Category: A Better Me

Is this what Oprah’s trying to say?

I’ve been watching a lot of Oprah (now that it’s over) lately and today, I watched the episode that she had Roseanne Barr on. In the segment that Roseanne talks about how it wasn’t incest, Oprah says,

If you say, I mean, I think that there’s nothing worse than being, well certainly levels of abuse, but to be abused, but to say that you were abused, when in fact you really weren’t abused, and that person has to live with that, that is also a horror; that is as horrible as the abuser.

She stumbled through that (as you can see – I paused and played quite a few times to get it all right) statement but I completely agree with what I think she’s trying to say – if you accuse someone of something bad and try to take it back later, both still have to live with the initial statement and the consequences of it being made.

I tried to find a video of the segment but YouTube didn’t seem to have anything except the promo for this episode. Let me know your thoughts.

Love you, mean it.
~C

To be more specific…

I have my general plan for the move laid out, as you saw in my last post. As of right now, I have exactly 2 weeks until the actual move and I feel like I’m floundering in stuff. I’m doing my best to try not to pack things that I’ll need to sort once I get there by sorting and getting rid of things now. But I feel like these next 2 weeks will zoom by and I’ll once again be shoving things into boxes and onto the truck at the last possible moment.

There are quite a few things in a house that just must wait to be packed. My friend Stacy asked me today what percentage of the house do I have packed and I honestly couldn’t answer her. I’m truly not sure because I feel like I have a majority of the house still to pack up.

Tomorrow’s (Friday, July 1) task is to make a list and prioritize everything that will have to be done in the next two weeks. Everything from schedule utilities to be turned off here to packing a suitcase for Texas Bandmasters so I’m not scrambling to get that done and not knowing where anything is while it’s still in boxes. I am also having the 2nd and final phase of the Driveway Sale on Saturday morning so tomorrow will be a prep day for that extravaganza as well.

Something I haven’t said in any of these posts yet – this will be my 18th move in 38 years. Funny thing is, I feel like I don’t know what I’m doing. I guess because this is the biggest move I’ve had by myself yet. If you have any suggestions for the planning stage of the next two weeks, leave me a comment. Any suggestion is welcome!

Love you, mean it!
~C

Okay, here’s the plan

I have a move plan that I hope will work. Thing is, I really can’t afford movers so I have to do this with the help of friends and family. I think this will be the easiest if we do it in 2 days because there’s just enough driving involved that trying to do it in 1 would kill me. I may not be old but I’m not young anymore, either; AND I’m moving smack in the middle of July (why can I never move in December??).

On Friday, July 15, start early (hopefully, I can pick up the truck the night of the 14th and not get charged for an extra day – I’ll have to tap into my band director-truck rental negotiating skills) to pack the last of the stuff and load the truck. It takes me just under 3 hours to drive to Huntsville on my own so I figure it’ll take us about 3 1/2 hours to caravan a truck and any personal vehicles there. I have a feeling that’ll realistically put us in Huntsville around 5 or 6 pm. I have a lot of stuff and I always have last minute stuff to pack, sorry.

Here’s why it’ll probably take 2 days – when we get there, we’ll be tired after hauling things into the truck then driving that whole way. So, I think we should grab things we have to unload (food, personal things for overnight), have some dinner and chill out for the evening. If we pack the truck just right and put a TV on towards the end, we could even pull that out and have some entertainment since cable should already be hooked up. 🙂

On Saturday, July 16, start early again (cooler temps!!) to unload the truck and take things to the storage unit (which I still have to arrange for). I am renting a truck from Penske and their nearest drop off point is about 30 minutes away so Ken and I are going to take the truck back and hopefully, he can stay an extra day to help me get the new place situated. He’s VERY good at that stuff.

Yes, I’m going to have to store things. A lot of what I have in the garage here is curriculum from my elementary teaching days that I either made or bought. I can’t really sell it in a garage sale and I didn’t get to offer it for sale to current RRISD elementary music teachers so I’m taking it with me. Besides, there will probably be someone who wants to teach elementary music who is graduating soon that might be interested in my stuff. Yes, some of the VHS tapes may be technologically outdated but many schools have plenty of VHS players (and will for a long time, I predict) so I think I can sell that stuff through my time in grad school. I also have a Christmas tree and decorations as well as Halloween decorations that won’t fit in the apartment as well as some other things I need time to go through and figure out what I’m going to do with it that I will work with at the storage unit. I know what this realistically means – I may need the show Clean Sweep to come make me do it but I’ve gone through this stuff once recently and I can go through it again. It’s a process to let go.

So that’s the plan, folks. I’ll need help both here and in Huntsville (I’m moving my washer & dryer so as much muscle as possible there will be nice). I have quite a bit of beer and food to pay you with. I also need to borrow at least one large ice chest so if you have one that I can borrow (I’ll be back through Austin the next weekend), I’d certainly appreciate the use of it. If you can help for any of this, leave a comment.

Love you, mean it!
~C

Here’s what you missed…

A lot has happened since I last posted a “real” blog entry.

I’ve applied to several graduate conducting programs (MM) and have decided to go to Sam Houston State University. I’ve gotten acceptance letters from the University as well as a Graduate Assistantship so I’m now officially a Bearkat (what’s a Bearkat? A naked Bobcat!! The last time I’ll probably be able to make that joke for a while 🙂 ). I’ll be moving to Huntsville, TX mid-July. If you want to help me move, I’ll take all the help I can get. I have a lot of stuff.

Speaking of a lot of stuff, I’m having a garage sale on Saturday, May 21. Yes, it’s the morning after my birthday but I think celebrations are going to happen on Saturday evening so I’m not too concerned. If you’d like to participate in the garage sale, let me know. The more the merrier! I’m selling mostly clothes but I’m sure there will be some furniture and such in the mix. It’s hard to know how much I need to downsize since I haven’t been to Huntsville to find a place to live or not yet. That’s happening sometime in early June.

It’s a good thing I got this spot and GA at Sam because my position at Stony Point has been cut (cue sad music here). I have a contract through the 2011-2012 school year but seeing as they’ve cut 5 or 6 band directors at least 50% with only 1 spot open to fill, I have a feeling they’d tap into my other certifications (I have quite a few) and I’d get stuck teaching general elementary education. As much as I enjoyed student teaching 5th grade social studies and language arts, it was a novelty and a means to an end and I couldn’t imagine myself doing that for real! Some can with no thought – juggling all those subjects and small people is NOT for me!

Brad got a job in Beaumont (YAY!) but because of the distance and lack of time, he decided that being in the relationship we were in was too hard, considering what a terrible year he’s had already. He just can’t put anymore stress on his emotions right now. He broke things off two weeks ago (cue more sad music here). I guess I really can’t blame him, knowing everything I know about what’s happened in the past year. It doesn’t stop it from sucking, though. I really miss him. But you know me – shed gallons of tears, put my head down and I’ll prevail yet again. Who knows what will happen when I move to Huntsville, either. You just have to keep on living.

What else…nothing much I can think of right now. I guess I could go back and re-read my last “real” blog post to find other things but that’s enough for now. Take care!
Love you, mean it!
~C

Getting to know more about you.

Here’s a new edition of MannLand5’s Getting To Know You –

1. what’s something you’ve eaten and liked, but didn’t think you would?
~ I’m not sure that there’s anything on this list. I consider myself to be an adventurous eater so nothing is “off the list” of items to try.

2. plastic surgery..yay or nay?
~ No thanks. Unless I had a (God forbid) disfiguring accident or something that needed a plastic surgeon’s expertise.

3. 2 things you love about spring are…..?
~ Certainly not the allergies! But the weather – absolutely! And getting to swim outdoors again (although I haven’t been yet) is a great thing about spring.

4. when’s the last time you went on a picnic?
~ A few weekends ago, Brad & I packed a picnic lunch and the dog and went to Zilker Park. It was a very nice day. Other than going camping with him last fall, I can’t remember the last time I had a picnic like that.

5. what’s your favorite app?
~ Just one? Maybe Facebook and/or Twitter are ones I use the most. Other than that, I enjoy game apps like Words With Friends and Angry Birds. Can you believe that only 4 years ago, we wouldn’t know what this conversation meant???

6. who does the grocery shopping in your house?
~ Brad and I go together when we can.

7. would you rather take a spin class or zumba?
~ Seeing as though I don’t belong to a gym nor do I plan on it, neither.

8. how often do you go out to dinner?
~ With the state of our household economy, we rarely go out to eat. It’s a good thing I love to cook!