I'm sure that the mommies out there are going to get pissed off at me about this blog, but that's ok. It's not the first time I'll have been on someone's bad side. I went to a 4:45 showing of the new Transformers movie with Jason and his uncle. We got in after the previews had started due to the slowest concessions line EVER, so we didn't get to sit in the very back like we usually do. We ended up taking a seat near the back of the theater, but because it was dark, we couldn't see who was sitting behind us. Unfortunately, we chose the seats directly in front of two women and the 4 year old kid they brought with them. Joy. I knew we had trouble when the kid sat there talking all the way through the previews without being asked to be quiet. I turned my head a little to see out of the corner of my eye whether his mother was even with him, which she was, and then turned my face back to the screen and immediately heard "That girl just shook her head at us!" exclaimed to the other woman who was with her. Ok, 1) No I didn't and 2) I wouldn't have turned at all if your kid had SHUT THE HELL UP!
So, the movie begins and rugrat behind me decides that the fun thing to do is kick my seat. Again, no one stops him. Then, he's talking. Loudly. He keeps jumping up and saying "Look! Look! Bumblebee!" and after about 5 minutes, when someone (not me) would glare at her, she'd lean over and say "You have to whisper" to her kid. Finally, near the end of the movie, rugrat stops talking (I think he fell asleep) but then his mother would loudly exclaim "WOW!" during the action sequences and I did want to turn around and shove her large diet coke down her throat. Then, after the movie, the lights came up and they left before we did. I turned around to see their trash strewn ALL OVER the seats they were sitting in. Nacho trays, popcorn bags, drink cups, candy packaging, half a hotdog, all left sitting on the floor, seats and armrests. I was appalled. Not only were they rudely loud through the movie, then they were just flat out rude to leave all of that trash lying there. UGH!
So, my point to this is, why do parents think it's ok to let their kids behave like this in a movie theater? If you know your kid can't behave or sit still, DON'T TAKE THEM TO THE MOVIE! Yes, I understand your rugrat really likes the Transformers and really wants to see it, but so does everyone else in the theater and you're ruining their experience. Wait for the freaking DVD and let your kid yak all the way through that in the comfort of your own home. Don't ruin my moviegoing experience, which I paid nearly $10 for, by letting your kid be a monster. If your kid can't be quiet, leave them at home!
Oh, and pick up your trash, because that's just ridiculous.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Quarter Life Crisis....2 years late
This might be one of those rare posts that make readers go "OMG Becky shut up!" but I'm writing it anyway. I finished the very last class of my undergrad work at 9:00 p.m. Monday night. YAY! I still have my student teaching before I can graduate, but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter. Here's my problem, I'm doing this at age 27. Yeah. A little late don't ya think? I do. I am fully aware that some challenges in my life, and a huge case of the "what do I do with my life?!" bug have contributed to this, but it just seems like I've wasted YEARS. All of my high school classmates are doctors, or lawyers, or successful nurses, teachers etc. and they're all buying houses and having kids and I'm sitting here going "Yeah, that's at least another 2 to 3 years off..." and it's making me feel kind of crappy. I've got some immensely talented friends who are seeing their artistic careers really take off and they're talking about being flown to Martha's Vinyard by music producers, or having their work professionally recorded and I sit here thinking "Yeah.....I placed some orders today". You can see where that might be less exciting.
I just feel like I've wasted my 20's by being indecisive and not having the opportunities that some other people had. It's no one's fault, it's just how things are. But it sucks. I've never been West of the Mississippi, I've never been out of the country except for Canada, which I firmly believe does not count, I've never seen the Grand Canyon, I've never watched the sun rise over the desert, I've never gone snorkling in the ocean, I've never taken a cruise, I've never been to Bermuda. These are things that most people do when they're young in their 20's and have the time and opportunity to do, but I haven't. I hold myself back a lot. Hell, I've never been drunk because I'm such a control freak. I stop at 2 glasses of wine, or one margarita. I never went out for my 21st birthday with friends. I didn't have a bachelorette party. Both of those are actually because no one actually planned anything for me, which I find annoying, but that's another topic for another blog. The rest of it is because I just stop myself from having fun, because I'm afraid that if I let go and have a little less control for a while, people will think less of me. I spend a LOT of time trying to be what other people expect me to be, or think I should be, or what I think I should be myself. *sigh* I'm not the fun friend, I'm the downer. Now I feel like it's starting to be career time, and time to settle down and have kids and do the responsible things that people my age do, which is kind of exactly like what I've been doing since I was 18, except for that whole kids part. But that kids part is big, it's a deal breaker for Jason and I want to have kids too, but it's like...when? Seriously. I mean, all of the stuff I want to do can't be done while toting a toddler along with you, and if I wait too long then it becomes one of those "Well, I'll be 70 when the kid graduates high school" situations and I'd like to be alive to see my grandkids. Blah. And I live with my mother-in-law which makes me feel like I'm a huge loser on a daily basis, because I hate having to live there. I feel like a freeloader, and I really really hate that. Plus, I've never lived one day alone with Jason since we got married. It's going on 5 years of living with someone else, and I'm ready to have my own life and my own space. I just feel like I should have accomplished so much more by now, and that I'll have to give some things up to accomplish others, and I hate having to choose.
That's not to say I haven't done anything though, because I have. I mean, I got married in Disney World, which was amazing. I have been all up and down the East Coast and seen most of the historical sites there, I've been swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico. I've been swimming with a Dolphin! I've finished a degree without help from anyone. I've worked in several jobs and always gotten promoted. I just haven't done any of those big things that I really wanted to do. And, maybe I will some day. I think it's just that I always find myself wanting more, and being stopped by the limitations of time and money. Does anyone ever stop wanting more? Does anyone ever reach the point in their life where they look around and go "This is enough, this is exactly where I want to be"? Or is it just me who thinks about stuff like this?
Blah.
Sometimes I just think I need a little bit of change. Maybe that's why I want to paint my house all the time....
I just feel like I've wasted my 20's by being indecisive and not having the opportunities that some other people had. It's no one's fault, it's just how things are. But it sucks. I've never been West of the Mississippi, I've never been out of the country except for Canada, which I firmly believe does not count, I've never seen the Grand Canyon, I've never watched the sun rise over the desert, I've never gone snorkling in the ocean, I've never taken a cruise, I've never been to Bermuda. These are things that most people do when they're young in their 20's and have the time and opportunity to do, but I haven't. I hold myself back a lot. Hell, I've never been drunk because I'm such a control freak. I stop at 2 glasses of wine, or one margarita. I never went out for my 21st birthday with friends. I didn't have a bachelorette party. Both of those are actually because no one actually planned anything for me, which I find annoying, but that's another topic for another blog. The rest of it is because I just stop myself from having fun, because I'm afraid that if I let go and have a little less control for a while, people will think less of me. I spend a LOT of time trying to be what other people expect me to be, or think I should be, or what I think I should be myself. *sigh* I'm not the fun friend, I'm the downer. Now I feel like it's starting to be career time, and time to settle down and have kids and do the responsible things that people my age do, which is kind of exactly like what I've been doing since I was 18, except for that whole kids part. But that kids part is big, it's a deal breaker for Jason and I want to have kids too, but it's like...when? Seriously. I mean, all of the stuff I want to do can't be done while toting a toddler along with you, and if I wait too long then it becomes one of those "Well, I'll be 70 when the kid graduates high school" situations and I'd like to be alive to see my grandkids. Blah. And I live with my mother-in-law which makes me feel like I'm a huge loser on a daily basis, because I hate having to live there. I feel like a freeloader, and I really really hate that. Plus, I've never lived one day alone with Jason since we got married. It's going on 5 years of living with someone else, and I'm ready to have my own life and my own space. I just feel like I should have accomplished so much more by now, and that I'll have to give some things up to accomplish others, and I hate having to choose.
That's not to say I haven't done anything though, because I have. I mean, I got married in Disney World, which was amazing. I have been all up and down the East Coast and seen most of the historical sites there, I've been swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, and the Gulf of Mexico. I've been swimming with a Dolphin! I've finished a degree without help from anyone. I've worked in several jobs and always gotten promoted. I just haven't done any of those big things that I really wanted to do. And, maybe I will some day. I think it's just that I always find myself wanting more, and being stopped by the limitations of time and money. Does anyone ever stop wanting more? Does anyone ever reach the point in their life where they look around and go "This is enough, this is exactly where I want to be"? Or is it just me who thinks about stuff like this?
Blah.
Sometimes I just think I need a little bit of change. Maybe that's why I want to paint my house all the time....
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Start at Home....
So, after mentioning in my last blog that I want to paint our hideous kitchen cabinets, it got me thinking about all the other stuff Jason and I have done in the house that has made it look less yucky. Just a quick reminder, we don't own this house. Nope. Don't even want to buy it either, but I'm a firm believer that when you REALLY hate looking at the space you live in, it makes you never want to be there, so we decided to do some updates and make it a bit less bare and unattractive. Now, I've decided I'd share some photos of the work we've done, because I'm bored and I feel like it. So, here we go:
Upstairs Bathroom
I don't have a before shot of our full bath, but it was gross. The old metal tub leaked and rotted the subflooring in the room, which peeled up the dingy linoleum, so we had originally just planned to tile and replace the tub, but the tub was an insert with a surround and the decision was made to get a big jetted tub, so that meant doing the tub surround, and when we pulled down the paneling in the room (yes, ugly floral paneling) it ripped out chunks of drywall so we ended up taking the room down to the studs and starting from scratch. We also replaced the vanity and sink, because those were cheap builder grade particle board with oak veneer and I hated them. Here are the photos I took of the *nearly* finished product. Ignore the painters tape.
After:
Oh, and if you're looking at the floor in the above picture, you'll notice it's dark brown linoleum. Gross. It was also covered in cigarette burns, so we decided to lay down some laminte wood flooring like so:
The refrigerator and dishwasher also got replaced, though that was out of necessity, not for asthetics.
Mid-point:
Again, ignore the painters tape. Also, if you notice in the above pictures, the blue carries through into our kitchen on one wall. That's because there's no good way to break it up.
This is after we bought some new furniture, and a new rug that I LOVE and scored for $99 when it was supposed to be $299 because of a price sticker error at the store. EXCELLENT! Also, you can't see the railing in this picture, but it's new and black like the furniture.
Hallway:
After:
We bought 3 Ikea book cases because the closet was a vast hole of wasted space, and we were in desperate need of book storage space, so we took the 3 pre-fabbed book cases and pushed them into the closet space to create a built in bookcase look. We affectionetly call it our "crammed in" because we literally had to cram the smallest bookcase into the space, but I think it ended up looking pretty awesome, plus it's functional. Although, as you can see, it's already full, and I've got 3 more boxes of books with no home. *sigh*
Upstairs Bathroom
I don't have a before shot of our full bath, but it was gross. The old metal tub leaked and rotted the subflooring in the room, which peeled up the dingy linoleum, so we had originally just planned to tile and replace the tub, but the tub was an insert with a surround and the decision was made to get a big jetted tub, so that meant doing the tub surround, and when we pulled down the paneling in the room (yes, ugly floral paneling) it ripped out chunks of drywall so we ended up taking the room down to the studs and starting from scratch. We also replaced the vanity and sink, because those were cheap builder grade particle board with oak veneer and I hated them. Here are the photos I took of the *nearly* finished product. Ignore the painters tape.
Kitchen:
Our kitchen was previously beige, just like the rest of the house. No joke, the whole house was beige and I couldn't stand it. Also, it had pig wallpaper. I hated it. Jason thought the pigs were funny, I thought they were country and gross. So, I decided it needed to become a no pig zone.
Before:
After:
Oh, and if you're looking at the floor in the above picture, you'll notice it's dark brown linoleum. Gross. It was also covered in cigarette burns, so we decided to lay down some laminte wood flooring like so:The refrigerator and dishwasher also got replaced, though that was out of necessity, not for asthetics.Living Room
Our living room is TINY, and since the house is a bi-level it's got this awful railing going across one side of it. It was really boring and blank so we decided to change it up.
Our living room is TINY, and since the house is a bi-level it's got this awful railing going across one side of it. It was really boring and blank so we decided to change it up.
Before:
Mid-point:
Again, ignore the painters tape. Also, if you notice in the above pictures, the blue carries through into our kitchen on one wall. That's because there's no good way to break it up.After:
This is after we bought some new furniture, and a new rug that I LOVE and scored for $99 when it was supposed to be $299 because of a price sticker error at the store. EXCELLENT! Also, you can't see the railing in this picture, but it's new and black like the furniture.Hallway:
Our upstairs hallway was pretty blah and had a practically unuseable closet at the top of the stairs. You can see it on the right in the "before" picture. It's got huge mirrored doors on it, but it was too shallow to really put much into and still get the doors shut, and the shelves were too close together, so it wasn't good for much other than hiding junk when company comes over, and I hate wasted space. Also, we painted it the most fabulous yellow in the history of ever. It's called "Honeypot" and is from the Waverly Home Classics collection at Lowes. I love it!
Before:
After: We bought 3 Ikea book cases because the closet was a vast hole of wasted space, and we were in desperate need of book storage space, so we took the 3 pre-fabbed book cases and pushed them into the closet space to create a built in bookcase look. We affectionetly call it our "crammed in" because we literally had to cram the smallest bookcase into the space, but I think it ended up looking pretty awesome, plus it's functional. Although, as you can see, it's already full, and I've got 3 more boxes of books with no home. *sigh*So yeah, that's what we've done so far, and we'll never see any real payoff from it except that it's more pleasant to look whenever we're home, and we enjoy that.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Things I Want to Do This Summer
Since I’m used to being busy constantly, I have a slight amount of fear that I’ll be horribly bored when I am out of school for a little more than a week. Don’t get me wrong, I really need the time off, but I’m also going to need things to do to keep myself from just being lazy, and I go stir crazy when I don’t have much to do for a lot of the time. So, here’s my personal to-do list:
I started reading this one on vacation and then never got to finish it because I was busy going out and doing things every day that we were on vacation, and then I got home and started school immediately, so I need to finish it.
This is one that was given to me at work as a “you must read this” young adult novel. Come to think of it, a lot of the stuff on this list is young adult literature, because I never read any as a young adult and I’m told I should know the stuff my students like reading.
I’m hoping to finish this whole series, because I’ve heard really good things about them, and they’re quick reads, so hopefully they’ll just be silly and fun.
I don’t read a lot of graphic novels, but the buying team for this one told me I HAD to read it because it was freaking amazing. They also said I’d hate them later because there are 11 volumes to it. Way to suck me in guys!
I haven’t read a Rushdie novel in a while, and I’ve heard great things about this one, so I’d like to break up the onslaught of teen angst with this one.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this book lately for some reason, so I think I might need to read it again
This is an old picture of our kitchen from right after we painted it green (a color I’m told should NEVER be in a kitchen, but I don’t care because I like it) but if you will notice, those cabinets are ugly. The house isn’t even mine, but I have to think that eventually when Jason’s mom wants to sell it, people are going to look at those cabinets and go “Yeah…those are hideous”. You can’t see it in the picture, but the finish is wearing off of them, and they are actually more orange in color than they look in the picture. They matched the railing that used to be in the living room and on the banister, but we switched that out for a really nice black finish instead, so I think we need to change the cabinets. I want to paint them white, because in my head white means clean and bright, and well…..that kitchen is anything but bright and the cabinets make it look anything but clean. Seriously, the room grosses me out, so if dropping $40 on a few cans of paint is what it takes to give myself some peace of mind and make it so that I don’t HATE walking in there, so be it. Now, if only we could do something about the cracking and hideous laminate countertop…
Finish reading books I’ve started
I started reading this one a couple of weeks ago and started getting really sucked in, so I had to put it down and walk away or else I wouldn’t get any homework done, and that’s not good.
I started reading this one on vacation and then never got to finish it because I was busy going out and doing things every day that we were on vacation, and then I got home and started school immediately, so I need to finish it.Read The Books on my Book List
I have SO MANY books on my list of things I want to read, so I figure I should probably knock some of those out while I can.
This is one that was given to me at work as a “you must read this” young adult novel. Come to think of it, a lot of the stuff on this list is young adult literature, because I never read any as a young adult and I’m told I should know the stuff my students like reading. I’m hoping to finish this whole series, because I’ve heard really good things about them, and they’re quick reads, so hopefully they’ll just be silly and fun. I don’t read a lot of graphic novels, but the buying team for this one told me I HAD to read it because it was freaking amazing. They also said I’d hate them later because there are 11 volumes to it. Way to suck me in guys! I haven’t read a Rushdie novel in a while, and I’ve heard great things about this one, so I’d like to break up the onslaught of teen angst with this one. I’ve been thinking a lot about this book lately for some reason, so I think I might need to read it againPaint the Kitchen Cabinets
This is an old picture of our kitchen from right after we painted it green (a color I’m told should NEVER be in a kitchen, but I don’t care because I like it) but if you will notice, those cabinets are ugly. The house isn’t even mine, but I have to think that eventually when Jason’s mom wants to sell it, people are going to look at those cabinets and go “Yeah…those are hideous”. You can’t see it in the picture, but the finish is wearing off of them, and they are actually more orange in color than they look in the picture. They matched the railing that used to be in the living room and on the banister, but we switched that out for a really nice black finish instead, so I think we need to change the cabinets. I want to paint them white, because in my head white means clean and bright, and well…..that kitchen is anything but bright and the cabinets make it look anything but clean. Seriously, the room grosses me out, so if dropping $40 on a few cans of paint is what it takes to give myself some peace of mind and make it so that I don’t HATE walking in there, so be it. Now, if only we could do something about the cracking and hideous laminate countertop…Go to the Harry Potter Exhibit in Chicago
Chicago’s museum of Science and Industry is hosting an exhibit of Harry Potter movie props, costumes, and set pieces which is open until November. MUST GO!
So that’s about it, so far. I’m sure I’ll add things to the list, but that looks like a decent amount for the time being. Wish me luck on accomplishing all of it!
People in the South are Nuts!
So, now that I have a quick minute to make a real update, I should mention some interesting things that happened on our vacation back at the end of APRIL! I know!! I am soooo behind. But, these are so classic that they have to be entered into the blogosphere. We went down to Disney World during the height of the Swine Flu scare, so that means that we were apparently destined to catch Swine Flu because we were at a tourist attraction where swine flu was running rampant I guess. The Asian tourists wearing the friggin' surgical masks sure seemed to think so.
On the way to Florida, we stopped in the suburbs of Atlanta for a few days to visit Sara and Jef-f, and while we were there we decided to go to the zoo. I have no idea why that sounded like a good idea, because it was about 9 million degrees outside and the heat mixing with wonderful aroma of large zoo animals does not make for the most amazing day imaginable, but we went anyway. One thing we learned very quickly is that 9 million degree weather doesn't just make the animals stink. Noooo sir, it makes the people stink too, particularly the VERY large man who unwisely decided to wear all black to the zoo on a 9 million degree day. Seriously, homeboy was pungent. To the point where school children walked past him and were gagging and holding their noses. What's worse, when we left the area and moved on to another exhibit and we could smell him approaching before we actually saw him. It was enough to make you choke, so we ran as far away as possible. AND, when we ended up at the Lemur exhibit, I got to hear a classic piece of Southern People Crazy. There were two lemurs cuddled together on a tree facing each other in a hug position as they slept. This crazy ass woman looks at them and gasps as if it's her job to suck all of the air out of the world and says "I can't believe they're letting those animals live in sin like that! There are children looking at this and they're just letting them live in sin! Someone should file a complaint!" No, I'm not joking. Crazy bible thumping bitch couldn't handle seeing some lemurs cuddling while they slept. Personally, I think that if she's worried about them living in sin, she should lobby for lemur marriage rights. Also, she should be pushed out of a moving car.
So those were some fun stories. I think that's all I have for right now. There are other things to blog about, but I should save them for their own blog. Hopefully, now that I'm almost done with school for the summer, I'll have more time to update. Keep your fingers crossed, I know you missed me.
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