What I am doing today

Sending out about 80 of these puppies...



I guess this means we have to get married now, right?

End-of-semester grace

All right, it's not technically the end of the semester just yet, but I have definitely hit The Wall. You know, where an entire semester seems interminable, and you're exceptionally grateful that the school you attended for undergrad was on the ten-week quarter system? Yeah, that Wall. I have hit it, and I still have about 30 pages worth of papers to write. But...I was an English major, and am fluent in b.s. Time to power through!

As the semester winds down and spring is just beginning (complete with entirely inappropriate 90-degree weather), I'm finding it easier and easier to find those bits of Grace in Small Things. Take, for example...
This is Fluffy. He lives on our bed, and is almost as old as I am. I think GP's mom was kidding when she asked child-GP if he was going to take Fluffy to college and then make his wife sleep with Fluffy, too...however, even as a kid, GP was not joking around when he said "yes." He may be annoyed at me for putting Fluffy on the internets, but I think it is cute and awesome that at least one dog gets to sleep in our bed. (For those of you keeping score at home, Fluffy is currently our only dog. Sigh.) He is a good companion, especially when certain fiances are on multi-day business trips.

I like writing thank-you notes much more than I like writing papers for school, perhaps because they rarely fall into the "10+ pages" category. Short and sweet, with the bonus of getting to use the rest of my "stock" thank-you cards before we break into the supply of wedding-specific thank-yous (which, you guys, match our save-the-dates...and are completely awesome). Few things are as satisfying as slipping a couple of these into the mailbox.

Nothing says spring like some pretty tulips, unless said pretty tulips are brought back from the store by a certain fiance after a lengthy-ish business trip (along with-- you have to squint to make it out-- a case of Diet Mountain Dew Code Red, because the man consumes soda as if his life depended on it). You know...I think I'll keep him. As long as he keeps up this bringing-me-flowers-as-a-Saturday-morning-surprise thing... (Sorry if you just threw up in your mouth a little-- we're getting married, I have to do things like that sometimes.)

Bonus grace: downloaded seasons of How I Met Your Mother! Alyson Hannigan's occasional over-acting aside, I am completely smitten. I know most of you probably already watch this, but if you don't...you should! Though it is weird to watch a show with a laugh track after years of Lost,HBO series, and cooking shows being my regular television diet.

This counts as the weekend, right?

1. Why do we have to work and go to school during March Madness? It seems that we would all be happier if we were allowed to just sit on the couch in our pajamas, switching between games and episodes of Unwrapped on the DVR. What, just me?

2. Constantly having a hair elastic around my wrist and taking off my ring when I wash my hands are now habits. The elastic thing is immensely helpful when I get impatient with my hair (gah, there is so much of it!), but I am probably going to be sorry about the ring habit. Every time I slip it into my pocket for handwashing time, I can just envision dropping it on the floor of whatever gross public restroom I'm in. But...is that better or worse than having it slip off my finger and go down the drain?

3. I have spring break next week, but it means very little to me-- I still have to go to work and my internship, so really I'm just getting a few free hours. Definitely not as exciting as undergrad spring break.

4. I had never heard the phrase "If you have to eat a frog, don't spend a lot of time looking at it. If you have to eat more than one, eat the big one first," until it came up when I was teaching a Study Skills class last week and it seemed a perfectly apt metaphor for procrastination avoidance. This probably doesn't mean that I am going to become someone who follows through on all the elaborate plans she makes, but at least I have that saying in my head.

5. I currently have five pairs of shoes hanging around the living room, the way I always do. Much to GP's chagrin. What? I'm working on it!

6. How was I to know that baking two dozen of those Guinness cupcakes was a bit of overkill? I got so caught up in the awesomeness of baking (and decorating!) with alcohol that I just kept filling the cups.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to a crazy food experiment in which I try to make spaghetti carbonara with no cheese (it might get a little hairy, I'm not going to lie), tomorrow my plans include visiting a couple of wineries with our friends Davemanda and meeting another set of friends' new baby, and Sunday, I want to get some schoolwork done! Ambitious, I know, as there will be basketball on...and I am not so big on eating frogs, though I really enjoy the phrase.

What's cookin'

Sorry, I had to! I've been cooking/baking up a storm recently, despite the lack of wonderful, delicious cheese in my life, maybe even because of it. I don't want to have to cave just because I was lazy about thinking through my food options, you know? So, recently, GP and I have enjoyed dinners including bourbon-glazed salmon, chicken and dumplings (prepared in the awesome kitchen that was in our Tahoe rental a couple weekends ago), and pulled pork. The slow cooker? Is completely wonderful, and the meat was falling right off the bone, begging to be shredded and devoured. GP has done a pretty good job of that, because he's quite the team player. I've been busy with some baking, too-- first, some Thin Mint cupcakes (yes, I even cut some of the cookies into little wedges), and then, to be extra-festive, some Guinness cupcakes with Bailey's buttercream frosting (sans ganache filling, because I don't want to give my poor coworkers the sugarbetes). Aren't they adorable?

Been on any cooking adventures recently?

Peeved.

Don't worry, I won't be too much of a rain cloud. I'm beginning to get used to stupid daylight savings and hate life a little less, however...

1) we have new downstairs neighbors. They love to watch some television, which is always really loud. Oh, and of course they don't seem to have jobs. Shut up, I'm a grad student. Don't judge me! I have two jobs.

2) I managed to get a mild sunburn when we were in Tahoe last weekend. Not a regular, terrible, skin-peeling burn, though-- just a weird stripe that my SPF-ed makeup didn't cover along the top of my forehead. Trust me, it is a fetching look.

3) I was mildly misnamed on the invitations for our Giant East Coast Engagement Party. It wouldn't be an issue if it wasn't the same name that GP's most recent ex has, or if GP's mom didn't have a habit of running every. single. thing. past us. How did this escape notice? Oh well...this is not a real problem. And really, if this is the worst wedding-related "disaster," we will have gotten off easily.

4) I have given up cheese for Lent. Which is weird, because cheese is sort of my religion, much more so than Jesus is. Mostly, I'm using it as a test of will, and experimenting with how long I can go without a cornerstone of my diet. I almost accidentally ate pizza for dinner last night-- but, luckily, caught myself and had a sub-par frozen thing of sweet and sour chicken. Cheeseless life is hard, yo!

Silver lining, though! Or, really, just unrelated things that are good in my life...yeah, I'm jumping on the "Grace in Small Things" train...

1) a just-made bed, with clean sheets
2) being done with my final Dialog assignment in Online Searching. Relief!
3) poached eggs on toast with Tabasco
4) Earl Grey with milk
5) Uggs, in chocolate, purchased on sale

Dialog...

...can eat a bag of d*cks (to borrow a phrase from my librarian compatriot, NPW, who is dealing with the nastiness of school budgets and politics-- actual problems, not like mine at the moment). Anyway. I am taking this Online Searching class, so that I can have Real Librarian Skills, rather than just being good at wearing cardigans and shushing people. Oh, and wearing glasses. And hair buns. And fulfilling so, so many stereotypes. The thing is, though? Online searching? Is hard, yo. It's not all Google this and natural language query that...it is actually like a whole other language.

I had to complete my first assignment for the class tonight, and by that I mean that I did pretty much the entire assignment, because old habits die hard and I'll be damned if I am going to change habits that got me (somehow) successfully through and out of undergrad and into library school. I like to live on the edge. Of complete insanity. Over the past six hours or so, I have gone from "Huh?!" to "Yessss!!!" and back a couple times, punctuated with a gruyere-and-apple sandwich (I recommend) and some Insaniquarium (also recommended). Now I am in that zone where I am too amped up to sleep, and too mentally exhausted to even pretend to be wedding planning. Maybe an episode of Say Yes to the Dress (because who doesn't love a girl with a freaking $6500 dress budget?) and a cup of chamomile before I can get to bed.

In short, all you pre-library school people (I know you're out there! I read your blogs), you need to know: they do not just hand out these master's degrees. Do not let this dissuade you, though, because you are likely more on top of things than I am.

Win/lose

Win: My mood has been fantastic recently, probably because I've been working out regularly. Weird, right? Thanks, endorphins!

Lose: I am convinced that I have some sort of specific social anxiety that rears its head only in my Issues in Academic Libraries class. It might be the combination of "I have no idea what I'm talking about," a professor who is formidable and intimidating, and a few classmates who really, really like to talk. This week will be our third meeting, and I am determined to say something other than "here."

Win: I tried on dresses for the first time with my mom a couple weekends ago, and it turns out I am not a plus-size bride. (They don't vanity-size wedding dresses, folks!) The two dresses that I liked the best were this one and this one (sans flower).

Lose: The dress trying-on expedition for this past weekend was thwarted by a dental emergency that my mom had. Also, I have few local friends who are readily available for such tasks...so I stayed home and watched America's Best Dance Crew at the gym. Not a total wash.

Win: I found a DJ who is also a pianist! And is not crazy-expensive! That means that I may only have to pay and feed one vendor for a couple services. Yay!

Lose: I have realized I would much rather be planning my wedding than doing schoolwork of any kind. This had led to massive amounts of procrastination and stress. Turns out grad school is just allowing me to continue the habits I developed as an undergrad...but if it wasn't constantly rewarded with good grades, I'd stop! Seriously. Life is hard.

Win: My weekend ended really well-- first, I attended Wedding University with my best friend/MoH, then met up with another friend for some PF Chang's. Wedding University is much more fun than graduate school, but I don't know that it will improve my job prospects.

Lose: I have a terrible assignment that is due tonight by 11:59. I have no idea how to go about starting it. Whoops.