Shamu - I'm not ashamed to admit that I slept with a stuffed animal for a longer than normal period of time. I went to Sea World in San Diego with my dad and grandparents when I was eight years old and my favorite souvenir was a stuffed Shamu. I loved him so much that I wouldn't let them put him in the plastic sack face down (he had to breathe, you know). From that night on I slept with him. He went to college with me. And onto my first apartment. And probably even when I bought Loraine. In fact, I'd probably still sleep with him if it weren't for him missing half of his stuffing, his dorsal fin, and an eyeball. Now that's just creepy.
Shopaholic - Hello, my name is Courtney and I'm a shopaholic. I think I'm finally ready to admit it. I've got a lot of excuses but when I recently caught myself rationalizing not the price tag on an item but the amount I stood to save I decided it's probably time for a shift in thinking. Baby steps.
Spanish - I never even saw it coming. I was a Latin geek in high school and was kind of put out that I would have to take a different language at college to fulfill requirements. I figured I'd get my six hours in and move along with my English education degree. But la lengua espanola and la Sra. Hall had something different in store for me. Fell in love with la lengua almost immediately and never looked back. My only regret is that I never had the guts (or cojones) to live abroad.
Stubby Toes - I have them. You can make fun of them if you want. But I've learned to like mine. I think they're kind of cute.
I think it just might be one of my favorite outfits. Footie pajamas with snowmen in the middle of May. And "Hurdo Kitty" rainboots. Classic! Here's a funny story regarding these pjs. My mom bought them for M last fall and she wore them once and then I couldn't find them. I searched high and low for them during the cold winter months. Same thing with her Tinkerbell pajamas and my favorite Gap cardigan. I looked everywhere for them! And then in February a pregnant student came in and told me, "Hey, you left some clothes in the dryer you gave me." Yep, I bought a new(er) washer and dryer from a friend and moved my old ones into the garage. Way back in November. In February when I learned that a student who was about to pop a baby out didn't have a washer or dryer I delivered my old ones to her door. A couple of days later she told me about the clothes (of course she didn't bring them with her) and then before I could retrieve them she had her baby. She returned to school a couple of weeks ago and I finally got my clothes back. Needless to say, M's been wearing her long lost winter pajamas constantly since then! I, on the other hand, have finally recovered from the embarrassment of realizing I had left a wild pair of purple zebra striped panties in the dryer. And this poor girl's boyfriend was the one to pull them out of the dryer.
