Secular Confessions

[Smplyme89]

I am super excited that writing my Thesis is going much smoother than I initially thought it would It's been quite a few years since I've had to write a paper of this magnitude and was stressing that writing would not come as easily to me as it always had, but so far so good!! I am glad I picked the topic that I did (Personality Types and Management) I've always had a love for the psychological aspect and at least I am getting to incorporate that into Business in a way. Abnormal Psychology, best.class.ever!

[missychrissy]

If she wants elaborate parties, that's fine. But if your kids are sick, they're sick. It happens. She needs to get over it and realize life isn't about her. She sounds a bit self centered. I'm sorry L.

I love the time change...I was able to wake up in time to shower and meet my bus!! I did forget my glasses though. I've been leaving them a lot lately.

[AmeriBrit]

I'm sorry about your sister, L! She sounds a lot like my own sister whom I haven't spoken to since last January.

[Ky'sMom]

If she wants elaborate parties, that's fine. But if your kids are sick, they're sick. It happens. She needs to get over it and realize life isn't about her. She sounds a bit self centered. I'm sorry L.

I love the time change...I was able to wake up in time to shower and meet my bus!! I did forget my glasses though. I've been leaving them a lot lately.

I agree about your sister L. I can understand the need to have a big celebration for 40 (not every year though) but your kids (her nieces and nephews) are more important than a party!

And I also love the time change. It was so pretty this morning. Ky thought we were leaving late for school, we were actually on time out of the house as well. I could never forget my classes. I would be bumping into things and crashing my van if I forgot. I have horrible vision.

Erin

[Bridget]

Lydia, your sister sounds like my brother a bit. He is nearly 30 and still makes a big hoorah about his birthday. He does not really get upset with me if I don't make it because his parties are usually at a bar and involve lots of drinking and I don't get out to many events that don't include my kids. But he does complain to me that so and so didn't show up for his birthday party and he's mad at them.

What I do not like about the time change is that it's dark around 5pm here and that makes it so much harder to get out of the house and do anything after work is done for the day. But on the plus side, it does make it easier to get the kids to bed.

Yesterday we picked up a free kitty for Savana. She named her Pawprint Black and White Striped Peach. But we're just calling her Pawprint. So far she has replaced me. Because of illness and some work schedule changes, we aren't having any children arrive until close to lunch time. I have hardly even seen Savana and Kai as they are up in her room with the kitty. It's been just me and Sawyer down in the school and I'm getting lots of organizing done.

[missychrissy]

It gets dark at 5 here too Bridget and I hate that. I'm not going to think of it though 'cause I want my Monday to be as stress free as possible lol You're right though, it does make it hard to do anything after work because it's pitch black out.

the kitty's name! How darling!

[AbbeysMom]

She was bitterly complaining that none of her friends with children (besides us) were attending this event, with an undertone of how we never go out and have fun any more. Incidentally, we were the only non-gay couple that agreed to go besides her and her dh. I told her that was one of the benefits of growing old in the Bay Area -- she would always have someone to dance with, even when her straight friends were boring and tired.

And no, she will never act her chronological age. And yes, she has always expected everyone to jump through hoops for her birthdays. She is turning 40 this year. Ever since she turned 30 she has become less happy and more bitter. I'm not sure why she loves these elaborate parties, but she does not understand why I like to have a quiet dinner at home.

Well, maybe it's easier to be mad at you and all of her married-with-kids friends because then she doesn't have to dwell on being lonely on her birthday. And maybe the parties were always some way of showing herself how much/many people cared about her.

I should say that creating tangled emotional backstories is the only way I can stop myself from be driven crazy by my sibs. It gives me a little more tolerance for their craziness.

I am super excited that writing my Thesis is going much smoother than I initially thought it would It's been quite a few years since I've had to write a paper of this magnitude and was stressing that writing would not come as easily to me as it always had, but so far so good!! I am glad I picked the topic that I did (Personality Types and Management) I've always had a love for the psychological aspect and at least I am getting to incorporate that into Business in a way. Abnormal Psychology, best.class.ever!

That sounds interesting... share more! ...like some of your writing!


ETA: "Pawprint Black",

[demigraf]

I will make friends with this time change once I can start sleeping past 5:30 am. Bodhi and DH somehow fig'd it out. But not this guy.

L, first off, I am sorry she's so frustrating and ungracious. Party invitations should have no strings attached. Period. Secondly, can I just confess I think it's adorable for some reason to read about your sibling relationship, perhaps because I've never heard you so (rightfully) frustrated? Maybe it's because your children are more mature than your sister. Anyway, I hope S is up and over the worst of it. Sounds so rough!

Erin, I love it when someone gives me a new word to add to my lexicon.

After B's nap, some parent friends came over with their son B's age last night, and we all went on a family hike up to a Eucalyptus grove overlooking the Pacific, then made them salmon burgers for dinner. We have gotten close to the parents ever since our families were "set up" with each other a little over a year ago. The mom & I have eerily similar immigration stories of being separated 6+ months from our parents as infants while our immigration papers were being prepared. But I digess. I was just gonna say I wish the boys had better chemistry playing with each other the way B does with certain other buddies. We found a huge banana slug on the trail last night. I was showing it to B, and the other little boy accidentally stomped on it. It was really upsetting to Bodhi, and I don't think he ever quite forgave him after that point. Another time, we were hiking with Santi and his brother and mommy, and the boys found a snake eating a live mouse, and that didn't seem to phase B at all.

The clothes inventory (clothes-ventory? Erin? No?) I started yesterday has been eye-opening. It's going to make closet cleaning/donation time so much easier now that I realize I have 3 pairs of straight black work slacks. Once I'm done listing out how many garments I own - tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwear - including all my t-shirts, shorts and tanks, I'm afraid to tell you how many items that will be. The "K.I.S.S." side of my personality ("keep it simple, stupid") wants me to have 60 individual pieces or less, but I've gone exponentially past that number, even with regular pruning of the wardrobe. It's telling fhat I need a database to keep track of them all. How many items of clothing would you say you ladies have altogether?

[missychrissy]

Abnormal Psychology, best.class.ever!

I'm jealous!

[missychrissy]

The clothes inventory (clothes-ventory? Erin? No?) I started yesterday has been eye-opening. It's going to make closet cleaning/donation time so much easier now that I realize I have 3 pairs of straight black work slacks. Once I'm done listing out how many garments I own - tops, bottoms, dresses, outerwear - including all my t-shirts, shorts and tanks, I'm afraid to tell you how many items that will be. The "K.I.S.S." side of my personality ("keep it simple, stupid") wants me to have 60 or less, but I've gone exponentially past that number, even with regular pruning of the wardrobe. It's telling fhat Inneed a database to keep track of them all. How many pieces of clothing would you say you have altogether?

Geek me is fully appreciating the fact that you're making a clothing database. Mom-me is that you own so many clothes?! lol I definitely k.i.s.s. because I have about 7 pairs of jeans, maybe 2-3 'dress' slacks, a couple skirts (counting my new miniskirt), and perhaps 40-50 blouses and a dozen or so shoes.

[Cosmosmom]

Haha, I never could forget my glasses either...I cannot see at all without mine. They are basically only off if I'm spraying hair spray (though I do have a old pair I put on just for that), in the shower or sleeping.

Christina that is great that the paper is coming along so well. How long does it have to be? I have never had to write a thesis myself....I took a comps 4 hour exam instead in grad school. But my DH had to write one...it was a LONG process.

Wow, that kittys name is probably bigger than she/he is! Pretty cute. I have never had a cat....and now DH is horribly allergic to them so never will. But they are so pretty!

I could totally see throwing a big party. It sounds like fun to get dressed up and do something like that. I just do not have the money or know enough people for something like that (even our wedding was only 50 people). But that is terrible of your sister to not realize that you cannot come when your baby is sick.

[missychrissy]

Haha, I never could forget my glasses either...I cannot see at all without mine. They are basically only off if I'm spraying hair spray (though I do have a old pair I put on just for that), in the shower or sleeping.

My actual eyesight isn't bad. I have astigmatism but it's not really noticeable unless I have light shining in my face. I'm to the point now where I can only drive to town and back, on a road I'm very familiar with, because I can't see in the dark. Headlights and even the reflection of my own headlights from road signs totally blinds me. But for during the day, I'm find. I can't see individual leaves on trees, but I can certainly read my computer screen just fine. I'll likely have a mild headache by the end of the day though.

[Cosmosmom]

Umm, are you talking about clothes that currently fit or ones in the house? Because I have like three different sets....the ones that currently fit, the ones that losing a smaller amount and they would fit again and the ones that I love but in reality probably would not lose enough to fit again...though I guess maybe I could.

Ones that currently fit, one pair of jeans (I don't wear jeans much because I can't wear them to to work), one pair of capri, one gray work pant, three black work pants that are all slightly different. I have probably 6 tops that are short sleeves for work, and 2-3 that are non-work. I have probably about 6 tops for work that are thin long sleeved or 3/4 sleeves for this time of year. I have 4 thin long sleeved that are mostly non-work. And sweaters, I have 7 of those that are mostly work.
The rest of the clothes are in the office closet because currently are too small but I won't get rid of them.
At home, which is where I spend most of my time I wear pj's or yoga pants and t-shirts. I have a decent number of those...maybe 15 different pieces in tops/bottoms/nightgowns.
I also have 2 fleece jackets and my wool winter jacket that currently fit. I have a couple of other jackets...winter, fleece, windbreaker that are a bit too small right now.

So if you take what currently fits, I'm under the 60 pieces. If you take all clothes of mine in the house, I'm over 60 pieces.

[Cosmosmom]

Uggg I hate driving at night too. I have a lot of trouble with other cars headlights and basically only drive in the dark if I absolutely have too. With the time change, basically once I leave work and it's dark, I'm going straight home....and it is a short drive thankfully.

[missychrissy]

I didn't even think about what it would be like for me to drive home from work now with the time change. I'd wager a bet that I couldn't make it home without my glasses...I'd have a lot of trouble doing it with my glasses.

I went to the toy store for Conner's bday present in the dark and that was the last time I'll drive any distance from my house at night on unfamiliar roads. I was scared to death and couldn't see well enough...I honestly shouldn't have been driving at all. The store is about 40 miles away and I hadn't been up there in 15 years or more. They're working on it and had single lane concrete dividers for 8 miles. It felt like 100. I couldn't read the signs due to the glare so I didn't know where my exit was. It was awful.

[Smplyme89]

Bridget how cute is that name

I guess I'm OK with the time change. I prefer it to be lighter in the mornings, it makes it easier for me to roll my lazy butt out of bed

[daylilies]

Ok here's what I gathered from what I read so far-
L, I'm sorry about the frustration with the party. I kind of get the big party thing-heck if I had friends I'd totally do up a big party but she shouldn't be pissed at you for not going because your kids were sick. Please!

Bridget! Love the kitten name!

Clothes-way too many, although I don't wear most of them. A lot of them are prints and I'm trying to get away from prints. I have clothes that are too big, clothes that are too small, clothes I've worn once that I looked hideous in, clothes I thought I looked good in but people asked me if I was pregnant...you get the picture. I need a major overhaul but honestly I'm afraid to buy clothes these days.

I'm confused because I could have sworn it stays dark longer in the morning in the winter? Am I losing my mind?

[Ky'sMom]

I don't have a lot of clothes. I go through them every season and toss or give to Goodwill what I haven't worn at least once every couple of weeks. I have 3 pairs of work pants, black, plaid (black and gray), some cool geometric pattern that you can't tell is there that is also black and grey. I have 4 sweaters for fall/winter wear for work and 2 blazers, one black and one grayish looking but actually black/white. 2 cardigan styled sweaters, one black, one a combo of beige/brown. That is basically my work clothes. I also wear a lot of camis, I have around 6 of them in a myriad of colors. Oh, forgot my dresses, I have 4 dresses, mostly black/white but I also have one brown one that is my favorite.

Outside of work I have sweatpants, sun dresses for summer, t-shirts that I have had for years or that were free (got some new ones on my recent business trip from the company) and that is it except for underclothes. I have a total of probably 14 regular outfits that I can wear back to back for work and about 3 pairs of sweat pants/pajama pants that I wear around the house and on outings. I also have 2 pairs of jeans but I don't like wearing jeans so I rarely wear them. I don't think I have a lot even though written out it looks like it. Ky and DH and until recently Elle (until she got a growth spurt and went from 2t to 3t) both have enough clothes to wear for 6 weeks straight. I recently got rid of a ton of Ky's clothes. He gets a lot of hand me downs and DH never wants to throw them away or re-home them to other boys even though Ky has more than enough clothes. One of our little cousins, Brandon, who is 11 comes to spend the night every other week and his mom brings Ky clothes practically every time he comes.

Erin

[demigraf]

Yay, for a new kitty!! I am especially happy for Savana.

[Smplyme89]

OK I don't know what I was thinking I am so not in Abnormal Psychology right now What I was thinking (in my head) was that it is bringing up information I remember from that class and it was the best.class.ever I guess thats what happens when its midnight and you don't proofread your posts

This is what my professor referred to as a 'practice' thesis. I call it a mini It is officially posted as only 10pages, but while emailing back and forth with her about it she said that she doesn't normally find 10 pages to be sufficient and prefers to see a paper closer to 20

and trust me it is not going to be no fantastic work of art so I will definitely spare you ladies from having to read any of it I'm enjoying writing it, but I like learning silly unimportant facts about the psychological aspect of people-I find it fascinating. Yes I know, dork alert

[missychrissy]

... I like learning silly unimportant facts about the psychological aspect of people-I find it fascinating. Yes I know, dork alert

I like that stuff too. I don't think it's dorky at all.

I loved working in the mental health clinic for a whole host of reasons, but one of my favorite tasks was typing the intake assessments. In those the therapist would go through the client's entire life history and have a tentative dx for them. I never got bored doing those.

[daylilies]

I like psychology too. I'm still annoyed that I couldn't grasp statistics class and that my whole experience while I was majoring in psych was so bad that I dropped out. How long can college credits transfer over?

[missychrissy]

I like psychology too. I'm still annoyed that I couldn't grasp statistics class and that my whole experience while I was majoring in psych was so bad that I dropped out. How long can college credits transfer over?

Forever.

[daylilies]

Nice! I wasn't sure if they expired after 10 years or something.

[missychrissy]

They're not supposed to ever expire. But I did run into a situation where I took a freshman English class at one university and got an A in it, but my community college wouldn't recognize it because they hadn't audited that class...so I had to retake English 101. I still feel that was a lame excuse because they were both SUNY schools, but whatever.

[daylilies]

Aw Oh well, I guess there are worse things you could have had to re-take.

[Suja]

Abnormal psych was fun, but not as much fun as a course on The Vampire. It was taught by an Oppenheimer (related to THE Oppenheimer), and is probably the single most fun class ever. Oh, and this was pre- sparkly vampires.

Bridget, congrats on the kitty. The name is super cute.

My wardrobe currently fits into three categories. Work wear, where I fit into pants, but don't fit into the blouses anymore, casual wear, which is 3 jeans and 8 or 10 tops (each, for summer or winter), and ratty-wear, which is what I wear at home, and is the vast majority of my wardrobe, and consists of beat up Ts and yoga pants. Oh, and 3 formal evening wear, for wearing to client events. I really need to overhaul this stuff, throw out all the stained/torn/hole-y stuff, but that means going shopping, so no thanks.

[Bridget]

I got my grant! I'm very excited and plan to order a new table chairs for crafts/eating. Downside is that I didn't get the highest rating I could because I didn't have a budget for all the years I've been in business. Yeah, I know. I should have.

Dbf found what I like to call, "my lifelong engagement ring" this morning. It's been lost for over 2 years. It was on the bottom of a change jar. Weird. I have mixed feelings about wearing it.

Smplyme is your are still interested in an amber necklace, Inspired by Finn is having a 30% off sale.

[missychrissy]

Bridget! Congratulations!!

Ironically, my own engagement ring mysteriously reappeared earlier this year after being gone for nearly 2 years as well. I do wear mine...more because it helps ward off men flirting with me when I'm 'out'. It doesn't totally stop all of them, but enough.

[Cosmosmom]

I only take my engagement ring off if I'm putting on hand lotion and it only goes in one spot on my dresser....the rest of the time I'm wearing it but I'm super attached to this ring.

Kate, depends on which classes will transfer. Sometimes they don't expire but sometimes they do (example would be a field of study that has had major changes in recent times....Like for me let's say an older person had taken a library class 15 years ago....well that might not transfer because the field has so drastically changed....heck even in the four years it took me for grad school, the required core classes were already changing). Or sometimes what one school considers English credit, another school might not. I ran into that with doing two transfers.

Bridget congrats on the grant!!!

On my end it's been a frustrating day. Seems like DH managed to get a trojan or virus or something on the computer at home. It's the main laptop where the pictures are, the most updated version of iTunes, some lego program with a house he's been building for hours a day for the past 2 or 3 weeks. He says he basically has on the one login a recycle bin and on the other account he can't access a lot of the C drive or something. It's also making things very slow, says the ram is way low and something pops up saying it will fix it for $75 but isn't a company he's ever heard of so of course it sounds like a scam.
And of course the virus stuff we have scanned and only found one small thing.
I don't know if we will take in to get fixed or just trash it. I don't know how much it costs to get it fixed....the laptop is like 4 years old so not all that new and we have another one we could use at home.
I would love to have it back to how we had it though. At least a good number of pictures have been put at some point on a flash drive or external hard drive (which stupid me thought of doing to the computer recently but didn't)....or they are printed or on FB. I only have a few recent ones that would be lost.