Welcome back humidity!

One year and eight months ago, I moved to the south. As my husband and I moved our stuff in, I remember commenting that it was extremely humid. That's when my brother-in-law shared this bit of truth with me. "Girls in the south have big hair because they don't have a choice." I could not believe how right he was.

The moment that winter ended, the humidity arrived.

My husband just looked over at me and said he has never seen my hair so big. I feel like I owe the people behind me in church an apology. I don't know how they could see around it tonight.

A-Z

UGH! After reading these all day, I give in! Enjoy! I know you will, because it's about me:-)


A. Age: 31, but don't tell anyone

B. Bed size: Queen and loving it! We spent the first few months of marriage in a full size bed...ugh. 

C. Chore you dislike:Dusting. The real kind. Not with a cute swiffer wand, but the real kind where I have to move things. Oh, and cleaning the bathroom. And folding laundry. And the trash. I despise trash. 

D. Dogs: Not yet, but maybe in the future. 

E. Essential start to your day: COFFEE

F. Favorite color: Black, red, blue, lots of them. 

G. Gold or silver: Silver, or platinum. I like platinum! 

H. Height: 5' 7''ish

I. Instruments you play(ed): violin, badly. My grandma encouraged me to quit. She said it sounded like pigs fighting. 

J. Job of your dreams: Stay at home wife:) 

K. Kids: none yet

L. Live: on a dirt road

M. Mom’s name: Edna

N. Nicknames: Baby, but only to my husband. And Jill-o, but only if you are super close to me! 

O. Overnight hospital stays: Once when I was 8, I had my tonsils out

P. Pet peeves: Tapping, humming, leaving like 4 drops of milk in the carton and putting it back in the fridge.  

Q. Quote from a movie: Everything from My Big Fat Greek Wedding

R. Righty or lefty: Righty

S. Siblings: 1 brother, 2 sisters-in-law, 1 brother-in-law

T. Time you wake up: 5:45

U. Unhealthy habit: avoiding the dentist like the plague. I have a real fear. I even had a nightmare about it last night. 

V. Vegetables you don’t like: artichokes, the boiled ones, not the ones in dip 

W.What makes you run late: sleepiness, I hate to get up in the morning

X. X-rays you’ve had: Teeth, back, hand, and I am sure a few others. 

Y. Yummy food you make: baklava! mmmmmmm! 

Z. Zoo animal favorites: Otters! 

Extra! Extra!

Just when I forget that I live in Alabama, in a small town, in what I consider to be the country, on a dirt road; the city of Millbrook delivers the paper. Today's top news...well, see for yourself:

The top story says "Fishing event reels in bucks"
The bottom one speaks for itself. 

I had no idea that I needed to be on the lookout for rabid raccoons. I thought that raccoons were already ill-tempered. (Have you seen Elf?) Imagine what a RABID raccoon would be like! And now, upon reading the paper, I am "concerned". I will keep you posted of any raccoon sightings, rabid or otherwise.

A to-do list update

I have accomplished 2 things on my to-do list! I am super excited...I love to mark things off a list. Yesterday I had an appointment with the eye doctor. This was the first time I have been to the eye doctor in a long, long time. It was quite the experience. They were surprised that I wasn't wearing glasses when I came into the appointment. Turns out, I have horrible vision in my left eye. I was hoping to be able to sport a super-hot monocle, but the doctor said that I needed a slight prescription in my right eye, so no monocle for me. They dilated my eyes, which is something that I have never experienced. I made sure to take a photo for everyone to enjoy.

This is such a hilarious picture. Wow! My nose is crooked! 

Then today, I cleaned out my closet. I am so relieved that it is over! I am so pleased with the final product. I have a super small closet. My husband can't even share a closet with me because there is just no room. I have  been struggling to keep this huge mess under control, and I am happy to report that the door of my closet is now able to close. I started with my dressers.

5 very full drawers of clothes

6 more drawers of clothes (only 3 are mine, the others are his)

Once I went through the clothes in the drawers, it was time to tackle the closet. The closet was way too full and way too messy.

This is the before picture. yikes!

Another before picture. 

the other side of my overstuffed closet.

My plan of attack was to yank everything out and then get rid of everything I was willing to part with. Then I would neatly put everything back. It took longer than I expected, but the final result was so worth it.

Part of the shoes that I took our of my closet. 

The rest of the shoes. 

Purses and bags that filled the bottom of the closet. 

I finally got everything emptied out of it. (yes, that is a green Caboodle)

This is what made the cut. Sorry the pic is sideways. Now to get it all back in the closet! 

This is the enormous pile that is leaving. It filled 3 garbage bags. One is being tossed, one is to be donated, and one is going to a friend who will love getting some cute used clothes. 

These shoes need a good home. I married a man who is my height. In heels, I TOWER above him, so these need to go! 

This is the final product! YAY!

I am so relieved that this is over! It was quite the undertaking, but having too much stuff really stresses me. It feels so good to know that everything is in its place and that the things I don't wear won't be taking up valuable space any longer. And see those empty hangers? I need to go shopping! (yeah right!) I feel like I will sleep better tonight knowing that my closet closes again. Plus, I have accomplished 2 major things on my list! Only 3 more to go! Tomorrow...it's oven cleaning time! Lucky me!

It's the final countdown...to spring break!

Again, the greatest perk of being a teacher is that I get some amazing time off! Next week is our spring break. I thought it would never get here. As a teacher, the longest time of the year seems to be Christmas break to spring break and spring break to summer break. I am so pumped about spring break this year. No, we aren't traveling. My husband won't even have any time off during my break. But, I have been making a list of things I want to accomplish this week! I know!! It's only the dream of my life to be able to accomplish so much during my time off. I love a to-do list, so I have been making one for spring break. 

1. Finish one of my classes. Working on my master's has never been easy, but now that I am married, it is tons harder. I am going to buckle down. I am going to finish Supervision of School Personnel! I CAN DO IT!!
2. Clean out my closet. I am the proud owner of the world's smallest closet. Currently the door barely closes from the unbelievable amount of junk that I have packed into it. I am so excited to pull everything out, get rid of some stuff, and put it away neatly. (no sarcasm here! I really do love to organize!)
3. Clean the oven. I HATE to clean the oven. I try really hard to make it so that I never have to clean it, but I haven't been successful. Recently I baked some sweet potatoes and the foil was too loose around them. When they got hot, a slimy leak occurred and it puffed up like a marshmallow in the bottom of the oven. It is black now! YUCK!
4. Organize the laundry room. I am sure that everyone has a room that they don't want anyone to see. Ours is the laundry room. It is the home for homeless stuff. There are beach towels, sunscreen, halloween decorations, and about a million other random things in there. Many things can be parted with, but what stays behind will be much neater. 
5. Take a trip to the eye doctor.  I am practically blind. I have a fear of most every kind of doctor, and the eye doctor is no exception. But, for the safety of other drivers on the road, it is my obligation to go have an exam. Hopefully I don't have to get coke-bottle thick glasses. 

That's not too bad! Only 5 major things on my list of things to do. I will report back with some pictures and progress! 

Wish me luck! 

Please be seated...but how?

Last night as I was sitting in church, I was noticing the different ways that married couples sit together. There are several different things that I observed. I am sure that you are on the edge of your seat, dying to know what they are! 

• A loving arm around the shoulder-This is the type that looks like a hug that was frozen mid-hug. From behind it really looks like the guy loves his wife. This can be reversed, but I suggest not reversing too often as it looks better with the husband's arm around the wife. He looks protective. 
• An arm resting on the pew-This one is tricky and can easily be confused with the first, but if you look carefully you can see if the man's arm is touching the shoulder of the woman or only resting on the pew. It is my opinion that if this is the case, then the man is trying to look protective, but really doesn't want to touch the woman. Or might he only be airing out his armpit? 
• Man nearest to the aisle-I have noticed in our church that most of the men sit next to the aisle and the women sit on the inside. I wonder if there is some secret man code that tells them to sit this way or if this is simply another way that men feel like the protector. 
• Woman nearest the aisle-This is a more rare occurrence. Are these women feeling protective? Have the men not seen the secret book of man code yet? Or are they just trying to tell the church that they are equal? Or, quite possibly, the wife is ready to make a quick exit to the nursery if necessary. 
• Lots of space between man and wife-This gives the idea that man and woman are content to sit together, but don't feel the need to touch. They don't share a Bible. They don't hold hands. They don't put their arms around each other. Perhaps they feel that they should not let the other person be a distraction to them. 
• Kids between the husband and wife-This is a variation of the aforementioned seating arrangement. I believe that this one was borne out of necessity. It keeps the children corralled. 
• Husband in one place, wife in another-This one is very rare. I have seen this only twice that I can remember. The first, because of a disagreement. Husband and Wife decided to sit in different places. They arrived separately, listened to the sermon, left separately. Yikes! The second time I saw this was hilarious! The husband arrived, took his seat, and quietly waited for the service to start. The wife was busy talking, heard the service start, and quickly rushed to their normal pew. Her husband wasn't there, so she took her usual spot. It took about 10 minutes for her to locate her husband, who had decided to try out a new location. She jumped up, walked briskly over to where he was, and sat down. 

I love to be able to sit with my husband in church and worship with him. He is such a dear. He holds the hymnal while we sing. He holds my hand while we pray. And he puts his arm around my shoulder. I am sure that we will try all of the other options of sitting, but for now I am content to stay under his loving arm. 

What insight do you have from your careful observations of others?