Beauty School drop out...no graduation day for you...

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each other's blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

-Thanks to Merryland Girl for this explanation of the Thursday Blog Project.

This week's topic comes from...Me!

As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? As a grown up, did you choose the profession you wanted as a child? If you didn't, what drew you to the profession you have?

Other contributors to the Thursday Blog Project are:

Froggie Knits Like Crazy

Merryland Girl

Desperate Madness

As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be JUST LIKE my older sister, Stacey.

She was a beautician, and got her license by taking vocational in the College of Lake County's annex (now called the Lake County High School Technology Campus)

When I was a junior in high school, I begged my guidance counselor to get me into the program and she did, a semester late. I very quickly realized that this was not a good fit for me.

In my senior year, we had to start performing services on clients - these were usually elderly ladies from the area that could get their "Roux Fanci-Full Rinse" in 'White Minx'. We also did eyebrow waxing, facials and more manicures on more girl scout troops than I care to recall.

It was shortly after I had to start working on real people and not on the mannequin heads, like hers.

For the record, the mannequins we got in cosmetology school were labeled as "Manikins" and had the potential to cause nightmares.

I have one that I absconded from my sister, Stacey, and named her "Kyle"

I referenced her in this blog post.

I used to hide from the clients, move my name to the bottom of the list for the next client.

This was also when I learned that I can't paint fingernails to save my life, especially on wiggly little girls.

The clincher for not finishing cosmetology came when I had to wax eyebrows on a woman who wouldn't stop talking or close her eyes. Was she crazy? She was paying $2 for a 16 year old girl to drip hot wax on her face. Hold still and shut up before you lose an eye!

I finally resigned when I had an epiphany: I don't much care for touching strangers.

Especially strangers with questionable hygiene.

I did meet a lot of great gals (and a couple of cool guys, too!) and had a lot of fun, but in the end - it just wasn't the right occupation for me.

I spent many years waitressing, as some of us do, not so much because I loved people but because it was fast money.

When I finally broke into the office world, I found that I am a really good customer service representative.

And since 2001, I have worked in various call centers doing inbound customer service.

Sure, there are days when I want to pull out my hair but I really like the fact that once a call is over, there is little chance that I will ever talk to that person again.

Another reason inbound call centers are my niche? I cannot multitask, nor am I capable of looking busy when I am not.

In a call center environment, I take calls when they come. When they don't come, I check email and updates.

I am not required to do much else than devote my full attention to the client on the phone, once the client has been handled, they could care less where my full attention goes. I can give you a hint though...ahem...facebook...

Pick a book, any book

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each other's blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

-Thanks to Merryland Girl for this explanation of the Thursday Blog Project.

This week's topic comes from Shara @ Desperate Madness : This week - What is your absolute favorite book?

Other contributors to the Thursday Blog Project are:

Merryland Girl

Froggie Knits Like Crazy

Here's the thing - I can't pick just one!

I go through a lot of book phases, but always end up with what my mom refers to as "fluff".

I used to read like crazy, and go through books like water from a tap: I read Babysitter's Club books, Harlequin Romances & I especially loved Danielle Steel & VC Andrews books.

One year for Christmas, my mom bought me the entire Pearl series in hardback. I must have read them over and over again.

And then, something happened. I stopped reading books.

I don't remember how or why, but I just stopped. I do know that whenever I pick up an actual book now, I fall asleep reading it. Reading makes me feel anxious because I feel like my time could be put to better use. Doing what? I have no idea.

When I read, I get completely enveloped. I lose track of time and place, and have a difficult time snapping back into the world around me which makes reading at work during down time too difficult.

Thankfully, there are audio books. These I totally love. They make my long daily commute tolerable and when I am at home, I can knit while listening and I feel like I am multi-tasking.

My mom got me hooked on audio books, especially books by Patricia Cornwell, Rita Mae Brown & Janet Evanovich.

I do love a good mystery!

(My mom has also influenced the tv shows I watch, I never thought that would happen!)

I just finished "Finger Lickin' Fifteen" by Janet Evanovich, and it was great. When I listen to books from the Stephanie Plum series, I always laugh out loud.

Recently, I have listened to the Twilight series & The Time Traveler's Wife.

I listened to most of the Harry Potter series on audio, and read a couple of them.

Regrettably, I am just not so much of a bookworm anymore. Maybe I will finally read Sundays at Tiffany's, since it has been sitting on the back seat of my car for almost a year...

Where do I fit in?

While waiting to start my 1st round of Clomid (technically, it's my second, but I have decided to wipe the slate clean and no longer acknowledge that I had a failed attempt at conception 7 years ago) and I find myself wondering: Where do I fit in?

All over the interwebs, there are an infinite number of websites, forums, blogs, etc. that seem to be home to those of us who don't just miss a period and find that we're pregnant out of the blue.

I can't seem to find somewhere that is a group of women with just a toe in the water of trying to conceive, everywhere I look, it's the woe-filled tales of women who have cannon-balled into trying to conceive and have been a slave to their cervical mucus & how many days past ovulation they are.
I don't want to be like that.
Well, maybe not yet.
I found a pretty good group on Ravelry, but there isn't even an "introduction" thread, it's all about the cycles and ovulation and waiting.
I will get there, but I did find it a little overwhelming since I am reading about everyone else and as of now have very little to contribute.
Sometimes, I have to google the abbreviations they use.

I suppose I will find a place, just feeling a bit out of it right now.

Starting down a new path

The time is now!

On Saturday, I had my annual female exam and discussed with my doctor that Kosta and I have really been thinking a lot about starting a family.
We know that it won't be instant, and that it will probably take some time.
My doctor prescribed me 4 rounds of the fertility medicine Clomid and told me that we can start the 1st round whenever we'd like.

On the car ride home from the doctor, my mind was racing.
In my purse was the prescription, we are one step closer.
I was instructed to start the meds on the 5th day of my cycle, and I didn't know it at that moment but Saturday just so happened to be day 1.

I was excited but terrified.
What if Kosta said no, that we couldn't start trying? What if he wasn't ready?

I got home and crawled back into bed with him (my appointment was early Saturday morning) and told him how the appointment went.
I then told him that Dr. Wong had given me the prescription, and asked if he thought we should start trying.
He was quiet for a moment, then said "I think we should."
Those were the most wonderful words I have ever heard.
Later that day, my cycle started which got me thinking even more.
Day 5 (the start date for the Clomid) will be Wednesday, April 21.
I was on the internet for several hours, researching and finding information about ovulation, etc.
I tracked my usual cycle length and it advised that I can take a pregnancy test as early as May 14.
This floored me.
I know it's unlikely, but in less than 1 month I could be pregnant.

I continue to be both excited and terrified.

Waiting for spring to 'spring'!

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each other's blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

-Thanks to Merryland Girl for this explanation of the Thursday Blog Project.

This week's topic comes from Tracey @ Froggie Knits Like Crazy: Write about your favorite season or time of year.

Other contributors to the Thursday Blog Project are:

Merryland Girl

Desperate Madness

Growing up, summer was where it was at! No school, no parental supervision during the day, sleeping in until noon, staying up all night.

Well, that changed when I became an adult and learned that June, July & August were just 3 months out of the year. Usually spent sitting behind a desk in a stuffy office.

Most folk complained about not having a window, or being able to see outside. I loved not having a window. I was never distracted by my longing to get up from my cubicle, grab my purse and make a hasty exit - never to return.

Driving to work in full 'business casual' dress, only to walk into the office looking rumpled and sweaty.

I became a stripper in the car on the way home and would manage to shed cardigans, pantyhose & shoes. Hair was pulled back into a sloppy pony to keep it from sticking to my forehead and face.

After several years of missing out on lounging poolside during the week, I said phooey on summer.

Oh, summer. You used to be my favorite! Now you are all hot and sweaty.

Now that I have reached the wizened age of 31, I have decided that Late Spring is my favorite season.

I realize that 'Late Spring' isn't really a season in itself, but I figure that it's my blog, and I can decide not only which season I like, but which part of the season I like. So there.

Moving on.

Late Spring is (by my definition) when it's warm enough outside to want to sit on a park bench in the sun, but not warm enough to get all sweaty (are you seeing a trend? I am not a fan of 'sweaty'. As a matter of fact, I am renaming the season of summer to "Sweaty Time")

In Late Spring, lilacs are in bloom and sweeten the air everywhere, and little black ants nibble away at the green cloaked buds of peonies.

In Late Spring, you will start to see the fruits of your labors from when you planted your garden during crappy, early spring (which gets no special capitalization). Bright green stalks shoot up from your dirt, letting you know that your brown thumb is getting a bit greener.

In Late Spring, you can sit outside and watch the stars at night with the delicate 'blink-blink-blink' of fireflies, instead of being swarmed by mosquitoes.

You know what else goes on in Late Spring? Weddings. Lot's of them. Including my own!

Everyone loves a Late Spring wedding! A vibrant selection of in-season flowers, wedding parties (and guests) that aren't all sweaty (<--there it is again...) and wilted looking, wedding cakes that stay pristine instead of melting.

So, the bottom line is this - there is very little "sweaty" in Late Spring. This pleases me.

Bully (noun): A person who is habitually cruel or overbearing, especially to smaller or weaker people.

Today's blog post was inspired by a very insightful post by Melissa @ Merryland Girl about bullying.

When I read about how nasty kids are to other kids, it makes me feel so awful.

I can't say I was really "bullied" in the traditional sense of the word. I was mostly excluded. I wasn't inordinately fat, or smelly. I never had any embarrassing mishaps that left a memory burned into the minds of everyone I went to school with.

I just was not popular.

In 8th grade, these two girls just ripped on me every day about my clothes being hand-me-downs, which they weren't (and not like that's a bad thing).

I don't know why they singled me out, but damn! It's 19 years later and it still chaps my ass!

Compounded by the fact that they were popular, but not in the popular sense. One looked like a man, she was a gymnast who was very toned and very masculine.

Her BFF, was dumpy and chubby and also quite masculine in appearance, she played softball.

I remember thinking "How can they pick on me for how I dress? All they wear are Umbro shorts and t-shirts! And they look like boys!"

I had a lot of friends in middle school, and I am not sure what happened the summer between 8th grade and freshman year, but whatever went down - I missed it.

All those girls became popular, and I was just a nobody.

I have gotten my (slight) revenge: one girl friend requested me on Facebook, and I acted like I didn't know her. She was one of my BFF's in 7th grade, and then in high school she spread a rumor that I...well, let's just say it wasn't very nice for my character...but I started getting attention from a lot of skeevy guys after that.

I responded to her request by saying "Sorry, I don't remember you."

She wrote me back 3 more times, telling me her life story, trying to jog my memory "Remember I used to live down the block from you? Remember that time we had the sleep-over?" to which I wish I had had the guts to say "Oh, that's right! You were the one who spread that nasty rumor about me!"

Instead I said "Sorry, I just don't remember you." And ignored her request.

It felt good.

I have since done that to about 10 of "Those Girls" and maintain that everyone I want to talk to from high school, I talk to. If the last interaction we had was you telling me that I look pregnant in front of our home ec class*, why the hell are you "friend" requesting me?

I have decided that they just want to see my business, and I say "Nope".

*To this day, I remember exactly what was said:

Her: "You're dating (so & so) right?"

Me: "Yeah"

Her: "And you're pregnant, right?"

Me: (exasperated) "NO!"

Her: "Heh, well...you look like it!"

(Which caused much laughter)

I always think of that part in the movie "For Keeps", when the popular girls are making fun of Darcy and the one popular girl says to the other "Oh Michaela! You're so bad!" cheering her on.

Also, the girl who said that to me had a very noticeable lazy eye and you could never tell where she was looking.

"You Catholic girls start much too late..."

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each other's blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

-Thanks to Merryland Girl for this explanation of the Thursday Blog Project.

This week's topic comes from Melissa @ Merryland Girl: what is your favorite thing about your religion? (if you don't observe a religion, what is your favorite non-religious holiday?)

Other contributors are:

Froggie Knits Like Crazy

Desperate Madness

I honestly wish I had a favorite thing about my religion.

I am a non-observant Catholic, and despite the recent propaganda urging Catholics to "come home", I still don't think that Catholicism is my cup of tea.

So, this week I will blog about my favorite non-religious holiday, which is any event that my family gets together.

When we are all together, I like to quote Morbo when Richard Nixon's Head asks him how's the family: Morbo replies :"Belligerent & numerous!"

There are *A LOT* of us, my sister, Stacey has been with her husband, Jack since I was 3, so our families kind of melded together over the years.

Every year, we celebrate Mother's Day and my niece, Grace's birthday together and both families combine.

I have 4 sisters and 3 brothers, not all from the same 2 parents, but the bulk of us share the same mom.

I have more nieces and nephews than I can count on 2 hands and am proud to say that I have wiped the butts of almost all of them at some point in time.

When we all get together, we laugh until our sides hurt. We retell stories about shenanigans that we got into as teenagers, to which our mom usually says "I had no idea!"

We go through tough times and happy times, thankfully there are more happy times than tough.

I can't imagine what my life would be like without the guidance and experiences I had growing up in my big, blended family. And even though there have been times when we've been on the outs with each other, I wouldn't have it any other way.

As an adult, I can almost always tell when I encounter people who are only children (not like it's a bad thing) but I always feel a little sad for them, that they didn't have an older brother to tease them, or older sisters to talk about embarrassing things with, or even younger siblings to teach and torment.

This evening, I got to sit around a kitchen table and talk to my older sibs: Stacey, Cheri & Steve and man, did we laugh. It was just an impromptu gathering to have dinner with my niece and nephew while they visit from Kentucky for the week, and it was great.

Happy Birthday To Me!

I have a few friends who knit and blog and we've decided to embark on a blog project that has nothing to do with knitting. We're going to take turns coming up with a topic every Thursday and we each have to blog about it by the end of that day and post links to each other's blogs so that people can see our different perspectives on the same topic.

-Thanks to Merryland Girl for this explanation of the Thursday Blog Project.

This week's topic is from me!

"Ok, topic for 4/1/2010: Since April 5 is my birthday, this week's topic is going to be: Do you have any birthday traditions? If you don't celebrate your birthday, are there any annual traditions you participate in? Tell me about them!"

Other contributors to the Thursday Blog Project are:

Desperate Madness

Froggie Knits Like Crazy

Merryland Girl

Birthdays are a big deal to me. Especially mine!

Before my Grandma Schaeppi passed away in 1987, she would make me the best birthday cake ever each year on my birthday.

Those cakes are such a huge part of my memory, it's hard to believe that there were only seven of them in my lifetime.

It wasn't just for my birthday, all of my siblings and even my parents got a special cake on their birthdays.

A square pound cake, frosted to high-heaven with the most wonderful frosting (and I am usually not a fan of frosting. Or cake for that matter...)

Several of us had birthdays close together, and she would make group cakes, with each birthday person's name on each side of that cake.

My mom and my sister, Cheri got one together (May 21 & May 23, respectively)

My sister Stacey & her husband, Jack got one together (March 27 & April 1, respectively)

And even though my birthday came right after Jack's, I always got my own.

My birthday falls around Easter each year (some years closer than others, this year, it's the day after) and Grandma Schaeppi would make my cake in colors that were so spring-y, and each corner of the cake had a chocolate covered marshmallow bunny on it.

Birthdays are always special in our family, when we were younger, if we were grounded on our birthdays - we were exempt for the day.

As I have gotten older, we don't all get together any more but we have started an even more fun tradition: The Birthday Voicemail or The Birthday Text, lately.

Each year on my birthday, my brother in law Jack calls me and sings "Happy Birthday" on my voicemail. It's a rather profanity-laden version, but it's so funny.

When I was in high school, my sister would call the local radio station and request "Today" by The Smashing Pumpkins for me. One year, when I was single and especially broke, my mom got me a gift card to Jewel.

My best friend, Christy, bakes the most gorgeous cakes I have ever seen. On my 26th birthday, she made me a cake in the shape of a martini glass that said "Martinis & Gin, Now The Fun Begins!", took me out to dinner at Mad Dan's and took me to get a tattoo before we danced the night away at Famous Freddie's.

On my 29th birthday, my friends threw me a birthday party and allowed me to sing "Maps" by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on Rock Band as many times as I wanted without complaining, even though they were all so sick of that song. (I think I sang it 8 times, although they didn't complain, they did leave the room...)

And on April 4, 2009 my friends planned my Bachelorette Party, and made me wear all these crazy "Bachelorette" accessories and at midnight, they let me take it all off and turned my Bachelorette Party into my 30th Birthday Party.

It's all these little things, like waking up to see my text messages flowing in from everyone wishing me a happy day, that make my birthday so special.

I walk around all day with a spring in my step, because it's MY day.

In closing, I would like to say Happy Birthday to my FAVORITE April Fool, my brother in law, Jack. I love you!!