I want to go to grad school, partly because I enjoy being a student, but also because my workplace has a fairly generous tuition reimbursement benefit. I found a degree in biomedical writing that sounds perfect for my job and my career, and all of the courses are offered online. Unfortunately, it’s outrageously expensive, so even if I were to max out my yearly tuition allowance, I wouldn’t get my degree until 2020 — no exaggeration. JG and I are not quite at the place to take on a lot more debt, even though we agree that education is reasonable debt. It’s more about wanting to take advantage of the benefit at work but being unsure if we could front the tuition money before the reimbursement came through. The biomedical writing program is fairly new, and it strikes me as odd that application for admission doesn’t require GRE scores, so I have to confirm that the program is even accredited. The alternative is to get an MBA at a state school, which I know would be valuable and lucrative, but when I scan course descriptions, I want to gouge my eyes out. I know I shouldn’t take courses that I would hate, but if the writing program isn’t accredited, I don’t know what else to do.
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I have a hair appointment at the end of the month, and I’m thinking of getting a cut in some kind of chin-length, piece-y style. I think my shoulder-length hair is weighing me down, but I’m afraid of higher styling demands that may come with shorter hair. I’m always cold, so having my neck exposed at this time of year is probably not smart, but I can’t seem to shake the current feeling of frump.
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Every day, I eat my lunch behind a semi-closed door in my office. It sounds kind of sad and lonely, but I don’t mind. Lately, since I read off of a screen all day, I have been trying to read print material during my break, and I am contemplating having an “at home” book and an “at work” book. Ideally, I’d just read the same book in both locations, but I don’t think I want to lug the beast that is Anna Karenina to and from the office. I’m working through this month’s Real Simple, but when I finish it, I may turn to one of the books in my Christmas stack, Musicophilia. I feel like I would be cheating on Anna, which I guess is kind of appropriate, seeing as the novel is about infidelity.
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Ted has decided that eating out of his bowl is not cool anymore, but he will pick up kibble from the floor or from my hand. I know that I should let him be so that he’ll eat from the bowl when he’s hungry enough, but I can’t imagine him going through the whole workday without eating anything. So I cave and drop food on the floor in a little trail leading up to the bowl. Cesar Millan would not approve.
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I need pointy, black flats. And cute, black, closed-toe wedges. But I hate shopping for shoes with a passion because I have this idea of what I want in my head, but it may or may not exist in real life. Why can’t the shoes of my imagination pop up at Zappos for, say, $30 or less?
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A friend of ours is getting married in less than two months, and we just got an e-mail this week asking for our address. We’ve never met the groom, and the wedding is more than four hours away, so the entire weekend will be shot, but the sense of obligation is significant. I can’t think of a tactful way to ask if any other friends are going, since I have no context for the scope of the guest list. I think I should be more excited to go, but I feel guilty because I’m not.
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I was perusing Zappos this morning and had the exact same problem. Only I need brown shoes, and I have a picture in my head that I can’t match with anything. Also, is it just me or does Zappos seem more expensive than most other places? I bought a pair of Merrell snow boots the other day and they were $40 more on Zappos!
I always feel like Zappos is more expensive, but I usually chalk it up to my cheapness. The free return shipping is so alluring, so maybe it just feels like a deal, not that I have ever actually gone through with a purchase from them.
I have the same problem on Zappos. You wouldn’t think I would with size 11 feet, but they have a lot of shoes! And I have no patience.
I say go for the haircut, if you want. That’s why we have scarves. For those cold necks.
And as for school, if it isn’t accredited, maybe it will be soon? I have a hard time justifying an MBA if you really don’t want one and aren’t going to enjoy the classes.
That’s why I have no master’s degree. I haven’t found anything worth spending the money on.
I inquired after the program’s accreditation status, and I got the name of their agency or whatever organization takes care of it. The note is that the confirmation is due this summer, so maybe it’s coming up. I guess I don’t want to have enrolled and then find out that they didn’t actually get accredited.
Good luck on the hair and the shoes… am in a significant “school hates me” funk, which I’m trying not to spread; I’ll refrain from commenting on the grad school - but wish you the best with it.
xox
Thanks! I’m going on a Christmas-money shopping trip this weekend, so hopefully, the shoe situation will be remedied.
This is all so complicated! Also, I don’t want to scare you at all and I’m sure Ted is fine, but if he doesn’t start eating out of his bowl soon, maybe get him checked out at the vet? Sometimes when dogs stop eating the normal way it means they’re sick, or that’s been my experience.
JG’s taking Ted to the vet on his day off next week, so we’ll ask about his weight and stuff, then. Maybe we’re just setting out too much food? I have no idea.
A friend of mine who is a technical writer for a medical devices company is doing a Master’s in Business Communications (http://www.stthomas.edu/cob/graduate/mbc/)–maybe there is a program like that near you that would be useful in your career? [I don't even know enough about the field to know if your job is similar to hers, so forgive me if I'm way off base.]
As for the haircut, lots of layered, short-er styles require less styling, not more. I think the style you describe sounds great! Go for it.
Business Comm would be a good degree for me; unfortunately, in my area, it’s a difficult degree to find. I’m leery of online courses from random locations, but maybe I should do more research on that end.
I think I will go for the new cut, so now I’m trying to find a feasible picture to show my stylist. All of the ones I see have bangs, but I can not deal with hair in my eyes, so I don’t think I could handle that.
I’m still looking for the perfect pair of boots here… so I know what you mean. Why are all the good ones crazily priced?
I think you would suit the shorter styles - your hair is beautiful, RA.
As for Ted, he sounds quite cheeky! Max was like that at home, refused to eat unless it was cut up into wee little bites - and unless his biscuits were super small. Fussy!
Ack, boots. Don’t get me started. Whatever’s going on with Ted, I want to get him out of this groove but quick! He used to just eat out of his bowl, so I don’t know what the issue is.
I have the same problem with shoes… I have in my head exactly what I want, and then I am on a never ending quest to find them. I searched for two years for black boots before I found the perfect pair (which turned out to get all slouchy at the ankles, damn you Nine West!).
Boots are really tough. My discount DSW gems are starting to show traces of that metal post in the core of the heel, and I dread having to look for new ones. They are three years old, though. And I wear them almost everyday in the winter. Bah.
I have the same problem when I shop for shoes! I get an idea of my head of the perfect shoe…and nothing less than my delusions will do!
But then you have to choose between continuing to look or settling for whatever lackluster shoe you end up finding. I hate that choice.
I have the same problem when it comes to shopping for clothes, shoes- if I know what I want I won’t buy something that is close. I want what I have in my head. How hard is that?!
Clothes are not so hard for me because I am so wildly unimaginative with my wardrobe. I know what fits and what doesn’t, and what I’m liable to wear most often. Shoes, though, are hard for me because I have to visualize them with outfits, walk in them, and estimate their wear-down rate. So even if they do fit my mental picture, it’s still not a given that I’d buy them. Also, I am a cheapskate.
I just can’t wrap my head around the idea of going to grad school unless it’s absolutely necessary. I’ve heard too many horror stories.
Also, for some reason I have no problem declining to attend weddings. Of course I go to weddings I want to go to, but my theory is that I will most likely not be missed (unless it’s someone really close to me, but then I’d probably be there).
I feel like my brain is turning to mush during my life as a Professional, and listening to NPR and doing crossword puzzles will only do so much, so I like the academic challenge. Unless I want to stay at this specific job for the rest of my career, it’s pretty necessary for me to get another degree, too.
I don’t usually have a hard time, either, but I know that the bride really wants us to go. I’d feel like I was phoning it in if I just sent a gift to be done with it.
My husband’s grandfather worked for many, many years on his advanced degrees. Some time in the middle of working on his Doctorate, he mentioned to a family friend that he was considering nixing the whole idea of getting his PhD because he wouldn’t be finished with it until he was 50! And the friend replied, “Well, you’re going to be 50 anyway.” So, Grandpa L got his PhD because, after all, he would be 50 anyway.
I can see your point, though, that 2020 is very, very far away.
I get that logic about being 50 anyway, but hopefully I’ll do it before then! Part of the issue is that I highly doubt that I’ll still be in this same job in 2020, and the tuition help is really appreciated.
I think a chin-length/piece-y cut would look great on you. And think of all the fun scarf possibilities an exposed neck presents!
Ben is a big fan of getting a mouthful of food, walking into another room, and eating it there. Sometimes he’ll deposit his mouthful on the floor of the preferred eating area and munch away casually. I’d chalk it up to his fear of the kitchen, but he does the same thing at my parents’ house where the kitchen is not so scary. I think he’s just weird.
I do love me a fun scarf! JG says I have too many, but that’s like saying we have too many books. It is just not possible.
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