The Bad Idea Bears - by far, my favorites!
YAY! I am so excited. Miss Laurenita will be joining me, and I am sure it will be lovely! I'll report on it for you tomorrow!
For those of you who do not use Craigslist, you are missing out. Although in the past I have had one or two bad transactions (always as the seller, not the buyer), my recent Craigslist transactions have been wonderful.
The Komen Race isn't til June, but I think I have found something to keep me occupied about a month before then.....and I won't be alone. Today, I registered a team to compete in the first annual Durham Doughboy Challenge. Read all about it here: http://doughman.giving.officelive.com/default.aspx
Today I will complete the Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies program at
When I started the program in the fall of 2004, I was a little over a year into my marriage, struggling to find a path to adulthood. My then husband and I were in a beautiful home in North Durham (which I just googled only to find the house is on Countrywide's foreclosure list - that hurts a bit inside), he was working as an engineer for the State, and I was working as an assistant to a former
And I don’t think I found a comfortable balance – for any of it at all. When I think back to those days, all of my insides sink a bit. In my search for meaning, I behaved selfishly and lost quite a bit of control. My head was in a constant whirl. My then husband, and subsequently my marriage, was an unfortunate casualty of my need to find meaning in my life and direction in my world (the ex husband is still alive and well – he’s found his counterpart in the world and has a little one now – he escaped my craziness rather unscathed). Notice the use of the word “my, me and I” here. It was the time of “me” and I still have a lot of unresolved feelings about the pain I caused to others, specifically the ex-husband and also my Mom, during that time. Not too long after our two year wedding anniversary, my husband and I split. It was like the whole world was spinning so fast I couldn’t keep up. In less than a week’s time, I went from sleeping with my husband, two cats and my dog in a beautiful 3 bedroom house to sleeping on the couch of my best friend’s townhome. A week after that, I slept in a small one bedroom duplex, sans the dog (I still miss my Maggie dog oh so very much) and husband, crying a lot and drinking too much – trying to figure out what the hell was going on in my world.
MALS gave me the continued connection to Duke as a student, which would become very important for me. The MALS community is a great one, and I have made some of the best friends I have ever had because of this program. I met my bestest buddy, Lauren on the first day of MALS. I met several other people who were very close to me for different periods – some have gone their own ways for various reasons, and there are others I met part of the way through who have become important to both Mike and I in our lives today. MALS helped me make
As I became a more active student, I took the position of representative to Duke’s Graduate and Professional Student Council. As long as those meetings were, GPSC will always hold an important place in my heart. For if it was not for GPSC, my friend Jeremy would have not met Stefan who then in turn would not have introduced me to Mike. It’s an important part of my life puzzle. If you want to know that whole story, you can ask me in person.
MALS gave me the opportunity to study abroad, which was something I wanted to do in college, but I just didn’t have the funds. Therefore in the summer of 2006, I was lucky enough to have enough vacation time saved up and enough cash in the bank to hop on a plane to
In the midst of all this, in September of 2005, I met Mike for the first time. We developed a strong friendship, and in January of 2006, he made the first move. Oh, he was bold!! Since that time, we have been together and very, very happy.
Anyway, it will be strange for me to not have MALS in my life anymore. It has been a constant amidst all the questions and turmoil in my life over the past 3.5 years. But, I have new constants – I have the best girlfriends in the world – I am truly lucky. I am engaged to marry a wonderful man – silly, incredibly smart, sociable, and amazing. I don’t know anyone who doesn’t love them some Mike Brady! I am ready to walk out of MALS and walk into the new life that is currently in production. A lot will change for Mike and me over the next year. In August, we will be married. In the fall, he will go onto the academic job market. Soon after that, if all goes to plan, Mike will have a job lined up somewhere and we will probably be plotting a move to a university that has so graciously opened its doors to Mike’s fantastic teaching abilities. And hopefully soon after that, if not while all this is happening, we will begin a family of our own.
MALS has been a roller coaster – but it’s time to get off this ride and for Mike and me to start building our own. Thank you, everyone, who has supported me through all the crazy events over the past few years. It has been one hell of a trip – but I’m already packed up and ready for the next one. Let’s go….
Meredith, me, Tammy and Lauren at the East End Martini Bar, Chapel Hill
Me, Tammy and Meredith - on a break from dancing
For some strange reason, I had the urge for a $5 cup of coffee this morning. There’s a Starbucks in the American Tobacco District near my office, so I decided I would stop in and get a cup of mocha joe and a breakfast pastry. As I stood in line, I noticed a woman picking up her coffee. I wasn’t the only one who noticed her – everyone in the place did. She was about 6 feet tall, blonde, and thin. She wore 3 inch heels with a perfectly tailored camel colored wool bias cut skirt. Her jacked looked like something from Neiman’s – it was frilly, but still wool, cut perfect to her frame, and the pinnacle of winter fashion. She wore dark sunglasses (in the building), and she sauntered off to her office, looking at no one who looked at her, after receiving the cup of coffee she coached the barista to make.
I looked down at my Levi’s, my
As I pulled into the parking lot behind my office building, I saw a homeless man pulling an old suitcase down the sidewalk behind my building. It was cold this morning. He probably slept in the cold or just left the shelter down the street. I got my stuff together and suddenly felt guilty for spending $5 on a cup of coffee and a danish. The man behind my building should have the $5 cup of coffee – but he went around the corner too fast. I didn’t see where he went. So, I went up to my office and drank my coffee – which wasn’t very good. In fact, I’m craving a cup of the stuff we usually make in the office. And the danish was stale. For $5. What a rip.
Need to register or re-register: Print out a registration form and mail it to your county board of election http://www.ncdp.org/register
Find your polling place (or make sure your registration is accurate): http://www.sboe.state.nc.us
What if you've moved since you last voted? Then you need to re-register at your new address. More info here: http://www.sboe.state.nc.us
Registering voters: At no charge you can get blank voter registration forms from your local Board of Elections. Find your local board here: http://www.sboe.state.nc.us
What's the deadline to register in NC? The deadline is technically 25 days before an election. However, now you can still register in NC if you miss the deadline (April 11th for the primary). You must go to an early voting site (in the two weeks before an election), register with proper identification, and vote immediately. This is known as same day registration. However, you can not register to vote on Election Day (May 6th). So essentially, the deadline to register is now May 3rd, which is the last day of early voting. More info here: http://ncdp.org/sdr
Can independents and Republicans vote for Obama in NC's primary? Yes and No. Independents (called unaffiliated in NC) can vote for Obama by requesting a Democratic ballot when they vote. Registered Republicans cannot request a Democratic ballot. So tell your "R" friends and family they must re-register by April 11th if they want to vote Obama in NC! (They cannot change their party affiliation after April 11, even through the same day registration program).
Other facts about voting in NC: It is state law that 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by Nov. 4th (and therefore be eligible to vote in the General Election) may register and vote in the primary. Also, many ex-felons do not realize that they can register to vote in NC (in some states they are disenfranchised forever). They must have completed all the terms of their sentence and be finished with parole before they re-register. College students can register at either their school residence or other home residence but they must chose only one (preferably wherever they'll be on election day).
"Oh yes," the waitress assured us. "It's made with chicken stock, though, so it's vegetarian but not vegan."
Exchanges like that are one of the reasons we decided to examine local dining options for vegetarians, vegans and even those carnivores among us who occasionally crave a meatless meal.
Our diagnosis: We could use a few more options. More veggie-only restaurants. A wider variety of regular restaurants that offer truly "veggie-friendly" fare. Waitstaffs that know the vocabulary. Chefs who embrace the challenge of non-animal-based cuisine.
—Jennifer Strom
I also must agree with the "wish list" below: - my comments are in yellow
(A restaurant that doesn't actually exist in the Triangle)
TODAY'S SPECIALS
