Me, the girl who proclaims not to drink actually had a drink yesterday. Two actually (it was happy hour). I went out with a group of people from work and when I got there they kind of plopped the drink menu in my hand and looked at me expectantly. “This one is fruity, Jamie, you’ll like this one.” My co-workers know very well that I don’t drink or drink very often and only like fruity drinks and I wound up ordering a Calypso Cooler and it was pretty awesome. I know that I like rum (Malibu Rum) and this had Rum and Peach Schnapps in it, so I thought hey, it’s got to be good…and it was. I get super quiet when I drink and one of the girls leaned over and said “What, you talk a lot at work, and then when you get a drink in you, you shut up?!” We all had a good laugh over that one. It’s true, I am a motormouth, always have been.

Today I have to work on my fractions and I’ve finally just gotten pretty good at them (okay, do you know how hard it is to solve an equation that contains multiple fractions that are over fractions?! with variables?), I’ve got a test on that on Monday, I’ve also got to start doing my research for my comparison/contrast essay (I’m doing it on corporal punishment on children [i.e. spanking]) and this topic will be used for my persuasive essay. Personally, I feel that kids today get too much handed to them and parents are too afraid to deal with their children and just get walked all over. I feel that some children do not get the correction that they need and never learn that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction (one of the laws of physics). I am not for beating a child - I just feel that sometimes parents need to grow a backbone. I don’t know how to encorporate this into my essay though, because I don’t want to come off as “Yes! You should hit your child, always!” and I don’t want to come off as wishy washy and not make my point.

Alright, so it’s nearly eleven o’clock and I’m wasting the day just sitting here typing on my blog and I’m hoping that I get through with all of my math homework and some basic research for my paper today so that later on I can try and finish this yarn I’m using so I can move on to the next color. A few of you may remember that I had made a beautiful carrot and mocha colored Afghan last year, but I had left it over at the apartment and I realized that I didn’t have my own Afghan, so I’m working on a new one. This one has what I call the Grandma stitch (you don’t yo, you just put your hook through the next loop and yo and pull through two, I learned this from my grandmother). It makes a very, very heavy blanket - so in order to lighten it, I am also incorporating a triple stictch - so overall this blanket will be medium weight.

Edit: Here’s a great tip for everyone so they don’t get embarassed like I did. Make sure you double check your sources to verify if they are correct. Don’t let a bad source make a bad you appear uneducated and misinformed.

Man, if I had my debit card in my pocket right now, my pocket would be on fire! I have used it this weekend to buy new tops from Aéropastale and Hollister, an anniversary gift for my wonderful sister and her hubbie (nope, not telling!), earrings from JCPenney’s, new slacks and a blouse from Target, countless bottles of Dr. Pepper from work to drink while at work (Dr. Pepper, you’re the only thing that gets me through some times!) and last night….I went to Bealls and bought new sneakers that should be here today or tomorrow (darn my big feet….heh). Phew, I’d like to cry just thinking about all those things and my money! I still have jean-envy, and wished that I had picked up those pinstripped jeans from Aéropastale on Sunday (they were on sale!) but alas, I didn’t.

Speaking of Dr. Pepper, I won! Of all the bottles of soda that I buy that say You could be a winner!….it’s never me. I never win! So, the other night as I twirled off the cap of the soda and looked at it - faint little letters on the bottom spelled out “uwin” mixed in the code. I practically jumped up and down and hugged people (okay, so I didn’t hug people, maybe just thought about it….) I went home and eagerly typed into the box online my code and big bold letters seemed to shout “You win, You win!” I scroll down………..yeah. I won alright. I won an Indiana Jones screensaver (pardon me, while I gather my composure). Just what I always wanted, a screensaver! a wonderful screensaver of a movie I’d never go see! Yay! (you do realize that I’m being sarcastic, right?)

So, today I called the other College, and in my best bubbly adult-please-help-me-before-I-explode voice, I tell the lady on the other end of the line my dilema. She tsk-tsks in that “I could care less” kind of manner, then tells me that I have to call the main campus. “Did you pay the fee?” she asked me. Fee?! There is a fee for my College to get my transcripts from the other College? omgwth?! If I had known that I would have driven over to Daytona today and used my already burning debit card and paid the fee and then shipped it off myself. How absurd! They have had my request for almost four weeks and not only did not bother to call me but they didn’t even shoot me a letter or email to tell me to pay up! I sat here and wasted four weeks waiting for these transcripts (that really kind of makes me wonder why I didn’t call earlier. I gave them the benefit of the doubt). I have nineteen days to get my transcript and in those nineteen days, I have to get my financial aid set up so that I can start school on the twenty-fifth. I feel like acting like a five year old and jumping up and down and stomping the floor and then doing a faceplant and having a tantrum.

Oh, so then I write on my message board that I’m a part of, (even though I am dogless), just an update on how I am. I posted some of my recent photography and the next day someone writes on there about how to leave the photography to the professionals, and it’s not a great business to be in and yadda, yadda, yadda. Okay, first beauty is in the eye of the beholder, don’t you agree? What I find interesting may not interest you - and just because I don’t have a Nikon D40x or a Digital Rebel XTi does not mean that I can’t shoot some good pictures. And who said that I wanted to be a professional? It’s a hobby; if people like my work and want a picture, then that’s their perogative and I’ll be happy to sign it and sell it - it’s my enjoyment. I never said that I wanted to be a Photographer - as a matter of fact, I was accepted to a Photography school in Tampa based on my portfolio alone a few years ago. But when they failed to proved me proof that I could earn what they were telling me, I decided that it just was not worth the effort. I just wish people could tell me to my face these things instead of writing about it for the whole world to see - and before you go all pointing fingers and “omg, that’s what you’re doing!” on me, I already messaged the person and told them.

And by the way Home Before Dark by Susan Wiggs is an awesome book; I’m currently reading it and it’s wonderful. And this is my new candleholder from Michaels.

So, I’ve done it. I’ve submitted my site to (hopefully) be approved so that I can do paid advertising. I’m not totally jumping on the bandwagon - it’s just more money and would be fulfilling a dream I had as a kid. It would sort of like being a journalist - you know, getting “assignments” doing some research and then writing about it. I promise that I’ll try to make the posts as interesting as possible for you all!

Anywho, I sent some information out to a couple colleges around here. Hopefully they’ll send me their information relatively quickly so I can go over it before I lose my nerve. Who knows, maybe if I apply they’ll accept me. I just want to live comfortably, you know? My parents are all giggly that Butlers (up in my old home town) is looking for a CPhT. I was like “Sure, just let me hope in my car, drive up there and apply - then Sidney could go to work in Stop and Shop or Shop Rite.”

It’s gotten slightly cooler here (not much, maybe in the low 80s) but still nicer than it was this summer. My parents are up in New Jersey for the week (or two) and I am really kind of jealous. They are bringing me some goodies (hehehe, one of them is an “Autumn Leaf” because I’m lame). And maybe they’ll bring me back some mugs from Seaside or Point Pleasant (you know “The Shore”) And every time I think of the word “Shore” I think to myself the time my dopey sister said “Jamie say the word Sure”, her friends were saying that she said it weird. I remember her saying “Do you say it Shore or Shure?” For the life of me, I can’t remember how on earth I said it. But I have noticed that when I get into an argument with Sidney I start to say things like “Tawk” and “Why don’t you walk to the dawg?!” So, I’d like to say that I still have a little Jersey left in me.

The Swiss Steaks from the other day were pretty awesome. I’d make them again. Last night I made another recipe from my cookbook, but it was just a lighter version of Pasta e Fagioli (aka “Pasta Fazool”). Cannelli beans, mild Italian Sausage, Penne Rigate and tomato sauce (and you totally just know I just said in my head “Sawce” ha!) I would make it again, it was easier than simmering my sauce on the stove for a couple of hours. I would have also added some Kidney beans to it too, just to bring in that flavor. When I get home tonight, I’m going to work on the Afghan a bit more, hopefully I’ll get it done in time for Christmas, if not, I’ll have to give it to her for her birthday…in April.

I absolutely love getting little knick-knacks. Especially ones that are about my favorite seasons. Oh who is kidding? I love all knick-knacks. Our entire apartment is covered in them. From my first ever knick-knack, it’s a Musical Carousel Horse from the San Fransisco Music Box Company - all the way up to my little scarecrows with the dangly feet. I had been admiring my Mother’s little see-saw scarecrows for the last week. When I got home today and in her “goodie bag” she always sends me home with, in that bag was my own. I put it up on my t.v. where the other “festive” ones are. I did not realize that this was sandcast.

I have officially broken my first knick-knack. I ran out into the living room after I heard a thud. I was hoping it was a photo frame, or Keegan dropping her ball on the floor. Oh no, Kimber was batting the see-saw on the ground. I was furious and crying at the same time. No one ever buys me things like that anymore. The was part of the set, and was an early birthday present for me. I have two Cocker Spaniels that I bought for myself last May. But, I just can’t believe it. I have never broken one of my figurines before. I know it sounds like a stupid thing to be crying over (like spilt milk) but I’m never appreciated here at home. I work to take care of people all day every day, and I come home and still have to take care of the animals and of Sidney. And when I get little things like that, it makes me feel appreciated, or at least thought of.

But on a happier note, I bought some new yarn tonight. I’m going to try to make another afghan - I haven’t been able to get back up to Joannes to get any more fabric since I finished the bags I was working on. Wal-Mart has really crappy fabric for this time of year. I am going to use the crocheting pattern I have always done - I’m not going to get all fancy like one and a half or double stitches. Just my regular stitch. I like my blankets to be heavy - which is a completely different stitch than a single. And if I were using a smaller weighted yarn, it would be like a sweater kind of stitch I guess.

But, I am going to get off now. Am very tired, all cried out. Sigh.

I am now an official Nationally Certified Pharmacy Technician. Though I feel more powerful, truly I am not. I’m hoping for more money an hour, but I doubt it. I’m also thinking about maybe going to school for nursing or xray tech. I’d be lying if I said happiness was worth more than wealthiness. I want to be able to afford the nice things. And what kills me is that the houses we are looking at that are in our prime dollar-wise, are all dumps and need 30k more to make it into a livable space. Sometimes I feel Sidney is content to be who he is and not strive to be better. When we move into a house, I set a goal for two years minimum that we’d live there. Two years from now, I’ll be almost 26. I don’t want to live in a 900sqft house! I would be wanting a baby at that point, a bigger space.

And someday, I don’t want to live in Florida. North Carolina, Virginia, maybe higher. Much higher, like Maine. And the one house I want is way out of our price range. It was perfect, right down to the Cocker Spaniels on the chain link fence. It was across the street from a library, on reserve land that would never be built on. Beautiful, just beautiful. But we’re going to look a bit North where the houses are in our price range.

I am going to be making a blanket for Sidney and I (or my Sister and B-I-L but haven’t decided which yet). Fleece. Yum. I just have to figure out how many yards I need. And I will wind up getting it this Friday after I go see the DMV.

What I wouldn’t give to have my own washing machine and dryer right about now. I would throw my King sized comforter (both of them) to get washed. I hate the sulfur dog smell Keegan leaves behind (her medicine is REALLY stinky!) Because a roll of quarters might (if I’m lucky) get me 3 washes and 2 dries, and I’m sorry but my work clothes, my towels and then the whites are more important than my comforter. I can live with the sulfur-ness until we get one.

After getting my allergy shots yesterday, we went to the Mortgage broker and are in the process of getting pre-approved for a loan on our first house. It turns out that our county has a down payment assistance program for first time buyers under a certain tax bracket, which we are! We may qualify for up to $20,000 for a down payment, which would then be repaid if we refinanced or sold the home. Which would be awesome. Then, when we got out of the office, I looked at my arm and I have a huge welt that I’ve never had before! Argh! It’s about 4 inches wide and goes from the top of my arm all the way under to my arm pit. And my Immunologist isn’t open right at the moment. I’ve already done all the necessary things (put ice, cortisone cream, took an oatmeal bath, witch hazel, more ice, two ibuprofen.) This morning it’s still raised and a little itchy, but it’s mostly a big red blotch on my arm and it hurts!

But anyway, back onto yesterday. I studied for a bit and looked at some houses online. I know what I want in a house: Fenced backyard, Florida room where I could keep my sewing projects/computer, counter space in the kitchen! And I want a house that the owner is willing to part with the washer/dryer, fridge and range. Most houses in Florida, people leave their fridge and range, only some leave the washer/dryer. If I had a dishwasher, that’d be a plus too but isn’t necessary. Fencing is very important to me! The first improvement I’d make would be to have a locked doggy door that only opens with the collar on Keegan to go in or out (so my cats can’t get out and raccoons can’t come in!) Then, if Keegan has to potty, she can go when she wants. And if there’s no fan in the Florida room, guess what there will be when I’m done with it! Sewing projects will be done out there, computer time will be out there. Man, that’d be great.

Speaking of, this week I might buy some fabric to make something - but I haven’t decided what yet. And my legs are killing me. Remind me next time to wait about 45 minutes after eating to exercise!