I wonder...

These are just some of the ponderings that go on in this great brain of mine:

-Okay, there are four Golden Girls. Why are there only 3 chairs around the kitchen table? One of them always has to stand up or pull up a stool. I don't understand. Seven seasons of the show and they never had enough seating for all four girls.

-Why do black beetles like to come in my house as soon as it turns Fall? Dear Beetles, If you're looking for warmth, you're not going to find much warmth in my house. Stay outside where you belong. If you come into my house, I will smash you.

-Why are new CDs and DVDs released on Tuesdays? What's special about Tuesday?

-Why does gum get hard when you drink water or eat ice while chewing it?

-Why are our fingers different lengths?

-Why are holes in crackers?

-Why do corn chips have black specks? There are no black specks in corn kernels. What are they?

-How old do you have to be before it is said that you died of old age?

-Why do the KFC commercials play "Sweet Home Alabama"? My Old Kentucky Home would be a better song selection.

-Why do my neighbors like to steal my trashcan?

-Why is it that the hair on my legs and head can grow out long but the hair on my arms stay one constant length? Well, actually, sometimes there is that one weird arm hair that you find that is growing out of control and is way longer than the rest. I don't understand that either. Does anyone else ever find that random long arm hair, or is that just me?

-Why does dog food smell so bad and why does my dog love to eat it so much?

-Why did they take away tan M&M's? Those were my favorite when I was a kid. Bring back tan!

-Why do we close our eyes when we sneeze?

-Why do people say "heads up" when they want you to duck your head?

Car Visor Accessory

Your car visor is broken, you say? Yeah, mine is too. I was pulling it down one afternoon to block the sun from my eyes and heard something inside the visor snap. It went flimsy and flopped down in front of my face. This made driving quite problematic. I never realized how important it is that the visor stay folded up and out of your way.

How to fix your broken visor:

You could take your car to the dealer to fix your broken visor, or you could just do what I have done. First of all, don't bother using velcro. The velcro won't hold for more than a day. Find an old ribbon and rig it up. I chose a ribbon with Easter eggs. Why not? I figure it adds a little something extra to the inside of my car. A touch of decoration, if you will. Once your visor is snapped and hanging lifelessly in front of your face, you can't really do much to make it look much worse. Trust me.

Sometimes I wish I were my dog

My dog, Daisy Mae, has a pretty great life. She has free reign of my house, she receives lots of love, and gets fed--a lot. Daisy also gets to go on a lot of car rides with me. She goes with me to my parents house, to school after hours, or when I run errands that involve drive-thrus.
Below are the places that I visit on a regular basis that give Daisy "treats":

Bank- dog treat
Walgreen's- dog treat
Starbucks- cup of whipped cream
Chick-fil-A- dog treat in a chicken nugget box
Culver's- a hot dog

I wish just once someone in a drive-thru would say, "Oh, look how cute you are! How about a free hot dog?" Sadly, that's just never going to happen.

And so it continues...

So, after school I was in the workroom making copies and a lady stops by and says, "Do you have anything else in your life besides school?" Um, harsh.

I'm a loser baby...

I'm aware that I'm a nerd. A bit of a loser. I know this about myself. It's when others point it out to me that it bothers me a little bit. Just let me be this way. Don't make me feel worse about it, okay? It's not that people actually say to face, "Oh my. You are such a nerd." or "What a loser!" No, no. Sometimes it's just written all over their face.

So, it's a Friday night...

Loser move #1: I stayed at school until 6:00. I don't have any kids to go home to. My dog is my kid. So, until I have the added responsibility of a family in my life, I feel that I can spend extra time at work and not feel guilty about it. I take pride in my work and really want to do a good job, so I just feel that I need to invest some extra time in it. That's just how I am. I know co-workers think I don't have a life, but that's okay. Just call me Cheryl.

Loser move #2: I met my parents for dinner at Garcia's. Garcia's, of course, is one of my favorite Friday night dinner spots. For some, eating out with the parents on a regular basis, which I do, would probably be a loser move. I have always enjoyed the company of my parents. I have fun being with them. Plus, if they invite me out to eat, I know I'm guaranteed a good and free dinner. For me, that's always a good thing.

Loser move #3: After dinner, I hopped in the car with them and went to run some "errands". We went to Target and I bought toilet paper. Awesome! We also went to Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice Latte and then to Dad's office. Woohoo! There I scored a free Citizens First paper clip holder, a flash drive, and a calculator. Banks always have great free stuff. I was truly excited about my paper clip holder. It even came with dollar sign paper clips. Who wouldn't like that?

My parents took me back to my car and we went our separate ways. They went home; I went to Barnes & Noble. It's often a place for me to go when I'm not quite ready to go home yet and other stores have closed. I went with the intention to not buy any books, just to browse. Surprisingly, I passed up all of the fiction books and headed towards the back of the store. The back of the store=danger. Children's section! It's not a good idea for a kindergarten teacher to enter that territory. I actually didn't make it back there because the "Education" section directly before it caught my eye first. I sat down in the floor and made myself comfortable. I pulled out a couple of books on teaching students with Autism and started scanning the books. I was enjoying being by myself, in a quiet place, with a book. It was my idea of a nice end to a nice Friday night.
That all changed when a Natcher parent walked by the aisle and spotted me. I don't really even know this parent that well. She decided to stop and talk to me for some reason. Tonight was the longest conversation we had ever had. Usually it would be just a quick smile exchange or a "hi" when I would see her at school. She began asking me questions. Lots of them. "You're out alone on a Friday night? You're not out on a date!?! You're not dating anyone? Why are you not out on a date? You're sitting in the Education section? Why are you doing school work? It's a long weekend! You should be out having fun. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah." She continued to bring the fact up that I wasn't out on a date. Yes, thank you for reminding me of that over and over. She also made some comment that she could be out by herself because she already had kids of her own. What!?! So, because she conquered finding a man and scored a couple of kids, she had done her duty and was entitled to be at a bookstore. Because I have not yet marked those items off my list, I should be out on a mission to find my husband so I could have some babies? Huh? I could feel my shoulders collapsing into myself. I was trying to keep a smile plastered across my face and nod politely, but really I just wanted for her to go away. To leave me alone. She was possibly trying to be friendly, probably just being nosy, but what she didn't realize is that she was actually just making me feel bad about myself. She then tells me she's at B&N with her friend, who is another Natcher parent. This parent I do know because I taught her kid a few years back. Great. This parent now shows up in the aisle. Here we go again. "I was just asking Ms. Marcum why she was sitting in the Education aisle on a Friday night! She's doing school work instead of going out and having fun..." The other parent that I knew better sat down in the aisle with me. Great. This means she's getting comfy. She must plan on staying for awhile. Just leave me alone!!!!! I was trying to be friendly and make polite conversation, but I just felt like crying. I rarely feel like crying.

After they finally said their goodbyes and left the aisle, I quickly put the books back on the shelf and left the store. I let their comments ruin my night. I was there to be by myself and get lost in some books for awhile, and that didn't happen. I was bothered by what they said and just wanted to go home. As I was driving home, I was reflecting on why their comments bothered me so much. Am I overly sensitive--more so than I thought? Do I just not like people I don't know well to ask me a lot of questions since I'm a private person? Do I still have some "sore spots" in my life?

It may not have so much been their comments/questions, but the way that they asked/said what they did. I just felt like I was being judged in a way. To me, they were really saying, "Wow. You really are a loser, Ms. Marcum. You're sitting in the floor at Barnes & Noble at 9:30 on a Friday night with your Natcher t-shirt on and you're all by YOURSELF! You must not have any friends. You're not even looking at a book for fun. You're reading school books! You will never find a date if you live your life like this! Hahahaha!"

I'm often baffled that people seem to be concerned that I'm alone. I have never had a problem with going places by myself. I live by myself and I'm capable of doing things by myself. While I greatly enjoy the company of others, sometimes others aren't available to do things. That shouldn't stop me from going out and doing things. If there is something I want to do, I will go do it. With or without someone. If that makes me a loser, then I'm a loser.

People are also concerned that I don't date. Sure, it would be great to have been on a date tonight, but I wasn't. I was at Barnes and Noble by myself. To me, that's an okay way to spend my Friday night. Why was that not okay to this lady? Why did she feel that I needed to be out on a date with someone? When others show concern over me being dateless it makes me begin to worry too. It makes me wonder if there is something wrong with me. It makes me wonder if I will ever find someone. I hate feeling that way and I don't ever have those thoughts until someone begins to question me to make me have doubts.
They probably have theories now that I'm not only a loser, but also a lesbian. By the way; I'm not. I promise. I'm okay with where I'm at in my life. I wish everyone else would be okay with it too. Don't feel sorry for me for what I don't have. Be happy for what I do have. My time will come. I am being patient and am fine with waiting. If that makes me a loser, then I'm a loser.

Also, why did it concern them so much that I was in the education section? Education is my career. It's also a hobby. I enjoy it. I enjoy learning more about it. I love doing research and finding out new things. The day that I stop doing that is the day that I need to have a career change. I like looking at professional and reference books. I like doing a google search for kindergarten websites for ideas to use in my own classroom. If that makes me a loser, then I'm a loser.

This was a hard blog for me to write. I'm still kind of surprised with myself that this lady bothered me as much as she did. I guess I'm just tired of it. Tired of questions. Tired of remarks. Tired of looks. This is me. I don't feel that I should have to explain myself or feel guilty for doing what I want and like to do. I may be a loser in the eyes of some people, but if being a happy, successful, single woman sitting in the aisle at Barnes and Noble makes me a loser, then I'm proud to be a loser.

Oprah has her list of favorite things, so I can too

These are a few of my favorite things...

Smells- skunks, Daisy's paws (they smell like corn chips), the smell of the car a/c first coming on, coffee, the inside of Riley's Bakery, a new car, men, clean clothes, tea bags, matches, plastic (new toys opened from a package), gas fumes--Yeah, so I like some pretty strange smells...

Sounds- kid's laughter, rain, other people's conversations, Daisy's grunts

Non-Alcoholic Drink- Sweet Tea, Big Red, Coke, and Cherry Dr. Pepper

Alcoholic Drink- French Martini and Cape Cods

Things to do- Google, Blog, read, drive at night and listen to music (especially on Sunday nights to Back in the Day Sundays), snuggle with Daisy, clean, eat, make lists, write

Books- I am currently loving Laurie Notaro's books. I am on her 3rd book. Hilarious. I love children's books too.

Radio Station- 107.5 The River

Childhood Shows- Jem, G.I. Joe, TMNT, Care Bears, My Little Pony, Rainbow Brite, Today's Special, Gummi Bears, Mr. Rogers, Sesame Street, Flintstone Kids, Fraggle Rock, Jetsons, Inspector Gadget, Punky Brewster, Lady Lovely Locks and the Pixietails, Moon Dreamers, The Noozles, Pound Puppies, Popples, Pinwheel, Muppet Babies, David the Gnome, Hugga Bunch, Zoobilee Zoo, She-Ra: Princess of Power, Transformers, Smurfs, Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Salute Your Shorts, You Can't Do That on Television, Hey Dude, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Doug, American Gladiators, Dumbo's Circus
*Can you tell I didn't watch much TV as a child?

TV Shows- The Office, Nip/Tuck, Golden Girls, Will & Grace, Jimmy Kimmel, The Hills, Samantha Who

Movies- The Breakfast Club, The Holiday, Napoleon Dynamite, Transformers, A Goofy Movie, Bring It On: All or Nothing, She's Too Young, The Sweetest Thing

Favorite TV Channels: Lifetime, HGTV, TLC, Discovery, Travel

Hand Soap- method Peppermint Vanilla

Shampoo- Bath & Body Works Tranquil Mint Volumizing Shampoo and Sunsilk products (I love the sayings on the bottles, like:"Blonde hair as dull as a virgin...daiquiri?")

Toothpaste-Crest Cavity Protection Regular Paste

Makeup- Bare Escentuals

Deodorant- Dove (Powder scent)

Lotion- Johnson's Creamy Baby Oil

Cleaning Product- Magic Erasers (Whoever invented these suckers--Kiss your brain!), Orange Oil is pretty great too

Number- 4

Colors- pink and black

Animals- koalas and river otters

Dog Breed- Pembroke Welsh Corgi (my Daisy Mae, of course)

City- Chicago

Trip- Wyoming. Wyoming was BEAUTIFUL and full of great memories, and I learned a lot about myself during this 13 day trip. It was right after my senior year of high school. I met a lot of great people who helped to push me out of my comfort zone. Las Vegas was an awesome trip too. Actually, I have enjoyed all of my trips. I'm always fortunate for the times that I get to travel. It seems to be so few and far between now-a-days!

Food- Mexican

Fast Food- Chick-fil-A, Zaxby's, Culvers, Linzie's, Griffs

Restaurants- Garcia's, Cheddars, Montana Grille, Longhorn, Cheesecake Factory, Olive Garden, Texas Roadhouse

Sweet Stuff- I love Pie! Chocolate Meringue and Pumpkin are my favorites. I also love ice cream, Riley's tea cookies, cheesecake, and caramel apples

Vegetables- asparagus, potatoes, broccoli, french-cut green beans

Fruits- apples and pineapple
Condiment- mustard

Candy- Love anything chocolate, but my faves are: Reese's, Mounds, Caramello

Celebrity Men- Johnny Depp, Paul Walker, Jimmy Kimmel, David Beckham, John Krasinski, Jason Lewis, Jack Black

Holiday- Hands-down Thanksgiving--for the food. My Birthday, Christmas and Easter are all tied for second place.