shopping

  • I'm starting to think having papers to grade isn't a bad thing... I just spent who knows how much at endless.com & urbanoutfitters.com because I'm caught up on grading. Jeezus, Mary, and Bob.

  • The Quest for Black Boots.

    It's not like I NEED these boots... but I thought using Endless.com's free shipping TO YOU and free RETURNS would be an easy way to see if I should purchase a pair & use the rest of Gma/Gpa's Christmas money.

    Above: Rocket Dog ||| Bear Paw ||| EMU
    +
    Also, I have an Urban Outfitters order coming soon; they had a "Free Shipping with $150+" as well as Free Returns:

    So, yeah. Like my dad says, "We'll see." Even if none of it works, I'm not out shipping costs. For sure, the pink Manic Panic will get used! :o )

  • The Christmas Spirit. Or Christmas Karma.

    I shopped until I dropped today. Not quite literally, but it's a good phrase. I started w/Burlington Coat Factory because they sometimes have knock-offs when it comes to funky shoes. No luck today. Then I hit up this new shoe place next to T.J.Maxx; it was okay, but I ended up drifting into T.J.Maxx... picking up across-the-body bags and scarves... walked out  w/o a purchase.

    Next up was Target - my favorite retail place - and I scooped up a new book by Jenny McCarthy as well as some discounted Christmas stuff. I also got a discounted grey women's NFL Vikings tee (Farve's name on it), some cereal, a pink lip stain, and face toner. I think that was about it... I used some giftcards & only spent $33. Oh, I used Fran's Starbucks card to get a coffee pre-shopping; that was my breakfast & pre-lunch (I chowed yesterday, so I didn't wake up starving).

    From there, I thought about hitting Barnes&Noble for David Sedaris' new book (or maybe it's not out yet?), but went to the mall instead. I roamed Herberger's, tried on some EMU boots (I'd like some black Ugg looking things... maybe), sprayed myself with some Ed Hardy perfume, and then ended up buying a scarf I've been eyeing - it was 60% off! - for $13. Yay!

    I got some late lunch then at McD's; I did my favorite meat trifecta of a Fillet O Fish, McDouble, and McChicken (and small fries & Diet Coke)... I don't eat much of the buns (I dislike white bread & don't care that I waste it; kids in Ethiopia wouldn't want it anyhow), and it was yummy. I think I got down half the fries before calling it "good" and refilling my Coke on the way toward Macy's.

    Sidenote: The McD's counter lady was grouchy. It wasn't my fault she kind of had a beard (and worked at McD's), so I smiled and I was nice. Same goes for the goth girl I sat by in the food court; I smiled and complimented her earrings (they were like my gun ones only they were swords). Still, she disgustedly said thank you. Ugh. C'mon people! It's Christmas! AND, really, Christmas or no Christmas, can't people try to enjoy themselves?!
    Sidenote to the Sidenote: Like 75% of the people who work at Savers are super nice. Super nice. Ditto for Target. No wonder I gravitate towards those places.

    Okay, so at Macy's, I saw more EMU boots, but no black in size 9. Errrg. I tried on some majorly clearanced stuff in the Juniors section and ended up purchasing a weird striped tee, two mini stretch skirts, and a lil' black dress. All of that was a grand total of like $16! Rock on! After Macy's, I snuck into The Gap... tried on stuff but then walked out with nada. It's all good; I have a lot of jeggings from there and was wearing skinny jeans from there already. Yeah. I believe I headed out of the mall after that.

    Best Buy was next on my list because I wanted to use Gma&Gpa's (Mertes) money for an external hard-drive, and my brother recommended Seagate's 1TB one ($129, $139 with tax). I found it easily, and then drooled on the iPad and 27" iMac. I would love to upgrade my 22" iMac (that works as well as it did when I got it in January of 2007) and my netbook and get those two things. Hmm...

    Lastly, I got sucked into the Savers vortex, as usual. I had a 30% coupon that had to be used by January 7th. After taking my time in there - which was lovely - I walked out with about $54 of stuff: three fur coats, a pair of funky men's jeans, a Dunder Mifflin Paper Company tee, a black zip-up fleece jacket, and two slips (one animal print and one pok-a-dotted).


  • From another student's GBP. She did hers on whether shopping is just a transaction.
    :o )

  • One of my most important entries...

    I will openly admit that I have underestimated this conference/trip.

    I mean, hell, I didn't even want to come to be completely honest. I wanted to stay close to home for various reasons: 1) the flood, 2) getting father along in school after too many days off, 3) the UND Writer's conference hosted Klosterman!, and 4) Dream$ Auction with my family (and the ability to eat the culinary students' food). But with all those reasons behind me now, it dawned on me tonight in my return trip to the hotel how necessary it was for me to come. It also dawned on me how much fun it is to drive an SUV, but anyhow...

    THE PEOPLE. First off, I have met additional cool professors from Macomb Community College; I didn't think there could be more of 'em beyond Joe and Danielle, but what do I know? Secondly, I met some funky faculty (including the cutest couple, Hi to Sam & Sandy!) from Schoolcraft Community College. In addition, there were others, like the guy who grabbed me as I went to my rental in the parking lot to tell me about his activity in class dealing with "filthy" words; he had heard I loved blasphemy and it's definitely an exercise I'm going to try out. I wish I could recall his name... Closky is the last perhaps (I think he was from Kalamazoo CC...)? I'll have to do some research & email him a thank-you. And Cecila from Sinclair CC and the two cute ladies from Columbus CC. And Mary Kaufman. And Rosa-Maria.

    THE GEEK IN ME. So, yea, I don't like to fly. Would rather be drugged, put in a box, and shipped somewhere, but I know fully GET why I go to these things = I feel like I am TRULY me at these conferences. I'm, as some said after my witty presentation, "vivacious" and "mind-popping" which I STRIVE to be everyday (and fail miserably at most of the time). I guess, maybe, I feel like these people GET me. Well, everyone except the other Englisher lady who I blasphemed Shakespeare in front of; she tried to change my mind, but I'm sticking to my guns there, hun.

    THE ECONOMY. Basically, I've witnessed first-hand now how the "in the shitter" (excuse my vernacular) Michigan's economy is. It breaks my heart to hear that their unemployment is so dangerously high. Like with the flood, I feel helpless although I did go shopping to do my part to boost anything I could.

    THE PAST. While in one session today, half paying attention, half not, I looked through the MIIIE Newsletter. There, in the middle, was an article written by Roxie (my former officemate & colleague) about her trip last spring to China. Of course I read it and of course it was good. I realized that I missed her, and I missed our good times. That article reminded me to email her and just say hi. Life is too short.

    I know I have more to report about what I learned overall and specifically in each session, but I want to call my sister and get some shut-eye. Watch out ND; I'm back in the state 24hrs from now!

  • If it's going to be a) this cold and b) this windy, then it should c) just snow already. Then it'd LOOK like winter at least, and not an uber chilly late fall. Ma Nature must be out of town; she's missed all our voicemail messages.

    Realizations from last night's talk with Taya: 1) No relationship rule ever applies to all relationships at all times, 2) Why should I have to work at a friendship with someone who won't reciprocate?, and 3) Just like how "they" have proven that people eat more when with friends, I think I buy more when I shop with friends (which may be another reason I like to shop alone?)?

  • Those wind turbins are SO COOL. One popped out of the scenery today on my jaunt to Baxter, MN. Yea... I got antsy this morning right around 9am. Stupid teacher-body. Thought about venturing way down to Albertville, but settled for Baxter and Steve & Barry's and SJP's BITTEN line. I guess that store is closing soon, which is really sad; however, I picked up some bargains.

    Saw a horse-drawn carriage; the kids in it waved to me. Saw horses, and the biggest shelterbelt ever (near Baxter along 210), and retraced the old shopping path I had when I taught in Battle Lake. I considered, right around Wall Lake, driving around a few lakes to see if any very small cabins were up for sale, but my lease doesn't expire until next summer anyhow.

    Speaking of my damn lease, we're under new management AGAIN; now I have to mail my rent to some obscure place in Fargo. Sheesh. I'm stuck between renting in ND with the idea to eventually buy a place on a small lake within commuting distance and owning an actual home in ND with a lower possibility of being able to afford a small cabin on a lake. I'm "young" still, yet that's my big dream = lake place.

    After that dream, second on the list is probably the family and dog and all that, but somewhere in the top three is to own a old bug. I saw TWO today, as a matter of fact. A yellow one actually for sale near Pillager, I think; the other one, green, was in a junk yard by Battle Lake (?).

    I've blogged about all these things before; these items are not new news to those who know me well. I just gotta find extra income somewhere to make it all happen; I'm not going to wish without trying to make it all come true.

  • Remember that schedule I made up yesterday? Well, I've already screwed it up. No worries. I don't plan to do much this weekend, so I'll move what I should've done today to tomorrow and then tomorrow's wrap-up will be Saturday or Sunday. No biggie. I am FLEXIBLE. FLEX-SYBIL. Oooooooooh. Freaky.

    I'm also not upset I missed out on prepping today because that time got substituted with a conversation/lunch/help session with Anne, our newbie faculty person. I got to see her HUGE house in Fergus, we had one of the best lunches ever (I have to steal her ckn salad recipe!), and then we discussed all sorts of very "teacherly" topics. It was a great geek-out session, indeed. Then I got to shop afterward before heading home sweet home. Today encompassed my two obsessions, really. Academics and shopping. No wonder I am happily exhausted. After Kathy Griffin's new episode tonight, I go out like a light.

  • Global warming produces tornadoes and all sorts of odd weather systems.
    Just like how I have been producing snot. Maybe there's no coincidence.

    Typically, for this fashionista/shopaholic, shopping is a fun adventure. Today was different. I basically waited for items to come up and bite me on the butt. I was just not into it (this, of course, doesn't mean my credit cards didn't warm up eventually). I was shopping mainly to get back into doing daily exercise (walking for most of the day, etc.) because I've been recuperating from a freaking stupid cold. I want to go for a bike ride tomorrow; it'd be nice to have the energy (lung capacity) to do that and feel like I am back to 100% health. That's all I am saying. Technically, I walked around from about 10:30am until 2pm, with a lunch break in there of maybe 15min. I suppose that's better than nothing.

    Another oddity, which may work in my favor, is my appetite. It's been lacking lately (started when I felt the worst last Thursday); I'll think about cooking something and end up asking myself, "Am I really hungry for that?" And I can cook up many delicious items. Sometimes, during the summer, my stomach gets like this, but it could also be a transitional phase from not feeling well/not eating a lot to regular eating/exercise. It seems like, since I don't get ill that often, when I do, I get smacked upside the melon with it. Probably also because it's my biggest pet peeve.

    I think I've written enough about having this dang cold, so I should probably just move onto other topics.

    So far, so good as far as the start to the summer school class is concerned. I definitely thought ahead when I gave the students these first two weeks to complete Units 1-4. I say that I was thinking ahead because a) that gives those who log in/get their books later on during that first week some time to get going, b) it allows me a buffer of two weeks+ before I have to assess anything, and c) this week & weekend are going to be too nuts for me to worry about assessment anyhow (little brother gets married Saturday!).

  • It is really bugging me to read a library book. I like to highlight and write all over my books.
    Ugh.
    Anyhow, the second chapter of Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs, he states that "nobody truly know how they act" (background - he tried out playing The Sims game)... that "most extroverts think they're introverts" and vice versa for introverts who think they're extroverts. "Maybe that's why extroverts won't shut up (because they always fear they're not talking enough) while introverts just sit on the couch and do nothing (because they assume everybody is waiting for them to be quiet)." Would an introvert BE a teacher? Can the oldest in a family BE introverted? [Said like Chandler Bing.]

    He then jumps on those who consider themselves "cynical" and even those of us who consider ourselves "creative." "If you define your personality as creative, it only means you understand what is perceived to be creative by the world at large, so you're really just following a rote creative template. That's the opposite of creativity." I feel torn by these statements. Of course I think I am creative. I like to think that I create stuff that's different than what's been created previously. But maybe he's onto something. To be honest, my head hurts trying to decide whether I agree or not.

    "Everybody is wrong about everything, just about all the time." What a beautiful generalization, Chuck. Whoa. I mean, I'm the first to claim that I don't know everything. But, again, I'd like to think I was right at least 25% of the time.

    A few paragraphs later, he mentions that his niece had The Sims game at her house in "rural ND." Now, at first I was thrilled he mentioned his homeland. Then I thought, "Why do we always gotta prove that we're 'civilized'? That we have roads and cars? And technology." Did he mention ND because for that reason at all? I wonder...

    "What The Sims suggests is that buying things makes people happy because it takes their mind off of being alive. I would think this would actually make them feel worse, but every woman I've ever dated seems to disagree." Now, Chuck. I shop to get away from the daily stresses of everything (students asking me questions, family needed me to this or that, etc.) just like guys have to go hunting from time to time, or fishing. I don't necessarily need to buy anything to have a "good day of shopping." Plus, isn't there something innate in us that wants to gather & hunt things? And, it's exercise. I'd rather shop than sit on my butt at home and watch Reality TV.

    It looks like the next chapter is actually about Reality TV. Specifically, The Real World. Before I read it, I'd like to note that I haven't watched a season of that show in a long time. I'd argue that it's because the show has changed, not me. Remember when it was about racism and love and life? Yea. Now it's about watching attractive, spoiled kids get drunk and fight.