Thanksgiving

I am not typically one to be warm and fuzzy and share sappy sentiments. In fact, I know that I can be hypercritical about most things. But I do love the season of Thanksgiving. So, without getting too sappy, here's a list of the things I am most thankful for...

1. My parents, for everything
2. My little brother, for making me laugh on a daily basis
3. My grandparents
4. My extended family
5. My church family from Springfield, Fayette, Sulphur Springs, and Mt. Harmony
6. The opportunity I had to be involved with children's ministry at Sulphur Springs
7. MUW and my great professors
8. My mentor teachers at New Hope
9. My retail job (even on days like Black Friday)
10. My Aunt Wanda, for being the best roommate ever
11. The ability to cook (especially Thanksgiving specialties like turkey and dressing)
12. My (ever growing) book collection
13. Baseball, a.k.a. The Greatest Sport Ever
14. Alabama Football (Roll Tide!)
15. America and all the soldiers who have sacrificed their time and lives so that I can enjoy my freedom
16. Country music (especially the old stuff)
17. Being Southern
18. Big, comfy sweatshirts
19. Family recipes that have been handed down for generations
20. Family traditions

The Hissy Fit

I have thrown many school-stress-induced hissy fits this semester. They look a little like this...

According to Urban Dictionary, a hissy fit is defined as "a sudden outburst of temper, often used to describe female anger at something trivial."

While hissy fits are not exactly lady-like, sometimes they are just necessary. They are also uniquely Southern. I am sure that women from every region have meltdowns at some point (because, honestly, no woman can be expected to get through life without falling apart every now and then), but the term "hissy fit" only applies to those ladies who are lucky enough to be from somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon line.

As a Southern woman, I can totally vouch for the benefits of throwing the occasional hissy fit. They aren't pretty, and I truly feel sorry for any witnesses or (heaven forbid) victims of irrational Southern female anger, but sometimes a girl just needs to let off some steam. And when you go to Subway during your already way too short lunch break and stand in line for twenty minutes only to find out that they are out of wheat bread and turkey (WHAT KIND OF SANDWICH SHOP RUNS OUT OF TURKEY???) sometimes you just can't help but to snap.

Not that being stressed makes it okay to rant and rave like a crazy person. It is never okay to take your anger out on others. Before you start thinking that I screamed at the Subway worker, you should know that my mama did raise me to be more of a lady than that and that I let out an annoyed sigh, marched out of the store, and reserved my hissy fit for when I was totally alone in my car. I am totally aware that having a hissy fit did nothing to fix the situation. Subway didn't instantly get more turkey and make me a sandwich after that. But having that hissy fit led to something else. After I did it, after I screamed and punched the steering wheel and kicked the tires on the car, I did something else. I laughed. And what is it they say about laughter? It's the best medicine, right? Right. Especially for stress.

We Southern ladies know that our hissy fits are not rational. We know that they are slightly ridiculous. And we usually laugh at ourselves after we throw them. But they are so engrained into our personalities (probably because we saw our mothers and grandmothers throw them from time to time) that we really can't help it.

So cut us Southern ladies some slack about our hissy fits, okay, y'all?

And, if anyone from Subway is reading this, don't EVER run out of turkey, okay?

Nutty November

This month is going to be nuts! On top of having a 20 page research paper, my creative writing portfolio, and a major instructional unit due for school, I am trying to get a part-time job and I have to get 20 observation hours done so that I can begin my student teaching in the spring. I'm also going to be helping my parents finish remodeling their house and I am supposed to help my grandmother paint her bathroom. Add apartment hunting to that, and my plate is going to be pretty full.

I am determined to end this November in better shape than I am starting it, so I am going to be doing this 30 day Ab and Squat Challenge on top of my normal workout routine. (I really need a workout buddy for this so that I can't slack off just because I get busy.)

I may not get a chance to post much this month, but here are some of the things I am really looking forward to in the crazy, jam-packed month:

The Good Doctor presented by MUW Theatre Department - November 7-9

Alabama vs. LSU - November 9

Thanksgiving - November 28

The Iron Bowl - November 30

The Pumpkin Patch

Country Pumpkins in Caledonia, Mississippi

Comfort Food

One of the things I love about fall is that my family and I start cooking comfort foods. As soon as the first cold snap (which, in Alabama, really isn't that cold - but you would think it was ten below from seeing the girls walking around everywhere in over sized sweatshirts and Ugg boots), my mother starts cooking soups and stews and all kinds of cold-weather dishes.  Here are a few of my favorite fall comfort foods:

Hamburger Hash for Two

This is one of my favorite quick dinners.

2 large potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 pound ground beef

1/2 small onion, chopped

Garlic Salt

Seasoned Salt

Spray a saute pan with cooking spray. Put ground beef, onions and potatoes in pan and heat on high. Stir in garlic salt and seasoned salt to taste.  Cook until beef is browned and potatoes start to get crispy. Drain off grease before serving. We eat this as a meal by itself, or sometimes we will cook cornbread and tomato soup to go with it.

 

Buttermilk Cornbread

When I was a freshman in college, one of the guys in my Freshman Composition class was talking one day about how much he missed home and his mother's home cooking. He said that he'd been craving some good cornbread all semester. I should have cooked some for him (maybe I would have snagged him up - he was pretty cute), but instead, I told him that I could tell him how to make cornbread because it was easy. He seemed skeptical, but I wrote down the recipe for him and told him how to pick out a black skillet, and he decided that he would try it. He came back to class the next week and told me that I was a genius. He said that he'd made cornbread better than his mama's (I hope he never told his mama that). Cornbread is one of the easiest things to make. I have friends who are so intimidated by cooking, especially cornbread, because they think it is hard. Trust me, it isn't. Anyone can make good cornbread. The guy from my Freshman Comp class is my proof (He had never cooked anything in his life, ever. I remember telling the same guy how to do his laundry and how to get grease stains out of his jeans. Which really makes me wonder why he never did snag me up...maybe I reminded him too much of his mother? I guess I'll never know...).

2 cups of cornmeal (yellow or white - I like yellow, but either will work)

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

1 egg

Pinch of salt

1/2 stick butter

 

Spray a black skillet with cooking spray and place 1/2 stick of butter in the bottom of the pan. Place pan in an oven heated to 400 degrees to melt the butter. While the pan is heating, whisk together the cornmeal, milk, egg and salt. If the mixture is too thick, you can add a little extra milk. Once all the butter is melted, pour cornmeal mixture into the hot pan and bake on the top rack of the oven at 400 degrees until golden brown.  Allow to cool in the pan for a few minutes, then turn out onto a plate.

Note:  If you don't want to buy a whole carton of buttermilk, you can use regular milk - just add 1 tablespoon of mayonnaise to the mixture as well and you'll never know the difference.

They call this senioritis...

I should not even be online right now.  I have a paper due at 3:00 this afternoon and another due on Monday that I need to get finished before this weekend starts, but I am just not in the mood to be writing academic papers.  I think I have officially hit the wall.  I have gotten to that point where college is just a chore.  It is no longer something I enjoy.  It is my senior year and things are getting serious and this is now just a means to an end.  This is my attitude about writing this paper right now:

So, instead of doing my work, I am going to take a little break to daydream about the future...

I am so ready to graduate.

If you know me, then you know that I have waffled a lot when trying to decide what I want to be when I grow up, but the closer I get to graduation, the more sure I am that I made the right decision choosing Secondary English Education as my major.  I hate all the paperwork that accompanies being a teacher (it is totally ridiculous), but I absolutely love being in front of a classroom and teaching.  It is a good place for me - I love the students and the subject that I will be teaching, and it is a job where I can have financial security and stability and still have tons of time off in the summers and on holidays to write and travel and do the things I want to do.

Deciding to be a teacher was not easy for me.  I have a lot a friends who are teachers, and, although I love them, I have to be honest here...teachers get on my nerves.  I can't tell you how many times I have heard teachers gripe about their jobs and complain about their pay and go on and on about how unappreciated they are.  That bugs me.  As a future educator, I am going into this understanding that it is a career that I chose.  I decided that it is what I wanted to do.  I believe that teaching is a gift and a calling, but it is not forced upon anyone.  It is something that a person willingly decides to pursue as a career.  So I don't understand all the complaining.

I am not going into teaching to become wealthy.  I am doing it because it is a good, reliable career that will supply me with enough money to live comfortably while allowing me to do something that I enjoy.  I don't expect to become rich, and I don't expect to be treated like a hero for teaching a child how to read.  Yes, I hope that I will have a positive influence on my students, but I know that teenagers rarely tell you that you made a difference in their lives (mostly because it is not until later in life that they realize that the lessons you taught them were actually important).  I don't need to be praised just for doing my job.

One of the things that I am most excited about when it comes to teaching is interacting with my future students.  I love to see the look on a child's face when he or she really gets the point of a lesson.  You can literally see the light bulb come on when you look into their faces and you just know that they are getting it.  That is a great feeling.

I also want to show my students that learning can be fun.  I am an English nerd, so I love to read and I even love a good lecture, but I know that most students do not like either of those things.  With the help of one of my art professors, I have been creating active, art-integrated lesson plans to really help my students connect with the material that I will be teaching.  I am so excited to actually get into a classroom and put all these plans into action.  If you have ever seen the movie Freedom Writers with Hillary Swank, then you have seen the kind of teacher I want to be.  It won't be easy to teach like that, but it will be so worth it.

I am also ready to graduate because it means that I can do a little traveling and a lot more writing.  I love to write, but academic papers are not my thing.  Creative writing is so much more fun, and it is hard to do that when you have so many other things on your plate and so many other due dates and deadlines to juggle.  Hopefully, this summer will be my chance to get some major writing done (I am working on a novel, after all, and I need some time to dedicate to that.  Gotta cross that one off the Bucket List!).

I have a huge list of things that I want to do, but here are the top ten things I am most looking forward to after graduation:

1.  Going to the Memphis in May BBQ Competition with my Papaw
2.  Reading a book of my choosing by the pool, just for FUN
3.  Finishing my short story collection
4.  Going to Atlanta to see the Braves play
5.  Going to the beach
6.  Finally running that 5K that I am always talking about
7.  Finding a teaching job!!!  (I should probably have this in the #1 spot, actually...)
8.  Paying off my debts.  I didn't have to get many student loans, but the ones I did get are not going to be around long, if I can help it.  Trying to live as debt free as possible.
9.  Landing a freelance writing gig with a newspaper or magazine.
10.  Sleeping late.  I can not wait to sleep late.

What A Girl Wants

When it comes to relationships, I hate to feel like I'm super high maintenance or needy.  I am a giver, and it can be hard for me to accept things (help, presents, compliments) from others.  I try to act like I don't care about the sweet little romantic things that my friends' boyfriends do for them.  I act like romance drives me crazy, like I think it is totally unnecessary and slightly sickening.  Most of the time, my faux disgust is just a coping mechanism to cover the fact that I am turning into a bitter, jealous old woman (seriously, I am concerned about myself.  I am SO on the road to being a cat lady.)

So, Dear Future Boyfriend (if you even exist), no matter what I say or how indifferent I act about the mushy stuff, know the following things are really the truth:

1.  I want you to tell me that I'm pretty, especially when I'm just wearing jeans and a t-shirt and my hair is in a messy ponytail (so, basically, every day).

2.  I like it when you call me princess, sweetheart, and baby.

3.  Pandora beads for my bracelet are always, ALWAYS a good gift idea.

4.  I actually do expect you to remember things like my favorite soft drink, candy, movie, baseball team and author.  I know all those things about you, and we've talked about them, so you should know them about me.

5.  Send me sweet good morning and good night texts.

6.  Pay for dinner.  Hold the door open for me.  Pull out my chair at the restaurant.

7.  I like buying you things, and I love that you appreciate things when I get them for you (so say thank you!).  But never tell me that you can't accept a gift because it is too much or because I shouldn't have bought it.  I bought it because I wanted to, and you not accepting it is insulting.

8.  I will give you your guys' nights to go to the game and play poker or whatever, so I need you to give me my space for girls' nights every once in a while, too.

9.  Picnics in the park or at the lake are my absolute favorite.

10.  I love when you hold my hand in public and let me wear your coat or hoodie.  It tells everyone who sees us that I belong to you, and I love that.

Also...
If/when you get ready to pop the question, I want it to be a special moment just between the two of us.  No hidden photographers, no surprise parties, no asking on the jumbo tron at a ballgame (although those things are cool, I think a moment like deciding that you are going to spend the rest of your life with someone should be private). Got it?  Good.

Last thing...do you think you could hurry up a little?  Or maybe ask someone for directions?