New Clothes

So, I went on my bi-annual shopping trip yesterday and today. The goal: to buy new school clothes. After bumming around SMU in my casual outfits, I will now actually have a job that requires appropriate attire. And since it is a Baptist university, I am assuming they don't want me to wear things like sleeveless shirts and open-toed shoes. Unfortunately, everything in every store is either still very summer-y or it's incredibly ugly. I only ended up buying two pairs of pants, a fantastic dress, flats, and a new handbag. I must have tried on 15 different knee-length black skirts, none of which flattered my body. This disaster means I have to go shopping again in, like, October when there are actually conservative fall clothes in the stores. I will just have to muddle through until then. Bummer!

Laura Does Not Share Food

I have come to a small epiphany recently on my weirdness about sharing food. It used to be that I thought I just didn't like to share food, period. But I realized that it's not so much the sharing that bothers me as the timing:

1) If the waiter has just put my plate down in front of me, and you ask for a bite, I am going to say "No." Or if you are my husband I will roll my eyes, sigh, and say, "Oooooookay."

2) If I have a knife and fork in my hand and I am actively eating the food on my plate, and you ask for some, I am going to say "No." Or if you are my husband I will get tight lips, give you a look, then cut you a very small piece.

3) If I have put down my utensils and stopped eating and you ask me for a bite of what I have left on my plate, I will say, "Sure, eat the rest of it if you want."

See the difference? If I am eating or intending to eat the food on my plate, I am not going to share it with you. I might want to eat it all. It might just be that good. Or I might just be that hungry. Eat your own food. If you still want mine when we're both done, you can have it.

Summer of Boredom

I'm tired of being bored. I had grand plans for this summer, and I've kind of half-assed most of them. Which I'm actually fine with, but I'm ready for school to start. I'm ready to be busy again and have stuff to do. I'm ready to meet new people and be responsible for things again. It's been a really nice break, though. I felt burned out when I was graduating, and I'm definitely not feeling that anymore. So, I guess mission accomplished! I ordered the rest of my books for the semester, and I can't wait to get them in the mail. Only 10 more days of nothing to do!

Trip to Morocco???

My friend Ali got a Fulbright scholarship to study some medieval converted bell lamps in Fez, Morocco. There's an article about him in today's paper:

http://www.pegasusnews.com/news/2008/jul/23/smu-masters-student-receives-fulbright-scholarship/

Anyway, there's a possibility that we might be able to go visit him next year while he's there, and that would be AWESOME!! Not only because we would get to see Ali again since he's moving to Boston tomorrow, but I'd get to see his lamps in person (I edited his thesis, so I know all about them, and they're really cool!), and - total bonus - both Ali and his wife speak fluent Arabic, so we'd totally have people who could take us around and communicate. Plus, it's a chance to practice the Arabic I learned two years ago. And, it's a free place to stay in Morocco. How can I turn it down?

So, I just wanted to know how much it would cost to fly there. I got on the internet and I cannot find a single flight from Dallas to any city in Morocco. Crazy, right? So, finally, I just called American Airlines to see if they could give me a ballpark figure. I spoke with Jim who works in the "Fares" department. Here's a small sample of our conversation - I'll let you judge for yourself how it turned out:

Me: "Hi, Jim, I'm looking to fly from Dallas to Morocco next year. I don't have any specific dates in mind - just sometime next summer - and I just wanted to have a general price range for a round-trip ticket."
Jim: "Where's Morocco?"
Me: "It's in North Africa."
Jim: "I don't know where we fly in Africa."
Me: "Well, I just looked on your website, and it says that you fly to Casablanca. How much does that cost from Dallas?"
Jim: "What country are you flying to?"
Me: "Morocco."
Jim: "Is that the city?"
Me: "No, Casablanca is the city. Morocco is the country."
Jim: "OK, so Dallas to Castablanca."
Me: "No, it's CASablanca - there's no T. Like the movie."
Jim: "Oh, OK. I never saw that."

New House

Well, we've agreed on a sale price. Now we just have to get it inspected and get our mortgage in order. If everything goes as planned, we'll close on Aug. 29!

http://www.ebby.com/details/-2651124.html

Babies R Us and Phone Sex

So, I tried to call Babies R Us to get the return label for the high chair that got delivered yesterday. Instead of dialing 888-BABY-R-US, I dialed 800-BABY-R-US, and here's what I got on the other line:

"Mmm! Hot, sweet, juicy phone pussy is dripping wet and waiting for you..."

I'm adding this to the pile of evidence that Babies R Us is run by Lucifer himself.

Babies R Us Update

So, I called Babies R Us again after the first conversation with the teenage help, and I spoke to someone else who actually sounded like they wrote my name and item down. That person also assured me that they would have the item ready for me when I came in. So, I showed up at Babies R Us, and guess whose gift was not on hold? I actually just rolled my eyes at the customer service person, sighed, and said, "Where are the high chairs?" Lucky for me (or maybe even luckier for them), they had one left. I was pretty mad, though, because 1) they did not put my item on hold like they said they would - TWICE. 2) they did not have "plenty of'em" as the teenager told me they did. I never want to go back there again.

All in all, though, the baby shower went great. Everyone brought what they were supposed to bring, and there was plenty of food for everyone. I'm told the cake was delicious, and there were a ton of people to show Tim and Cassie how much we all love them. Yay for Baby Schermbeck!