  Getting my new ID, I was positively giddy, no lie... all the perks... YESSS!!

1.  Seeing everyone again, I miss everyone more than I can say!!!!

I'm stuck on Band-Aid Brand...

This will surely be THE most random blog post ever...

I have been contemplating Band-Aids, in my free time of course, or because I currently am wearing one on my thumb.. one never knows.

Here's the deal, when you're a kid, I feel like Band-Aids make sense, you're always scuffing your knees or cutting your arm, etc.  Something is always going wrong and this little things are helping close those annoying little war wounds you've acquired because, let's face it, you're a kid and you're having fun.

Now, fast forward to the present, the Band-Aid becomes less common, if you think about it, how many times do you see professionals with Band-Aids on all the time?  I've been looking (not in a creepy way, just observing) and noticed that this is more a rare exception rather than the norm.  I think Band-Aids  are more a sign of clumsiness than anything else, or some freaky little accident, or stupidity.  

Exihibit A- Last night in my car, i noticed my headrest was a little higher on one side than the other. I have the bright idea to fix this... I push down on my headrest as hard as I can, and suddenly, the whole thing crashes down on my thumb, taking some skin with it.  Hence, my need for a Band-Aid today.  I'm chalking that one into category... not thinking at all aka stupidity!

And thus ends my ode to Band-Aids, just think, the next time you need a Band-Aid, wear that thing with pride!

What's In a name...

I have become aware of my utter lacking in tending to the concept of the blog.  Now, originally, I had hoped my blog would help chronicle my time at Disney and after.  After looking back, I have noticed what a terrible job I did with that.  Not only did I not blog about my random adventures while in Florida, but now I have too much time on my hands and STILL cannot manage to update my blog.  

What a very sad expression of my thoughts,  a little self deprecating, and for that I apologize.  On to bigger and brighter things I suppose... the top 10 list of what has been and continues to go on in my life...

10.  I spent the last part of 2008 stuck in a fog of vacation planner delirium, packed with people and tired beyond belief.

9.  I spent my first Christmas... alone, let me tell you, that was depressing, I count my blessings that I have and uncle living in Florida, surely without him, I would have had a pity party for myself in my apartment.

8.  I attempted to cram everything into Orlando that I had been neglecting for the past several months, going out, going to the parks, ultimately staying super busy

7.  The Abendschein clan descended on Orlando right after the holidays, i don't think Amy knows how much joy that brought me in my last week at Disney.

6.  I was able to watch new year's eve fireworks from the polynesian resort... close to as spectacular as fourth of july (i will be ruined of fireworks for the rest of my life.. once you've seen Disney fireworks all others pale in comparison)

5.  On January 2, i packed up 7 months of my life and put it all back in Libby, and started the trek home, it was emotional, I miss those people more than I can say, it must be living through Disney together, we survived, and for that we are forever linked.

4.  Safely back in Texas, the search for a replacement for Libby (the Liberty) soon began... let's face it, she was having some issues... so here is the part where I introduce Minnie (or Sexy, or Manny, or even Emmy... her name is still in debate) the Murano.. I love her already!

3.  This now brings us to the relative present... jobless and searching.  It's hard to figure out what to do with your life when the "plan" falls through... i'm exploring some options that I'm sure would surprise some.. more on that in a later blog post...

2.  This coming weekend, I will be traveling to NYC to see Dez and meet up with a Disney friend.. I need this and cannot wait to be there.  I am SO excited!

1.  This brings us the final point, the most important, I'm sure... what's in a name?  The name of course I'm referring to is my blog name... it certainly does not apply anymore... I am far, far away from the mouse house... I'm thinking "Couch Patato Speaks out" or "Slacker on the Sofa"  Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

I also commend and congratulate you if you made it all the way through, this was long winded indeed.