I'm sorry... what??

Update... so Annie and I were going on Monday to talk to our new landlord of our fabulous Heights house and sign all the paperwork. Since I was not "in the office," I waited around to hear when we were going to meet up and stuff. At about 5:00 p.m., Annie calls me after trying all day to get in touch with Mr. Fabulous (our landlord). "Ummmm.... bad news," she tells me with a slight quiver in her voice, "they're not going to rent us the house." I waited for her to say she was just kidding... but she never did. Apparently, they decided they just don't want to rent it AT ALL. Too bad it's days before Christmas and approximately a week before we were going to move in! As it sunk in, I swear I heard a crack of thunder outside my window. My dreams of living in the Heights were slipping away. Forget that! I'm gonna be freaking homeless! As a coping mechanism, we decided to go to the Flying Saucer. What better way to deal with homelessness than beer, right?
So I spent all day yesterday driving around with Katie (who's also out of school and has nothing better to do than write down phone numbers as we drove by houses) desperately trying to find a house. LUCKILY... we found one very very close to work. It's 3 bedroom, hardwood floors, 2 bath, and it has an extra room off the kitchen that we like to call "the game room." So we're sealing the deal today with the NEW landlord. And when I say "seal the deal," I mean that man will sign the lease in blood. There will be NO backing out this time. Details of a housewarming party to come...
Seriously, I have the worst luck, I swear.

On break now...

Hello to all! I am updating from my parents' house because I have no access to a computer since I'm not at work. You hear that? I'm not at work! Ha, ha. Ooooh, whatever- Kristen's in Cabo. She wins.
Had a great weekend- Lucero was flippin' awesome. It was completely sold out and completely packed inside there. Oh, how I miss the days when there were just a few of us standing in the front with plenty o' elbow room, and when the band realized we were singing along. Those were the days... but I'm glad they've gotten so popular, I suppose.
My grandmama came into town, so I've been over here quite a bit. Saturday I went with my daddy to the Razorback game. It was lots of fun. Other than that, I've been watching "Entourage" (the HBO show Cody gave me), "A Christmas Story" (that Ashley gave me- I've already watched it twice- AWESOME), and knitting. Ahhh yes, break.
Annie and I are working out the last details of our house and meeting with the landlord later on today. Seriously... any takers on trading man power (AKA helping me move) for beer?? Let me know!
Got this comic from http://www.toothpastefordinner.com. Good stuff- check 'er out. Holla!

Feliz Navidad...

So today is my last day at school. That means this morning we're taking the whole jr. high to see "The Chronicles of Narnia" then this afternoon we have our Christmas party (pizza and a whole bunch of stuff that's bad for you- yes!). Tonight is Lucero- I'm very excited. Tomorrow I'm going to the Razorback game vs. Rice at Altell in LR with my daddy. My grandmama will be in town, so that is fun too. I officially have a camera again, but I am never going back to CompUSA- apparently when you buy a warranty and something breaks, they will replace the PRICE of the item, not the item itself. Since it was on sale, I got screwed. Anyway, pictures to come soon!
By the way, this picture is from http://www.davidrgilbert.com/humor/christmas/ and it's called "How to be mean to kids." Ha, ha. This morning on the news, I saw a story of a man in AR (I think) that had one of those light up reindeer hung upsidedown in a tree with red lights coming off of it like blood. It's got the neighborhood in an uproar. Disturbing....
Hope everyone has a great Christmas!! I should be able to blog a little over break when I'm near a computer. Be thinking of me while you're at work! :) Wha ha ha!

I want to be a dentist! Or a figure skater!

Last night, I decided to curl up with my knitting and an old family classic, "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer," (the new digitally remastered one, whatever that means). I was pretty excited, since I haven't seen it in quite some time. Little did I know, this movie is PACKED with social commentary, and I just have to let it out.
First of all, it is perfectly clear that little elf is not just confused about what career he wants, if you get my drift. The elf boss is clearly homophobic, wanting him to fit in with the other elves. When this just wasn't going to happen, the little elf runs away, socially rejected.
And poor, poor Rudolf. His daddy (Dancer, Prancer, something-or-other?) is very embarrassed of his child's physical deformity. He actually covers it up with a black nose so he will fit in with the crowd. Now Rudolf, who didn't see himself as a freak before, feels not only rejected by his dad, but also his peers. Those dang reindeer wouldn't even freaking let him join in on their stupid reindeer games. Why can't they just all get along?? Also, what the heck is up with that awful squeaking his nose makes when it lights up? Reminds me of Jim Carey in "Dumb and Dumber"- the most annoying noise in the world.... Rudolf.
And the Island of Misfits? Geeeeezzzzz... don't even get me started. It's a whole mini-country of people (er, um, toys) that don't fit in. It IS nice in the end how Santa loads them all aboard and takes them to kids. But, seriously- who wants to be the kid that gets the cowboy that rides an ostrich, the boat that can't even float, the watergun that shoots jelly (eew), the Charlie-in-the-box with the horribly annoying voice, or the choo-choo train with square back wheels??
Let's just say it's a good dang thing the women took over once the "man of the house" (really, that's what they said) left. Where would Rudolf be if he didn't have a good woman to rescue him from the Abominable Snow-Beast? Eaten. So thank goodness.
:)

All Sewn Up... With Bad Tattoos

This is an all-call for everyone who will be in Little Rock on Friday. Lucero (my favorite band of all time, a strong statement, I know) will be here once again. I'm used to seeing them just about every other month, but I haven't seen them since this summer, so it's about dang time. For those of you who haven't heard of them, go to Lucero's website to learn more (you can click on Audio/Video to hear them). They're from the area (Memphis/Little Rock and Conway), and they pretty much sum up my entire college experience. Notice the Arkansas flag tattoo on Ben in the picture. Anyway, for all you Conwayers, I'll see you there... for those of you who haven't been, this will be an excellent show to check them out.
Oh, you can buy tickets online now or by phone. It might be a good idea since there will be many people wanting to go. Buy tickets from Vino's here.

You'll shoot your eye out.

I have to say that I love "A Christmas Story" pretty passionately. My Christmas is never complete until I watch it at least 3 times. Unfortunately, TBS has a monopoly on the market, and it's pretty much the only network that shows it, and I do not have cable. Therefore, I have to wait until Christmas day and watch the 24-hours of "A Christmas Story" marathon, much to my mom's chagrin. I can't help it. I love it. When Fleck licks the pole, when Santa kicks Ralphie down the slide, the infamous "ooooooooooooh fudge!" debacle... Who couldn't love it??
I am yet to shop for Christmas. I have purchased one gift, and it was something I ordered online. I think I feel I must get through this week first. This is the worst week at school, with a close second being the week before Spring Break. Must.... push... through...! Two weeks' vacation, here I come.
What's YOUR favorite Christmas movie?

Decapitated Santa and Snowmen Butts

This all started about 4 years ago. My sister and I were decorating the Christmas tree at my parents' house, when we noticed something very wrong. Somehow, over the past year, our Santa ornament had been decapitated. First we found the head, then we dug through the box more and found the sad little body. To this day, we get a huge kick out of it every time we get it out. Throw it away?? Heck no! It provides much too much amusement for us. We are very careful to set the head and the body just far enough apart so that you can tell. Also, notice the snowman booty on the right.
It was supposed to snow last night. I woke up at 3:30, thrilled to hear the sound of some hard sleeting. But that was it. Sigh... stupid weathermen getting my hopes up.

We are so very easily amused. Note the "Shirt-Tales" penguin on the mantle. It's our stocking holder. You guys remember them?

My mom made these ornaments several years ago. They're snowmen... and apparently naked.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Lookie, lookie! It's totally going to snow tomorrow night!! There's a 70% chance, and Little Rock NEVER gets that! That means.... snow day fun for everyone! I always try not to get my hopes up for snow days, cause when I count on them, they don't happen. Jeremy has already purchased a Flexible Flyer sled. It's pretty awesome. Get ready people! I also have parking lot duty this week. That means that I stand outside in the freezing cold (I think I get the coldest weeks every year) and wave at parents while they drop off the kiddies. Technically, I'm supposed to make sure that no one gets run over, but that's my unofficial job. I have to take my hand out of my oh-so-warm coat and wave every 2 seconds. Meanwhile, my wet hair is freezing and getting crunchy. Love it.
By the way, my camera has broken, and I have to do the whole warranty thing. I'm sure it will be a completely pleasant experience. You won't have pics for a little while. Oopsies!

Home Sweet Home

Annie and I found a house on Saturday! We went house shopping with Matt (we made him jump out and write down numbers or knock on doors). We just happened to stumble upon the most perfect house ever- I'm so in love with it. It's in the Heights (I TOLD you I was movin' on up!), and it's two bedrooms and two baths. Hardwood floors... washer and dryer... dishwasher (which I've NEVER had in my whole renting history, unless you count the salad spinner dishwasher that Chandle and I had in Mansard- we never used it cause it was scary. Literally- a big salad spinner in the countertop)... and a HUGE backyard. I'm so very excited.
So if anyone's going to be around during Christmas break (maybe around the 28th or so...), I'll buy you beer if you want to pitch in!
10 more days of school left, and counting!! Have a good week, everyone!

Movin' on up!

As promised, here's the totally cute picture of Leah and Kristen from last weekend. Awww... Good luck to Leah on her PCAT even though she got screwed the first time.
Good news! Looks like I'll be moving over Christmas break. I've been really stressed about this whole house thing (I WANT a house but can't really afford one on my own, but all of YOU people are married or will be soon... so I haven't been able to find a roommate). I was talking about it last night, and it turns out Annie (Matty P's woman) needs a roomie too, so I gave my landlady my 30-day notice today. We're going to go lookin' for a new pad this weekend, I believe. Hopefully everything will work out just lovely. So no more having to endure the riverdancing and furniture moving from above me, and NO more late night conversations with my cracked out neighbor across the courtyard. I'm moving out- PEACE OUT!
Have a good weekend, everyone!!

Central Arkansas Barbie- great gift ideas!

I'm sure you've seen this... but it's good. :) Click here to see all of the Central Arkansas Barbies. Which one are YOU? Hillcrest Barbies are made of tofu. I think the only one that's missing is the Sherwood Barbie.

Grammar Wizard

That's good stuff. Kristen, you know what I'm talkin' bout. Grammar is fun. Ha, ha.
I needed something to make me smile today. You know? Holla if ya hear me.
Does anyone know of a cheap place to rent in the L-Rock? My lease is about to run out. Oh no!

Sigh... Break's over.

I am begrudgingly back at school today. Three weeks and counting till Christmas break. Jealous? Ha ha.
I had a great Thanksgiving break. I got to hang out with my cousin, Paige, and my Aunt and her hubby from the great land o' Minnesota, and I got to see a lot of my friends. Thursday, I went with David, Jeremy and Drew for a little Thanksgiving celebration till the wee hours at the Saucer and my favorite, Midtown. That place is FULL of festivity. It's full of somethin'...
Friday we (me, Paige, Melissa, Kristen, Leah, Matt, Annie, Katie, and Jared- I think that's it)went to the Saucer for the majority of the evening then wound up at Kat and Karl's. That's good stuff. I DID not, however, do the usual getting up at 5 or 6 a.m. and go shopping on Friday. We took our sweet time and got there around 1. I did not buy anything. Boo. Christmas shopping will happen soon enough. Anyway, it was a good time. Wish it were still happening. Sigh.

Look~ Matt and Annie came out! I saw Matty P. TWO times over break. Craziness!! We should hang out more.

Me with the cuz...

This made me laugh out loud. "Kids in the Hall," anyone?
"I squish your head!"

Let's all point and laugh at the vegetarian!

Yes, I am a vegetarian. That means I do not eat meat. No red meat. Absolutely no pork. No chicken. No turkey. Shock! Gasp! I will admit that every once in a while, I will slide and eat the occasional fish. But that is not very often at all. I love the look people give me when I politely decline to eat something. "No thank you," I say. "Why? Don't you like it?" they ask me. It's not that I don't like it. I love meat. It's tasty, what can I say? I just choose to not eat it. I don't look at you like you're crazy for eating it, so why must you think I'm crazy when I pass on it? I eat everything else people! Well, besides syrup. And honey. And cooked fruit. And please don't have a vanilla candle lit (or unlit sometimes if it's strong) anywhere near me. Ok, so maybe I have a few hangups. That's what makes me special.
Thanksgiving and the holidays always makes me do this. People just don't get it. Meat=tasty, so why not?? It's amazing to me how whole holiday meals revolve around the meat. My ma sure does make a dang fine turkey. Sigh... I'm sure it's delicious, people, but no thanks. I'll just enjoy my potatoes and green bean casserole. Thanks, though. :) One day I'll even splurge on the tofurkey, but not yet. Although I do bring it for lunch every day. Mmmm!
Anyway, have a good turkey day, people. Enjoy your meat. :) What is everyone doing for the holiday?
If anyone is interesting in going out on Friday, let me know. I'm going to show my baby cousin (age 21) the town. Whoo hoo, Little Rock!

Two days of work this week!

Hello everyone! I had a great weekend, full of all sorts of goodness. Friday I went to see Walk the Line which is truly excellent. Joaquin Phoenix does an excellent job- he sounds just like Johnny Cash. It DID make me very angry all over again that some JERK stole my favorite record of all time (Live from Fulsom County Prison) at a Halloween party. The worst part is, I totally know who it was, but of course, I could never get him to fess up. Anyway, go see this movie.
Saturday I went to Bosco's with the ladies (see third post) then watched The Skeleton Key, another good one. I've been watching an insane amount of movies lately. Sunday we had our urban family Thanksgiving at Katie's house. Everybody brought tasty treats to share, and we pretty much stuffed ourselves. Mmmmmm... good. I like to look at it as a way to expand my belly so that I will be ready for Thursday. It's like doing stretches before working out. Except that it involves eating. Yes!
Here is some entertainment for your Monday. Enjoy! Funny Harry Potter spoofs and, for those of you who read them, name origins in the books- very interesting!

Here are Katie and Colleen doing a lovely carving job on the turkey that Katie prepared for the evening. Nothin' like a little pre-tukey-day-turkey!

I went to Bosco's on Saturday night with Melissa, Sarah and Kara. As you can see, these ladies had a little fun with their chocolate. Luckily, I escaped the attack, but Melissa was not so lucky. That chocolate calzone looked tasty before it ended up all over their faces! Dang!
Love you, Sarah!! :)

An Ode to Coffee

Two cups today. Three cups last night. Not making too much sense today. Keep forgetting what I'm doing. Huh? Did you say something? What?
Oh, ok- I'm awake, I'm awake. The movie was AWESOME last night. Everybody must go out and see it. It was funny and plenty scary. I loved it. Go now. It was pretty true to the book (more so than the last one), so I was happy. Christy, Brooke, and I got there at like 10:30 or 10:45 expecting a huge line. To my surprise, there was no line, and they had already opened the theaters so we could just go on in. Nice. Kristen and JR met us in the theater. There was a decent amount of people dressed up. Lots of homemade t-shirts. Lots of Hogwarts scarves. And lots of fake plastic Harry glasses. I hear (I did not see) one girl was dressed up as Hedwig and had white feathers glued to her body. Clever. There was a costume contest in the theater to keep us amused for the hour before the show, but I think our theater was kind of lame. It was really dark at the front of the theater, and I couldn't really make out who they were. There were a couple of Hermiones (did I spell that right?)- one being Asian. One kid tried to get away with saying he was a Muggle. Come on kid, we can see right through that!! You're not dressed up, lame-o! Anyway, I had a blast, and I am completely delirious today. Sweet.
Today is Grandparents' Day here at school. That means they come eat lunch with the kiddoes then get to make a classroom visit. An interesting side note: my first year of teaching, during the classroom visit, I was giving just an awesome lesson while the grandparents were in there. I mean, I was on fire. And someone totally pooted. Loudly. I'm pretty sure it was a grandparent. And there were two kids that could NOT stop laughing even though I pleaded with my eyes to stop. That is the HARDEST I have ever fought laughter. In my life.
Have a good weekend!

Feeding my obsessions

Alright, folks- tonight is the night! The Goblet of Fire (happy, Cody- notice the italics??) is starting tonight at midnight. Hoooooray! I've been humming the theme song all day. Kristen, JR, Christy, & I are going along with a couple of people from work. We're going early to stand in line (duh... we want good seats, right?) and look at the people who are even more obsessed than I am and dressed up. It's gonna be awesome. A lot of caffeine will be necessary. I'm not as young and crazy as I used to be. It's going to be a late one!
Before that, I get to enjoy yet another of my obsessions- Survivor. Survivor night is at Kristen and JR's house tonight. It's getting awfully close in our Fantasy Survivor league. We're getting down to the end of it, too. How suspenseful!
So anyway, think of me (and Kristen) tomorrow as we suffer through work. I might try to catch a few zzzz's underneath my desk. They won't notice, will they?? Naaaahhhh...!

Update on Miss Chandleous

I talked to the lovely and infamous Chandle last night, and she's completely unable to update her blog herself or to send e-mail, so I decided to let you guys know how she's doing.
She's staying in a shelter in New Orleans right now (she's been there 8 days, and she's pretty much half done with her duty there) and working with the Red Cross. They're doing a LOT of really good work down there- she mentioned several things, including feeding a lot of people who have not had food. Things are still pretty rough down there, and she says she works till 8 when there's a city-wide curfew. The best part is, that she's the radio lady so she gets on some sort of CB and calls out to all the trucks that are delivering food. "Breaker, breaker, 10-4." HA. I'm trying to remember everything she said- I hope I did our conversation justice. She's coming home (fairly) soon for Christmas. Hooray! Anyway, way to go, Chandle! We miss you! You're the wind beneath my wings. :)

Test your inner geekdom

Go here to take a quiz to see how much of a nerd, geek, or dork you are. Turns out, I am a "modern, cool nerd!" I am exactly 82% Nerd, 65% Geek, and 17% Dork. Let me tell you how completely unsurprised I am.

The best part is, it told me I might enjoy to take a quiz about "Buffy." How'd they know??

What's YOUR percentage?

Platform 9 and 3/4

Ha, ha, this is me and Kristen taking a run at the platform for the Hogwarts Express. We took this picture in St. Louie at (I think) Union Station when we were up there for Kat and Karl's wedding. I am so stinkin' excited for The Goblet of Fire to open this week. That's right- I have tickets to the midnight showing of it. That means I'll be up till (gasp!) 3 a.m. on a school night!! That's dedication, people!
I had a pretty good weekend- we had the mother-daughter volleyball game Friday, which was pretty fun. Saturday I went to the Faded Rose with Kristen, Melissa, Jared and Katie to hang out while JR bartended. Then Melissa and I watched Saw. Kristen, don't ever, ever watch it. I can't believe we almost subjected you to that mess. There's a CLOWN. Clowns are bad. Sunday I helped Jeremy build a TV stand (which looks awesome, by the way) and hung out at his house with him and Jonathan. Jonathan was no help at all to us. I haven't seen "Desperate Housewives" OR "Grey's Anatomy" yet, but I will this evening...
Here's something to keep you amused at work today. Play the Triwizard Challenges!

SKILLS!

So_this_is_exciting(nooo...not_really)!My_spacebar_is_acting_like_a_backspace_
so_every_time_ I_type_a_space, it_deletes_what_I_wrote. Very_fun!
This_must_be_fixed_tomorrow!!

Go_to_this_website. It_combines_two_of_my_ favorite_things!
You_have_to_watch_the_Anakin_Dynamite_movie.
It's_flippin'_hilarious!!

Falcon Pride!

Last night we had a shin-dig to celebrate the end of volleyball at... that's right... CiCi's Pizza. Classy. The girls were sweet- one gave us a CD with pictures of the whole season, and they all chipped in and gave me and Kristen a gift certificate to Chili's. All that's left now is the mother-daughter game on Friday. How fun!

This is after losing our last game. Sigh... Dang that IH!!

I think I'm giving them a stern talkin' to... you can tell how seriously they take it. #7 is about to laugh. :)

"No, seriously, you need to do a better job out there. COME ON!"
Just kidding...

Ehhh... what can you do?

It's just another manic Monday... whoa oh whoa. Here's what I really can't stop thinking about: Star Wars DVD Trivial Pursuit. Who's with me? Anyone...? Anyone...?? See, here's the thing- I have completely come to embrace my geekdom. I went to the opening of Star Wars Episode III with a light saber in tote (yup, one that lit up) and I squealed with glee when the opening song began. I cheered at all the exciting points. I downloaded the Darth Vader Imperial March as my ring tone. I am a true geek. And I'm totally ok with that. I want this game. I have been thinking about it for a week straight when I saw the Target insert in last Sunday's paper, and it was there again THIS Sunday, taunting me. "Buuuuuy me, Elizabeth... buuuuuy me! You know you want to!" I figure no one will play with me, though. Sigh. Maybe Melissa, Kristen, and JR. But when everyone else is hanging out, who's gonna say "OOOH- let's play the Star Wars game??" No one. That's why you people stink. Some of you haven't even seen it. I just don't understand. I don't get it. Look at me! I'm all fired up! And it's not even 8:00! So I've decided I will probably buy this game, and do my best to round up as many geeks as possible at some point. I know you're out there. And I will find you.

Won't you take me to... Funky Town??

Ahhhh... HECK YES!! It is Friday, people. Finally- the weekend has arrived. You can't see me, but I'm doing my Friday dance at my desk right now. It's flippin' sweet, ya'll don't know! Those of you in the Ill Rock, we should do something this weekend. Sounds like everybody's pretty well free.
Kristen and I have our first round of volleyball tournament games tonight. Let's be honest, folks. It's entirely possible that it will be our LAST round as well. GO TEAM!! Other than that, I have no plans. The tournament might extend through the weekend, but we'll see how the girlies play.
Have a good weekend, everyone. Peace out. In the immortal words of the Donald, "Whoa WHOA!!"

Happy Berfday, Jerm!

Happy birthday to the infamous Jeremy! He's officially on the "other" side of the "mid-twenties" now. HA. So I brought this funny old picture of Jeremy in to school today so I could scan it and post it on the blog, but it turns out the scanner here is broken, so I had to go to plan B. I decided to google him and see what came up (see Kat's blog for why I did this...), and the second hit was indeed the Jeremy Spann we all know. It was his work site I stumbled upon- turns out it is quite strange to see your friends as a hit on google. Although the site had some misinformation (it said he went to UALR, not our wonderful UCA), it DID make him out to be highly qualified for his job. Way to go, Dirty!! Anyway, happy birthday, and I hope things are going well on the job up there in Illinois! Be sure to keeps it real!!

Drop it like it's hot, Kat!

Ok, ok. This is the end of the onslaught of Halloween pictures, I swear. But they're just so gosh darn fun! My favorite part of this one is the cat in the foreground looking straight at the camera, appearing to be quite frightened. Is the cat scared of Kat? Ha, ha. Too good. I tried to not leave anyone out. Brooke- I can't believe that you weren't in any of mine. You must have left right before the camera came out. Whoopsies! Sorry!

Thompson was... uh... actually I don't know. Did he dress up? Ashley was Roger Rabbit, and Christy was Jessica Rabbit. Niiiice.

Jared pulled together an awesome judge costume- loved the wig. Katie was Annie Hall.

My favorite part of this picture is the giant cross behind Blue as a priest. Ha, ha. A little side note- Christy called me last night to ask if Blue and Leah were married. She knows someone that lives next door or something and swears up and down that they are. Something you need to tell us, Leah??

Mike, Audra, and Eric

Here Come the Pictures!

Saturday was the long-awaited Halloween party. Eric and Emily- it was a blast! Thanks so much for hosting! I have about a billion pictures of the evening. Here are a few to get us started. Expect others later in the week. To clear up confusion, I was the ice queen from The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Everyone looked awesome. Enjoy the pictures!

You know it's a good party when Leah starts this...!

All... my... friends... know the low rider.

Iceman: You two really are cowboys.
Maverick: What's your problem, Kazanski?
Iceman: You're everyone's problem. That's because everytime you go up in the air, you're unsafe. I don't like you because you're dangerous.
Maverick: That's right! Ice... man. I am dangerous.

Hap, hap, happy Halloween!

Today I have parent-teacher conferences alllll day (you should feel sorry for me- this is sometimes a scary day, especially in this case). But tonight I get to forget all about the pain of the day- for it is time for the annual Oktquickelfest (for those of you who don't know, the Quickels are two teachers here at school). They throw a big German-style part-ay complete with brats and steins. Mmmm! Good!
Tomorrow is Eric and Emily's Halloween party. I will have much posting material for next week, so look out! Can't wait to see (most of you) there! For those of you not attending, sorry you can't make it. Have a great weekend!

This one is fun too! I think I have too much time on my hands today. Who's your 80s heart-throb? Mine is...

Your 80s Heartthrob Is

Jason Bateman

Who's Your 80's Heartthrob?