<rant>

I think I’ve lost my blogging mojo for a little while. I think I’m overwhelmed and annoyed with school. In the past week, I’ve had to pay for more school related things not included in my already exorbitant tuition including two case studies that I have to use for a project (why on earth could the professor not find other case studies that don’t cost money? Lord knows that there’s many out there). Also, the project that I have to use the case studies for is a group project. I think I’ve written about my hate for group projects. We are three weeks into the semester and this particular group has already annoyed me. We don’t have anything due for four weeks and what we will have due at the end of the four weeks is not particularly lengthy or difficult. Yet, the group already wants to meet at least weekly.

 I’m sorry. I am taking two other classes besides this one and working full time and doing a variety of other things and therefore I am already stretched thin. I do not have time to discuss case studies that I do not have in my hot little hands yet. I am not the only one in the group that does not have the case studies so I’m really not sure what we’re going to discuss tonight at our second meeting for this week.

I’ve noticed that  a lot of people who have been out of school for awhile and are now back to complete their Masters take school really, really seriously and are borderline obsessive about it. I take school seriously and I do well because of that but they are waaaaaaaaaay over excited about being in school again. It annoys me.  I will so not miss these personalities when I’m finished with school in May.

I keep repeating “I’m almost finished” to myself.

</rant>

This week has just had me kind of down. There’s no specific reason for this that I can figure. I think some of it is the weather and some of it is school stress. I’m craving culture of some kind, something beautiful, something to make me think, make me dream. I’ll get into these moods where I just need to get out and go to a museum or go someplace scenic. I’m definitely in that kind of mood right now. I think that the Architect and I are going to the Corcoran Art Museum on Saturday. I need it.

I’m still recovering from being sick. My voice is now almost non-existent. Thus it has been a very quiet Valentine’s Day for the Architect and I. We have just spent most of the day hanging out together. He made breakfast and spoiled me with gifts. He bought me a bracelet and a necklace that I had been eying on Etsy and a purse. My favorite gift was the letter he wrote me though. That’s always my favorite part of Valentine’s Day with him.

This afternoon, we went out and got him a special sleeping bag for camping later this month (yes, as in February). This was his V-day gift from me. You see, for the past few years, the Architect has gone camping with my dad, uncle and a whole bunch of other guys in February. While we are in the mid-Atlantic, winters are still really cold here but the guys being guys like having a men only camping trip in February. The core group (my dad included) has been doing this for about 15 years. They call it the Idiot’s Trip (well, at least they’re admitting it… heh). So anyhow, the Architect wanted a heavier sleeping bag for the trip. We’ll see if they get to go with all of the snow on the ground.

Tonight my Architect is making dinner and dessert. We’re having maple herb stuffed pork tenderloin and a sort of potato au gratin (that includes poblano chilies. woot!). For dessert, we’re having orange chocolate cheesecake (one of  my very favorites).

Happy Hearts Day!

If you’ve watched the national news anytime in the past few days, you know that the Mid-Atlantic has been pounded by snow this past weekend. I’m waiting for the new batch of snow to hit us. Right now we’re looking at about another 10-15 inches. This definitely has been an abnormal winter for us. We’re on track to get the most snow that we’ve ever had in a winter and I certainly believe it.

I’ve been home since Friday, mostly just watching the snow fall. Roads around here are still pretty shoddy. One thing that all this snow has been nice for is getting school work done. I’m about two weeks into my semester, only 10 more to go. I’ve also been doing a lot of reading for myself, which is nice. The Architect took me to the library on Friday before all of this snow nonsense started so I have plenty of new books to read.

I’m fighting off a little bit of something (fever, aches, sore throat type thing) for the past couple days so it has been nice to be home without much to do. I’ve been feeling pretty bad today so I’ve been drinking a lot of water and a lot of green tea with honey (that has to be a magic elixir of some kind, I swear). I’ve spent a lot of the day in bed listening to good music (mostly David Bowie and the Zac Brown Band) and reading and just generally taking it easy.

My aunt sent a tin of popcorn to us so I’ve been munching on that today. I’m a big fan of the cheese popcorn. There is something terribly unnerving about neon orange cheese powder but it is so tasty. Hey, it may have curative properties as well

Now, who wants me to send some snow to them?

So the snow has begun. By the end of this fun storm, my area is supposed to get about 2 feet of snow. We don’t know how to deal with that much snow here. We’ll be stuck here for awhile; it is pretty safe to say.

I know a few other people have done this before but the snow has zapped my blogging mojo so I’m open for questions. Ask me a question and I will try to answer it as honestly as possible.

Go ahead, entertain me…. And Go!

Words have always been important to me. I think that’s apparent through my reading and writing ventures. Words are the easiest way for me to get my point across and I don’t think that words are something to be taken lightly by anyone. Words are extremely important and as with anything that is that important, you’ve gotta be careful with how you use them.

This week, President Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emmanuel got in trouble for calling some of his liberal counterparts “retarded.” This is one of the words that absolutely bothers me to no end. It’s just a very rude, antiquated, and unnecessary term. He could have called them stupid, idiots, morons, assholes, dumbasses, lemmings, or some other term. Instead he chose to use a really horrible, hurtful word.

A few years ago, I was able to meet a really wonderful woman through my aunt. The whole family has become really close to both my aunt’s family and ours (her mother is actually my wedding planner now). For the past at least three or four years, we’ve had a birthday party for this woman and I’ve really learned a lot from her. She’s amazing. She’s incredibly nice and is the type of person that always remembers your birthday even if she’s only met you a few times. She has an eye for detail that constantly astounds me. She has a fabulous job in which she gets to travel all over and speak to people. It sounds awesome and it’s the type of job that some of us can only dream about (I know I certainly dream about traveling all over). She also happens to be intellectually disabled. Obviously with everything else she is doing in her life, she has never let this term define her.

I remember a few years ago, she had come over to my parents’ house for her birthday party and we were in the family room getting ready to watch a movie and J. was telling us about high school and how many of the kids were mean to her and called her retarded. She is very, very friendly and would try to talk to some of the so-called “normal” kids and they would just be really horrible to her and tease her and make fun of her and call her retarded over and over again. She thanked us profusely for being nice to her and being her friends. She’s very conscious of her intellectual disability and knows she can’t help it so it especially hurt that people made fun of her for things she couldn’t change. Anyone would be upset about being teased for who they are.

The bottom line is that people can be cruel and simple words are really powerful. We’ve gotta be more cautious about what we say.

What are some words you hate?

Edit: Wow! What a coincidence that I wrote this today; my friend made it into the Washington Post!!! It’s a pretty good article too.

I just read another Datingish post about a girl who wishes she could put a guy on hold because she doesn’t feel ready to settle down. I suppose that due to the fact that I’m a hopeless romantic, this sentiment doesn’t make a whole lot of sense for me.

A few weeks ago, I had a friend who got broken up with by a guy whose friends had told him that he’s too young to settle down. He was 24 or 25. My friend had been supporting him a lot and he seemed kind of immature anyhow but I was totally miffed as to how this could be the only reason that he was breaking up with her. I guess there could be other reasons but this is the reason that she was given before he cut off all contact with her (including changing his phone number).

I will admit that the Architect and I have gotten questions as to whether or not we feel like we’re too young to get married (I’m 24 and he’s 25) and while I think we’re still young, I don’t think age has ever really factored into whether or not we were ready to get married. Once our relationship progressed to the point where we were willing to make the biggest commitment that you can make to another person, we knew that we were ready to get married. Age had nothing to do with it.

Here in DC, it’s completely normal for people to wait until their 30s to get married. In the DC professional world, this may be close to the norm now actually. I don’t think it’s that people don’t feel like they’re not ready to settle down before their 30s. It’s more that people are very career driven here and they focus on their careers first and everything else second. It is a bit age driven still though. The work culture here seems to state that you need almost ten years to get into a good position with your career and that has to be your focus. It’s not bad, just different than the direction I’m going in. I’ve never seen a reason why I can’t have it all at the same time: marriage, career, and a family.

I know that there have been studies that people who get married younger tend to get divorced more than those who marry a little older but can anyone explain this magic age thing to me?

Is there really a magic age as to when someone should get married or at least settle down?

Washington, D.C.

November 2020

Presidential Acceptance Speech

My fellow Americans,

I stand here before you, humbled. It is with great honor that I accept your call to serve as the President of the United States of America. This is an office which has stood the test of time and I am honored to be called to fill this great position. On the campaign trail, I was able to meet many different people from all walks of life. I understand that while we may not agree on everything that I have a duty to lead this nation forward and make it better for all our citizens. I take this responsibility solemnly.

I recognize that I will come into the Presidency at a time where our nation faces many challenges. This is a time of great urgency. We have soaring unemployment rates, rivaling those of the late 2000s. We are still actively involved in the stabilization of both Iraq and Afghanistan.  While the last administration made some headway in solving these problems, there is still work to be done.

I ran on the platform of no business as usual and I plan to keep that promise to you. I will start by cutting the federal budget. Our nation is not secure when we borrow so much money from foreign governments and other government entities. I am currently standing up a commission whose sole purpose will be to objectively review various government programs and cut the fat. This commission will be ready to stand up as soon as I take the oath of office.

Government programs must be more accountable for themselves. Each agency will engage in robust strategic planning directed by the Government Accountability Office. I will require that all agencies be made to participate in performance management. It is time to show what government offices are doing and more so what they do well.

As I mentioned previously, we will continue our stabilization efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan. I realize that this may not be the most popular option but it is the right one to pursue. It has not been an easy road but it is necessary to continue in order to stabilize those areas of the world. We are still in these countries for a reason. We must repair what we broke.

There is a lot of work to be done here but I am ready. I am humbled by your overwhelming confidence in me and with your help, this country will continue to be great.

(A featured_grownups post and 68. Write a speech for the president or other leader. Please try to solve some of the world’s problems while you are at it. heh. ( 4 pts))

I don’t watch a lot of tv. I do like watching tv to relax every once in awhile but I probably would rather relax in a bubble bath with a book. On the other hand, the Architect definitely likes to relax in front of the tv in the evenings when he gets home. For the most part, we’ve come to a happy medium when it comes to our tv watching although as with some things in life, sometimes there’s just no middle ground.

One of his very favorite shows is NCIS (both the regular one and the L.A. one). Now the show in itself is not a bad show but unfortunately it’s a show that seems to be on a lot of different channels and now that there’s two different NCIS shows to contend with. While the show isn’t a bad show, it drives me absolutely batty that it’s on so frequently. It seems to be a lot of the same plots. On top of that, between the regular show and L.A. there seems to be no differentiation between the characters. The Architect absolutely loves these shows.

We have the kind of relationship where we like poking fun and joking with each other. Typically when NCIS came on, I took that as my cue to go read my book. In the past few weeks, it’s devolved into me doing a ridiculously spastic dance in front of the tv while making up lyrics to the theme song. It’s truly a site to behold, I’m sure. I would tape it but I don’t think it’s safe for the public. It’s especially funny because the Architect gets play mad at me, which devolves into a lot of laughs. We have way too much fun together.

What are some your favorite shows?