It's the most wonderful time of the year!

FINALLY! It's Christmas season! after stores and advertisers have been celebrating since mid-September, I can finally join the fun! YAY!

But for some strange reason, I'm shopping today. I've only done it once, and I didn't get the hype. But I'm hanging out with the mom and we both love to people watch, so it should be a fun day. Crazy, but fun.

Thanksgiving day fun: My pie was wonderful! Everyone loved it, including me. Ray doesn't even really like pie at all and he was super excited to have leftovers. We called Brooke and let her shout over the speakerphone to the entire family. Yay, when you have a sore throat... sorry, but we love you.

Back to a shopping dilemma: I'm very picky about what I wear when I shop. I get hot really easily, but it's cold outside, but I don't want to carry around a heavy coat. And I can't wear light colors because makeup rubs off when I try on clothes. I also can't wear anything that stretches out too easily because, once again, I like to try on clothes. For the same reason, my hair pretty much has to be down (who likes re-doing hair all day?). And, hello!? I have to dress for the season! I think it might be a good thing that I don't have ear piercings, because I would totally be one of those people wearing giant blinking wreaths that sing or something. Maybe I'll wear my jingle bell headband!

So, for the first time this year...

Merry Christmas!

P.S. I have a great husband, He's not so much a fan of holiday tunes, and I'm sure by Christmas he'll want to melt Frosty with a blowtorch, but on the way home last night he turned the radio to Christmas music without even asking! Altogether now... Aaaaawwwwwwww!

Gobble Gobble

Happy Thanksgiving!

Eat turkey, be thankful, remember loved ones who can't be with you on the holiday.

And pray that my apple pie turns out yummy.

It's a-changin'!

It rained yesterday. Ick. But! When I woke up this morning, there was a heavy frost looking sneakily snow-like everywhere! The best thing about living in Ellijay at this time of year has to be that there's a very good chance of seeing snow. Not the kind that falls and turns to rain before it hits the ground, but the kind that actually accumulates.

Iiiii'm... dreaming... of a whiiiite... Christmaaas... !!!

What my life has become

I actually get excited about watching Jeopardy every night.

It's official! (and more related randomness)

Hand me a bonnet and put me in that covered wagon, My name is now legally Anna Marie Carver (please see my post about my name to figure out that sentence). I went to Social Security about two weeks ago and the DDS (because apparently the DMV doesn't exist anymore) Tuesday. Everyone told me it was going to be such a hassle, but it really wasn't. I guess if I'd needed to take off work or something it would have been harder, but I went to the SS office about 45 minutes before they closed and was in and out in 20 minutes. The guy was nice and efficient. And maybe the DDS experience was softened by the fact that I went to a location up in the booneys where no one else goes. Ahh, Blue Ridge. But I had to drive home and back again because they don't take copies of marriage licenses. It just doesn't make sense. I mean, I had my new social security card, shouldn't the government declaring my new name be enough? Oh, well. When the lady called my name after the new license printed she said, "Ms. Carver?" and I just sat there because I didn't recognize my name. It'll take awhile.

And my license no longer says under 21. It looks so bare. And I broke my streak of taking the pictures in an Old Navy tank top. See, I had to renew my learner's permit and got the pic taken twice, and then again for my license. Up until about this summer I pretty much lived in Old Navy ribbed tank tops. (Oh, who am I kidding, I still have about 20.) So each one was a different color. But it being frigid up here, I had to wear a sweater. But, ha! it was still from Old Navy.

You're welcome Old Navy, for the free advertising. And no, I don't work for them. But I would. Are they hiring?

B-O-R-E-D

I need something to do. Since there's nothing in Ellijay and no one to hang out with, I've decided to go room by room and cleaning. Well, that's the plan, anyway. Yesterday was the kitchen, today is supposed to be the bathroom. But since Ray cooked sweet potatoes this morning for his work Thanksgiving party, the kitchen needs a scrub again. And I keep getting distracted. I usually reserve mornings for job search/applications and afternoons for everything else, but I either keep looking for jobs or find something else to do. Like make a to-do list of absolutely everything I could possibly do. Or hang curtains (and for me that's an ordeal). Or watch a What not to Wear marathon. Huuuuuuggggghhhhhh. It makes me look forward to Thanksgiving because I actually get to interact with someone other than the Walmart cashier.

This was a dull post. Sorry.

A reason to look forward to Winter

You probably all know that I love fall. It's my favorite season (only by scientific seasons though, we'll talk about holidays later) by far. The cold nights and comfortable days, the colors, that crispness in the air, Thanksgiving, Brooke baking all the time (but now she's in Baltimore…whimper). But there's one thing that I would be absolutely joyous if it disappeared. Ladybugs. They are everywhere. Blech, shudder. Those little vermin pop up anywhere, anytime. They just sit in their red, pearly shells waiting to scare innocent bystanders. Unless they fly. And then they attack like Kamikaze pilots. And they decide to stick to you, gripping your skin, clothes, hair with their nasty sticky legs trying to eat you like they eat their garden prey. No really, they do. They're evil, plain and simple. Gross. Don't even try to convince me that they help the environment, they're lucky, or (heaven forbid) try to tell my they're cute. Because it won't work. They're ugly, stinky pests that need to die. A quick, crunchy death.

Is it possible?

... that the GSP has finally started doing its job? I wondered for awhile... the random patrol cars parked in hidden ditches on the side of the road, only at the beginning or end of the months... but for the past month I have seen at least one cop pulling people over every single day. Both ways, all 85 miles to and from Atlanta. But they always stopped around Canton (because it's the nearest "big city") so I thought maybe they only cared about suburban commuters and soccer moms. And then today, I had to drive to Blue Ridge to change my license, and lo and behold I passed two GSPs. Wow. Now, I'm not one that really champions for police pulling people over for traffic violations. There are more important things out there going on. Crime, drugs... learn some priorities. But at least if they are going to pull people over, they've been consistent. Thank you, Georgia State Patrol, for putting out tax dollars to work correctly.

Retro Post

*note: this post mentions me at work because I wrote a bunch of posts one day at work... this is just one of them...

Have you ever had something completely mundane happen and it completely make your day? Today was one of those days. I was bored, waiting for some work to cross my desk, when suddenly the fire alarm went off. It was the most advanced alarm I’d ever heard. No honking atrocity for Marcus. Nope, we get that canned, soothing female voice chanting “This is an emergency. Please remain calm. Please proceed to your nearest exit. Please do not run. Please do not use the elevator.” So I remained calm, walked to the nearest stairs and shuffled outside with the rest of the building. We all walk to the parking lot and at first, I’m just standing there, watching the kids and their teachers and looking for anyone in my department to talk to, and suddenly I realize what an absolutely beautiful fall day it is. Perfect temperature with a slight breeze blowing, deep blue sky with wispy, cottony clouds and some of the best leaf color I’ve seen (even in Ellijay). Reds, yellows, oranges, browns, some of my favorite colors. It was like Crayola exploded on the trees. I haven’t had a chance to really be outside for fall because of work, and I loved it. And I’ve been pretty discouraged about the whole job thing and not knowing what I want to do with my life, and kind of lonely because I don’t know anyone in Ellijay. I think Jesus just knew I needed a big old relaxing nature hug. So basically I stood in the parking lot like I was catatonic and just experienced it. You should try it sometime.

P.S. That whole nature hug thing… I don’t care if you think it sounded dumb. Sitting and resting in God’s creation can be the most cleansing thing in the world if you just open up and sink into it.

Here we go again

My time is up. Finished. I've been thrown to the HR wolves of greater Atlanta. Not like they’ll attack or anything. I think they’re all hibernating. Wake up and post some PR jobs to lure some fresh meat in, for heaven’s sake! Seriously, almost no jobs are being posted for anything. Dang bad economy. But at least I’ve gained some “experience,” the catchphrase of intern enthusiasts everywhere. I’ve done new things, met interesting people, fun for all. A list of the best things I’ve done/learned:

• I finally figured out how to use Excel!
• Big Splash IV—huge gala fundraiser—Helping planning was the purpose of my internship and I’m so glad I got to go and see what the world of non-profit development is like
• Going to fancy fashion shows and meeting designers that I’ve never heard of because I couldn’t afford their clothing in a million years
• learning to walk in high heels everyday (I still may not be graceful, but I’m steady. Side note: my mom always says girls who don’t walk well in heels look like they’re pulling a plow. I need to ask her if I’m past this point or if I need to get some horns and call myself Bessie.)
• free vaccinations (perks of working at a school/medical center)
• meeting lots of influential Atlanta society members that probably won’t remember me if I ran into them on the street (in addition to that, learning about how the other half—well, upper third because I’m technically middle class—lives. I could only run into them in Midtown or Buckhead. Maybe downtown if they were desperate for fun or could be seen by people. Apparently outside the perimeter is basically hell for these people. No Saks? Only chain restaurants? Wal-Mart, not Whole Foods? What would they do?)
• aquiring a taste for more fanciful foods and beverages (lobster, truffles—not the chocolate kind, champagne…mmm)
• Typing list after list and press releases, emails, etc. has trained me to type really fast. Not accurately, but fast.
• figuring out how many times the Buckhead Betties at these events have gotten “facial rejuvenation”
• guessing which number wife they are to their aged husbands

Sadly, it has ended. But surely someone will call me about a job. Anyone?

First one (of most likely many)

This morning I made my first big housewife-y mistake. I completely ruined one of our pans. See, when we were looking for cookware Ray really wanted stainless steel. I've never cooked on it. So this morning when I went to scramble eggs. First, I forgot to coat the pan with anything. Second, I turned the temperature up to what I did with my cheap, kitchen-in-a-box pans, which is pretty high (because I like to "flash cook" my eggs). Well, they definitely flash cooked. Into ashes. So Ray's shouting (well, speaking forcefully, the boy never raises his voice for anything) directions at me, ones that rational people would do automatically ("Take the pan off the eye, Anna! Turn off the heat, Anna! If the handle's hot, put the pan down, Anna!"), but for someone domestically challenged like me, my brain shut off and just watched the eggs sizzle into oblivion. The center of the pan looks like I rubbed coal all over the bottom. And now we get to use our last gift card to replace the pan. And I will never turn the stove dial to anything over number 5.

Get Moving

...is what I'm telling myself. I've been pretty good about keeping my stuff out of the floor, laundry done, etc., but this week I let things go. It's not bad for my standards, but Ray's freaking out (I can see that look in his eye that my stuff is grossing him out--and it's not even gross stuff, it's clothes on the floor). So today's the day I get to catch up on all my cleaning duties. Wish me luck.

Boo!

My (slightly late) Halloween story

All Hallows Eve. Halloween, the night when parents release their kids to neighborhoods dress in overpriced costumes supporting a commercialist society to gorge themselves on candy and be mischievous and get away with it. (Man, I’m such an old person.) No, really, I enjoy looking at most costumes. I remember dressing up when I was little and for the most part I had my sister’s hand-me-down costumes, but the ones that were my own, that Brooke never used, were my favorite. I went as a fifties girl in fourth grade (poodle skirt, scarf in my hair) and I loved it. I didn’t even get to go trick-or-treating that year because I got a cold, but I knew that I had the coolest costume that year in school. And one year, I think I was maybe three or four (this is one of my first memories), I was a witch, before I knew what witchcraft was. My dad and I went to a drugstore for some reason after school and a girl dressed as Pippi Longstocking with her hair in braids with wires in them made her hair stick straight up and screamed when she saw me like I scared her. I thought I was the best witch ever, it totally made my Halloween.

But I was a cute witch. Parents, when you dress your children, especially the young ones, remember that they think the boogey man is scary. There’s absolutely no need to dress them like they came straight from the Chasms of Hell. Chances are that if they look in the mirror they’ll get so freaked out they’ll have reflection issues for the rest of their lives or they’ve been exposed to so many scary things in their wee little lives that they’re already screwed up and are going to be ripping the heads off Barbies and burning pictures of dead people to release their souls as they get older.

Here’s another reason. Your child could very well cause wrecks because of his freakishness. I left work early on Halloween because traffic was rotten and I’m sitting at a light, waiting for it to turn green so I can turn left. As I’m turning, in the driver’s seat of a car waiting at the light, was this little person in red. How cute! I thought, a little Elmo, or maybe a fireman! So I slow down a little to get a closer look and I slowly begin to realize that no, it is not a sweet fireman or gentle Elmo, but a demon. A face-painted, scream-inducing scary little minion from the pits of the Abyss. Grinning like a vampire on feeding day. And as I’m coming to this slow, painful, nauseating revelation, I forget to finish turning my car. And as soon as my mind wraps its head around this awful creature and regains enough sense to look away, I look straight ahead to see my car heading right into an iron fence. So I swerve back into traffic, almost hitting the vehicle carrying the little imp. And with my tires squealing and steering wheel swinging, I look one time at the driver, the mother, Rosemary. She’s laughing her head off! At her precious child scaring the living daylights out of unsuspecting drivers on Briarcliff Road.

So here’s the moral of the story: don’t dress your child like something you’ve seen in horror movies because there are some people in the world who choose to keep hellish ideas out of their minds and sooner or later, you could get sued by the preacher’s kid who wrecks her car because she’s screaming the Lord’s Prayer after seeing your spawn.

America, America...

It’s election day! Yay… There, I mentioned it like everyone else; can we move on and just elect a president/other government officials without lies, backbiting, and general crud surrounding politics in general?

No? Fine, we’ll just wait for the excitement/disappointment of this one to die down for about a week and then prepare for primary competitors for 2012 in December!

Did you miss me?

It’s been a long time. A really, really, long time, I know. I never really believed people who said that working got in the way of blogging, but when I leave at 6:30 in the morning and get home at 7, my three hours of free time before bedtime at 10 gets filled. Oh, my life sounds so cliché now. Cook dinner, straighten up (for those of you who know me, yes, I have been keeping my crap off the floor pretty well), do laundry, get lunch/clothes ready for the next day. Then I usually sit down for one tv something and off to bed. I’m officially an old fart.

But never fear, dear ones and fives of readers (even though some of you are apparently in Canada, England and Australia!), I will try to post regularly. And since work has been a little slow lately, all of these will be written now and posted later, just so you don’t get one of my typical novelettes and then nothing for months. And since I’ll be unemployed in a week and a half (oh, the joys of internships) in between all my job hunting I’m sure I’ll find time to post. So this is it for today, but I promise, one tomorrow!