This & That

This post doesn't really have a "theme" or purpose...just to update everyone on things I'm thinking about right now!

1) I found a Hallmark store. If you know me well, you know that I am an absolute, complete Hallmark dork. I love that store and I can't really explain why. The thing is, I love the stores. The Hallmark card section at the grocery store or Walgreens just doesn't do it for me. I need the real store! Today I found out that there is one literally a mile from Saint Mary's, so I popped in to buy some Halloween cards and Christmas ornaments (I seriously have hundreds of Hallmark ornaments...Karl can attest to that). I had $15 in coupons to spend (I'm a Hallmark Gold Crown Club Platinum member! haha) So that was the highlight of my day. I haven't been to a Hallmark store since we moved from Bloomington. If I hadn't been crunched for time I could've browsed in there for hours.

2) Charles Shaw wine is really good. I am almost embarrassed to admit it because it is so cheap, and in our culture cheap = not good most of the time, but Charles Shaw wines are pretty darn amazing for the price. You can only buy them at Trader Joe's and they are commonly referred to as "Two Buck Chuck" because a bottle of Charles Shaw wine only costs $1.99. Karl and I have found that we enjoy the Charles Shaw Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Chardonnay just as much as most $10 bottles from the grocery store, and at a fraction of the price it's tough to buy anything else! When I lived in Chicago I think it was 3 buck Chuck or 4 buck Chuck, but since it is produced in California it's cheaper out here. Check it out if you have a Trader Joe's nearby!

3) I found a new website that is kind of scary/entertaining. I recently learned about a website called "Juicy Campus" and I have to admit that it is pretty addictive at first just to read the posts because many of them are eye-opening. It is basically a gossip site for colleges and universities. You type in the college/university whose "Juicy Campus" message boards you want to read and then you are able to read all anonymous posts about topics ranging from fraternities and sororities to athletes to professors. The key here is that it is all anonymous, so people who post on it are either brutally honest or totally lie. Being in a sorority during in my undergraduate days, I have to say that I am amazed at how brutal, mean, and demeaning people can be on this site when it comes to talking about fellow fraternities/sororities. I'm just glad it wasn't around back in my day. I think after reading all of the Greek Life posts, I'm pretty much done with this site. It is waaaaay too mean-spirited and I don't think it serves any valid purpose other than to spread gossip, rumors, and lies. The funniest thing, though, was that I started thinking, "I wonder if anything has ever been written about me on this site..." So I did a search for my name and *ghasp* one result showed up. It was titled, "Who is the hottest IU teacher?" I clicked on it and one of my students apparently wrote, "ANDREA EAGLEMAN She is in the HPER Dept. Had her for a class and never missed 1 day" I almost died with embarrassmet when I read that. If there is one thing as a teacher that I never want to hear, it is that a student has a crush on me. So my face turned bright red, I told Karl about it, and we both had a good laugh. I searched for Karl's name, but no results were found. Here's a blog post titled "Juicy Campus might ruin your life". I agree.

4) Tuesdays wear me out. On Tuesdays I teach a night class from 6-10 p.m. This means that my usual routine is to wake up, take Karl to work, work out, then spend a few hours at home preparing for my class or other school-related things, then I go to campus from about 3-10. For some reason getting home so late (around 10:30 p.m.) and not having a chance to "decompress" and have a little leisure time when I get home completely wipes me out. Today I got home and took a two-hour nap. I definitely need to get used to this schedule because I'm going to be teaching one night class a week next semester also.

5) I think I found my favorite thing about California... I am a little bit of a germ-o-phobe, and I'm not sure if it is a state law or what, but every public restroom I've ever been in in California has the paper seat covers to use. I rarely saw these in Indiana. I know it is a very silly, minor detail, but as someone who is crazy about sanitation, the seat covers make me happy. :) **And no, I didn't really take that picture...I googled "toilet seat cover" and that's what came up!

6) Karl and I cannot wait to relax this weekend! This is the first weekend in a while when we have absolutely NOTHING planned. Nada. Zip. Zero. Aside from going to the gym on Saturday we might not even leave the house, which is fine with me. I cannot wait to relax and veg out for the first time in a long time.

That's all for now! Family and friends - I miss you all a lot! I hope everyone is having a great week!!!