Check-in

It is now slightly more than halfway through the year. (Cue flailing and shock.) How am I doing with my not-resolutions from the beginning of the year?

I will spend less time on the computer and more time reading books.

Um, sort of. I still probably spend way too much time on the computer, but I have read 21 books so far this year! I've finished a total of 2 (TWO) books since school got out. You know, a month ago? Oy. I did a lot better with this when I got 20 minutes of reading time with my students times three classes a day. I didn't read the whole 20 minutes every class every day, but even with just 20 minutes a day, period, I made a lot of progress. If I wasn't suddenly hooked on the Supernatural DVDs a friend is loaning me, I would probably be getting more reading done.

But hey! 21 books in just over 6 months! Not bad, I think. If I push it, I might make 50 by the end of the year, and that would be awesome! 
 
I will purge useless/broken/unwanted/unused stuff from the house.

I had a yard sale a few weeks ago. We got rid of the queen bed in the guest room (and replaced it with a futon which takes up way less space), a little table, some speakers, the bean bag chair we never used, and our old bookcase. We now have room for two NEW bookcases (which are jam packed full! and now there are NO books in stacks on the floor in my office), and we shifted some things around the dining area so it's more open and, I think, looks nicer. Anything not sold at the yard sale was carted off to Goodwill. Yay! We also cleaned up the guest room a little, got rid of an embarrassing amount of trash, I even managed to part with some wardrobe items I never wore. 

I will write at night in my Book of Days planner/journal at least a few lines about that day.

I've been pretty good about this. What usually happens is I'll space it for a while, then do two or three or four days at a time, but that still works. (Sometimes I look at my Facebook activity to remind myself what I did!) It will be really cool to look back on this in a few years, or even a few months. However, it's not exactly something I'll want to pass on to my children and grandchildren. There's some really really personal stuff in there. It's a just-for-me treasure. 

I will be a better housekeeper (which will hopefully be easier to do with less Stuff).

After the yard sale, the house was a wreck for a while as we moved things around, waited until we had money to buy bookcases, put them together, organized books, etc. etc. Ugh, I hated it! Since we got all of that squared away, however, it's still looking pretty nice. The piles of books on the floor of my office have a place now, freeing up floor space so there's only a very small pile o' stuff in there now. For the most part, dishes are being washed and then put away in a reasonable amount of time, mail gets sorted as soon as it comes in, the laundry is under control(ish), and you can usually see the surface of both the coffee table and the dining table! 

I will be a better listener and not an interrupter or a wait-until-you're-done-talking-so-I-can-say-what-I-wanted-to-say-er.

I think I am getting better at this. Although with some friends, sometimes, the only way to get a word in edgewise is to interrupt! ;)

I will pray more.

This still isn't happening as much or as often as I'd like it to or it should be, but what I have been doing is when I tell someone "I'll pray for you," whether it's on a Facebook post or in a letter or a text, I pray right then. There at my desk, in the car, wherever, just a quick prayer for them and their situation. That way I don't forget about it by putting it off until "the right time." It's always the right time for prayer.

I will write more--more letters, more blog posts, more journal entries, more stories, more poems.

Not so much with the blog posts, eh? I did, however, participate in Camp NaNo this June. It's just like NaNoWriMo in November, only they do two sessions in the summer: one in June and one in August. I wrote 50,138(ish) words in 30 days. The quick way to describe the story is "1920's carnival time-travel romance." I really like the story and I have the next at least 20-30 pages fairly well plotted out. Past that, I have more vague ideas, but I do have ideas! I thought I might have enough for a Book Two, but now I'm thinking it'll probably just be Part Two of the same book. I haven't written anything since June 30th (that's 11 days now), and I really need and want to go back to it. I'm actually not totally sick to death of the story, and I have IDEAS! This is a big deal. I've done NaNoWriMo 7 years in a row and have never finished any of those stories. I did continue to write on a couple of them past November, but then those, too, petered out to nothing. It would be a really great step for me to FINISH a story!

I've also tinkered with a couple of short stories, and of course I've done my usual geeky RPG writing with a couple of friends on IM. (I bet between the three of us, we easily do 50,000 words a month.) And I wrote three letters just today!

I will find a lesson plan format that works for me and I will plan in advance as well as I am able.

This was mandated by my school. After a lot of fussing and asking questions and "what if"ing and discussing, we finally got a template that, I think, works pretty well. It's not overwhelming, but it communicates to the teacher (me) and any administrators that happen to walk in generally what we are/should be doing that day. It's good. I just print out a few at a time and fill them in with pencil, usually for anywhere between 2-5 days at a time.

I will remember that I am not teaching Language Arts, I am teaching people.

(This is turning into a really long post, sorry.) This isn't an exact response to the not-resolution, but stick with me. During the Midsummer Night's Dream/Summer Solstice party I helped to host and throw last month, we did a neat little ritual I read about online. Everyone wrote down one or two or a few things they wanted to let go of, then we threw the scraps of paper into a fire as a symbolic gesture of watching them float away as smoke. I wrote down "anger" as one of mine. Certainly my students, individually and as a group, would really get on my nerves sometimes, especially the last month or so of school. Too often, I came to realize, I would react in anger instead of rationally and calmly. I realized I even do it at home to my husband sometimes, even to my pets! I've been trying to be conscious of that, and when I feel that anger rising up in me, I remember (or attempt to, as much as I can) that I'm speaking to a person (or an animal) and that 99% of the time, what they're doing is not to personally upset or attack me. They're just being themselves. I need to chill out, breathe, and handle the situation appropriately. Little by little little, I'm getting a bit better at this. 

I will not dwell on the past any more than I can absolutely help.

This is hard. I miscarried my second child in February, and this is the thing that comes up to bother me the most. The most often and the most strongly. It seems like sometimes when I think I'm doing really well, almost to the point of being smug about it--"I can look at this friend's baby pictures on Facebook and not cry!" "I can have a conversation about childbirth with a friend!" "I can talk about our 'someday' nursery or parenting skills with my husband!"--that's when I get slammed the hardest. I literally feel sick and my body feels heavy. I don't know how healthy this is, but the only thing I can do, right now at least, is to push it away into the back corner of my mind and make myself focus on something else. Usually this is after I've given into the feelings for a while and cried, sometimes alone, sometimes with a person I love. I might write about it, or just compose an imaginary blog post or letter in my head because I deal with things in words. And then I have to put it away, because otherwise I can't function and have a happy life. If I dwell on it, I just can't. So I guess I'll just continue to struggle with this... I don't know how long. It won't disappear when I finally hold my own baby in my arms, but maybe, hopefully, it will lessen. I just want to be pregnant and give birth to a healthy baby so, so badly. If you pray, please pray for my husband and I.

I will Skype loved ones that live far away.

I have not done this. I should.

I will love this year.

Yeah, for the most part, I have.

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

In 2011:

I turned a quarter of a century old 26 OHMYGOSH why can't I remember how old I am???
I finished my first year of teaching -- 8th grade Language Arts.
I spent my first summer completely free from any job or obligations... and it was wonderful.
I built a blanket-and-pillow fort in my living room and spent the whole day in it--twice.
I dyed my hair purple for a while. Then black, to cover up the purple and be an adult again.
I hosted a Harry Potter party, a Star Wars party, and co-hosted another HP party and a beautiful candlelit Edgar Allan Poe party.
I sewed things.
I knit things.
I crocheted things.
I wrote 50,000 words of a novel for the 7th year in a row during November's NaNoWriMo challenge.
I had a couple of outdoor tea parties with my wonderful knitting group, Weekly Fiber.
I rode my bicycle, Mabel (although not as much as I would have liked to).
I wandered the Farmer's Market several times, although I only ever bought peaches and a delicious ham and cheese crepe.
I lived on almost nothing but Ramen and beans for a week at a time, several times.
I got a cat, and we slowly got used to one another.
I spent way too much time on Facebook and Pinterest (which probably contributed to the minimal blogging).
I spent a fantastic weekend in Denver with my husband, who whisked me away for a birthday getaway of rich food, a funny play, lots of walking, and even a little history.
I had some really spectacular fails as a teacher, but some really great wins, too.
I became obsessed with 1920's fashion, hair, makeup, and music.
I helped plant grass in our tiny back yard.
I spent my fourth Christmas without my little brother, Logan. Miss him every day.
I became very discouraged about ever getting pregnant after a heartbreaking miscarriage in 2010, then angry with God, then resigned, then at peace that everything will happen in his perfect timing.
I said goodbye to some wonderful 8th graders, and was holding the door wide open for others to leave.
I welcomed a new crop of 8th graders, who seemed so small and strange at the beginning of the year, and how are now just "my kids" (although they are still certainly strange).
I grew a little more distant from some friends and a little closer with others.
I read a lot of really good books and a few crummy ones.
I hosted a nice little New Year's Eve party last night with board games, snacks, and good friends.

Goodbye, 2011! You were a good year, a hard year, a memorable year.

In 2012:

I will spend less time on the computer and more time reading books.
I will purge useless/broken/unwanted/unused stuff from the house.
I will write at night in my Book of Days planner/journal at least a few lines about that day.
I will be a better housekeeper (which will hopefully be easier to do with less Stuff).
I will be a better listener and not an interrupter or a wait-until-you're-done-talking-so-I-can-say-what-I-wanted-to-say-er.
I will pray more.
I will write more--more letters, more blog posts, more journal entries, more stories, more poems.
I will find a lesson plan format that works for me and I will plan in advance as well as I am able.
I will remember that I am not teaching Language Arts, I am teaching people.
I will not dwell on the past any more than I can absolutely help.
I will Skype loved ones that live far away.
I will love this year.

Welcome, 2012!

New Dress and (better) New Hair and New Grass

There was still quite a lot of dye left on my hair even after washing (and washing and washing) it out, so in the pictures I took the night I did it, it looked almost black. Well, after another good washing, the extra dye is gone and you can actually see the purple!


I made a new dress.


It basically looked like a shower curtain at first what with the ruffle at the top and the length, so I added the sash and halter tie. Much better.

I wore this to the Farmer's Market on Thursday evening. I got a compliment on the dress and several on the hair. One little girl who was riding her bike down a side street with helmet, training wheels and all, practically screamed, "Mommy, purple hair!" as I stepped down an alley to Main Street. It made me giggle.


The fabric is from a vintage sheet I got at Salvation Army or Goodwill or a yard sale. It's been so long I don't remember. Last summer, I made a drawstring backpack out of one of the pillow cases and some turquoise fabric.

Twirl! Always required after making and trying on a new dress.

You can also see our new grass, which is about a month old now. It still needs to fill in some spaces, but so far, so good! I'm just waiting for our water bill, which is sure to be massive. Although if this rain keeps up, maybe not!

Luxury Camping

It's a good thing I didn't discover Pinterest.com before school was out! I think I've spent two or three hours there a day for the last three days! The first day, I kept finding pictures of beautiful makeshift tents--you know, blankets, pillows, a few dining room chairs, maybe the sofa, maybe a clothesline. They looked so lovely and cozy!
















From weheartit.com











I love the bike used in this one!

From sassyone129.tumblr.com













From tumblr.com

Well, yesterday I made my own, and spent most of the day inside it.


There's an antique pink chenille bedspread over the ironing board and two chairs, and a quilt top given to me through a friend of a friend stretched over to the sofa.









Tea (green jasmine) and scones (homemade lemon cranberry), The Thief Lord, and Marie Antoinette on the laptop. Not all at once, of course.











I put a lamp inside at night. I love how it looks all lit up!




















Sune really liked it.



I highly recommend making your own luxury tent on your next day off! With a couple of folded-up blankets on top of the rug, plenty of pillows, a lap desk for the computer, and a roll-out bamboo mat to set tea and such on, it was perfect! Make it extra special by using the "good" dishes and a fancy tea cup; I did!

P.S. If this looks weird, is hard to read, or isn't working because you read it as an RSS feed, please leave me a comment. I'm trying uploading photos through Blogger....

8 Things Friday

1. I have a major tan line on my neck around the collar of my work t-shirts and, I kid you not, from my braided pigtail that was blocking the sun for all of about 15 minutes, maybe, yesterday. For once, I forgot to sunscreen my neck. Need to wear a halter top and my hair up this weekend, or something, to even things out!

2. On the upside, 15 minutes in the sun without sunscreen = BROWN Heather!

3. My big family reunion (mom's side) is in ONE WEEK! I'm so excited to see aunts and uncles and cousins and such that I only see once or twice a year, or less. It's Friday through Sunday next week, and I'll go down Thursday after work to stay with my parents. Then in the middle of July, my two girl cousins that are a little younger than me are coming to stay at my house for a few days!

4. Incentive to get the guest room cleaned up, for reals. We STILL haven't got the bed on the frame yet, which is a priority this weekend. Then I can stick a bunch of classroom stuff underneath it and free up the floor again, clean up/out the chest of drawers, etc.

5. On that note, does anyone in town want two nice framed Van Gogh posters? They don't really "go" with the blue and pink floral quilt and stuff, now. Cafe Terrace is really big, maybe 24"x36", and the other one is long the horizontal way, about 12"x24", and matted. It's got Cafe Terrace, Starry Night, and Starry Night over the Rhone Both have black frames and are under glass, and you can have them both for $10 OBO. I think I spent about $80 on all of it back in the day when I first got them. /end of ad/

6. I'm thinking about taking Sune to the dog park tomorrow. I want her to be more socialized with people and dogs, and I think she would love to play with some dogs her size. They have a little fenced-in area at the edge of the "big dog" dog park for little ones. I took her to the Farmer's Market Thurday night and she did all right. She growled at a Boston terrier when I was holding her, but otherwise seemed just fine and very interested in all the smells and things happening. She even nicely said hi to a couple of little dogs, though one was a cranky old mini poodle that snarled at her. And she's getting better about strangers petting her. Anyway, wish us luck at the park!

7. I thought it might be fun for my summer camp kiddos to play around with some embroidery, so I got out a couple of hoops and some muslin scraps and did some practice stitches on the three small ones to teach them with; the big one is for doing it "for real." We'll see how that goes today. Hopefully they won't fight over who has which one and is stitching what on blah blah blah.... Kids fight about the most ridiculous stuff. They made tents by draping sheets over the desks and chairs yesterday, and one girl was crying because she couldn't get under a table with two other girls (and there was no room!)

(This is the same girl that bounded up to me on the playground when I got there yesterday and said, "Miss Heather, I was a sacrifice!" with the biggest smile. They were playing some kind of "get chased by the monster and scream a lot" game.)

Anyway, I got out a hoop and some muslin for myself, too, and have been stitching little flowers and stuff. Haven't done it for a while, it's nice. :)

8. I also started a feather-and-fan kind of pattern of a crochet blanket. Yes, okay, laugh at me for starting a blanket when I still haven't finished the very simple knitted shawl I started over a year ago. In my defence, crochet goes faster, I already have several skeins of yarn for it (pink, blue, and cream for the guest room), and it can be one of those projects I pick up and do a row or two on while watching a movie. I'll post updates when and if there are any.

Some Things I Have Been Doing Lately

taking walks

making scones

mopping the floor

playing fetch with the doggie

buying stuff at a yard sale for my classroom

buying stuff at a yard sale for a friend who gave me money with that express purpose, because she knows I'm so good at it

riding my new bike to work (about a mile) and just around a little


(Her name is Mabel)

reading The Fellowship of the Ring

doing Wii Fit yoga, strength, and balance (I get enough cardio at work!)

going to knitting at a coffee shop (and mostly talking with a little knitting)

being on Facebook

crocheting this collar

typing letters on my typewriter

watching the new Joshua Danger video


(I know some of the people who made this! When they are super-famous I will say I knew them when....)

sleeping in a little

laundry

having a weird, slightly scary dream about icky aliens

going out to dinner with my husband (we had a coupon!)

going to a birthday party and managing somehow to match my outfit to the wrapping to the present itself:


wishing I could sew

not wanting to clean the sewing table off

sweating a lot (at least 100 degrees for the high today!)



What are some things you have been doing lately?

Another speed update

1. My summer job at the day camp has been interesting, trying at times, exhausting (running around, playing basketball, kickball, sitting on the floor, breaking up fights, soothing fit-throwers), and generally all right. Fun and nice, at times. Hopefully we'll all (counselors and kids) settle into a rhythm soon and get along just fine.

2. On that note, if you have any kid crafts and/or games, tell me all about them! We have themed weeks, and coming up is Summer Olympics and Environment Awareness. Of course, not all the crafts and games have to go with the theme. Our youngest is 6 and our oldest is 11. It's hard to find stuff the little ones can do that won't bore the older ones!

3. The backyard is tilled, but still just dirt. If we ever have money again, we really need to get sod and sprinklers set up. Stupid not having money.

4. My grandparents found me a queen size bed frame for FREE! I have enough bins and crates from a retiring teacher that I can stack up with a tablecloth over them for a nightstand. I got a lamp from my mom. Once I clear up the last of the classroom stuff I'm storing there, the guest room should be quite nice! :)

5. This is all I have time for right now! Off to work.

Some Lists

Things I Am Not Allowed To Buy At Yard Sales This Summer
-yarn
-fabric
-sewing patterns
-buttons (unless they're really really cute and/or vintage. they don't take up much room, okay?)
-books. at all. period. (unless it's Pride and Prejudice, because somehow I've got a little bit of a collection going of different editions) (or unless they're classics that I've specifically been looking for)
-another typewriter, no matter how cute it is or how cheap. the one I have is enough.
-knitting needles
-clothes. at all. period. even though I have an 18 inch high stack of clothes to give to Goodwill.
-shoes, unless they are the perfect gold sandals I've been looking for since last summer
-did I mention that I'm not allowed to buy books? remind me, if you see me at a yard sale. I literally have NO ROOM for any more. I don't have enough room for the ones I do have.

Things I Do Need To Buy At Yard Sales This Summer
-frame for a queen bed (guest room)
-nightstand (guest room)
-lamp (guest room)
-curtain rods (various rooms)
-sliding glass door doggie door insert thing
-the perfect gold sandals I've been looking for since last summer

Things I Might Buy At Yard Sales This Summer, Depending On Price, Quality, Etc.
-a bike, depending on how close my summer job ends up being to the house, since I might ride there
-things for my classroom (assuming I get a job for this fall) like posters, maybe a couple of fake plants, perhaps a desk if the school doesn't have a good one, file cabinets, and so on
-Gunne Sax dresses, since I seem to have good luck finding gorgeous ones in good condition for cheap
-violin sheet music, perhaps. (I really need to call and get a teacher.)

What do YOU want to find at yard sales this summer? Is there anything YOU'RE not allowed to buy?

200th post

Dear Sune,

Stop being so freakin' adorable. I just want to throw the squeaky giraffe for you over and over again instead of doing work. You look so earnest when you "ask" me to play!

Love,
Mommy

___________________

Dear Dog Next Door,

SHUT UP! There is NOTHING out there to bark at, and even if there is, clearly you're not doing any good since it's still there! Seriously, my husband is about to go over there and offer you hamburger with rat poison in it or something.

Much frustration,
Heather

___________________

Dear April,

Can you be over, now? If you're over, that means my portfolio and my 4 units will have been turned in and I won't have to worry about them anymore. That means I'll be three weeks closer to the end of the school year, and maybe, just maybe, the weather might be somewhat more predictably decent.

If you're not going to be over, then at least go really slowly so I have loooootssss of time to work on these big projects, okay?

Thanks,
Frazzled Student Teacher

___________________

Dear Husband,

I love you sooooooooo much! You are amazing for cooking, cleaning, shopping, and bill-paying during these last few really hard weeks. You've put up with me crying for no reason, encouraged me, and done all of this without complaning. I owe you this summer and will make it up to you!

Love love love,
Your wife

___________________

Dear Students,

I'm totally not jinxing it or anything, but you've been pretty good the past couple of weeks. Keep it up, eh? Much more enjoyable days for everyone, all around.

33 more days!
Mrs. N.

P.S. I really am going to miss you when this year is over, as amazing as that may seem to you. I might even get a little teary the last day, just to warn you. Please come back and say hi when you can. That's what teachers live for.

___________________

Dear Coffee,

I love you with a loyal and undying passion. Never leave me.

Yours,
Heather

Gardening

I have nothing new to tell or offer you today, or not just now at least. I do, however, have a question: How do I start a garden? It is getting to that time of the year, and I have no idea what to plant or when or how to take care of it or ANYTHING. I live in southwestern Colorado; other than that, I can't tell you about the dirt. Our backyard is freakin' tiny and faces West, so it really only gets half-day sun. The only things I really want are a couple of tomato plants and some herbs like rosemary, mint, and basil. Other than that... things that are easy to grow/hard to kill, yummy, and won't really make much more than two people can eat and/or freeze. (I'm don't want to can stuff.)

Help! If you have any good blogs or websites to recommend, or just plain ol' advice for a first-time gardener, please leave comments here!

Goodbye 2009

The year two-thousand-and-nine was a tough one. I went back to school and had to deal with late nights of homework and learning new (sometimes scary) things. We bought a house and found out more than we ever wanted to know about mortgages, loans, and working on something that's entirely ours (and the bank's). We dropped down to one income, since I've only worked a few shifts here and there since July, due to the massive amount of school stuff I've been doing.

But here we are, at the end of another year. I also met some great people who are interested in English and young people and teaching, like me. I had some great experiences with "my" kids at the middle school where I've been student teaching. I love our home, and I love that we finally have our first dog together.

It's been hard, it's been tiring, but I'm happy.

Since Matt has a cold and our company can't make it due to yucky weather over the passes, we're going to take it easy today and tonight. Have a fun and blessed 2010!

And go read this post, since this sums things up more nicely than I can at the moment.

Little Letters

(Borrowed from Jen, who borrowed it from someone else....)

Dear People Who Make Paint,
Could one of you invent paint that only takes one coat for full and complete coverage? That would be really swell, thanks.

Dear Ibuprophen,
Feel free to kick in any time now.

Dear Winter Break,
I would be much obliged if you would slow down a bit. I've had about four days of doing nothing, and would like maybe four more, but with home projects and playing catch-up, my prospects are not looking good. So if you could throw a few more days in there, I'd really appreciate it.

Dear Christmas Dinner,
Thank you for turning out so well! I was quite pleased with the outcome, as were my guests.

Dear Sune-puppy,
Thank you for being my comic relief. I am enjoying spending days at home with you, and I think you are enjoying the lap provided when I watch movies.

Dear Husband,
Thank you for all your love and support the past two semesters (and always), and especially the last few weeks through all this holiday and house issues hoopla. I heart you.

Dear Mister Heater,
Don't ever break and flood the upstairs bedroom again, or else.

SNOW DAY

I don't think I've ever had a snow day in my life! I may have called in to work a time or two because of bad weather, but never had an official snow day! No finals today, (after I made two pots of coffee to bring to our "Breakfast and a Final"), no middle school! Just get to stay home and leisurely work on my last couple assignments, put our kitchen back in order now our fabulous new countertops are installed, and get the Christmas tree and decorations set up! :D

Meet Kitsune

Hi!



Hi hi! I'm Kitsune but Mommy and Daddy call me Sune, it sounds like Sooooni. They say "Sooni Sooni Sooni!" to try and get me to come to them, but I don't pay very much attention to them sometimes. But sometimes I do, and then they get really happy and pet me and say "Good dog" and "Good girl" a lot, and I like that, especially when they scratch my back. You know what else is really good? When Mommy scratches the back of my neck under my collar and gets underneath all my long hair, that's reeeeeally good, yeah. I almost fall asleep sometimes when she does that.



This was me the first day at my home. Mommy and Daddy took me from my other Mommy. She was a nice old lady in a little house, and I had FOUR other little dogs to play with! Wow, it was really fun! Other Mommy loved me and petted me, and she fed me canned food with real chicken in it, and it was soooo yummy. So yummy! Mommy now and Daddy, they only feed me dry chunks of food and I don't like it that much, but I guess if I get hungry enough I'll eat it. Mommy gets mad at Daddy sometimes for feeding me too much of the canned food. She says it's a treat--oh, I know that word!--and it's expensive, whatever that means. I think I should get canned food all the time, but I guess I'm not going to.

Anyway, Other Mommy took me away from some people who weren't very nice. I was in a cage a lot of the time, and there were other big dogs that made me nervous, and no one took me out and played with me, or brushed my pretty hair, or fed me very much. They made me shy and scared, and I don't really like to be picked up or left by myself, but I'm getting lots better every day! Mommy and Daddy love me sooo much and they cuddle me and tell me how pretty I am!



I like to lay with my legs stuck out behind me, and it makes Mommy laugh but it's comfy! But I don't lay down for very long. There are sounds, and I have to see what the sounds are, and sometimes there are food sounds and I reeeeally want to see what THOSE sounds are! And then I lay down again. Sometimes I think I smell something, but then I don't. I snuffle all around the whollllle house, but I hardly ever find anything good. That's okay. I lay down some more, until I get up again.

I have a little toy, it's soft and Mommy calls it a giraffe, whatever that is, and it squeaks when she squeezes it, but I don't make it squeak. I like to pounce on it, pounce pounce pounce! When Mommy hops it around on the carpet. And I fetch the giraffe too, but I'm only sort of good at that. Mommy says we'll work on it. She also says we'll work on "sit" and "stay" and "lay down," but I'm not so sure about that.

Oh I forgot to say, my name means "fox" in Japanese! I guess Mommy and Daddy really like Japanese stuff. They say I look like a little fox when I'm snuffling around in the tall weeds in the backyard. It's fun! There are lots of smells out there. There is a big dog on the other side of the fence, but I haven't met it yet, and it never barks at me, which is good, because I would bark at it! Bark and bark! But I don't.

I forgot to say I'm a mix! One of my doggy parents was a Pomeranian and the other was a Chihuahua, I don't remember which is which. Oh well. I am soooo pretty! And also I am two years old, so I am not a tiny baby puppy anymore, no, I am very big and grown up! But sometimes it's fun to still act like a puppy. That's okay too.

When new people come into my home, I bark at them too! And I shiver and sit on Mommy or Daddy's lap, and they pet me and tell me to be nice. And after a while I sniff the new people and they try and pet me and I run away, but a while after that I walk across their laps on the sofa or come and lick their fingers, and it's okay. Sometimes they give me TREATS! That's really good.

Well, I'm gonna go cuddle with Daddy for a while. I sit on Daddy's lap and watch the big boxes he looks at, they have neat pictures and the pictures move and that's fun! Mommy watches boxes with pictures, too, and it's fun to sit on her lap and watch the pictures! And lots of times she takes out a very little box and it makes clicking noises while she looks at it, and it looks at me. It's weird. She says I move too fast. Oh well.

Okay byyyyyyeeeeeee! It was nice to meet you!



Oh hi! Hi! It's me again. Mommy says she is posting a video, and she hopes it works, and it "takes a while to load." Okay, sure Mommy. Here is a video of me being cute, which is what I do all the time! Also, there is sound. Also, it's not a very good video. Mommy needs more practice.

Hiiiiiiiii!

I'm back! I'm here! Home, my very own home! It's full of boxes and bags of STUFF (man, we have a lot of stuff) but it is ours.

San Diego was great! I'll make a post soonish with lots of pictures and tell you all about it. I got a ton of stuff from the swap meet and various thrift stores, and great memories with my mom.

We are all moved in, totally and completely. The carpets in the old apartment have been cleaned, and we turned in our keys. Hopefully we'll get our deposit back soon. :)

There is a scratch on the inside of this mug that looks just like a smiley face. =) Like that.

My head is full of so many things right now (one of them being caffienated iced tea) that I'm a little ADD.

Off to visit family for the weekend; it's my grandma's birthday, and my mom's two sisters are coming out as well. Monday is new teacher orientation, as is Tuesday, then Wednesday starts the teacher work days. By the 19th, I will be with students in "my" classroom! AAAAAAAAAAAACK!

I mean YAAAAAAAAY! Yes, that's what I meant.

New Home

In case any of you aren't on Facebook (Megan, I'm looking at you!), here is the news: We are buying a house! A townhome, really, but it will be OURS, our very own first home! It's three bedrooms and two bathrooms with new pergo floors downstairs and new stainless steel appliances. It also comes with a stackable washer/dryer (which we might replace eventually since it's kinda dinky, but at least we won't have to pay quarters every time we do a load!) and a teeeeeny tiny little backyard with a bit of a patio. We'll get a dog soonish after we move in, yay! Our closing date is July 22nd (I don't know where I got the 20th from, FB peeps who'd seen that) which is LESS THAN A MONTH AWAY!!! We're hoping to be entirely out of our apartment now by August 3rd, a little less than two weeks after we close. Do-able, right? (Since I'll be gone for a full week at the end of July.) Hope so!

Anyway, there's the latest happening in our life. *Happy dance*

8 Things Friday - Topical Version

1. New: I need a new, more summery header for the blog. I also need a new picture of me in the sidebar, since I've had bangs for three months and have not taken a decent picture of myself since we had that one done in December.

2. School: It is still here, oh yes it is.

3. House: Financial stuff is falling into place, and we have our top three choices! We want Matt's Dad and my mom to look at them if at all possible to get a couple other opinions from people who have done this before, and of course everything will take a really long time, but it looks like we could actually be in a new house by the end of the summer! (I forgot my camera when we went house-shopping on Tuesday, but was too busy looking and writing notes to take pics anyway, sorry.)

4. Health: I have been doing pretty well eating more fruits and vegetables lately. When we're out of fresh fruit, I often have canned in the house, and we always have orange juice and milk. I'm proud of myself! :)

5. Work: I'm starting part-time hours after next week. Whew! I'm going to work no more than 3 days a week, though they'll be long shifts so I get a decent amount of hours. That will give me a few days to JUST do school (hopefully take my laptop to the library, which I haven't done since the first week of school), and a day or two to do house stuff/errands. I think this will work out MUCH better.

6. Crafts: There have been none, and this is sad. At Weekly Fiber on Wednesday, I did start making some plastic bag yarn (which is just what it sounds like) and attempted to finger-crochet a piece of "fabric" to turn into, perhaps, a shopping bag, so we'll see how that goes.

7. Summer: I'm not going to say anything about the weather today so I don't jinx it.

8. Happy Father's Day on Sunday! What are you doing for/with your dad this weekend? Matt and I are going to my parents' house for a bbq with Matt's parents and my grandparents, which will be nice. Unfortunately we have to be back for my meeting at work (another one!) that night at 8:30, but at least we'll see everyone for a few hours.

I don't like cooking. Or do I...?

I realized today that I actually do like cooking, though I've been protesting for years that I don't. What I don't like is that I rarely have time to cook, and cook well, so I'm forced to throw together the same handful of easy, boring-ish meals over and over. That adds to the idea that I don't like cooking, since not much that I make turns out that great, anyway. Yes, it's (almost) all edible, and even yummy at times, but spaghetti for the third time in a month... eh.

I don't see this changing any time soon. Even though I'm going down to part time at work soon (hopefully by the end of next week, since that's how far out the schedule is right now), I still have lots and lots of school this summer. I start at my middle school on August 11th (12th?) to help out my mentor teacher with set-up, and the week after that, the kids get there. The way it looks, with me on campus at the middle school four days a week, and at the college campus at least four days a week, with the evenings and weekends devoted to homework for my college classes, and grading papers and doing lesson plans for my middle school class... I don't think I'll be cooking too many spectacularly involved meals for, well, a while.

I am a huge fan of the crock pot. I also like casseroles: cook some rice, some meat, throw it in a pan with some sort of cream of ____ soup and some veggies, and call it good. Grilling is also nice, since Matt does that part, I nuke some instant mashed potatoes and some frozen veggies, and it's dinner. I could probably make spaghetti in my sleep, and there's always the standby of meat- and/or cheese-filled ravioli with sauce from a jar. Since there's just two of us, if I manage to make about four real meals a week, we can live off leftovers the other few nights. And I've even been trying to get us to eat healthier lately, too. I'm excited to check out the weekly Farmer's Market this summer for fresh produce, honey, etc. Currently, not too much comes out of a box or a jar pre-made, though I don't beat myself up if that's my only option, at times.

And I've come to accept all of this. I have other priorities, for sure. But someday, far, farrrrr in the future (maybe; we'll see, I guess), I might actually have time to plan cool meals for my family. When that day arrives, I hope I still enjoy it. I think I will.

Hair and Stuff

Tried something new the other day with my hair. I think it turned out kinda cute! I just washed it that morning and put it up in clips to sort-of dry, then did the rolls and put the rest in a side-ponytail that afternoon. Would've been cuter if the ponytail was a little curled, or at least not the usual bushy craziness it is right after washing, but oh well. (I did the same style for work the next day after sleeping in rag curlers; much better.) It actually stayed in pretty well, too, despite moving around a bit and being out in the wind a little. I think a combination of damp + spray gel works well to keep my hair in a style.




Whooosh!


Arty pose

One just for fun:



I wore this to Jen's baby shower (the one having twins), to which I brought these:



Both prints are 100% cotton. The green with ladybugs has solid yellow flannel backing, and the yellow with ladybugs has green solid flannel backing.



Hats I started when I first learned about all the pregnant ladies last winter. There are little leaves at the top; someone at the shower said to stick these hats on them, put them in orange, and call them pumpkins for Halloween!

I made great big calendars for June and July to keep track of my work schedules and Matt's, as well as school deadlines, trips, and holidays. I'm not referring to it a whole lot just yet, but I do like having both our work schedules in one place so we can plan things.

Third time in the space of a week that I've posted! Who knows where the insanity will stop??

8 Things Friday

1. Oh my goodness. Once again, it's been a week since my last post. I hate only posting once a week! I want to talk to you all more often than that and (hopefully) you want to hear from me more often! I just feel like I've barely had time to breathe this last week. Taking my online classes has been an adjustment, for one thing. When I'm at home and feel like I could/should be doing other things, I'm doing school work. I spent most of yesterday in the library, and that was great! I got a lot done, I was alone in my little area most of the time with free wireless so I could watch the videos with my headphones on, and text Matt now and then. It was just... a LOT of school. Secondly, whenever I'm not doing school or errands (grocery shopping, laundry, dropping off rent check, etc.) I'm at work! Though I've requested, after next week, to only close til 9:30 once or maaaaybe twice a week. Hopefully I'll work no later than 5 or 6 the rest of the days, then I can go home, make dinner and take a little break to eat it, then do school for a couple hours. And hopefully on my days off I can get a fair amount of school done, then relax the rest of the day. (Pshh. Yeah, we'll see how that works out.)

2. I've been down to totally decaf coffee the last couple weeks--one cup per morning--and today is my first day with no coffee and black tea instead. I've been sort of missing that little caffiene jolt first thing of the day, but since I eased off full-strength coffee slowly, I had no afternoon withdrawal headaches! And I'll still have coffee (decaf mostly, but regular when I need it for early meetings and such) occasionally. Eventually, I'm hoping to get "down" to some green and/or red tea, maybe white, because I do like drinking something hot and cozy in the mornings. Just green/red/white tea will be better for me!

3. Baby shower #2 is this Sunday! I need to run to Wal-Mart or somewhere and grab about 12 cloth diapers for a game (probably "guess the melted chocolate candy in the diaper") and then to give to the mommy because she's going to use cloth diapers. Also need to make HER babies' blankets (this is the one with twins) and finish the hats (need to do the leaf on top of one and weave the ends in on both). I only have a little four-hour shift tomorrow night, so I'll get that done in the morning.

4. I want to start walking again! It's summer and nice out in the mornings and evenings, and I miss it! (So does my aching back!) Again, I have some major time constraints, but I'm going to just say twice a week for a walk. If I can do that, I'll be happy, and if I can do more than twice a week, great! I also do want to start back up with my Wii Fit (once more because of my poor back and hips and legs). I'm going to say three times a week for that, though more would be awesome. Hopefully once my work schedule gets a little more reliable, that will be a possibility.

5. To help with all of this, I want to get a big sheet of posterboard and chop it into halves or maybe fourths, and make monthly calendars. One thing I keep wanting to do is have my work schedule and Matt's in one place so we can plan things. Also trips and holidays and such, and especially school work! I think if, at the beginning of each week, I sit down and figure out exactly what I have to do--how long the videos are, how much research and how much plain reading--I can break it up into managable two- to -three-hour chunks, and have it all laid out. Hoping to get that done tomorrow morning, too!

6. I don't want you to think that I'm super-overwhelmed with school, or that I'm getting discouraged. On the contrary! Here's part of an email I sent my mom a few days ago:

I'm just feeling like this is really where I want and need to be, FINALLY. THIS is what I'm supposed to do with my life. From my few days on campus in class, it sounds like a constant challenge. Yes, it will be stressful and frustrating at times, and I won't always know what to do or how to do it. But all my retail jobs have been, after about six months, "Okay, now I know everything there is to know about working at (store). Ummm, now what? I'm bored." So I quit and found a new job! With teaching, it won't be the same thing every day (to an extent--the schedule and the kids will be, but the material won't). It will be a constant challenge--and by challenge I guess I mean "brain exercise"--to plan lessons and grade papers and figure out what way of teaching and learning works best for what kids. I like leading, I like problem-solving. I like doing little extras (even at work now) to stand out and improve the place I'm at. I just feel completely at peace with this decision, and thank the Lord that things worked out the way they did. Yes, I cried all day when I didn't get accepted to grad school. Yes, I'm sick of retail. Yes, living in Denver/Ft. Collins/Boulder would have been fun and exciting and different. But I love where I live now, and I really think I will love being a middle school or high school English teacher.

So don't worry too much about me, okay? This will all be sooo worth it, and I'm so excited to learn everything and see everything this next year!

7. I watched Taken tonight and it was really good! But (very mild spoiler in the brackets, don't read if you're easily influenced by other people's views on things) {{it seemed to end really abruptly. Like action action action... it's over!}} But other than that, ooooh! I heart Liam Neeson, and the whole thing was very suspenseful and exciting.

8. I am watching some Gilmore Girls now to calm down. I'm on the first disc of Season 6; only one season left after this! :( However, I did just buy the first two seasons of The Tudors on a really good sale! So even though I borrowed Season One from a friend a while back, maybe I'll get into that again. And then Matt bought Season One of the original Star Trek series, and the bits and pieces I saw while he was watching it were somewhat amusing, if entirely ridiculous. (Apparently we're big fans of buying whole TV series on DVD.)