Are you kidding me?

Are people seriously already booking and filling houses to the max already for Duck beach?! (e.g. {Duck Beach 2009 Facebook group})

We have OVER 3 months before this event is going down and already people feel the need to guarantee their spot?

I've said it once and I'll say it again...

http://meredithswift.blogspot.com/2008_04_01_archive.html

The whole thing just sickens me a little bit. Why is going on a vacation with 500 Mormons and most of whom you don't even know (because nobody has that many friends -- not even enough to fill a whole house -- you just go with a friend or two) so appealing? Are you going to find that special someone? No. Are you going to have motivation to be skinny? Yes, but this certainly should not be your only reason for looking good, and if so, I'm sorry you have issues and rely on Duck Beach for your motivation in life.

That being said, I'm not ruling it completely out. If I have friends going, I'll go. Will I organize a house and fill it with all my peeps? No. Because I don't have peeps. My friends aren't all in one group. I was forced to organize a house once before and NEVER again.

I miss Vegas

Let me tell you what I miss about Vegas:

1. The weather. While I like seasons, nothing beats rollarbladding outside in the middle of December in shorts and a tank top.

2. No alarm clocks. I hate alarm clocks and pretty much my whole time in grad school I didn't have to use one. I got up when my body was ready to, and went to the gym for my 9:00 class, came home, showered, worked all day from home, went to school for a class or two, came home.

3. I think I already miss school. I miss having reading and other assignments that I had to get finished daily. I'm still working on my final paper right now, but this just keeps getting procrastinated and procrastinated because I'm working all day, and get home and don't have a deadline that is making me stress yet. I miss class discussions, reading, research. Great, now I'm going to have to do a ph.d.

And, I think that's seriously the extent of it.

Job update

I got a job offer today. It's at my old school where I taught a pre-school/Kindergarten class (4 and 5-year-olds) right before grad school. I'd be the assistant director. This school is one of the three schools in the education foundation of the Sunrise Senior Assisted Living company. One of the schools goes up to 4th grade, and the other to 8th, but this school only serves infants-Kindergarten. I know it's a great company to work for. The school expanded right after I left and is now pretty large. As assistant director, the director and I would have joint responsibilities over parent relations, teacher management, and overseeing curriculum implementation.

I know it's a job that I could do really well at. The questions are: Would they pay me enough? (we haven't discussed pay yet) Is this job going to burn me out? (It's a day care, so the hours are long - 6:45 am - 6:15 pm, but hopefully I wouldn't have to be there this whole time) Is not having direct contact with students (not having my own class of kids) a big plus? Is the economy such that I need to take any job I can get right now? Would I want to teach in a regular school (public or private) instead and have summers off?

Any thoughts on these issues? I'd like to hear people's ideas.

Into the Wild is a depressing movie

Photo courtesy of imdb.com

One of the quotes that strikes me from this movie is the Tolstoy one and I can't find the exact quote, but something about how you can't have happiness unless it (the experience, I guess) is shared with someone else.

So, I'm taking this thought and continuing with the following ... I remember back in 2004 (I think was the year). I was at S. and P. Cannon's wedding and I was sitting with Alexandra and we're talking and she turns to me and gets adamantly serious and says "Meredith, you will get married. You absolutely will get married in your life." I just think this is funny, because just a couple months ago, my brother Spencer tells me "It's possible you won't ever get married." So, I have one good friend telling me not to worry about it, and I have my encouraging (note sarcasm) brother telling me the exact opposite.

Juliette Elizabeth

Juliette on her Birthday

Cutest Juliette's birthday was last week and I gave her a coupon for a trip with me to a "very grown-up" makeup store at Tyson's to have someone do her makeup and take home some things.

So, today we headed over to Tyson's. I thought Sephora had a kids makeup section. They did, but no longer do. So, we tried lots of things and determined what she liked best. I then chose some things and she had to turn around when I was at the purchasing counter. She ended up with the Urban Decay honey sparkley powder, which I also have, and some lip gloss. I also got the new smashbox lip plumper. I've been annoyed with my selection of lip stuff recently, and want everything I have to be clear.

Of course a trip to Coldstone followed where Tette wanted vanilla ice cream with gummi bears on top (not mixed in).

Money

I HATE money. I hate that having it is a necessity in order to live. I hate that people compare their money influx with one another (in an unspoken manner, of course). I disagree with discussions, complaints, or comparisons with others who have more money being topics of conversation. While I believe in open communication with people, I don't believe in saying you don't have enough money to do something. Wrong. You just choose to spend the money you do have in a different manner. Children shouldn't feel the tightness of a budget. When you take them to a store, I don't think they should know that what they get is all dependent on how much everything is. They show you what they like and then you (as a parent) make the decision as to what you are going to give them. It's a surprise and they won't know what they got until they open it.

Children

Question: Perhaps most of us recognize this baby as adorable; however, a recent question of mine is the following...Have you ever wondered if parents (maybe, more so in the past than the present day) have children more out of a sense of obligation to do so than a real desire to?

Should parenting and having children be enjoyable? Or is it just that parents expect it to be so, and then sometimes realize it isn't? What do you do if you have a kid you just don't like?

Charlottesville

I had such a great weekend this past weekend in Charlottesville visiting Katie. I had a beautiful drive down South Saturday morning. Got there and did a short run. Went to brunch. Went to Monticello, which was absolutely gorgeous. Got a 1/2 hour full body massage. Met up for dinner with people for shrimp tacos and seared tuna. Sunday: church, amazing dinner at beautiful old Civil War home outside of Charlottesville.

Monticello

Katie and me!

Me -- and my fat face. The thing is, is that I'm pretty fine with my weight right now. Why is my face always fat?!

It was such warm weather all weekend, and spending time with Katie in her element was so fun. She is such a great friend, and so cool, that I'm so glad to know her!

Siobhan obsession.

These are the Miz Moos boots I've been wanting FOREVER, and for a period of time I was checking the Nordstrom's website daily to see if the price had been lowered. I just can't bring myself to spend $209 on them. Especially because they'd be going on the credit card rather than the checking.

I guess I'm destined to be deprived of them. Just like some other things...

The Painted Veil

I admit the first time I sat down to watch this movie I completely fell asleep. However, it's really engrossing -- I think I was just exhausted.

This movie is appealing and thought-provoking in many ways. Firstly, I think I want to go live in China. Seriously. I want to get away. However, a cholera epidemic is not exactly what I want to walk into.

One of the most memorable lines in the movie is "Do you despise me?" "No, I despise myself for letting myself love you." What a hurtful sentiment, but delivered to someone so deserving. You spend the first half of the movie hating the needy, substanceless wife, who cheated on her husband nonetheless. And, then you are so caught up when you see interchanges that indicate they are falling in love. And you just wonder about the order of things. I'd like to think I can fall in love before I say my vows.

And then the end has to come. And I think Edward Norton is actually pretty hot.

Another memorable expression is when Watts is talking to Toby Jones about an acquaintance (the man she had an affair with) and he says that the man's wife has commented that her husband involves himself with second-rate women. A telling moment because Watts realizes that she is one of these second-rate women. But then wouldn't any women who would have an affair with a married man be second-rate?