Did I really only post 4 days ago? Because it seems longer.
The weather in Georgia is very variable in spring. It switches between sunshine and rain multiple times per day. I like it.
I did massive yard work on Saturday. I raked up lots and lots of leaves, which I had not done since moving in. Then I discovered lots and lots of bugs hiding under the leaves. I saw the biggest spider I've ever seen in the wild. Managed to mow the grass between rain bursts without getting electrocuted. Petted Fuzzy Dog. Am hoping grass will grow in the areas vacated of leaves.
I looked up Speech-Language Pathology programs and their requirements. Remembered why I abandoned that plan earlier. There are a lot of requirements and I don't have them and they're sciency. I've barely taken any science. My mandatory science classes in college were filled by Physical Anthro, Astronomy, and People, Plants and Culture. Yeah. The thought of Anatomy/Physiology scares me, because of how scary and cut-throat all the pre-med classes were at WU. I tell myself I could pass it just fine at Augusta State. Right, so I would need an entire year of prereqs before I could even begin an SLP Masters.
I got to talk to a sister of a friend of mine who is an SLP. She made me feel good about it and even piqued my intellectual curiosity talking about dyslexia. But even though she made me feel good, I still don't really feel that great and I think I'm going to investigate Special Ed. Maybe that won't need so many prereqs? Ahhhhhhhhh. (Special Ed and SLP were in the same department at Georgia state schools. Funny.)

How did I manage to turn my automatic spell checker off in Firefox? I want it back. It must've happened while I was failing to hit the Z key and instead hitting function/control/ etc. Can anyone help me please? Tom? 

Okay, okay, I'm going a little overboard on the updating here. I've had these thoughts the past five days, but haven't updated and now it's all spilling out!

To avoid when buying a house:
- white countertops
- carpet in dining room *
- grass with runners/feelers
- no line of sight between kitchen and play area *
- lots of insullation :)

*considerations for children, should children magically appear

Pier 1 sent me a catalogue. Good move on their part. I love them, but I haven't been in a while. They're located by Borders at the end of a shopping strip mall complex. I go to the other end of the complex at least once a week. I think that's the problem: since I go to one end, I don't want to get out of the car again at the other end. I could walk, but it's really quite a hike. Oh well, whatever, off point.
The POINT was that I'm all about the red and green Christmas. Okay, fine, it's a lie: I'm all about the red and green basketball season! I've decided that some day I would like to own red and green dishes that I will use during the season.
The problem I am encountering with the red&green as well as the autumn decor is that it doesn't match the rest of my house. I've got a lot of springy colors going on. I suppose that's a life lesson to learn: keep the walls and furniture neutral. *sigh*

Hungry, hungry, hungry! Do I give in to it? Maybe I should turn up the heat. I think I'm eating to get warm. 
The weather got cold suddenly. I went from AC to heat in one day. Or at least I should have gone to heat. Brrr.  

But while I'm here, I've got the pics of the photos I want to put over the couch. I had a pic of the couch and space above it, but I can't find it now.

Today I went to WalMart (to the upscale WalMart, mind you) to get NCAA PopTarts. The prospect of school logos on food is the only thing that could have convinced me to buy 32 PopTarts. Oh man, that's overwhelming. If I'd known beforehand that all boxes contain the same school, I would have bought only one. 32 PopTarts... Maybe I'll count them as food storage.

But aren't they FUN?



And now, the Rest of the Story!

I'd checked out and was pushing my little cart along and I spot a guy dressed entirely in woodland camouflage. Shirt, pants, hat, and a scruffy beard to go with it. I really, really wanted to whip out my camera to document the craziness. Then, as I was busy staring to make sure I had seen correctly, he says, "Hi, Shonna." It was my boss. Holy cow, it was my boss! 
Now he did once tell me that he would come to work in his robe if he could. But he did not mention liking to go shopping in hunting attire. I never pictured him as a hunter at all. He's quiet and into the stock market. Shocking!

And more news:

I did get my hair cut. It's a good cut and it's modern and grown up. Maybe too modern and grown up for me personally. It is totally appropriate for my age and station in life, but I enjoyed being mistaken for a college student. I don't know that this will really change that, but... I don't know, I don't know. I don't even know if I'm going to be able to style it properly. I had to buy spray wax today. Hmmm.

I finally had a good, feasible thought for art to put over my couch. There are two paintings at the Bloomington Airport (in Illinois) that I snapped photos of last time I was there. I love them. They are impressionist paintings of Illinois farmscapes in crazy colors. I think they'll match the couch and chair. I'll have to see if Snapfish prints onto canvas. Also, maybe D can get better (straighter, higher res) photos of them when he goes in November.
Yay!!

 Yay pictures!
Here is the curtain I made from an apron.


Here's a closer look:


Here's my IKEA bookshelf. It now has books on it, of course. Also notice my pretty valance. 



And last but BEST, here is the hair style I am now striving for. Maybe not quite as long though. This girl works at Michael's and she was freaked out that I wanted to take her picture. She thought I was from a make over show. Anyway, my hair ought to do this, right?? It doesn't seem like too much body is needed.

I can't remember exactly where I got this, but I feel like at one point I was hearing it from all directions: "You should learn to live by yourself before you get married." or "Grow as an individual before you get married." 

AM I DONE YET???

Today I installed a washer and dryer. They even work correctly (as far as I can tell from the test runs.) So, seriously, am I done living independently now? I think I've succeeded. Do I have to buy a house? Is that my one last thing? I've done so much else already.  

And the moral of the story is, I am never going into the back yard again. I am hiring someone to do anything back there. Do they still make mosquito zappers? If so, I want one. I need one. I need to hear those little buggers fry!  

One for the baby book: 
"Mommy, wow, I'm a big girl now!"  Today I ordered pizza on the phone for the first time. I'm still too scared to do delivery, but I got take out. See, Georgia is good for me! 


When I buy a house, I will buy a new refrigerator to go in it. I have no desire to ever clean mold out of a refrigerator again. Maybe it's the fumes of bleach, Lysol, Lysol kitchen cleaner, and bug killer spray talking, but I really don't think so. In fact, as much as I love old houses, I may have to get a new one. Too much built up grime. Everything so nasty. I could never live in military housing. 

I got my big huge "do you want this picked up twice a week" trash can today. I think Ali and I could both fit inside of it together comfortably. 

I found my watch. I'm so happy I found my watch. It was in the pocket of my painting pants.

Ahhhh, I finally finished painting the bedroom yesterday. The paint gods were so against me. Since my old roller handle broke, I bought a new roller and handle. Except it was ovrsized so it didn't fit into the paint pan. It was a huge mess. But I finished it! Illhamdullillah. My wrists hurt a lot. 

I had a dream last night that I was on some sort of trip with other young people, but my mom was on it too and was trying to set me up with various guys on the trip. 

I'm so tired, but I've got to go now. At least it's finally light outside.

Day 1 of work! I did well. I’ve come a long way since I was last here 2 years ago. Things went wrong—I wasn’t told where to go and thus missed my in-processing group. But I handled it so well. I was happy and smiling and joking with the guards who were figuring out where I was supposed to be. Then I went and found my office all on my own. I was happy and smiley and friendly. I feel like I’ve remade myself. Or maybe I’m just THAT happy to be out of Maryland!
Kelli told me before I left that I could be anything I wanted to be after the move. I think it’s not so much that I’m making a big change all at once. It’s more that I’m able to perceive myself differently now that I’m in a new situation. The change has been working all along; it’s just that now I can see it much more clearly. The change of being a happier, not so timid person. (I don’t think I will ever call myself outgoing. And I will always be an introvert. It’s how I was born.)

Anthro time!
I waited around with an incorrect in-processing group for a while this morning. We were waiting in a small room that was half waiting room, half storage room. The hilarious part was that people from the different services were standing together. It made me think of that book, “Why are all the black kids sitting together in the cafeteria?” The Navy people in blue stood together, with the Navy guy in white beside them. The AF people stood together. The lone Army guy was scrunched in a corner. And, of course, when I came in, I stood next to the young civilian. The somewhat older civilians had their own group. I’m very sad that my writing can’t do justice to how exciting I found this.

House news:
I finished paint coat one in the living room. I hope to knock out the whole second coat tomorrow. You see, I got “3 day” masking tape. It’s for painting. I’m just not sure what the three days mean. Does it fall off after three days? Does it stick permanently after three days? The label didn’t say. But since tomorrow is the third day, I want to get it off.

Quote of the day:
Shana: You mean that squat building?
Guard: Yeah, it has lots of squats in it. They call themselves the Navy.