I heard there has been a big stir about the quality of my breakfast last week. I told you guys it was nasty! To make you feel better I'll show you what I had today, which is a little better. Let me point out that there is another conference (something with students this time- kids are everywhere!) going on in the Thad Cochran Center.

So the biscuit was a brick and the hashbrowns were rubber bands but the omelet and kiwi were nice! My newest piece of dietary advice from my mother is that I should eat eggs instead of bread-like (biscuits, pop tarts, cereal) breakfast because though they have the same calories, the other factors such as fat are less. So, I am trying to eat eggs for breakfast and an apple, banana, and kiwi a day. Phew!

I had a really awesome weekend. On Saturday, my mom, aunt, sister, and I went to the zoo to see the new addition of the baby tapir. If you have never seen a baby tapir, lawd have mercy. It's the oddest, cutest thing ever. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera in Hattiesburg so you will have to just look at this other baby tapir.

OH MY GOODNESS! How cute is that? Once they grow bigger they will lose their spots and stripes and it will look like they have a big diaper on.

When I was at Walmart yesterday they had tons of kiwis on sale for 33 cents a piece (Mom- is that a good deal? Are they in season? I don't know these things.). They were quite good.

My mamaw told me to give her a shout out on my blog, so here it goes: Good morning Memaw! My papaw told me that I should be eating an apple and a banana a day. So, I have been eating either an apple or a banana or both a day. Now I can add a kiwi a day to the list!

Also: I have changed the settings so that anyone (not just those with a blog) can comment on my posts! Just click on the comment link under each post to comment. Select "name/url" and type in your name and leave a comment in the box. Don't forget to hit "submit!"

I have lots to post, but I will do that a little later. Right now I want to show you this poster/art I found when I was on Etsy the other day.

I know you might not think this funny, but at the time I thought it was hilarious.

Ok, more soon!

(photo thanks to olerattlesnake @etsy.com)

The Common(s) NOT Good

The commons/caf at USM is a mixed bag. Sometimes (like this morning) it's even a little comical. Yesterday, USM hosted a big teacher's conference and served actually decent food (things that aren't pizza). Since the teachers are gone, it's back to the good ol' commons fare. It's called the Fresh Food Company but it is anything by "fresh."

I have an 8 o'clock class so I usually get up, go to class, and swing by the commons, get breakfast and go back to my room before my 11 o'clock class. Same old, same old, I walk in and ask for "Eggs, hashbrowns, and sausage." She gives me pancakes and sausage- I guess one out three isn't bad.

I get back to my room and open the box. Ugh. It's a low day in commons breakfast (which is usually the highlight of the cafeteria's food options).




The sausage is perforated. The pancakes were gritty and cold. What is that all about? All that to say, I'm eating a Luna bar this morning.

Game Day

I love Game Day. Not because of the football games (I rarely ever go to the actually game, puh-lease), but I love to watch all of the people. As I was looking out of my window to day I saw the most peculiar little thing out in the front drive.

Look at this little hum-dinger:


I've seen this golf cart at the games before (I've seen the mascot, Seymour, riding in it), but it was funny to see it outside of my window. What a weird car!

Yuck. I HATE okra. I'm just not a big fan of slimy, sluggish things just so happen to be furry on the outside. Of course, in the South, okra is a part of life- boiled, fried, in soup, gumbo, everything you can think of.

I do on the other hand like cookie cake...

Or in MG's case, a "really big cookie." Hey, I'm up for it.

Ok, you caught me, I have no new pictures or stories. I promise to be more interesting next time.

How amazing is this weather?

Did I ever tell you had another blog. Well, I do. For my Investigative Strategies class we have to blog at least twice a week to a blog that is not our personal one. If you are interested in it, click here. I'll also post a link to the sidebar so you can get to it that way too.

I've had a busy day here. Class from 8 to 2:15, tutoring from 3:30 to 5, and dinner with Claire (more on that later). No, I am being tutored, but I am tutoring someone else. She is the daughter of one of my teachers and a she is terribly sweet. I just started, but I think its going to be fun. My mom pointed out that neither of us thought or wanted to become teachers but we ended up that way. It's pretty ironic if you think about it.

I am really starting to want to work with coffee again. I miss it. I think coffee misses me too. I've been searching around and I think are a couple of places I am going to apply to. Yes, I do still have my teaching job, but that is only Monday nights. I think it might be good for me.

All of this got started yesterday with the Pioneer Woman's "Answers" yesterday in her cooking section. One of the things she talked about was how she makes iced coffee.

Here is what she had to say:
I’m an iced coffee lover—I drink it every morning. Here’s what I do: Grind a pound of coffee beans. Put the coffee grounds in a large pitcher. Fill it with warm water, cover the pitcher with a towel, and let it steep for at least 12 hours on the kitchen counter. Then I strain it with a very fine mesh strainer into a container with a lid. Then I store it in the fridge and use it over the next couple of weeks. To make the iced coffee, I fill a glass with ice, then fill the glass half full with the cold coffee-liquid-concoction-potion stuff. Then I splash cold milk—or, if I’m feeling particularly naughty, half & half—over the top, and stir in a tiny bit of sugar. Oh, lawsie MERCY, it’s good. You can also just mix in water if you don’t like creamy iced coffee. You can also mix in ICE CREAM if you want to sell your soul.

I think I am going to try that in... well, five seconds.

I love my coffee!

I Carry Your Heart

This is my sister Mary Grace. She's crazy. She has 9 piercings (including that scary one in her face). She's not even 18.

Anyways....

Mary Grace came down this weekend and much fun was had. We spent all of our money, went out to eat and hung out with our cousins, got oriented with the campus (well, one of us), and just enjoyed being together. I always love it when she comes.

When she was here we got to talking about something: Do you know people that do/have things that bother you or do you have things that you do/have that bother others?

I know I am not saying that exactly right, but this is what started it all. When my sisters and I were each born, we were given a blanket. In typical birth order fashion, I never wanted to rely on my blanket and didn't touch it. Ivy (the youngest) slept with it for a while but doesn't care for it anymore. However, middle child Mary Grace would go up in smoke if she didn't have her blanket. She has to sleep with it every night, even if she is visiting her sister at college.

That blanket (named "Gunkie") makes me feel uncomfortable. It smells. It's old. I doesn't even feel good. I told Mary Grace she couldn't take it to college or I would have to do something about it.

The even more sad thing is, she even looks cute with it draped like a scarf. Tisk!

(Notice the blue ribbon my mom had to sew on it when she was in Mother's Morning Out. Another kid had the exact same blanket and she had to mark it so they could tell which one was which.)

So I am sitting waiting for class to start. It's really sad that I can't think of what life was like before my iPhone. How did I live?

Mary Grace is coming to stay with me this weekend so more on that later!

Wow. It's been a crazy couple of days but I am at home for Labor Day/Hurricane evacuation. I am so glad I got out of Hattiesburg when I did. When they started evacuating people Saturday the traffic was apparently really dicey in Hattiesburg.

Class is canceled on Tuesday so I thankfully will not have to drive back down there today.

More later!