Various thoughts...

My mind is going in a million different directions today, so I figured I'd share with you guys.  Come on, let's all sit in a circle and find one of those talking sticks you have to pass around for it to be your turn to talk.

I'm not going to write about the hooplah surrounding Casey Anthony, although I will say that I do think she is absolutely guilty of killing her child, and I'm very disappointed in the prosecution's inability to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.   Just one of the many problems with the US Justice System... 

Yesterday we tore the walls out in my bathroom in preparation for the installation of my new whirlpool tub.  YAY! It should be in by this weekend, and you may never hear from me again...

School starts back on August 18th, and I'm taking Spanish 102, but it's been eight years since I took 101 so I'm freaking out about that a little bit.  I also planned to read both books on JFK's assassination written by my professor in preparation for that course, but I haven't gotten through the introduction of the first one yet. I'm not really worried about my class load since I'm taking my last English, Communications (giving speeches - being the center of attention and talking nonstop for five minutes should be a breeze for me),  Colonial American History - an elective, but it's with a professor I absolutely adore, so I'm excited - and Library Science.  This should be an interesting semester...

The last week of July I'm going to Panama City Beach for a week with my momma, grandparents, sister, cousin and my baby girls, so I really need to get some semblance of a tan by then...

I have yet to finish moving everything from our old house to our new house, and we have people coming to look at the old house this weekend, so I should really be over there packing stuff instead of blogging, but oh well...

Hubs asked me if he could buy a new computer since his gave out last month.  I made him a Honey-Do List of the little things that still need to be done around our new house and told him he could buy the computer once the list is completed.  He's grumpy at me now...

I've recently developed a liking to Britney Spears, which is strange for me, and I'm disappointed that I can't go to her concert in New Orleans next Friday night.  I refuse to pay $168/ticket when I know I'll have to sit through Nicki Minaj for a half-hour first.  No, thank you.

I have so many novels I wanted to read for fun this summer, but I've only read three and I know I should be reading school-related books in preparation for the fall semester.  I just can't get motivated. 

Renovating a house is exhausting after a while.  I do love being able to make it my own, though. 

Okay, now it's your turn.  What's on your mind?

I'm so glad I got married before Facebook took over the world

Seriously. 

I was just reading a post on a fellow blogger's site about going on dates, and how awkward it is to try and ignore someone when they can call your cell phone, text you, email you or make things uncomfortable for you online.  How true!

It's almost too easy to stalk somebody nowadays.  You can just Facebook stalk them, follow them on Twitter or put a trace on them - there's actual tracking apps for smart phones.  Creepy, right?    What happened to the good old days, when you rode around at night for hours with your friend, hoping to spot your love interest leaving work, or at their favorite bar, then followed them home and sat outside their house for hours?  Not that I did that, mind you.  I was usually the best bud who was dragged along for the stakeout and had to occasionally mumble words of encouragement like "I'm sure he just hasn't called you back because his phone died" or "No, I don't think he would be creeped out if he realized we were sitting outside his house at midnight."  I hated lying because I was quite sure whichever guy it was we were stalking would absolutely file a restraining order against my friend had they discovered us. 

When Hubs and I first started dating, Facebook was around but not yet the social monster it is now.  Myspace was popular, but neither of us spent a great deal of time online.  We managed to date for several months before the rest of the world knew about it.  Now, of course, I have around 600 photos on my Facebook and over 500 "friends" (mostly former classmates) who know basically every outing we go on, which movies I've seen recently and what I do in my free time. 

Sometimes I'm concerned with the amount of personal information shared on Facebook and other social sites.  Sure, we can set our privacy settings at the maximum levels, but we're still giving out a massive amount of info to everyone.

Apparently the new big thing in dating is the relationship status.  Changing your status from "single" to "in a relationship" is the cause of excessive stress and worry.  You don't want to change it too soon, because you might freak out the person you're dating.  However, if you don't change it soon enough, they may think you're dating other people.  I guess it's inappropriate to ask the person you're dating, "Hey, do you think we're at a point where we can change our Facebook statuses now?"  How ridiculous.  My dad has a Facebook and is married, and he decided to see what would happen if he changed his status from "Married" to "It's Complicated."  His page blew up.  Within a few hours every person on his friend list had either written on his wall, messaged him or called his phone.  Granted he only has 36 friends, but still.  Think of the possible damage that could be done to one's personal life. 

Because I have two teenage sisters and an eighteen-year-old cousin, I am Facebook friends with twenty or thirty other teenagers.  I read their posts and stay frustrated with them because they're so dramatic all the time.  They whine about everything.   "Mom won't let me go out tonight.  FML."  "Nothing good ever happens to me."  "I hate everyone."  "Life sucks."  Blah blah blahbety blah. 

What's worse, though, is the relationship drama that goes on.    Remember when you would be dating someone, and would find out he'd been seeing another girl?  Did you go online and write dirty messages so everyone could see she was a skank?  Oh no, indeed.  You went to where that hooker hung out, called her out and beat the mess out of her.  That's how drama was handled in my day.  Now these kids will call each other every name under the sun for hours on end, talking big and letting the entire world know all of their business.  However, let them see each other in public somewhere, and what do they do?  Walk right past each other, not saying a word.  Where's your big britches now, honey? 

Another beef I have with kids is that they have no idea what a serious relationship is.  Today they LOVE Brad, but tomorrow they hate him and LOVE John, and so on and so forth.  Let me give you a tip, kid:  If you LOVE one guy today, chances are you won't LOVE someone else tomorrow.  It's more of a lasting thing.  A few months, at least.  Oh and you can't date someone for a week and be in love with them.  You don't even know them! 

Okay, I think I've ranted on that enough. 

If Hubs and I ever divorce, I don't know what I'll do.  I don't think I could handle social dating.  It's too complicated and ridiculous.    Although I'm sure it will be easier to meet single dudes!

Chain Letters

It always happens in a similar fashion: I'm having a relatively good day. Work was good, the kids are being good, all is well in my world. I sign into my email, browse through the never-ending list of forwards, and I notice a message that gets my interest. "I'm pregnant" "Save this child's life" "URGENT!" Whatever the title, it's guaranteed to be one that will make me read. I scroll through the endless list of names that this email has previously been forwarded to, and finally I reach the message.

It generally starts out with the story of Bob, who had a picture-perfect life, dated the pretty girl, had a great job, blah blah blah, until he got an email that he was instructed to forward. Bob didn't bother to follow the instructions, and the next day, Bob lost his job. He caught his girlfriend cheating on him with his best friend. Then his house burnt down, and while fleeing the fire, Bob was attacked by a rabid dog, robbed of his clothes, and finally, run over by a semi. Poor Bob.

The email then goes on to instruct me that if I do not forward this message to however many people within however many minutes/hours, the same tragic fate will come my way. What the hell? You mean to tell me that if I don't send this email to 98 people in the next 5 minutes that I'm going to meet my maker in some similarly horrific-yet-hilarious manner? I don't even have 98 contacts. Not to mention that I've spent the last 3 minutes griping about how ridiculous this is, so now I'm down to 2 minutes.

Obviously, I am not going to forward this ridiculousness to any of my friends. I'm tempted to call up the idiotic friend who sent it to me in the first place. Are people really so stupid that they will repeat the pattern? Oh, I'm sure after first reading the email they had the same reaction I did. Then the wheels started turning in their brains. What if it's true? What if by some chance I DID die for not sending this to my friends? Didn't I see on the news the other night that there's been a handful of mysterious deaths recently? Is this email the reason? I saw Final Destination. I don't want to be sending death my way unnecessarily. On and on it goes, the imagination spinning wildly out of control until they've convinced themselves that they simply MUST forward the email, just in case.

This reminds me of when I was a child, and my friends told me that if I stood in front of a mirror and said "Bloody Mary" three times, that the actual Bloody Mary from history would come and kill me (NOTE: Never, in all my years of studying history, did I ever read about this Bloody Mary person).

Needless to say, this anger-inducing email went straight to my trash. So, it's now been about an hour since reading the threatening email. I'm still kicking. However, if this happens to be my last post, you'll know that I was kidnapped, tortured, dismembered and disposed of by Bloody Mary. Que sera, sera.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail....OR Jess in search of vintage stuff for her kitchen!

So we bought a house, and I now have a kitchen large enough to have an actual theme.  (Our old kitchen was like a linen closet, it was ridiculous.)  I'm into all things antique/vintage, so I made up my mind fairly quickly to go with that.  Deciding was the easy part.  Finding said items, however, another story entirely...

Luckily I have a grandmother who holds on to EVERYTHING she was ever given, and she recently decided to start thinning out her collection.  Win for Jess.   My mother also stopped in an antique shop whilst in Georgia recently and picked up a few items for me as well.

They gave me these cans (there was also an old tobacco can, but I put that one on top of my china cabinet)

and this awesome tiny washboard

They donated some vintage pasta containers, an old spice rack and a simple cookie jar circa 1960ish.  I also inherited a china cabinet from my great-grandmother, so Mom and Mawmaw immediately started searching for unique little teapots and the likes for my cabinet.  They're so great!

Then Hubs, wonderful man that he is, went to a yard sale and found this fabulous old wall phone for me!

So now that I've started a great - albeit small - collection, I'm on the hunt for more fantastic finds.  The stuff I'm looking for:

Blue Mason Jars

Great for soap dispensers!

More tins/canisters

I also want these (available on multiple websites), which are not actual vintage cans, but the advertisements are so cute, and my Mawmaw said these were real brands back in the day:

Bread tin

I also want some new stove burner covers, but have yet to find what I want.  Those are going to be tricky, I think. 

So basically I want anything and everything I can find. The other day I bought these salt & pepper shakers on Amazon: 

They're so stinking cute!

Hubs worries I'm getting carried away, and that pretty soon our house is going to look like one of those places visited by the American Picker guys (I LOVE that show!).  I'm afraid he might be right...