Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Guest Post by Bonnie

Bonnie and I decided to swap blogs today, so you're going to get a break from me! 
(let the sad faces and disappointed "awws" commence)
If you haven't already stumbled across her blog, shame on you!  
AFTER you're done reading this post, you should go check out her blog!
So without further adieu, I'm going to hand it over to Bonnie!


Hello to the readers of Life and Times of the Intelligent Blonde!  I am also an intelligent blonde, except for my name isn't Alana.  And I'm not always blonde.  I change my hair color about every nine months.  I'm also not always intelligent- only most of the time!
My name is Bonnie.  This is me.
I used to have pink hair before I got a real job.  Now I have a real job.  But I don't have pink hair.  You can't have it all, people.

I write over at Life of Bon. If it weren't for blogging I would have long been driven to insanity by now.  That's because I spend my days in the company of punk seventeen year olds.  Mostly I try to teach them how to write thesis statements and how to tell the difference between your and you're.  It's a lot harder than you'd think to get that rule to stick, I tell you.  Even though those high schoolers can be a bunch of bratty ingrates they have somehow completely stolen my heart.
Ain't that always the way it is with bratty ingrates?!?!
I'm not exactly sure why I love these teenagers so much. I think it might have to do with the ridiculous things that are always flying out of their mouths at 100 miles an hour.  Sometimes those things are funny, sometimes those things are surprisingly insightful, and sometimes those things are wildly inappropriate. 
For example:  The other day I needed to make a quick run to the bathroom.  Instead of trekking across the high school to the faculty bathroom while all hell broke loose in my unattended classroom, I decided to make a sacrifice and use the gross student bathroom around the corner.
Upon entering, I noticed three girls just a-gabbing away, doing their makeup (At this point you may have two questions.  1. Why weren't these girls in class?  2. Why were these girls doing their makeup at noon?  Unfortunately, I do not have the answer to either question.)  I brushed past them, into the stall.  

Oh, but wait. Wait.  These girls weren't just talking, I quickly discovered.  They were talking dirty.  Crazy gross naughty inappropriate talk. 
I was shocked. 
Okay...I was a little shocked. 
Okay... fine... I wasn't shocked at all.
I work full time at a high school,  for crying out loud, I expect this kind of behavior out of the students.  Will my mom be disappointed in me if I said I wasn't even phased?
I was finishing up when suddenly the dirty talk came to a screeching halt, to be replaced with frantic whispers.  I didn't know why.  Nor did I care. I exited the stall, washed my hands, and noticed that the girls were in what appeared to be a chicken frenzy- chucking opened mascara bottles and cheap red lipstick into their backpacks and flapping out of the bathroom. (And if you don't believe that high school girls can flap, believe-you-me, they can!)
At this point, I was done with my bathroom business, so I followed them out.  Apparently, in their complete panic mode, they failed to notice I was right behind them.  This is what I overheard: 
"...... oh my gosh that was a teacher???......... but she's like four feet tall......... thought she was a student..........oh my gosh is she going to report us to the vice principal?............I thought she would never leave, she was in there for like seven minutes!!!...........  so embarrassing........ do you think she even knew what we were talking about though?.............. are you sure it was a teacher?...........If they call my mom I'm screwed......what a perv! she just stayed in there to listen us.........."
To whom it may concern: my acutal height is 5'4 1/2, I drank a whole can of diet coke which is why I was in there for longer than normal, but it wasn't a whole seven minutes, yes, I did know what they were talking about, and no, I am not a perv.
I thought about telling these girls that I didn't care about their naughty conversation, and I certainly didn't care enough to report it to the administration.  Their dirty secrets were safe with me (Unless you count blasting it all over the internet!) and they could stop their frantic worrying.  But then I thought, nah, better to keep those little perverts on their toes!
That's what a good teacher does, if you ask me!


When I'm not overhearing dirty conversations in bathroom stalls, I try my best at being a wife- a gig that is new to me this past year.  I guess you could say I've got a small crush on this guy.

Ahem... the one without all the hair...
If you're wondering why my hubby has got a giant teddy bear on his shoulders, it was an experiment to see if we are ready to have babies.  We are not.
If you're wondering why the walls are lime green in our apartment, it's because I made a terrible, terrible mistake.  It's fixed now.

And because I just couldn't resist, I recently got a new haircut and have therefore spent a lot of time lately flipping my hair around.  I mean, what else do you do when you get a new haircut besides flip?!?
I figure by now I have rambled long enough about my life.  I'm sure you're patience is long gone.  Unless of course, your patience is NOT long gone, and you want to hear more.  In that case you should definitely hop on over to Life of Bon and say hi.  I promise you won't regret it, and if you do Alana has promised you a year's worth of free ice cream!
Ain't she the greatest?
Come on, Alana, just go with it....  You know your freezer is full of ice cream...


Isn't Bonnie great?  I knew you guys would love her!
I'm so glad she spends her days trying to get people to understand the difference between "your" and "you're."  I'm hoping that she's teaching those little hood-rats the difference between "two," "to," and "too" while she's at it, because poor grammar is one of my biggest pet peeves. 

And just to clarify, don't go check out her blog in hopes of receiving ice cream, because if my freezer was, in fact, full of ice cream (which it is at times), I wouldn't be sharing.  
Just go check out her blog because I told you to : )


Until next time,
The Intelligent Blonde

Saturday, March 3, 2012

A letter to my younger self

Wouldn't it have been so nice to have had a letter 
"guiding" us during our younger years?


I've decided to do a "letter" link-up, so after you read mine, go write your own and link it up  (if you've written one in the past, you are more than welcome to link it).

Here's what my letter would say:

You meet one of your best friends in Headstart.  Kelly is the absolute opposite of you, but that will make ya'll grow even closer.

Right after 9/11, you will almost be arrested in an airport for saying the "b-word." Lesson learned: don't say bomb around Airport Security. You didn't know better--you were just mad because they made you take off your shoes. It proves to be a funny story, later.

Your dad will get girlfriends on the internet when you're around 13. This is about the time when he stops being a "dad" and becomes a mere, sperm donor.

Your parents will open their home to foster kids when you're a teenager, and over the span of a few years, you will have more than a dozen babies come through your life. These babies will touch your life forever.

Your oldest brother's fiance will be killed by a drunk driver before you're old enough to drive. This will be your first experience with drinking and driving, but not your last.

Your parents will split when you're 15.  It will be the worst thing (because of things that are said) and the best thing (because you'll get rid of destructive people in your life) that's ever happened to you.

You will get your first kiss when you're 15. You will think it's the most awkward thing ever and giggle like a little school girl.

You will meet your other best friend when you're 16. Oddly enough, you have known her your whole life but ya'll will become close when you start working together. Lisa is exactly like you and the two of you will become inseparable. 

You will not fit in during High School. You will have friends, but you will never be one of the "popular" kids, because you don't drink or sleep around.

You will date many, many boys, but will fall hard for an awkwardly clueless boy from another school. You will have a crush on him from the first time you meet him. You will creepishly find his phone number in a phone book (back when people still used home phones) and you will call him. Ya'll will call each other every week for a year, talking about everything from your love life to life goals. You will eventually start dating and become quite smitten (he'll be your first love).  For the next year you guys will go through a lot, but in the end, the two of you will be forced to end your relationship and, unfortunately, your friendship, and move on.

You will go to six proms throughout high school!

You will go to the college you always dreamed of. You have your first dorm-life experience and absolutely love it. When they say your best friends are made in college, it's so true. While you still remain best friends with Kelly and Lisa, you add to that list Cassie and Erin.

You will do some very unexpected things, like jumping out of an airplane and getting a tattoo.

Your best guy friend, Justin, makes the mistake of drinking and driving and gets into an accident. This accident has a very big impact on your small hometown and everyone has to live with the consequences. You will make one of the hardest decisions of your life when you decide to stand by his side and support him, even though you're so against drinking and driving. Speaking of the accident, remember to give Bryson a hug and tell him you love him when you see him on New Year's Eve...that's the last time you'll ever see him.  While Justin is in prison, you will write him more times that you can count and you will even send him money to buy a television because his girlfriend will be too busy whoring around to do it herself.  Instead of being appreciated, you will be stabbed in the back; however, in the end, it will all work itself out.

You go on to date MANY guys throughout college--mainly losers. You have some very unhealthy relationships, which make you realize exactly what you want don't want.

You will rush club, with Cassie, your Sophomore year of college.

After some drama involving alcoholism and suicide attempts, Erin and Cassie will both leave college before Spring Semester, and you will be left to make new friends.

You will end up transferring back to USAO, before Junior year, and will change your major for the third time.

You will date an older guy who teaches you a lot:
1. ALWAYS trust your friends when they tell you a guy is a worthless cheater.
2.  People cannot change unless they sincerely want to, no matter how hard you might try to help them.
3.  Some people can look you in the eyes and blatantly lie to your face.
4.  If a guy is that old and still single, there's probably something wrong with him...

You will open your own foster home when you turn 21. You will have your heart broken worse than any guy could ever break it when your first foster baby leaves your home.

You will graduate college and start a big-girl job and your MBA.

Ultimately, know that you will be hurt many, many times--mostly by the people you are closest to; you will be taken advantage of and you will be treated worse than you deserve. Remember to keep your head up and not to let people get you down.

Life is what you make it. Learn to roll with the punches, laugh when you wanna cry, do crazy things you think you'll regret, and most importantly, take care of the ones you love.


P.S. When people tell you that you need to figure out your life plans while you're young--don't listen to them.  When you're 22, you still have no idea what you want to be when you're a grownup and that's okay. You have the rest of your life to figure it out.



Now go write your post and link-up!


Until next time,
The Intelligent Blonde

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Awkward & Awesome Thursday

AWKWARD

When people ask the unavoidable question, "are y'all together?"
Umm...well...no...I mean, we haven't really discussed it...thanks for calling us out.


The strange people you see in airports/airplanes...


Opening facebook to see (at the TOP of your newsfeed) that your first love is engaged. 
Con-freaking-gratulations!
(I realize that is a completely made up word--but it is the best descriptor for my thoughts upon seeing the news)


Finding Waldo during the jousting event at the Medieval Festival



AWESOME

Rolling over 50,000 miles on my Jeep on Leap Day!
That's gotta be good luck, right?
Okay, let's be real...Leap Day in and of itself is awesome!
Since the possibility of me being a Leap-Day baby is out of the question (seeing as I've already been born), I have decided if I ever get married I should get married on Leap Day--I mean, how cool would that be? 


Making a better-than-perfect grade in Finance 


When your boss comes in and says "It's a nice day outside; y'all should be outside enjoying it.  Y'all can leave at 3."  SWEET!!


My power tools skills...
Doesn't everyone use nail guns in their pajamas?
which allowed me to make this awesome chair rail:
Ignore the baby doll bed...
Who needs a man? Just give me some power tools (preferably pink) and I'll get 'er done! 


Until next time, 
The Intelligent Blonde