I live at the drawing board

Today sucked.

I've never been someone who feels the need to do a whole lot with my hair.  My natural color works for me, so I've never gotten it professionally dyed, or highlighted, or anything like that. It's curly, so I've never had a cut that required a lot of upkeep or frequent trips to the salon for a trim. I've tried a few times to get more of a styled cut, and stylists never quite seem to know what to do with curly hair, so I've quit trying. Usually I go in once a year or so to get the dead ends cut off. Sometimes I'll get it a little shorter if the mood hits, or have a few layers put in, and that's about it. It's been looking ratty lately, so I decided it was about time I got my yearly cut. Because I so rarely go to the salon, I don't have a regular hair stylist or salon. I go wherever. I made an appointment for this morning at one of the local salons. I'd never been to this particular place, but I'd heard good things. When I got to my appointment this morning, I said I only want the very very ends cut off, an inch at the most. It's going into summer. Summer = humidity. Humidity = frizzy hair. And I wanted as much weight as possible on my hair to weigh it down. An inch. 1 inch. The girl who cut my hair must be Canadian or something, and therefore only understands the metric system. She cut at least 4 inches off of my hair. FOUR INCHES. Sigh.

Then, this afternoon I received this email from the Olivet admissions office:

Hi Laura,
I received your application, thank you for completing it.  At this time, we do not have a cohort scheduled.  I was just informed that the state needs to make changes to the program, which need to get approval.  Therefore, we do not have a cohort scheduled.  We are hoping to start one in spring 2015, but at this time, I am not certain.  Would you like me to send you information on if or when our next cohort is scheduled?

Dear Illinois,
Sometimes, I hate you so much that I have trouble putting it into words. But, I'll try. Much like making substitute teachers pass the teacher certification tests in order to ensure they're "qualified" to take attendance and show a movie, I know this is some bullshit plan to squeeze more money out of the poor suckers who call you home. I don't know what these changes are, but I am willing to bet anything it has nothing to do with making teachers better at teaching, and everything to do with putting more money into someone's pocket. Or possibly, a state politician very nearly hit a pothole. So as a result of that near miss, they will be repaving all the roads within a 30 mile radius of Springfield (seriously, has anyone ever driven around Springfield? I-55 there is pristine, like a freaking bowling lane).
I hate you and I hope someday I will no longer call you home.
Laura

So, it's back to square one, again. Why is it this hard? So far 2014 has really not been my year. It's been one disappointment after another. Luckily, that's where wine steps in. I know there are people with far worse problems than my own, and I have to remind myself of that. But even so, sometimes it gets hard to keep a positive attitude and I just want to scream at the universe "WILL SOMETHING PLEASE WORK OUT?!?"

Illinois has a rich history of corruption. 4 of our last 7 governors are/were in prison. Yea, buddy. From the mayor of the smallest town to the man currently living at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, it's a bad idea to trust any Illinois politician.  It's a bad idea to get involved in anything this state has its greedy hand in. Since teaching licensure is done at the state level, maybe it's better that I look outside the Land of Lincoln. Maybe I'll look at either online programs from other states or consider moving out of the state. Or maybe I'll say forget this whole being a grown up thing and move abroad again.

Two times only

Today is April 14. It snowed today. And I'm not talking a few flurries. The ground is covered. The trees are covered. I'm wearing fleece pants, fuzzy socks, and a sweatshirt. Sigh.

It's supposed to be 25 degrees tonight. That's going to make for some chilly eclipse watching. Brr.

For those of you who are interested, I continued my red story in the other blog. If you don't have the address anymore/at all, ask me (and only me, and people who have the address, please don't pass it along. I really want to know exactly who has this address).

Gun jumping

Updates

Most of you know from Facebook that Olivet contacted me yesterday regarding their master's program. They decided they would be willing to take the money of someone who already has her teaching license. So, if all goes according to plan, I'll be starting there this fall. Unfortunately, the classes this fall are only at their Bourbonnais campus, not in Joliet. But, I can live with that. Regarding my ongoing practical vs. dreamer struggle, this is a big win for practical. It had to happen sometime. Grown up. 401K roth IRA dental insurance what now?

Most of you also know that I have huge problems leaving things alone. Whether it's the pint of ice cream in the freezer or the person I know I shouldn't contact, I can't ignore things. So, I spoke too soon when I said I would not be responding to young Alex from Coralville. When there is Ben and Jerry's in the freezer, I think about it nonstop until I have no choice but to eat it. When I have something I want to say, I think about it nonstop until have no choice but to say it, even when every voice in my head is saying "Stop. Don't. Have some pride. You make things awkward. Walk away." Young Alex's offer made me laugh, and he is such a cutie. So even though I said I wasn't going to reply, of course I did. I told him I didn't understand why he was having any trouble finding a lady friend for the "romantic fun" he was looking for. He wrote back that he agreed, as long as I said yes to his proposition, he wouldn't have trouble finding what he was looking for. Smooth, Young Alex, very smooth. This time, I really didn't respond. So today he wrote me again, and said I was the only woman he wanted for his "romantic fun" and he was a sucker for gorgeous Cubs fans. Smooth, Young Alex, smooth and a tad bit creepy. Now, it was when I received this last message that I started thinking perhaps Young Alex is catfishing me. I'm not the "only woman" for anyone online. Don't get me wrong, I have a fairly high opinion of myself. But I know that my awesomeness doesn't come across in all its glory until you've met me in person. As I've said before, I'm stupidly unphotogenic and don't take gorgeous pictures, ever. And can someone really know enough to say with certainty that I'm the "only one" based on a few corny lines from an "about me" section? No. No they cannot. So, for Young Alex to tell me after only a few brief exchanges that I'm the only one makes me think that he is full of crap. But, did I respond to him? Of course I did. Why? Because I am completely not capable of walking away from things and because I have a crush on Nev Schulman. If I let Young Alex catfish me long enough, I will email Nev my story, put on my prettiest dress, and wait for him to show up at my door with an MTV camera crew. I did seriously respond to Young Alex, and told him that while right now I am not looking for someone to pick out china patterns with, I am wanting more than a friends with benefits set up. Sorry, Young Alex from Coralville, who is probably actually middle aged Bruce from Cleveland.