Enough with the "Coed" already

Am I the only person who is sick and tired of newspapers calling female college students "coeds"? I mean what year is this, people? Everything about that word bugs me, mostly because it gives the weird impression that women on campus are some sort of novelty; we all know by now that women make up the majority of college graduates.

Now, I'm not much of a feminist (at least under the popular definition), but I feel strongly about this. Anyone else?

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Sunday recap ...

We had a lovely day today, starting with waking up too late and doing a speed clean of the apartment (basically scooping up everything that didn't belong in the kitchen, living room, or office, shoving it into a bedroom or closet, and slamming the door). Good thing we do have one bathroom that is accessible without going through our bedroom!

We got to church just in time for liturgy (no matins for our lazy butts today), and my parents were already there. Sermon was particularly good, and then we had our crowns removed at the end. It was a lot quicker than I thought it would be, but very nice. Thank you, Tara, for taking pictures. You rock.

There was also a 40-day memorial for my mom's cousin's husband, who was a longtime member of our church and very well liked. He was young -- in his mid-sixties -- when he died, so it was a big shock to everyone. Well, the church was packed with his relatives (many of whom are my relatives), so, even though it was a sad occasion, it was really nice to catch up with people who were a little too distantly related to be invited to the wedding. My mom always has a great time when she revisits her roots here, and she caught up with a lot of the "girls" she grew up with (incidentally, the term "girls" doesn't bother me at all (except when wall street guys use it to refer to their secretaries) (now I'm wondering if there's a limit on inter-parenthetical parentheticals)).

After church, my parents came back to the apartment and we hung out for a few hours, drinking coffee, watching the Yankees / Mets game, and just relaxing. My parents met their friends for dinner, and I did some knitting while hubby did some work. Oh, I made a yum-o Rachel Ray dinner -- sesame noodles and a chicken breast addition of my own creation -- and that was very good. Parents came back with their friends to sit for a minute, and now we are heading to bed. Well, I am, anyway ... hubbyhubs still has some work to do.

Boss is out this week so things should be relatively relaxed around my office -- finally.

Snowball in July

Ok, so it's still June, but July sounds better.

Hubbyhubs and I just spent the better part of our afternoon gathering up all of our credit cards and student loan information, and came up with a big debt snowball plan from whatsthecost. Very exciting. If we follow the plan, we will be entirely free of debt -- including student loans -- by November 2011. Pretty frickin' exciting, especially when you consider how much interest we will save by paying it all off early. Wooot woot! It was also just really awesome and affirming to know that we can really sit down and deal with finances and big decisions together without any tensions. It was almost fun. If you're not already convinced that I have the best husband ever, spend five minutes on the "Trouble in Paradise" board on The Nest.

We also tried to lower some of our fixed expenses, and were moderately successful. I called Time Warner Cable, which provides our cable tv, internet, and telephone for $184 a month. By signing a 2-year agreement, we lowered that cost to $162 a month. We'll save about $500 over the next two years (which obviously means I should buy my LV bag now, right?). We also combined our cell phone plans, but only saved about $9 a month on that. We'll see if we make enough of a dent in our talking (my talking) to lower our plan, but it's not likely. Oh, and we lowered the interest rate on a credit card from 27% (!!!) to a more reasonable 15%. We won't have a balance on that one for very long anyway, but seriously, that is an insane interest rate and I'm glad we got it taken care of.

Anyway it's not my favorite way to spend a Saturday but it felt really REALLY good to get all that info on one page and come up with a plan. Hopefully, by the time we are ready to buy a house, being totally debt-free will help us get a reasonable mortgage.

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Meanwhile, we had a great time last night. We met up for dinner and went to the Heartland Brewery at the Empire State Building. I love this place. They always have enough seating, really good beer, and pretty tasty food. The service could be a little quicker, but it's okay.

After dinner, we headed over to Stout on W 33rd for my friend's birthday party. It's always good to see old law school friends.

My friend Katherine (aka "New Katherine," even though we've known her for more than a year) met up with us as well, and it was great to catch up with her. We stayed a little while longer at Stout, and then decided to head over to Ginger Man, which was packed. We quickly left Ginger Man and headed back over to Heartland, which was closed. We headed back in the opposite direction and finally ended up at Caliente Cab Co, where we had giant margaritas and some mediocre guac. One of those items is responsible for the tremendous headache I'm dealing with today.

Tonight I'm going to work on some thank-you notes and clean up the apartment a little, since my parents will probably come by for a while after church tomorrow (they are coming to see us get our crowns removed).

I didn't get to do any of the kitchen wizardry I'd been planning on, but that's okay. Looking like spaghetti from the box for dinner tonight (cost: $1 -- we bought 10 boxes of pasta for $10 a few months ago and we are STILL eating it).

Oh, we also went to the bank this morning and finally officially changed my name on the account. When we got back, I went online and ordered checks with both of our names on them, which is unreasonably exciting for me. Once again, IT'S OFFICIAL! We also signed up for a rewards debit card, which is pretty cool. I am looking forward to getting some free stuff :)

Time to go hit the couch! (I mean time to go write thank-you notes ... right ...).

Kitchen Aid

I watched a little Iron Chef: America last night, and I am inspired to go a little crazy with my Kitchen Aid mixer this weekend. I am definitely going to bake some bread, and I'm sort of thinking about making fresh pasta. Any advice?

I am also, hopefully, finally going to bake my late, great, Uncle Leddy's chocolate chip cookies and send them to my friend Marie at camp. I was all set to make them last Saturday, but the cupcakes kind of took over, and then the butter melted right there on the countertop, and so did the bags of chocolate chips ... so I am giving it another shot this weekend. I'm so excited to make and eat a batch myself (ok, I might share with hubby), and I'm super excited to send a batch to camp, where they belong.

TGIF

Honestly, this week took FOREVER. My boss is going on vacation next week (yippee!) so he's been scrambling around like a madman trying to tie up loose ends. Even though I'm the most junior associate in his department, I've been here the longest (don't you just love how stupid law firm seniority goes by class year instead of years at the firm?), so I am sort of his default second-in-command when he is gone. I have the most familiarity with the clients (and they with me) so he just tells them to contact me when he's gone ... which means I have to be caught up on everything. His being busy also means that he took forever editing an Answer I drafted yesterday, and I was here making edits and working on other stuff until after 9pm last night. Awesome. My excellent husband ordered some chinese garlic shrimp for me last night, though, so I at least I didn't have to cook when I got home at nearly 10. We both had trouble getting out of bed this morning, but I did manage to get to work by 9:30ish. Hooray for me. Not that ANY of this will make a difference when I finally have my review for bonus/raise purposes in July. I hate how everything is focused on billables, even though 1) I can't control the work load and 2) it punishes efficiency. There is so much more I do here -- always willing to stay late, come in early, never whining (really hard for me) . . . but all they care about is the numbers. We'll see -- maybe they'll surprise me with a big bonus and I can buy my fancy bag.

This weekend should be good and relaxing. I have a birthday party to get to tonight, and hopefully hubby won't be stuck at work. We'd planned a housekeeping day for tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to tackling some projects and also just relaxing.

Sunday we are getting our crowns removed. I am trying to find a link online to explain what that means, but I'm having trouble. The long and short of it is that crowns play a big part in our wedding service, and, traditionally, wedding parties lasted for a week or more, and the bride and groom wore their crowns the whole time (so all the party-goers would be able to identify them). At the end of the festivities, the priest would remove the crowns and say a blessing, signifying that the party was over, and the new couple were ready to receive guests in their home. These days, the party only lasts a day (NOT LONG ENOUGH!), but we come back after our honeymoons and do a quick service at the end of liturgy, where the priest will put the crowns back on our heads, say a little prayer, remove the crowns, and present us to the church. It's supposed to be done the first time you return to church, but for us that was Pentecost, which is an insanely long service anyway. I missed last week for my friend's bridal shower, so we are doing it this Sunday. I'm looking forward to it.

I heart Glenn Beck

I'm not saying I'd leave my husband for him or anything, but ...

Glenn Beck is great.

I'm a sucker

Ha ... I was wondering why the bag I linked to was so cheap. It's a knockoff. Way to go ...

Here's the real thing:

Busses, cars, and bags ...

This morning, I ran into three people I knew on the bus or waiting for the bus -- one of the nice / funny things about living in Bay Ridge. When my mom was in high school (she grew up in Bay Ridge) she got grounded for smoking pretty much once a month. Seems that no matter where she tried to sneak a cigarette, one of her aunts, cousins, or neighbors would spot her. Now that I've lived here about 10 months, I'm starting to understand it.

And, not because I don't like running into friends and family on the bus ... I'm starting to wonder about buying a car. We spend about $400 a month on our commute (express bus is $5 each way), and we rent a car one or two weekends a month to go to Jersey. It occured to me today that we might not be saving quite as much as we thought we were by being car-free. If we drove to work every day and paid for parking in Manhattan and in Bay Ridge, plus gas, and insurance (and whatever the car itself costs) we might only be spending an extra $100-$200 a month. Could be worth it. Anyone have any thoughts?

Also, I really really really want a nice bag. I am tired of my crapola briefcase with the broken zipper pulls, and I need something nicer than a shopping bag to tote my knitting and work shoes around in. I'm thinking something like this would be good ...

A girl can dream, can't she?

I think I'll bake some bread this weekend ...

Doesn't this recipe look great?

Oprah and Fasting

I found this article amusing. Oprah adhered to a vegan diet for the last three weeks, also avoiding alcohol, gluten, and sugar. She said, before embarking on the diet, that she hoped it would "give me a chance to think about [eating] differently and see what my attachments are to certain kinds of foods – and what I'm willing to do to change." Afterwards, she reflected that "This has been exactly what we intended: enlightening. I will forever be a more cautious and conscious eater. That's my commitment for now. To stay awakened."

Interesting. She abstained from the food she loved the most in order to assess her material attachments and achieve enlightenment. I wonder what she would say about Orthodox Christian fasting practices? After all, "we fast ... to gain mastery over ourselves and to conquer the passions of the flesh."

I'm imagining Oprah doing an episode on Orthodoxy. On her stage, I see a couple of Orthodox Bishops (I am incapable of picturing anyone other than Metropolitan Philip and Bishop Antoun), a few priests (both old FOB priests and some American-born 20-somethings, newly ordained), and a group of parishioners (old church ladies, some teens ... maybe even the people who come to Palm Sunday in their best clubbing outfits). Would she criticize our fasting practices as outdated remnants of an old-fashioned, oppressive, male-dominated society? And what of the fact that we have no women priests? I can't imagine she'd approve ...

Yet here she is, resurrecting our oldest fasting traditions not only for weight loss (hardly even mentioned in those articles) but to achieve spiritual enlightenment and to conquer her earthly desires.

Oh, Oprah ... her shows always seem to center on this theme of each of us (especially women) deserving to be happy, fulfilled, satisfied above all other things. Ironic, then, that she sees self-denial as a route to true self-discovery.

The semicolon allows woozy clauses to lean on each other like drunks for support.

Has Modern Life Killed the Semicolon?

Crap.

The list below is missing number 23. Thanks a lot, jerks!

Why not do a listy thing?

1. What time did you get up this morning? Alarm went off at 6 . . . I dragged my arse out of bed at 6:30
2. Diamonds or Pearls? Refuse to choose!
3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Hmm ... crap. I have NO idea.
4. What is your favorite TV show? I'm pathetic -- GMA.
5. What did you eat for breakfast? Nature Valley Chewy Granola Bar
6. What foods do you dislike? Sauerkraut.
7. Your favorite potato chip? Lay's Mediterraneas (not available in the US, despite my letter-writing campaign).
8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? Don't have one.
9. What kind of car do you drive? I ride the bus.
10. Favorite sandwich? "Alice" from Toasties.
11. What characteristics do you despise? Brattiness (other than mine)
12. What are your favorite clothes? my wedding dress
13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Spain
14. What color is your bathroom? Full bathroom is builder white; half bath is all white except for a pool-cue-chalk blue wall (we haven't had a chance to repaint)
15. Favorite brand of clothing? Eh, I don't care.
16. Favorite time of day? Bedtime
17. Where would you want to retire to? I'd stay in Bay Ridge
18. Favorite sports to watch? Football
19. Coke or Pepsi? Diet Coke
20. Are you a morning person or night owl? Neither
21. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Nope.
22. What did you want to be when you were little? Sadly, a lawyer.
24. Nicknames? Panda
25. Piercings? Ears. Used to have my bellybutton pierced too.
26. Eye Color? brown
27. Favorite day of the week? Saturday
28. Favorite restaurant? Kion
29. Favorite ice cream? Chocolate or coffee
30. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Century21
31. Bedtime? Usually around 10:30 or 11:00
32. What are you listening to right now? The very loud hvac system in our office
33. How many tattoos do you have? zero.
34. Next film you'll see? Hopefully SATC but all my girlfriends have seen it, and there is no way my husband will accompany me to view "the downfall of Western Civilization."

Alright, People ...

I'm back.

All the wedding craziness -- and a very busy couple of months at work -- really threw me off course. Once I had time (sort of) to post, I was too intimidated by the thought of recapping all those weeks that I kept on putting it off. Sort of like when I don't post my billable hours every day ...

Anyway, I am not going to try to summarize the last couple months in detail. I'm going to pick it up again starting today, and, I hope, return to a regular routine.

I will say this much: the wedding was perfect. We had an amazing weekend with all of our friends and family members, from the rehearsal on Friday through the brunch on Sunday. Every second of Saturday was just absolutely perfect. I didn't cry, I didn't get too overwhelmed ... I just stood through our wedding ceremony, following the service, and feeling very much like I did the first time we went to church together (the day after our first date): I am standing next to my husband in church, and I will do this for the rest of my life.

And then we partied.

The food, the flowers, the music -- everything was just right. Better than just right. Over the top without being over the top. Incredible. Memorable. Perfect.

Our first dance went really well (especially if you ignore the few times we both got caught up in the many layers of my dress!). I will always be happy that we took time out of our ridiculously busy schedules to take dance lessons together. It was such a great opportunity to spend quiet alone time together, and we really felt comfortable on the dance floor. Later in the evening, we even obliged when our guests shoved us onto the dance floor for some Arabic dancing. I have to say, for once, my arms didn't look like duck wings, and my husband moved like a sheik.

The honeymoon was idyllic. We spent the week doing very little. We sunned on the beach, swam in the Caribbean, read a ton of books, ate a ton of food (I think I'd outgrown my wedding dress by day 3), and did the things that newlyweds like to do. Oh, and we had a surfing lesson, which was 3 parts fun and 9 parts torture. We both got up on the boards, though, and it was a good experience.

And now, here we are, exactly one month since the wedding. Life at home is great -- I love being married. I really didn't know if I would feel any different as "wife" than I did as "fiancee," but I really do. Something just changes, and it's wonderful. Of course, concrete -- and not just abstract -- things change, too. Like my name! It is weirder than weird to have a different last name after nearly 27 years with this one, but I am getting used to it. I finally jumped through all the hoops with the attorney registration people in NY and NJ, and am, as of yesterday, practicing under my married name in both states. I'll get my new email account set up today, and I can officially pass out the business cards. Next up: the DMV and my credit cards. I wish I could take another week off just to deal with the paperwork!

I'm so glad summer is finally here! We went to the Mets / Mariners game last night (thank you, Noah, for the suggestion), and my hubby was very happy to see his Mariners win (even though we missed the legendary grand slam because we were in the concession line). I want to keep doing fun summer activities and not get too dragged down with work. We are hoping to go to a movie at Bryant Park one of these Mondays, and we are really happy to have our weekends free again to roam around Bay Ridge.

Oh, and we went to the funniest show last week: Boeing-Boeing. I laughed so hard, and so continuously, that I actually worried I was going to throw up. I loved Dirty Rotten Scoundrels when I saw it a few years ago, and I have to say, Boeing-Boeing was even funnier. Go see it! It's winning Tonys and stuff! And it's frickin' hilarious!

And that is all for now ... so much for getting in early to catch up on the stuff I was supposed to do yesterday! Oh well ... It will get done.

PS -- I'm updating my blog roll. Make sure to check out the new link!