Things have been ok for me except that I'm a zombie now. - Jonathan Coulton

This week has been an improvement to last week.  I have spent the entire week kicking it via the phone to my BFF.  I wish we lived closer.  However it is great to catch up.  Our roommate from college had a baby this week.  Of course we talked about all those "glory days" when we were at Auburn.  While I have to say that I am pretty high up on the happiness Richter scale these days nothing compares to those carefree days at Auburn.  Best times of my life. 

Speaking of good times at some point is all of our adult lives we have to start growing up.  Unfortunately that time is getting close for me awfully soon.  I have enjoyed all this Peter Pan time....now it is time to grow. 

A stepmom is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie. ~Tenneva Jordan

Hosted my very first stepmom group dinner party at my house on Friday.   I have been getting together with these ladies since November for a little dinner, and a little discussing life in a blended family and all that it entails: the skids, the husband, the bio mom etc. 

Sometimes in recent months it has become my life raft.  It is so good to hear that even when things are not perfect at my house that they are not perfect at anyone else’s house either. 

On Friday I kicked my family out so that I could play hostess.  My family went to the movies while I dished with my girls about the life and times of this not so wicked stepmom.  Usually our meetings only last an hour or two, but Friday stretched all the way until 11.  In fact my family had already returned home by the time the last stepmom left.

The evening was a roaring success.  I am pretty excited to be hostessing July’s meeting as well. 

“You'd be surprised how much it costs to look this cheap!” Dolly Parton

On tap today:

• Coffee at 6 AM with Morgan
• Unpacking and what not at the new house
• Cleaning and what not at the rental
• Work-grades, posting, wrapping up some course development
• A few quick errands
• Auburn Football with the Auburn club
• Girl's night out with my Phoenix girls and friend that is here from out of town

I am exhausted already and it is only 5:40 AM. Also on the list locate my Auburn gear and Auburn shoes and Auburn beads so I am correctly attired for the party. Locate my LBD, boots and cowboy hat for girl's night. You may not think that boots and cowboy hat go with an LBD, but I like it. It works for me.

Talked to my friend Mike who is moving to Phoenix last night for 3 hours. (It had been awhile). He will be here this month for a little visit. Can't wait to see him!

The 'rents are coming soon. I am pretty excited and can't wait to show them the new Casa de IPG.

All my furniture was delivered yesterday and can I just say AMAZING. Literally gorgeous. I swear I am going to post some pics as soon as there are not boxes coming out of my ears.

Little SD is sick. She has chronic stomach pains so the doctor is running tests. She found out they needed a stool sample. She asked her mom what stool was, and when she found out she was mortified. Feel better SD!

“The best way to be boring is to leave nothing out” Voltaire

I am going to catch everyone up on the most boring stuff first.

OK FIRST...

School dissertation work will recommence on October 1, 2009. Blah. I haven't got much left to do, but I have been putting it off for a few reasons. First of all I can keep health insurance through Mississippi State as long as I am a student. I was concerned for a bit that I might have to insure both Bey and I (spouses count t00). However it doesn't look like that is the case. Bey will be staying put until he finds his perfect job. So there is no need to lolly gag.

Work

So much work I could scream. Life is too full. Too much going on. I have so many classes and they are all starting like NOW. :) October is always like that! ;) Anyway, most of my course development wraps up at the end of next week. SIGH. Relief.

Furniture

I ordered an entire house full of new furniture and it is all being delivered on Friday. The furniture is contemporary and some of it is custom so the only place to find it is in IPG's home. For example I have a six foot long wall in my foyer that needed something and so IPG's sweet Daddy agreed to build her a fascinating plant and indoor water feature to her exact specifications. Once the house is finished it should look like a show place. Will definitely post pics.

Family

My dad retired in May and has been furnishing his own retirement casa. He and my mom are planning a much anticipated trip to IPGzona. They should be staying between 3 and 4 weeks and we plan to see much of the state as well as just spend some great quality time together.

Sad Stuff

The family dog (not my dog Shug)...my mom's dog Licorice has been diagnosed with cancer. This has delayed my parent's trip. They do not know how much longer they will have with their sweet dog. So they obviously need to spend time with him.

Bey has turned down a few job offers that just were not a good fit for our lifestyle and this family. So the job hunt continues. I am happy I got to spend time with him, and although I know that this separation is difficult it has also made me appreciate some things.

1. Some women are not loved their entire lives as much as my husband loves me. I am not bragging or trying to be mean. I just know that I am the very center of my husband's world. The two of us together create a universe. Not having him here has made me appreciate that in brand new ways. Knowing that our bond is that strong means it is ok that we are not together right this second. We will be, and when we are it will be great.

2. Having a man around the house is handy. I am all for a little girl power, but my goodness when it comes to lifting 150 lb boxes of patio furniture from Home Depot. It is nice to have some muscle around (and it doesn't hurt that it is DELISH) lol


Car

The time has come to get rid of this piece of crap in my driveway I call a truck. :) We are considering some vehicles. I haven't had a chance to go check them all out. So here they are in no particular order....

1. H3
2. Mercedes GLK
3. Jeep Liberty
4. Dodge Ram
5. Chevrolet Silverado
6. Saturn Vue

I have gone and seen a few of them, but haven't had a chance to work through the entire list. I am pretty systematic and will have to just work at my own pace. Notice there is not a BMW z4 on there.


Upcoming events

My social life in Phoenix has expanded. I have met people through Auburn clubs, and Saints clubs, and sorority events. It has been fun getting to know different people. Bey and I have even gotten to be such good friends with a couple here that we have planned a trip to Vegas with them in February. It is a surprise for the guy's birthday. We have all told him we are going on a couple's retreat to Napa Valley. It should be pretty funny when he finds out we are actually planning a trip to somewhere way more fun than Napa. :)


Big 5

So Bey and I started planning our 5th Anniversary trip. We were thinking about going back to Belize where we got married, but have sort of decided to do something different. I will give you a hint it starts with a capital A and is continent!

“Happiness consists of living each day as if it were the first day of your honeymoon and the last day of your vacation”

I am still here in Palm Springs. I shouldn’t still be here although if you know me at all you should not be in the least bit surprised. I do adore a vacation.

My BFF and I have been having a great time! I might not go home tomorrow. She has to leave on Wednesday so surely I will head back then! LOL :) However she is going to be back here in December so yeah!

The most fun about this weekend away is that she and I have gotten to plan our upcoming trip to Russia. We will be leaving September 5 and be gone until September 12! YEAH! The only scary bit is that she and I probably are going to have a hard time finding something to eat while traveling.

Upon returning home on the 12^th I am going to drive down to Auburn from Atlanta, and catch the Auburn Mississippi State game. Then I will head down to spend a week at the beach with my parents and the long suffering Bey. THEN I will come home, and promise to be good and stay in town for at least 10 days at a stretch. :) I have to find out if I can take SD out of school for that amount of time…HOPEFULLY everyone deserves a week at the beach!

From the outside looking in you can never understand it. From the inside looking out you can never explain it. Sorority Quote

I had a sorority impromptu reunion last night. A friend of mine's husband is in Iraq, and she has been living in Alabama for a year now. So we decided to get together in Montgomery before her man gets home, and I move to Phoenix. Apparently last night I started calling Arizona...IPGZona (with my real name substituted for IPG...)...(yes I am that self centered). This morphed into a celebration of another friend's birthday, and meeting up with another sorority sister. The night was awesome! Just enough nostalgic cheesiness....the perfect amount of conversation. Here is how the evening went.

Squeal...Hug....Squeal...Hug Hug...Squeal
"The necklace..."
"The Strutting Duck"
"The trash can"
"That guy you dated that we all hated..."
"That guy YOU dated that we all hated..."
"Do you remember that guy?"
"Auburn"
"Football"
"Having so and so's dad kicked out of the stadium...."

And on and on. It was great. We got to talk and remember some of my most cherished memories at Auburn. To my dear sister's and friend's credit they included my husband in every conversation explaining to him as much back story as the memory required.

In this particular group of friends me and my friend's brother were always called the babies. It is practically pathetic that the "babies" are now both in their 30's. At one point during the night we realized that very few of the stories we were relating even occurred during this decade.

However like all good nights out....two great new stories happened. First of all when we were changing venues from one place to the next some kid yelled at my husband (who was escorting 3 girls at the time), "That dude is with all 3 of them girls. He is a pimp!" Yes honey you are. :)

Some man fell "asleep" (read passed out) in his chair last night. Being the kind souls we are we did not hesitate to help...er take pictures or ourselves throwing gang signs next to him. At some point before security escorted him out some guy came up, and said, "Are you ok? Did you have too much to drink?" to the gentlemen asleep in the chair. I said to my friends in my mock sotto voice..."Obviously he hasn't had too much to drink. People routinely fall asleep in loud crowded restaurants on Saturday nights with bands playing. I am sure it is just narcolepsy." This little comment earned me a dirty look from Mr. Good Samaritan.

“I don't care if they eat me alive, I've got better things to do than survive.” Ani Difranco

I kind of have this little countdown in my head about my proposal. Here are some things that I have noticed recently. I used to feel as though I was juggling 1000's of glass balls. However what has happened recently for me is I have stopped juggling. Some of the balls were dropped...smashed. Some were merely placed away safely so that I could pick them up at a later time. I have been pretty much a one song juke box in 2009. This dissertation obsession is the only thing that I have been focused on. The other glass ball I have had to keep in the air is work. So work and dissertation are the only things I have been doing.

NOT personal research ....which by the way although I do not consistently talk about is a big passion of mine. I have several publications, and I have a few more in the pipe line. But this is a glass ball that has been safely placed aside.

My friends and family have obviously suffered the most. That is where I am going to have to apply the most effort when this process is over. I am going to have to get to know all the people in my life again.

Leaving for New Orleans

So I am out the door in a few hours to go to NOLA. I personally love NOLA. :) I know that you either love it or hate it, but I love it!

However I just received this text "If you have a tacky Christmas sweater bring it" uh oh! What am I getting myself into?