The statistics of arm-stretching...

Patrick leaves for work about an hour before I wake up, so he always resets the alarm clock for me to the time of my specification. Today I received the following email from him, recounting our conversation when he left this morning.

Subject: Our Convo This Morning

Patrick:  What time do you need to wake up?
Ellen: 8:00, and stretch your arms out.
Patrick: ?? So... 8:00?
Ellen: Yeah. And make sure you stretch your arms.
Patrick: What does that mean?
Ellen: You know, the variability right here (Ellen points to her shoulder…and simultaneously realizes she is making no sense)…Never mind...

I have been giggling about that all morning.

Love you,
Patrick 

Apparently, the statistics of arm-stretching is what a dancologist dreams about while writing her dissertation...

A few important countdowns...

1. Countdown to becoming an aunt x2 is getting closer and closer! This is my beautiful sister Lindsey at 7-ish months pregnant! Seeing how cute and pretty she is at this point is the only reason I still have that whole pregnancy thing on the table. Just kidding. Kind of. We apparently have good genes, so I'm pretty sure Lindsey wouldn't mind carrying my children for me. We did share a room for most of our childhood, so it's only natural to assume that our children should share a uterus, too. I'm only thinking of them...

2. Patrick and I are canceling cable tomorrow (pause for gasp). Both of us are entering crunch-time (Ellen-finishing dissertation; Patrick-studying for the CFA exam). We really shouldn't be watching TV, anyway. Let's be honest. If we have cable, we will watch TV all the time, no matter how busy we are. How can I be expected to focus on hemispheric processing and false memory susceptibility when The Real Housewives of Orange County needs my attention!?! It is best that we cancel cable, and I just watch it on my computer focus on psychology and memory performance, instead. 

3. On a more serious note, this is how well my manicure has held up for 2 weeks and counting (again, pause for gasp)!!! It is the new gel manicure, and there are no chips, and it is still shiny! Knowing how long it was going to last, I wanted to be sure to pick a very neutral color. Naturally, I decided to go with bright red...

I will keep you updated on the progress of my manicure. Oh, and the progress of my nephew-to-be, my Ph.D, and Patrick's CFA exam.

Just kidding. Nephew-to-be, then manicure, Ph.D. and Patrick's CFA exam...

C-A-T-S!!! CATS! CATS! CATS!

No need for any further comment.

Saving green... uh, I mean... Going green!

I am very cheap green. Here are a few ways that my husband and I have avoided spending money on un-fun things gone green:


 

1. I reused all of our wedding gift bags for my family's Christmas presents. Love is ALWAYS a good theme, no matter what the season...so what if there are pictures of brides, grooms, and diamond rings on the bags to symbolize that?






2. Patrick and I reuse our old water bottles to bring wine with us in my purse to the movies. Why throw away a perfectly good water bottle just to use another cup at the theater?!? If we are bringing the water bottle anyway, we might as well put wine in it...





3. I like to be sure that I squeeze every ounce of potential out of my socks. It is important not to be wasteful...











4. We've kept the hideously ugly bushes in the front of our house. It is important to keep plant life around because...you know...for lots of reasons...

 


5. Patrick likes to give Louise haircuts himself. We are pretty sure that those grooming places use excessive amounts of water while bathing the animals, so we prefer to use as little water as possible at home.




 

Why waste resources and spend money on gift bags, landscaping, wine, socks, and grooming when you can spend it on diamonds and jewelry help save the environment!?!

A very happy (and slightly less ugly) birthday!!!

On my actual birthday, I woke up after Patrick had already left for work, and plopped down in front of the computer with my coffee (per my usual routine). This is what I saw...

Then, I had a long day of work at SLU, during which my co-workers brought me some cute mini cupcakes, and a cute mini card! Next, I rushed over to the dance studio to teach, and my wonderful sweet girls brought me funfetti cupcakes, balloons, and cards!

After a long great day, I arrived home to find Patrick and Louise hiding behind the counter to surprise me with my un-birthday cake. We are not really cake-people, so we prefer un-birthday cakes. This year's was a YoMyGoodness yogurt un-cake with trick candles.

Sidenote, trick candles are the scariest things I have ever encountered. Every time I blew them out, a mini explosion would ensue to light them again. Not fun. Only scary. 

 

The next evening, Patrick and I went out to Ellen's Birthday Dinner #1 to debut my new highlights (step 1 of getting out of my ugly phase).

I decided to get a cute, fun drink instead of my usual Chardonnay, in honor of being slightly less ugly.

The next day consisted of Dance Extravaganza. After a great morning ballet class and a productive day at work, Patrick and I sat front row of the Fox Theatre watching as Paula David taught the warm-up ballet class to Alvin Ailey. Kind of a big deal...  Next, we met Erin and promptly moved the the last row (yes, literally the last row) of the theater to watch them perform. In case you don't believe me, here is a photo of us in our seats. There is nothing behind us but a marble wall...

The next day, Patrick and I shopped til we dropped and went to Ellen's Birthday Dinner #2 to debut my new spray tan (step 2 of getting out of my ugly phase).

 

I decided to go with an even more fun drink in honor of being even slightly less ugly. I can't even fathom the drink I will order after my manicure!?!?!

My ugly phase...

Every year around this time, I go through what I like to call "my ugly phase." Let me explain... Things are always busy in the dance department this time of year. This means that my feet are usually in pretty bad shape. Also, why spend the time/money getting my hair done when it will just be sprayed and gel-ed and bun-ed 90% of the time anyway? Dancers typically don't get a lot of time to see the light of day this time of year, so my skin tends to lean more toward the "gray" variety than the "sun-kissed olive" variety. Add all of these factors together and you get... "my ugly phase." It's a viscous cycle, really. It is difficult to be motivated to bring my pre-pedicured, pre-highlighted, pre-spray-tanned self outside to enjoy the spring air, only contributing to the problem.

So, for my birthday this year, which happens to be on Wednesday ("March Ninch"--as I used to say when I was younger), I put the request in to Patrick to be pulled out of "my ugly phase." Plus, I told him that I didn't want anything for my birthday after the Christmas present he surprised me with, so this is a way of getting something without really getting something. He will be giving me the gift of non-ugliness this year, and you can't put a price on that. Well... you can... but don't tell Patrick that...

Hopefully, after my birthday, Patrick and I will not have to confine ourselves to the back booth at El Maguey with the favorable lighting...

                                Back booth with good lighting...     Not back booth with good lighting...*


Disclaimer: I don't really think I am ugly, and just don't feel that I am fully living up to my potential right now. Plus, I just wanted an excuse to post this picture from Seinfeld and to get a manicure/pedicure, highlights, and spray tan...

*I hate to admit this, but this was not even a set up....this actually happened...

"My life as a dancologist," not "My life as a psychologancer"...

I get so confused when people start by asking me about how school is going, and then, "Oh, yeah, by the way, are you still dancing?"

"Umm, yes???" Sometimes I want to respond with, "Do you know me at all!?!?!"Instead, I quietly think to myself, "SERENITY NOW!" and I reply, "Yes! A lot, actually!"

If you get it, you get it. But for those that don't, how do I begin to explain? To most of the people in my life, my (almost) PhD sounds so much more impressive than the fact that I am a dancer. The truth is, dancers work so hard for something that is not tangible. We don't walk away with a fancy degree. We don't walk away with tons of money. We don't walk away with a big promotion. We walk away with something that is impossible to explain to anyone who doesn't already get it. We will spend an entire year working on a product that comes and goes in about 2 hours on a stage. If you missed the performance, you missed it, and it is gone. You can hang a Ph.D. on your wall for a lifetime.

It took me 10 weeks to write my prelims...

It took me 20 years to get my legs to look like that...

Dancing has been infinitely more challenging than getting my Ph.D. Don't get me wrong, I love both aspects of my life, and they are both important to me, but working toward being a dancer makes working toward my doctorate seem so much easier. This is not to say that graduate school isn't challenging, or that being a dancer is harder than being a psychologist, but for me, my dancing puts my work toward my doctorate in perspective. Maybe I am on to something here. If you ever want to accomplish something challenging, just take on something that is even more challenging for you to put it in perspective. Maybe for you, psychology would be more challenging than dancing, or parenting would be more challenging than getting ahead at work, and the possibilities go on and on. Don't get me wrong, I will still be hanging my PhD on my wall, but they don't make a piece of paper for every type of accomplishment in life.

Just in case you are currently worrying about all those times you've asked me, "Are you still dancing?" after you've asked me how school is going...don't. I appreciate your support, whether you get it or not. On the other hand, if you don't get my Seinfeld references, then I'm sorry, but we can't be friends...