Life Since the BFA

I have been quite neglectful of my postings lately. I can blame it on the fact that since I finished school, it seems that my brain has been on a sort of forced hiatus. It knows that it doesn't have to work hard at any particular thing right now and has chosen to take full advantage of it. Seriously, I have been keeping house, which is nice when it is already pretty clean (thanks, Mom), and also looking into my grad school options. It turns out that the grad program I planned to apply for next year at my current university is in its last semester. They have decided to terminate the program from their curriculum after the current cohort ends. Unfortunately, they did not broadcast this very well and I had to find out by calling my advisor when I could no longer find the program on their website. I also had to then call Hobby to let her know about it, since she planned to apply as well next summer. There is a light at the end of this unexpected tunnel though. Another local university just started up the same program this summer. It is too late to apply for this year, but there are no indications that it will shut down next year. I have heard that it is a great school, and it is slightly closer to my home. The hitch, however, is that it is considerably more expensive. So, I will definitely have to start looking into scholarships or be prepared to be indebted to student loans for quite some time to come.

I have really been enjoying my time off. A couple of nights this week, I have found myself on my back porch, sitting at my new patio table, with a good book and a feeling of complete contentment and happiness. Last night, we decided to bbq chicken kabobs and salmon. I also made real mashed potatoes (not the flake stuff) and a cake (don't be too impressed...it was from a box). We invited over a couple from church that we really enjoy hanging out with and their kids. It was nice. They are in the midst of moving and were thankful for the dinner break from unpacking and cleaning. It was just great to hang out with them and let the kids run wild. I love when my house is clean and I don't worry when someone pops in at the last minute (again, thanks, Mom).

Mother's Day....Sunday. Can't say we have anything planned, but I'm pretty low-maintenance and easily pleased. I have cards for our moms, but of course, I haven't mailed them yet. I really need to start my workout back up. I've been incredibly lax with that and my clothes aren't going to stretch out to accomodate me.

Jobs...I turned in my application to the school district for substitute teaching. Before I can start though, I need to get fingerprinted so they can run a background check. I'll be doing that on Monday. They have you indicate what grades, schools and subjects you want to teach. I marked all secondary schools (jr. high and high school) in the district and about half the subjects listed. I told Mody that at least there was a benefit to taking all those general ed classes over the years for my degree...I feel pretty comfortable subbing in many different subjects. I also told her that there are subjects that I should definitely steer clear of, like driver's ed (wouldn't be able to resist scaring the driver) , physics (they actually teach this in high school?), and music (I think they'll want someone that actually knows what they are doing). I'm excited to start though. It will give me a lot more classroom experience and I'll be able to make some contacts in the schools.

In the meantime, I have been enjoying the gift cards I received for graduation. As mentioned before, I preordered the new Harry Potter. I also went to JCPenney's yesterday and purchased two new pairs of slacks to wear when I work and a pantyhose-like girdle (like I said, I haven't been exercising) to smooth out my frame. The brand is called My Shapz, like a Spanx copy. I was excited to see how it held up. Well, it definitely smoothed me out and the torso section was long, which I like. However, the legs were kind of short and it showed when I walked where it was squeezing my thighs a bit. The torso also had a very thick seam running right down the middles of the front and back. So, it would show right through the shirt as if I had had a horrible operation and had a long, wide scar running up my front...not attractive. And, when I undressed later, after about 6 hours of wear, I found that they had a hole on the side, like a stocking run. How that got there, I have no idea. I'm debating whether to return them to the store or call the company. Either way, I want a refund. I will then take that refund and try to order a pair of Spanx instead. Hopefully, I will have a better experience with those...at least until I get my butt (and thighs and tummy) in gear and work out more to shed these few lbs. that I would prefer to ditch.

Well, folks, it's almost 1:30 am and I should head to bed soon, despite the long nap I had earlier and the caffeine-riddled Excedrin I downed a little while ago. Good night and good dreams.