Ramblings of a Thirty-Something

Since this winter has decided to linger on and on and continue bringing us disgusting weather (even though normally, I love winter and would not be complaining...but come on, already!), most people have started turning their minds toward Spring Break. Where can I go to get away from this? My biggest problem is the same that many people are having--money. There is one other problem:  companionship. I need to save my money so I can pay for those lovely student loans and my beautiful car. I also am limited with companionship, as most people I know are either already going places or also trying to save money and might be on a tighter budget than I am. Thus, I am stuck trolling the internet to find something to do that would allow me to get away for a few days. Even just a long weekend would be lovely. Problem? Most places I want to go/would be warm enough are quite a drive or not exactly cheap. Most of me wants to go someplace warm where I can lay outside and read all day (which does n

I may haven mentioned before that I do not care for the movie When Harry Met Sally , but just to reiterate, I don't like it. There's just something about it that I can't stand. But the one thing I did take away from it was the high/low maintenance comment Harry makes to Sally. About how there are two types of women--high maintenance and low maintenance--and that Sally is the worst kind:  she is high maintenance but thinks she's low maintenance. This definition intrigued me, and thus, is the only thing I liked about that movie. I hate how people constantly make judgements about high and low maintenance. I could have phrased this in the way it was in my head--where I use the stereotype about how guys think girls are high maintenance. But I didn't, so moving on with life. I think it is so funny when people call someone else high maintenance and make it seem negative. Sure, it absolutely can be, but I think being "high maintenance" is just code for knowing w

I love the Olympics--of course, I don't know many people who don't. I once wrote in a post that I never see Americans uniting over something non-tragic; well, scratch that! We certainly unite over the Olympics, as do most countries. We love our athletes (surely the commercials show you that). But I love watching the Olympics, especially the Winter Games. Don't get me wrong--I love the summer games. I just feel so much less guilty when I sit on the couch and watch all-day coverage in the winter when it isn't nice enough to go outside. In 2012, I didn't get to watch most of the Olympics, as I was on vacation (better planning next time), but I've watched a lot of the Sochi Games. I've been able to teach my students about the Olympics, from the history of the competition to the culture of the countries participating. As I said, I love the national unity that stems from the Olympics. I also love getting to see other athletic greats performing from across the wo

First of all, disclaimer:  I love Valentine's Day. Not as much as the girl in the movie, but I am not that single girl that hates V-Day just because I'm single. Sure, if you let it, it'll get you down, but I choose to focus on the chocolate and not who's giving me the chocolate...and that helps tremendously. Anyway, since I don't have a Valentine (aside from this delicious bottle of Pink Moscato and the guys on the 1980 Olympic Hockey Team...I love watching Miracle ), I thought it would be fun to do a Valentine's Day post for my future Valentine. Now, please note:  I do not wish for this to sound like I would be ungrateful for anything my Valentine might give me. I just always think it's fun to fantasize about different things--if I got to choose, what would I pick? The Card I spent over an hour with my friend looking for the perfect Valentine's Day card for her boyfriend. It was fun reading all the different cards and laughing at them and rolling o

As you may (or may not) know, I started taking violin lessons this summer. I've always admired the sound of the instrument and enjoyed watching it played. It is a fascinating piece of musicality that I wanted to learn more about. And so, two years ago, I went on eBay and bought a violin from China for $50. Is it a great violin? No. Is it a good violin? Uh...maybe passable is a better word. But after sitting through a youth symphony concert thinking about how I could easily do what they are doing out there (hahaha), I went ahead and spent the money. And then it sat in my room for two years. I had no idea where to start! I needed to find someone to give me lessons, but I had no idea of how to go about that. My siblings even bought me a violin bow for Christmas one year to make up for the broken one mine came with...but I still couldn't play it. This summer, I decided to figure out something. Even if I only took one lesson to get me started, I was going to play my violin, one

On my "about me" section of my blog, I stated that I am an "aspiring writer." Some people may or may not know what that means. Not in the way that they are ignorant and don't know what those words literally mean, but more in the way that they don't know what it means in this context. Let's start with the literal. To aspire mean " to long, aim, or seek ambitiously; to yearn." Basically, it means to want something so badly you can taste it and to work toward that something until you actually can taste it...much like a person running after an ice cream truck. And the word writer can have many avenues. It can simply mean a person who writes, a person who commits their thoughts to writing, or, as in most people's minds, a person who writes books or articles as an occupation or profession.  Now, the fact that I have this blog proves that I am, indeed, a writer. I am a person who writes. I also keep a diary and have for the past eleven

I'm weird when it comes to vacations. Actually, I'm just weird in general, but you already knew that. I don't vacation like a normal person. I have to be doing something--not every second of every vacation day, but I can't just sit idle on a beach. Of course, I've never taken a vacation like that, so maybe I would enjoy it. I like to better myself on vacations. Usually, that means learning something. Doing something physical like hiking would be good also. There are a few trips that I would love to take--trips that sound exciting and also educational, especially for a Social Studies teacher. Now, I might be the only person who would ever find any of these exciting. But maybe not...and if anyone would like to accompany me on any of these trips, I'd be delighted to have company. 1. A riverboat trip down the Mississippi Just like Tom Sawyer...well, except he rode on a raft. This is such a romantic idea--not lovey-dovey romantic but the idea of being connected

Disney has done a fairly good job in the past few years at making female characters powerful. In my own childhood, we had Pocahontas and Mulan to look up to, who, despite some flaws in their stories, were the saviors of the men they loved rather than the damsels being saved. Now don't get me wrong--I'm not one of those Disney-hating feminists who won't watch movies like The Little Mermaid and Cinderella because of the gender stereotypes. I love those two movies--there aren't many Disney movies I don't like. Sure, sure, I know there are all kinds of ideological things presented, but that's what critics do. They look for hidden things in movies and books that fit their agenda. There was an awesome thing I saw online that relates. It had two interpretations of a scene in a book:  the English teacher (or critic) and the author. The English teacher rambled on about how the character's curtains were blue and how the blue curtains represented the character's