I have nothing to wear.

Yes yes... women say this all the time.

and true true... I have said this to the Dream Killer a time or 12... only to have him throw open the doors to my closet and say "Really K? Because it looks like all of Macy's is in here". and then he finds me something to wear.

but I gone through several seasons of not buying anymore clothes... because I saw how much stuff I gave away to GoodWill... and it all started looking the same... like I am buying the same thing every couple of years.

and i hold on to stuff that I never wear.

Fast forward to i am getting ready for work yesterday... and I ended up looking like a hot mess. ugh.

It was further driven home as I head out to buy work clothes... but I don't have a lot of $ so I am Bond-girl on a budget. I look for a Christmas party dress 1st... because this is the month of pointless- let's pretend we are friends- parties... and I find 2 on sale that look great! for spring. Not winter. and I start to rationalize when I could save this for...and I realize I will never remember I have this. so I put it back.

Then I look through shoes. and find a great pair of casual ankle strap black stilettos... I like these. I should... I already have them. Granted I have them in leather not fabric... and I again recognize my self-defeating shopping behavior.

I then find the make up counter and my hand lotion at Clarins... I have a bigger bottle... but I am running out! so I will let myself have a smaller version of it.

And I still have no new work clothes.

I go to the "career" section... it is SOOO depressing. Where did we get the idea of suits for women either being old and dumpy or young and trashy... ok so there is a middle ground that is beautiful with a blouse for $200.

This poor stuff blows.

Now to the big white elephant that I am avoiding. Austin want a 3 year contract and does not pay for school.

It is everything else I asked for including a stipend for a rental SUV (or a fleet... but they provide car... if I decide not to take their car... then i get the $ to pay for mine).

But it locks me in Austin for 3 years. What are the implications?... UT Austin does not have a part time law program... plus you have to live in TX for 12 months to establish residency... which is favored above "outsiders"... and we could potentially put school on hold for a 3 years. unless i get into their fantastic Business school.

It is a lot of money. a sick nasty amount of money.

DK and JB have both been given a heads up. It is now very very real. Because the offer letter and contract are being mailed to me next week.

With the possibility of so many lateral moves I feel like Mario trying to play Donkey Kong....

yeahhhhh Atari!

P.s. I bought a different blouse. That is the addition to work wardrobe. One blouse.

... you guys are gonnna love this.

See? I'm trying to stop writing and saying "y'all". People make fun of that. I am sensitive. *sniff*

as promised here are the links to some free webinars on wine.

Winetasting
Winetasting Basics
Food and Wine Pairing

you press ctrl and click... no just click...Read the intro... they have some suggestions for ahem study aides... I highly recommend them. As I found these and began listening at work... I was without aide. but if you do it after the fact and remember what you are focusing on... it creates the same effect.

You do have 'sign up' but you can give them bogus information... if you are so inclined. If you do not have a WebEx player, it will download. It is super safe. i promise. i have it.

Also, there are TONS of great archived Webinars on more serious matters (more serious than wine?! get outta here!... i know! and yet...) on this site. i may start highlighting them on the other blog. and i will definitely discuss the Franklin Covey site.

Because I believe in all things Covey.

2 posts- 1 day.... yes i am a rock star.

Besos.

Girl Power!... and Powerpuff Girls! ...

.and other random yay girlie-ness.

Greetings. I am snug as a bug.... uhh at mom's.

I gotta say I intended to be more productive during the last couple of days. Technically I've been off since in mid-Wednesday... since then the only time I have the left the house was to make it to the grocery store (1x) Dream Killer's parents' house (1x) and then to make it to mom's.

I am a bum. You wish you were a bum like me. This is the last time I will have 2 days to rest at a time for a good little while. Non-productive girl checked her schedule yesterday, updated, changed and worked some stuff out. We have much to do in the next 2 months. Thus instead of getting work done, I say screw it.

Back to the title line.

RE:bitty bitty moms.

I've discussed my mom, yeah?

5"3', 103 lbs. soaking wet. She is bitty. She drives a truck. She drives a brand new truck. Brand new as of yesterday. It is the pic. Here is the link . This thing is monstrous. Is it just me, or are all trucks, suvs, and vehicles getting to be the size of elephants? wtf?

The best part was watching her try to hop up into it, wearing a sari this morning. wow.

So yesterday she is decidely going to go buy this thing. It is not smart for a woman to go buy a vehicle by herself. That just increases the liklihood that you will spend thousands of dollars more than you really have to. for no reason.

She initially took one of the little Auntie's husbands with her... she forgot that this Uncle does not have the social skills of a cucumber. Not so productive.

I tell her to take the Dream Killer. She demurs. Her other option is to go alone (I will not go with her at this point because the ONLY reason she will not go with the dream killer is because he is not Indian).

She spouts some sort of "female empowerment" (is this where I get this stuff from? I thought I made it up...) and off she goes. I salute and get ready to iron all of my clothes that I brought with me, in the form of undone laundry...which is now clean and needs to be ironed. My puppy stayed with me inside all day... as it is STILL raining.

Mom comes home with this. I say Cheers.

This morning I see the extra keys... and ask for my set. She is withholding key! I laugh and say "let me know how that works out for you when you lock yourself out" she says "how will you be helpful from Texas?"

ok so Mom is quick with a comeback.

Greetings from behind a ceramic mug instead of a travel mug.

hi.

how are you?

I'm good.

I'm warm.

I flaked on the turkey run.... hear me out, though.


So yesterday I got off of work early, and did some things around the house. Ran about 2 miles as a warm up, did abs and then circuit.

Circuit was especially hard yesterday, and is becoming increasingly so as my hips are on fire. and i have to wear the brace all the time. but with the brace I am fine. Really.

So I took it easy when I got home and took a hot shower.

This morning I woke up and the temperature outside had dramatically dropped. It's cold! But I got up anyway and started to get ready. My hips hurt dude. I mean the pain is white hot. I used BioFreeze and that felt better for a little while...but i didn't want to make myself miserable.

There is a difference between pushing through woosey pain and busting yourself up for no reason.

So mom gets the ill-gotten sweatshirt.

and the Reindeer Run is Nov. 30th. We'll do better with that one.

it is what it is.

Big plans for Thanksgiving-
Turkey Trot (5K) race
Lunch at the Dream Killer's parents' house
Get letter of recommendation from DK's dad
Finalize personal statement and applications...
nap
roll over during nap
wake up and rule the world

take a break for pie.

See? Big things, big plans, big expectations.

now on to reality... my right knee feels like someone took a bat to it. That trot is looking more like a limp.

So Austin has moved to the negotiating phase... did you know if you move across state lines to work for a new company you can get them to cut you a check up front for the following:

1.moving your stuff (duh)
2.your temporary living situation (duh part II)
3. your new place for a few months (lesser duh)
4. your new furniture (because i am not renting furniture. Bunny had surgery to remove a staph and this girl might be a tiny bit paranoid)
5. your salary for 6 months up front (in case you get there and they are a**holes. and you miss your mommiey and want to go home. allegedly!)
6. new clothes (i'm serious. no seriously. i asked 3 times- the stipend includes clothes)

really. i mean really. wow. i would like to point out that Chase thinks 5K before taxes should cover your move within the continental US. This list is a bit more than 5K.

But it's not real until it's on paper. but wow, huh?

and i am still planning on leaving for law school for August. There isn't enough money to change that. (i am partially typing this for my benefit... just in case that should ever be hard to remember).

Smurf Bubble

So about 3 months into the new job. Still love it. Don't get me wrong, the freaks are coming out of the wood work and we have moved out of the Honeymoon phase of "I'm so happy to be here!". and part of that was a call from Shy to tell me that I really did get this all by myself (See? Told 'ya so!) and I also left between 25K-30K on the table because I did not negotiate AT ALL. Yeah I was pretty nauseous over that one.

Then I try to call his bluff... and tell him he's full of it... He has no idea!
He then laughs and says "they think you do great work, you have a boss with no ego, she may be molding you but she rushes around and wears too much black, your CEO thinks she looks neurotic... and all of the service personnel (security cards, coffee shop people, dry cleaners) on the 1st floor know your name."

oh, ok.

Back to how great work is... I have gone through none stop training while figuring out bigger projects than I have ever seen. Every minute not spent figuring stuff out, is spent reading, learning evaluating learning systems. I even sat through a couple webinars on Wine tasting. It was interesting. I'll post the links later. it's free. you have to register but they don't email you dumb stuff and don't sell you anything. it's pretty cool.

I also had to read the secretaries' club newsletter (part of a professional organization called IAAP. The secretaries' are organizing now? WTF?) . It was also interesting. One of the articles in their monthly publication was on the subject of holding onto grudges and forgiveness.

My degree is in Sociology and I have to be honest, I was prepared for this to be crap. But it talked largely about re socialization and the notion that we have to understand that there must be a way to come back from some wrongs, and not feel the need to hold everything bad against a person ALL the time. That we each decide how much is too much and what point we let stuff go, and also what we absolutely can not.

So I ask DK some questions about the ways we have argued over the years. What he is still angry about and what resolution we could come to in order to get past those things.

He says "Dear God. What magazine is this coming from? Elle? Glamour? Yuppy Girl?"

I resent that. I read periodicals with substance! and besides I could have come up with this on my own!

He says "No K, if you had just sat around one day and came up with something to talk about it would be more like..... SMURF BUBBLE!"

er?

DK: "Yeah, something random like, do you think smurfs blew bubbles? and if they did would they be blue? and how would they be blue, i mean where DOES the pigment come from?"
I am mildly offended. So he called me random?

So that is the newest word in rotation. All stories to which the point is not very apparent are called Smurf Bubbles. and in my defense, I'm trying to cut back.

Also, I like this portion of a post card submitted to PostSecret. While scrolling down I saw this before I read the card or comprehended the whole picture. This looks like an elegant hovering fairy. See it? I also like that it is part of a real object.