Submit your vote here...

I have months of photos...Halloween including costumes, Murder Mystery Party, and pumpkin caring; Skiing; my first Christmas tree as an adult; Christmas vacation to Helena, complete with Jesse's family, deer so close you can almost touch them, and the fancy Christmas party thrown by the heiress to Target; Teatro Zinzanni; and Skiing again (this coming weekend).

I have the day off on Monday.

Soooo...should I:
1. Do one enormous photo dump, probably only sharing 1-2 pics from each, which would likely have little/no text?
2. Do a quality post for each (or logical groups of each), which would likely have more (hopefully clever & witty) text?

Submit your vote via comment. If you don't, just like on reality TV, don't be pissed off at me when I do a post of Bristol Palin.

t-minus 2 days...

til Jesse and I hit the slopes. the teeny tiny slopes, that is. we aren't stupid enough to be those beginners who think they can handle black diamonds or something.

so we have borrowed stuff, me from Roommate and her friend who is pretty close to my size and Jesse has borrowed from his hot Cuban twin friends who are about his size. ski pants, jackets, goggles, wool socks, thermals, hats.

the deal we got is for 3 days of beginner lessons, daily lift tickets and gear (skis, poles, and boots) for $119 at Snoqualmie Pass.

i say, woo to the hoo!

if you love awesome photos...

check out my girl Ann's blog on her new photography biz!

she is absolutely amazing. really. i have no words.

link up on the left anytime or go here

some stuff that's been going on.

Well, let's see here. I finished my last courses for my EdD degree. As you know, in November I also passed my General Exam. Sooooo, that means I'm officially ABD. I'll be meeting with my advisor next week to discuss moving forward with my dissertation proposal. Once it has been approved by my committee and Human Subjects at UW, they will set me loose.

In 12 days, I will be in Helena, Montana for Christmas. The 10-day weather report says high of 30, low of 18 with snow showers. Holy hell. What have I gotten myself into?

Jesse and I are going skiing on the 18th. My roommate passed along this great deal for beginners--3 days of beginner lessons, 3 daily lift tickets, and gear for only $119. And we get to pick the 3 days. Jesse's never been skiing and I went once when I was 16. This should be interesting.

Jesse & I are watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Netflix, which ran from 1997-2003. And don't I know it. We are in the second season, but I don't know if I'll survive the whole show. The cheese factor is overwhelming, which ironically makes the show underwhelming.

And...scene.

Country and Christmas, not to be mistaken for "Country Christmas" which I find revolting even though I'm from Texas.

I just came off a SUPER FUN weekend which for the first time in many MANY moons did NOT involve even a split second of schoolwork. It did, however, involve:

Movie night (Terms of Endearment) including DaVinci's pizza followed by a trip to the pub under Third Place Books in the U District.

FREE yoga! Ommmm...followed by lunch at Boom Noodle. Chicken teriyaki, delish.

Chick flick w/the roommate (Letters to Juliet) followed by a fabulous nap on the couch followed by...

My first ever trip to The Little Red Hen, this country bar/club in Seattle. It was AWESOME. Next time, I'm wearing my Daddy's cowboy hat. Highlights:

• A great band, great music, and great margaritas.
• Jesse applied his knowledge of salsa dancing to the country music, and guess what? It totally worked. I love him.
• We learned (I re-learned) the Tush Push. Jesse picked it up after watching twice. Then he taught me. Seemed quite backward to me.
• This OLD couple...no lie, had to be in their 80s. And boy did they dance! I danced with the dude...adorable. I hope when I'm their age I'm gettin' my country dance on at the Little Red Hen.
• I was quel impressed by the number of country music fans...I really thought I was the only one who listened to it in all of Seattle.
• Leah's boyfriend, Kassra, was like "Are we still in Seattle? On Earth?" So I translated the lyrics for him: "I told her way up yonder past the caution light there's a little country store with an old Coke sign. You gotta stop and ask Mrs. Bell for some of her sweet tea...Mama gave her a big ol' glass and sent her right back here to me."

Sunday brought Seattle's first snow of the season...and our Christmas tree! Leah's awesome friend, Joe, met us at Home Depot and we loaded up on Christmas! I've wanted to decorate the last few years but haven't had the energy (or money, hello graduate school). This year, I have a job and TONS of energy! So we went a little Christmas crazy. We spent the afternoon listening to Christmas music, drinking hot cocoa, and setting everything up. The tree went in front of the living room window that looks out to the Seattle skyline.

Not so super fun, but went right along with the excitement of the weekend...I went to my room for bed and noticed out the side window what appeared to be fire. Upon further inspection, the a recliner chair on the back porch of the house next door was ON FIRE. I stood there gaping when a woman ran out onto the porch and dumped a pot of water on the chair. She looked at me and we made eye contact. It was one of those freaky moments when you watch someone in trouble and they see you seeing them. She ran back in and out again, this time on her cell phone. I hoped she was calling the fire department. I called Jesse and he told me to call the fire department. Just then, I heard sirens so I went to the front of the apartment to see if they stopped and they did. From my bedroom, I watched the firemen come to the back porch and put out the fire. They tossed the big chair over the 2nd floor balcony to assess the damage on the porch. It was pretty dark, but some of the floor and a lot of the railing was burned. Oh yeah, the whole house (porch included) is wood, as is ours. And also, the houses are like 2 feet apart. If we both reached out, we could touch. Scary.

This morning, I woke up to SERIOUS SNOW on the ground. I made it to work, but they are saying we will likely close early. I know it's a bit treacherous but to be honest, I'm just excited. Thanksgiving is next week, snow is on the ground, the Christmas tree is up, and I have a poinsettia in my office.

North Seattle Community College

P.S. If you are one of those people who thinks being excited about and/or decorating for Christmas before the day after Thanksgiving is insane, please don't rain (or dump snow) on my parade.

questions & tidbits

Questions:
1. Anyone know how I can decorate for Christmas w/o spending a fortune? I'm thinking Value Village and Big Lots. Other places?

B. How can I FINALLY stop biting my nails? I've had a few good runs in the past breaking the habit, but something always kills it. But I like my nails when they are long and pretty. Plus, my broken finger looks like it is forever bent out of shape so I desperately need long, pretty nails to make up for it.

D. When should I go to Texas? I need to earn some vacation time, so I'm looking at Spring. Probably when I'm about to kill myself b/c it's March and the high is barely 50 degrees in Seattle. But the academic calendar will keep me from going during March...maybe February? Except in February it will probably still be chilly and I'll be darned if I go to Texas and it's not warm. If I go in February, I don't know if I can go again in summer because I'll be wanting to go for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Am I overthinking this?

20. I thought my last post would evoke at least one comment. So, what could I have done differently? Too long? Should I have only posted about the mid-term or the BFGE but not both? Or are you people all just too busy?

Tidbits:
Holiday plans: Helena, Montana. Jesse hasn't seen his grandmother or dad in over six years, so of course I haven't met them. They decided to get together so I will be in Helena, Montana for Christmas.
**Note: I've never been to Montana, and my first time will be in the dead of winter. It may end up being "the dead of Pegs" if it's anything like I'm imagining. Snow up to the roof, cars dying whilst driving b/c it's too.damn.cold.
**Jesse's grandmother seems to be the cutest person ever, judging by her emails. She's asked what Christmas traditions my family has and told me to let her know what my wish list is but keep it under $10,000. Super cute, but I can already tell she's going to remind me of Aama.

The Biggest Loser: I pig out while watching it every week. You'd think the opposite.

Rhianna and Eminem apparently have a sequel to that song about domestic violence. Because one wasn't enough?

in the last 24 hours...

4:30 pm--arrived to my class, prepared for mid-term.

5:00 pm--professor finally starts talking about the test, saying he thinks it's easier than he meant it to be and asking if anyone has questions. We ask questions about the questions that he said last week would be the EXACT questions on the test "because the point is that I want you to learn, not just pass a test."

5:15 pm--he hands out the test. Not ONE question is from the review. Not one.

5:45 pm--I turn in my test and leave the classroom. PISSED. It's a credit/no credit class! We should be writing reflection papers, not taking crazy tests like we never take in grad school. AND we have to get 80% to get credit for the course. Out of 20 questions, I counted TEN that I COMPLETELY guessed. WTF.

5:50 pm--make furious phone call to Jesse, shrieking that I may end up finishing this quarter as ABD plus EDLPS 560 (the course). Sure, I write a 50 page General Exam but I can't pass a 20 question test...when I'm led to believe the questions will be completely different.

5:55 pm--I return to the scene of the crime and wait for Leah to come out (who is also in the class). She does, and the WTF conversation ensues. Then Girl We Also Studied With comes out. Same WTF conversation. Then Girl Who Takes the Class Way Too Seriously (recorded the review last week) came out, made WTF face, and started ranting. Such it went, so that by...

6:25 pm--people were still taking the test (that was supposed to have had a 45 minute time limit) and 20+ more people have come out of the room with the same Dazed & Confused expression.

10:00 pm--Leah comes home from her second class and informs me that the last few people said something to Prof about the craziness, so I am left to feel justice will win the day. But I have to wait until Monday to find out.

This morning...

8:20 am--Jesse drops Leah & me off at UW. I meet with Director of Student Services for another Advisor Handbook project meeting because I knew I'd already be on campus, before my Big Fat General Exam (BFGE). Sure, because I don't have anything else on my mind...let's have a meeting about the Advisor Handbook. I might not repeat that choice.

9:30 am--Leave meeting and go to room where BFGE will be held. Of course it's locked. I run around and find the Guy with All the Keys to unlock it. I place handouts at each committee member's seat and sit in my own seat.

9:35 am--Someone walks down the hall. I wonder if it's one of the committee members. It isn't.

9:37 am--Repeat above.

9:39 am--Repeat above.

9:45 am--First committee member arrives. Oddly enough, she routinely works in Senegal, West Africa, on her research...the very same Senegal I lived in before, so we chat.

9:55 am--Second committee member arrives. More chit chat.

10:00 am--Third committee member (my chair) arrives. Conversation ensues regarding students' usage of laptops in the classroom...apparently, they all know we're surfing Facebook instead of taking notes.

10:10 am--Still no fourth committee member. So I go hunt her down. She's in her office where she has mixed up the times, apologizes profusely and we scoot back down the hall.

10:15 am--We begin. I go through the handouts I have brought, paring the 50 page document I submitted down to 5 pages. Impressive.

10:30 am--The questions. Mostly about my study. Yes, but if you do this, how will you handle this? And what if this happens?

11:15 am--Chair asks me to leave for a few minutes while they talk about me. Comforting.

11:25 am--I am asked to return, told I have passed unanimously, and congratulated as an official Doctoral Candidate. My response? "Yay!" and "Thank you."

11:30 am--Class dismissed.

in the next 24 hours...

I will take a mid-term for the first time in YEARS. Of course, my last quarter of course work and the professor decides to do a mid-term and final for a CREDIT/NO CREDIT class. Seriously.

And, drumroll please...after leaving the Ed.D. in Higher Education program not once, but twice...I will be having the oral portion of my General Exam (written already completed, thank.you.very.much) at 10:00 am tomorrow.

On track to be a "Doctoral Candidate" or "ABD" (all but dissertation) when grades post in December. But only if I can pass a mid-term and final in a credit/no credit class. Geez. Here's hoping I remember how to do something besides write a paper and talk about it.

missing Africa

I just looked through Kari's Senegal blogs, and started to feel blue. Especially when I saw pictures of dear friends that I haven't seen in 6.5 years.

It's strange how I've spent only 1/16th of my life in Africa, but it feels like a second home. My heart actually aches sometimes to be back there. To smell the funk, to eat the yassa, to laugh with my African friends when I hardly understand what's being said, to hold my orphan babies. And to worry that they think I've forgotten them. Don't they realize that Africa gets inside and stays, that it will not let you forget (even if you wanted to, which I don't).

I saw the documentary Babies last weekend and HIGHLY recommend it. I have been wanting to see it because it has two things I adore: babies and cultures. In case you don't know the film documents the lives of four babies from birth to first steps. The babies are from Namibia (my first adventure to Africa in 2000), Mongolia, Japan (where I'm dying to go), and San Francisco.

I watched it by myself and laughed, cried, you name it. Then, I watched it again with Jesse because I needed him to have just a glimpse of the Africa that is such an important part of my life.

not hungry

It finally happened. Peggy's not hungry.

In 2004, I went on a bit of an anorexic streak. But for the last 5 years, I have been a solid eater. So solid that I eat when I'm not hungry. One of those boredom eaters. Also, a midnight snacker. It's not a binge thing. I eat a 90 calorie granola bar in the middle of the night. Or maybe a string cheese. But for some reason, when I get up to pee, I feel a compulsive urge to go grab a little somethin-somethin.

Then came Monday. On Monday, I ate a Hawaiian bagel w/cream cheese for breakfast. Then a chicken teriyaki bowl for lunch. Pretty normal. THEN.

A massive headache hit around 3pm, but I forced myself to go to class. At about 6:30, I thought I was going to pass out. Or puke. Or both. 20 minutes later, class ended and I drove home.

Rewind: a typical evening food-wise for me is to eat dinner. Then eat a snack. Then eat dessert. Then another little snack. Then bed. Then the midnight snack. (You can see how I gained back 20 pounds since 2004). Mind you, they were usually the light options I mentioned earlier...but lots of low cal stuff still adds up to high cal.

I felt incomplete if I didn't eat my little ritual. It would bug me and bug me until I grabbed that snack.

Back to the present: so on Monday I arrive home and despite the nausea and headache, start my ritual. I microwaved a Lean Cuisine frozen pizza. I ate about half of it over 2.5 hours. Then threw it away. Then went to bed.

Now it's Thursday. For 3 days, I have eaten like a bird. Peggy doesn't eat like a bird. Peggy eats like an hombre.

I feel fine. No more headache, no more nausea since Monday night. But also, no appetite.

I stepped on the scale today. 3.5 pounds down in a week.

I'm sure I will talk to my therapist about this on Tuesday.

Oh yeah, I see a therapist.

dare i say it? sanity may have returned.

i say "may have" because i am in no position to jinx myself when it comes to my sanity.

since 2006, i have had WAY too many jobs. i have moved WAY too many times. i have had WAY too many deaths in the family. the only thing stable, really, has been my instability.

now here it is. 2010. i have a job that i like. i'm kickin' ass in school. my roommate is a super cool party person and i love our crib.

BUT...i am considering a change.

don't worry. it's not the change you are probably thinking. this change would not require some fine-tuning on the resume. nor would it involve filling out another change of address form with the US Post Office.

__________________________

i had a conversation with a co-worker about religion/faith the other day. she's looking for a church because her son will be two years old soon. i know that's why a lot of people decide to try to figure out what they believe in and they want a place they can go to learn how to best raise their kids in a moral way.

i get that. really, it makes sense.

but for me? i just want to figure out this faith thing for myself. but i have to be honest. i say that, yet i don't really do anything about it except think about it. i do think about it a lot though.

but i come back to the same conclusion (again, with no other effort outside of thinking about it). that i tried my hardest to "get it" (that thing they call Christianity) for 15 years. that's a long time. and i didn't get it.

the 3 times i've gone to church in the past 2.5 years? i felt weird. not a good weird.

so i don't know.

but i'll keep thinking about it.

0-60 in ...

So from late March when I left UNT and returned to Seattle until September 13 when I started my new job at North Seattle Community College, my schedule went a little like this:

9-ish...wake up (although really this varied from 8-ish to 10ish)
9-11 am watch Regis & Kelly, then The View
11 am - 3 pm some form of productivity, usually in the form of studying at a coffee shop
side note: okay, 11-3 is really generous. it was actually more like this:
11--leave house
11:30--arrive at coffee shop
11:45-12:00--order and set up computer
12:00-2:00--at best, this was my study time, usually partly spent checking email and Facebook because I don't have internet at home; some days, I decided to leave early and walk Jesse's dog because that was more fun
2:00-2:30--start packing up, because there could be traffic and I didn't want to be late for Ellen
2:30-3:00--drive back home
3-5 pm watch Ellen and Oprah
5 pm considered more productivity, but usually Jesse came home and that plan went to crap
*Note: On Wednesday mornings I was in class. The 11-3 study session generally did not happen on Wednesdays. Also, on Monday evenings I had my other class so I did deviate from the 5pm-bedtime routine on Mondays.

I took 2 courses in the Spring quarter for a grand total of 6 hours per week in class and as you saw above, perhaps 4 hours of quality study time each weekday.

In the summer quarter, I took a class for one month in June, requiring approximately 6 hours per week in class and some study time (see above).

I spent the rest of the summer leisurely working on my General Exam. It wasn't a piece of cake, but let's face it. When it's ALL you are doing (literally), there were a lot of days I didn't touch it. Or I put in some token amount of time so I didn't feel completely lazy.

Enter September 13th, 2010.
I now have been working full-time and started my last two courses this Fall quarter. My schedule looks like this:
Monday: work 8-3:30; class 4:30-7
Tuesday: work 8-5:30; standing appointment 6-7
Wednesday: work 8-5:30; run whatever errands have been neglected
Thursday: work 8-3:30; class 4:30-7
Friday: work 8-4:30; refuse to do anything but lay on the couch
Saturday-Sunday: study, study, study

Since this is my last quarter of coursework, I am convinced I will survive because I only have to keep this schedule up for 9 weeks. Surely, that's possible. Although I very nearly fell asleep while the President of NSCC spoke at a meeting yesterday, and I'm only in week 2.

We will see if I still have a pulse by December 9th.

Mount Rainier National Park

One of the things on my Washington Bucket List has been to go to Mount Rainier. So, in July I booked one of Jesse's good friends who is an Eagle Scout and avid hiker/camper to be our guide for a weekend adventure on September 11-12. John brought along his gal, Kiara, and voila! We had a double camp date!

Wilkeson, WA is the last town before entering the park so we took a cute picture at this caboose.

We're in the park!

See?

The boys made it to the park too.

Probably my new favorite picture of Jesse and me (with Carbon River behind us).

While John was our group expert, he still got some advice from Ranger Joe at the station.

Packs on--we're ready to hike! We hiked 5 miles (only 600 feet gain in elevation) to our campsite.

And the rear view...

Pretty Mount Rainier National Park

Our lunch spot (bagel sandwiches with salami & muenster cheese--yum!)

The boys started blabbing about video games, so Kiara and I took off ahead.

We made it to camp!

After setting up camp, we took off for an 8 mile (round trip) hike to Carbon Glacier. This was NOT for the faint of heart. Here I am with the river we had to cross on these teeny little bridges.

Clouds in the mountains

At one point, we were afraid we might run out of water on the hike. John pondered what to do...

Jesse found the perfect solution! We could fill our bottles at the falls!

Jesse & me at Ipsut Falls

Can you find me in the picture?

John is the photo bomb champion. I had NO idea he did this until I looked back at our pictures later in the evening.

But apparently, one photo bomb wasn't enough.

Crossing one of the teeny bridges.

Suspension bridge! So scary!

Jesse and I made it to Carbon Glacier! So dirty it doesn't look like a glacier!

This mossy stuff was both cool and creepy.

After 13 miles of hiking, we were tiiiiiired. So we settled in with hot cocoa. Wait, who's that guy without a headlamp?

Look at my beef cake pumping us some filtered water from the river...so dreamy.

Group shot at Chenuis Falls on the 5 mile hike back in the next day. These falls were much more beautiful!

Jesse and I at Chenuis Falls

I was a little sad to not see the actual Mount Rainier from our spot in the park (blocked by mountains, oh the irony). John, Kiara, Jesse, and I are already planning to go back next year and hit up another part of the park closer to Mount Rainier, like Sunrise.

Did I mention?

I got my first full-time, permanent position in Seattle EVER! (Unless you count The Crazy Place, otherwise known as The Art Institute, which I don't.)

I am the newest academic advisor (technically, Student Success Specialist--ooh fancy) at North Seattle Community College, where I filled in for an advisor on maternity leave for 5 months before going back to Texas. I love the staff I worked with and the students are awesome! I'm also looking forward to things such as a steady paycheck and health insurance (now that I get the pins yanked out of my finger at what I believe is my last appointment with the hand surgeon this Friday).

My first day is tomorrow!

PS Jesse and I went hiking/camping at Mt. Rainier National Park this weekend with some friends...it was awesome and we got lots of great pictures that will be posted soon so stay tuned!

Texas Vacay 2010

Cousins--Witt, Lacey & Annie

Vacation in Texas last month was awesome! I spent a week in South Texas at the condo with the fam. They've been mentioned on the blog lots, but because it can get confusing here is a cast of characters:
Royce & Cynthia (uncle & aunt)
Royce (aka Big Un), Lauren, Lacey, & Annie (cousin, his wife, and their 2 girls)
Witt (cousin Beau & wife Ann's precious baby)
Kate (awesome cuz)
Gayle & Lynn (great aunt & uncle)

Witt loves his bouncy chair--he stayed happily in it once for 45 minutes!

Lovely South Texas coast

Chillin' with Lacey

Big Un, Lauren, Lacey & Annie

Lauren & Annie in the pool

Two of my favorites! Cynthia & Gayle

Baby Witt--he's so beautiful!

Gayle & Lacey

Lauren & Witt

Red fish...dinner was usually the catch of the day

Auntie Pegs & Baby Witt

Gayle & the kiddos

Lacey helps feed Witt

Royce (aka Pops) and Witt)

Kate, Gayle, Cynthia, & Pegs

Ladies' Pedicures--Lacey & Annie got butterfly chairs!

Silly Lacey

Cynthia & Annie

Pops & Witt

Annie prepared herself for a nap

Auntie Pegs & Annie

The Second Half--At the Byrd House in Round Rock

While I did see Josh, Amy, Mels, and Summer, you'll notice my only pics were of Emma! Here she is with the Seattle Space Needle cup I brought her.

Chillin' at the pool

Loving the water!

So I did get one with Josh & Amy...and Emma of course!

Auntie Pegs & Emma

I had A LOT of Chick-Fil-A while in Texas...it was everything I remembered it to be. Sweet, sweet chicken bliss...especially when paired with a cookies 'n' cream milkshake!