Birthdays

I haven’t posted in a while, for I have been debating what to say. I guess during that time, I should have just said something, then I wouldn’t have so many somethings now. I have chosen to focus on birthdays though, as yesterday was mine.

I started the day in tears. I have no idea why. Okay, I lie. I do know why. I’m struggling with career choices. Although my current job is an absolute dream, it is time for me to move on. Despite the full backing of my employer, I have been unable to secure something new. I need to drop 20 pounds. But I hate the gym. And I love cheese. One of my best friends in moving out of the state sooner than later to start working on a PhD, and in that wake is my best friend who is also dealing with him leaving – for her, it is on a whole different level, as they are dating. I have other friends also just starting to deal with impending moves of significant others, and I have yet another friend who is off to Chicago tomorrow due to her husband’s new academic job. I am learning that academia = moving = sadness. Yuck. On top of all that, Buddy is sick again. His stress/bladder issues are back in full force – I haven’t seen them this bad since 2004. Buddy has started marking the furniture rather than the floor, Allie still continues to hunt Buddy and Scout for fun, and Scout has taken to pooping in very inappropriate places. Add all this up = mini breakdown.

Poor Mike. He must think I’m a nut (he probably wouldn’t be too off base). He wants to wish me happy birthday, but I am crying like a crazy lady. I think I just needed to get it all out. I tried to convince him that none of the stress had to do with him – he, in fact, has been my rock, my confidant and my retreat from all of this. Once that was sufficiently stifled, a trip to the vet concluded with Buddy going back on anti-depressants for about 3 weeks, and Miss Allie will be headed to the vet herself on Friday to see what we can do about her hunting. Lauren and I had a great lunch later in the day, followed by pool time. I attended class, and I headed home to a nice relaxing meal with my sweetie on the comfort of our urine soaked couch.

I just turned 29- 30 is now only 364.5 days away. Yikes. I always said I was excited to turn 30, but now I’m not so sure. I’m almost 30 and there is SO much I still need to do. I have no idea when it will happen or when it will all fit in. When do I actually get to start making a difference in the world? When will I get to stop being in an administrative job? When do I have kids? When do I leave Durham? How will all these things work together? When will Mike finish his dissertation and go on the market? (love you, sweetie!) All the answers must work in tangent with the others. But I have no idea where any of these answers are hiding. All of that prompted yet another set of tears later in the afternoon.

Anyway, the whole point of this is that “birthday” felt very different this year. I received wonderful birthday greetings from friends all over the world, and I received lovely thoughtful and wonderful gifts from friends and family. That was all great. But the higher meaning of “let’s celebrate your birth” turned into the internal question “what will you do in the future from this birthday onward?”

I never understood when I was a kid when my Mom would say, “I don’t want to celebrate my birthday.” And it is a widely known fact that a lot of people don’t like birthdays either. Is this why? If so, I think I may be starting to understand. Can I just pick a “let’s spoil Michelle day” rather than worrying about what I have done and need to do since the day of my birth?

With that being said though, my dear Michael and my sweet Lauren, thank you for making my birthday so wonderful. And really, you did make it “let’s spoil Michelle day”. But then again, you do that every day (how else would you deal with me?? ha). I love you both!

It's been a busy week, and it will be an even busier weekend....

Sorry I haven't posted much in the past few days. Mama Brady stayed with us for almost a week, and she headed off with her friend Peg on Wednesday. For Mike and I, that seemed like the start of a very busy week from that point on out. Wednesday I had class (which was great), Thursday was the last girls night for a while with Jill and Meredith, as Jill and hubby Carlos move off to Chicago next week. After that, I celebrated with Cookie on her acceptance into the MALS program. That means the Cookie Monster is now officially a Duke grad student. yay!! Tonight is Jill and Carlos's big going away bash, which should be great. Saturday is the Michael Jackson/Prince party hosted by Jeff and Kind, and Sunday will be dedicated to house cleaning and school work (and probably some long naps).

I know that was terribly interesting, but folks, that's all I have in me after such a busy week!!!!

There may be some new career info ahead in the next few days if everyone keeps their fingers crossed for me. I will tell you more once I know more!!!

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Who do you prefer?

See and be seen in Durham. I'll be there - will you??

you are very welcome, Jeff and King :-)

Short hiatus

Mama Brady is visiting though Tuesday, so I have taken a short blogging hiatus. Will be back soon!

South African Funnies

An American friend of mine who spent about 5 months in South Africa sent this to me over e-mail. She was getting nostalgic over her time there, and she thought I would appreciate it. I decided to blog about it here because I thought it may be fun for folks to see an international version of, "You know you are from XXXXX when...." Anyway, enjoy. A lot of cultural stuff in here. Kind of fun! (I'll add in some commentary in parentheses if I can provide some description)

YOU ARE PROUDLY SOUTH AFRICAN WHEN:

> You call a bathing suit a "swimming costume" (never heard this one...)

> You call a traffic light a "robot" (yup)

> The employees dance in front of the building to show how unhappy
they are (when the unions strike and have mass action marches, they don't just march - there is singing, dancing, etc)

> The SABC (South African Broadcasting Company) advertises and shows highlights of the program you just finished watching

> You get cold easily. Anything below 16 degrees Celsius is Arctic weather

> You know what Rooibos Tea is, even if you've never had any (and if you do drink it, you know the correct combo of milk and lemon to add, too)

> You can sing your national anthem in four languages, and you have no idea what it means in any of them

> You know someone who knows someone who has met Nelson Mandela

Mandela, Mary (my boss's wife) and my boss!

> You go to "braais" (barbecues) regularly, where you eat boerewors (long meaty sausage-type thing) and swim, sometimes simultaneously (I have actually done this a few times!)

> You know that there's nothing to do in the Free State

> You produce a R100 note instead of your driver's licence when stopped by a traffic officer (bribes are fairly common....)

> You can do your monthly shopping on the pavement (open air markets, baby!)

> You have to hire a security guard whenever you park your car (there are guys standing in most parking lots who will watch your car for money)

> You can count the national soccer team's scores with no fingers

> To get free electricity you have to pay a connection fee of R750

> Hijacking cars is a profession

> You can pay your tuition fees by holding up a sign at a traffic light

> The petrol in your tank may be worth more than your car

> More people vote in a local reality TV show than in a local election (sound familiar??)

> People have the most wonderful names: Christmas, Goodwill,Pretty, Wednesday, Blessing, Brilliant, Gift, Precious, Innocence and Given (very true)

> "Now now" can mean anything from a minute to a month

> You continue to wait after a traffic light has turned to green to make way for taxis traveling in the opposite direction

> Traveling at 120 km/h you're the slowest vehicle on the highway

> You're genuinely and pleasantly surprised whenever you find your car parked where you left it

> A bullet train is being introduced, but we can't fix potholes

> The last time you visited the coast you paid more in speeding fines and toll fees than you did for the entire holiday

> You have to take your own linen with you if you are admitted to a government hospital

> You have to prove that you don't need a loan to get one

> Prisoners go on strike

> You don't stop at a red traffic light, in case somebody hijacks your car

> You consider it a good month if you only get mugged once (ok, it's not THAT bad...)

> Rwandan refugees start leaving the country because the crime rate is too high (in South Africa, the immigration of Rwandan and DRC refugees is similar to the issues we have in the US with Cuban/Mexican immigrants - same type of tension)

> When 2 Afrikaans TV programmes are separated by a Xhosa announcement of the following Afrikaans program, and a Pedi ad

> You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from SA

ching ching ching

Rowing is SO two weeks ago. My new workout? Belly dancing. Yep. Lauren and I are taking a class together. We had our first one last night, and it was so freakin great! We learned the basics of the dance, then we had a killer workout for our hips, abs, knees and legs. Noodle legs by the end of class. I tried to do my hip shakes this morning, and I felt like I was internally bruised. ha! We are taking the class once a week for a month. I doubt I will be an expert in 4 weeks, but it will be a fun month. I'll keep you posted on the world of belly dancing...

Response to "Survey" Survey!!!

As I stated, if I get one of these, I nearly always do them! So, to my blog readers, here is some info about me:

*Michelle*OLOGY (*insert your name*!!)

Q. What is your salad dressing of choice?
A. Russian (but since you can never find it anymore, Catalina or French)

Q. What is your favorite fast food restaurant?
A. Taco Bell - they have the most veggie friendly options

Q. What is your favorite sit-down restaurant?
A. El Rodeo Mexican in Durham

Q. On average, what size tip do you leave at a restaurant?
A. 15-20%

Q. What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick off of?
A. Cheese enchiladas

Q. What are your pizza toppings of choice?
A. Cheese, mushroom and black olive

Q. What do you like to put on your toast?
A. PB&J

Q. What is your favorite type of gum?
A: Orbitz

TECHNOLOGY

Q. Number of contacts in your cell phone?
A. 99

Q. Number of contacts in your email address book?
A: Too many to count

Q. What is your wallpaper on your computer?
A: Work: Mike and I under the big acorn at Beerfest; laptop: a pic of Allie, Buddy and Scout

Q. How many televisions are in your house?
A: Three

BIOLOGY

Q. Are you right-handed or left-handed?
A. Right

Q. Do you like your smile?
A: It is good enough.

Q. What's your best feature?
A. My sparkling personality :-)

Q. Have you ever had anything removed from your body?
A. My third nipple. KIDDING! Besides teeth, no.

Q. Which of your five senses do you think is keenest?
A: Hearing

Q. When was the last time you had a cavity?
A. About a year ago

Q. What is the heaviest item you lifted last?
A. The bench press bar with weights at the gym

Q. Have you ever been knocked unconscious?
A. Nope

BULL[CRAP]OLOGY

Q. If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die?
A. Nope.

Q. Is love for real?
A. Yes, yes it is.

Q. If you could change your first name, what would you change it to?
A: I wouldn't change my first name.

Q. What color do you think looks best on you?
A. Red

Q. Have you ever swallowed a non-food item by mistake?
A. Bugs.

Q. Have you ever saved someone's life?
A. Knowingly, no.

Q. Has someone ever saved yours?
A. I haven't been close to taking it, if that's what you are asking. I have definitely had people who have saved me from doing stupid things though!

DAREOLOGY

Q. Would you walk naked for a half mile down a public street for $100,000?
A. absolutely.

Q. Would you kiss a member of the same sex for $100?
A. yup.

Q. Would you allow one of your little fingers to be cut off for $200,000?
nope.

Q. Would you never blog again for $50,000?
A. definitely

Q. Would you pose naked in a magazine for $250,000?
A. Depends on the magazine ;-)

Q. Would you drink an entire bottle of hot sauce for $1000?
A. Surprisingly, probably not.

Q. Would you, without fear of punishment, take a human life for $1,000,000?
A. Nope.

Q. Would you give up watching television for a year for $25,000?
A. yes, yes, yes!

DUMBOLOGY

Q: What is in your left pocket?
A: Nothing

Q: Is Napoleon Dynamite actually a good movie?
A: I though it was cute.

Q: Do you have hardwood or carpet in your house?
A: Neither - we have brick

Q: Do you sit or stand in the shower?
A: People sit in the shower??

Q: Could you live with roommates?
A: I have served my time in the past - but never again!

Q: How many pairs of flip flops do you own?
A: Four?

Q: Where were you born?
A: Lafayette, Indiana

Q: Last time you had a run-in with the cops?
A. 2000? Pulled over on the way to my parents house.

Q: What do (or did) you want to be when you grow up?
A: I want to help change the world into a better place.

LASTOLOGY

Q: Friend you talked to?
A. Mike

Q: Last person you called
A. Mike

Q: Last Person you hugged?
A. Mike

FAVORITOLOGY\

Q: Number?
A: no favorite numbers....

Q: Color?
A:Today, it's blue

Q: Season?
A: autumn

CURRENTOLOGY

Q: Missing someone?
A: yup

Q: Mood?
A: Reasonable

Q: Listening to?
A: The whirr of the A/C in my office

Q: Watching?
A: myself type the answers to this survey

Q: Worrying about?
A: Having enough food for the BBQ this evening

RANDOMOLOGY

Q: First place you went this morning?
A: work

Q: What can you not wait to do?
A. Go home

Q: What's the last movie you saw?
A: "Beerfest" (see today's earlier post...)

Q: Do you smile often?
A: a lot

Q: Are you a friendly person?
A: most of the time

Q: Now that the survey is done what are you going to do?
Go home :-)

NOW ALL YOU LURKERS SHOULD COPY THE SURVEY AND REPOST IT WITH YOUR OWN ANSWERS IN THE COMMENTS SECTION (come on, what else do you have to do?)

I will never get this two hours back

WORST. MOVIE. EVER.

Slacking

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I have been pretty swamped at work, and my social calendar has been pretty full as well. I am back in class for the summer, and we all know summer means lots of parties and such. No dull moments here.

Random thought: you know all those little e-mail surveys that go around? like, the 50 questions about you type thing?? where do those come from? and why do i always fill them out?

does anyone have any clever ones??

Go see this movie!

Mike and I went and saw "Knocked Up" on Friday night. It was so great. It is a fantastic commentary on the state of folks my age (mid twenties to mid thirties). Issues of hanging wth friends, hitting the clubs, moving ahead in your career and the big debate of "swinging single" vs "content couple." I won't dicuss the film too much because I would rather you go see it yourself. Totally worth the price of a ticket.