This is someone else's blog post...

... but I think it is really worth reading. Another great post can be found here.

Josh and I have rarely spoken out about our childlessness, but, trust me, it's on our minds. Sometimes people say things that are ridiculously insensitive (boy, could I tell some stories!), but it's especially awful when such offensive insensitivity is perpetrated by a national organization that I have supported.

Acupunctured

In my (seemingly) neverending quest to decrease stress and headaches, I started going to an acupuncturist about a month ago. Usually it feels really good, but this last time it hurt a little.

And it resulted in this weird bruise.

Pity me. I need pity today.

The Smallest Thing Has Derailed My Day

I've been corresponding with a professor by e-mail for a little bit, and today I got an e-mail back from her saying that it was nice to see me the other day. The thing is, I don't think I saw her "the other day" or, really, for months, so  it made me wonder who she thinks I am.

Not in a snarky "WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE'S DEALING WITH?!" kind of way, but in a seriously confused who does she think I am? Who does she think she's been talking to this entire time?

It's possible that I did see her at some point in time and just don't remember. Since starting graduate school my memory retention has decreased to that of a new puppy or goldfish. But I strongly suspect that this isn't the case. I strongly suspect that she just, genuinely, doesn't know who I am.

**sigh**

It made me feel forgettable, and that made me sad.

Disaster Strikes the ShepAlder Closet

This happened last night:

If you are not sure what you're looking at, this is our closet (or what's left of it). Last night I was sitting happily in bed, and heard this huge CRASH. I thought at first it was the cats because they were being naughty earlier in the evening, but, no, it was our closet falling apart.

A closer view:

 

Before we moved into our house nearly two years ago, I told Josh that we needed to do something about the closet, but it was so low on the list of things to do with our lives I never pursued it further. And now... ugh. 

The shelves didn't pull out of the wall or anything. They just broke off. So now our wall is covered in screws, and we have nowhere to hang our clothes.

Josh said that the whole thing would be funny some day in the future, but I have to admit that it's pretty funny right now. I mean, our entire closet fell down!

One more picture:

Emily, now 100% Caffeine-Free: or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Water

I am a caffeinated fiend. I inhale Rockstar and Diet Dr. Pepper like air. It wasn't always like this, but it got worse during spring term of last year when I had three evening classes and not very much energy. The caffeine made it difficult to sleep, which made me tired, which made me drink more caffeine, which made it difficult to sleep, etc. During the past few months I've been drinking at least one Rockstar a day and at most four, which has made me a little nutty. I have stayed up at least one night a week this entire term! I also strongly suspect that all of this soda and energy drink. . . drinking. . . has contributed to my significant weight gain over the past year.

So I have resolved that I will cut out the caffeine from my life and I drank my last Rockstar today. I've been trying to lessen my caffeine intake over the past week, and the results have been splitting headaches and ridiculously increased fatigue. I have diagnosed myself with 292.9 Caffeine-Related Disorder, Not Otherwise Specified (DSM IV-TR) and I am working to overcome my shortcomings.

Here's to making life changes!

Blog Epilogue:
Josh wants me to mention that it will be easy for me to not drink Rockstar because he's the one that does all of the grocery shopping. It's true. When I do the grocery shopping I come back with ice cream and turkey bologna, so we decided that he was the better person for the job because he buys things like vegetables and milk (you know, things that contribute to survival). He was getting a real kick out of buying those huge palettes of Rockstar from Costco, though, because he would tell me each time about how, when he paid for the Rockstar, he would get to explain to the cashier that his wife is in graduate school. I think he's proud of me!

(NOTE: I am proud of her! I love that my wife will one day be "Dr. Alder" and I brag about her all the time. She's the coolest gal I know and I'm a lucky man to be married to her... even if it means I have to make sure we also eat from the *actual* food groups, and not just from the Emily Alder food groups, namely turkey bologna, energy drinks, ice cream, licorice and Taco Bell burritos. -- Josh)