Monday, April 30

90's Child

Ran a few errands today and then stopped by sorta sister-in-law's house to help fix some leaky outdoor faucets. As a result, the SO and I were treated to a homecooked pork tenderloin dinner that was quick, simple, and yummy. :D Fair trade indeed. It's even better because we got to visit with our kitty's sister and her unrelated sister. We're... related a la kitties (being crazy cat parents) and friendship. XD Anywho...

Many of my formative years were the late 90's and 00's. So these two videos that I've found lately have brought back many memories. Very fun, actually.

Sam Tsui does a Britney Spears Medley. I'm not even a huge fan of her but this is fantastic.

Local Vocal (Nordic A capella Vocal Group) does a 90's Medley. Check the video out on YouTube to see the information bar for a list of the songs that they included.

Have fun!

Sunday, April 29

Planning Again

I'm in planning mode again. Mostly.

Guess my mind can't stay quiet for very long. >_<. Starting planning out what to pack for my trip next month. I always make a list, but during my trip last summer to Florida, I've determined that it's best for me to type what I want to pack in a checklist form so I can mark what I remembered to put in and cross it off when I pack it back up to return home. This way, I minimize leaving even the smallest of items behind because I have a visual accountability plan. Of sorts. I would never be a good spy. I like to talk too much about myself and leave a trail of my personal belongings everywhere I go. Kind of like Carmen Sandiego. Or at least, her hench-people. That's not really a word, but those games were great.

In the meantime, the SO and I are also trying to plan how to celebrate FMIL's birthday this week. There are backup plans for the backup plans from the activity to the meals to the dates. It shouldn't be as stressful as it is, but there are just quite a bit of nonsense that is out of our control. We would be dumb not to multiple plans because it seems that we always need one of some sort. I'm thinking a field trip to a local natural phenomena and some make-your-own-personal-pizza buffet-style at home this weekend and on the actual day, a field trip to a specialty yarn shop for a mini shopping spree. That's the plan that we're hoping will pan out smoothly. If so, I'll have plenty of visual goodies to share too!

Sigh, I think I'll be doing a lot of mental re-organizing during my downtime while in Florida in a few weeks. I don't think life is going to slow down in the least bit until then when I have no choice but to hang around for a few hours at a time. I've really lost track of my many projects in the last two- two and a half months and that's made the clutter in my mind much worse. I've noticed that my obsessive-compulsive tendencies have flared up quite a bit recently. It's just a vicious mental vs physical environment cycle. The intense desert summer heat is just going to make it worse so I know I have to deal with most of it as soon as I get back from the other side of the country.

I probably need to stop worrying so much about it and either just get it down or relax until I can get it done. Conserve that nervous energy, lol. Yep, going to go work on that. :P

Saturday, April 28

Breaktime

I'm pulling the I-really-can't-think-of-anything-to-post-even-as-a-filler card today.

The SO and I are just spending some time together to relax and play some video games that we've gotten recently, but haven't made time to test out yet. So... just a lazy day aka Mental Health day.

Friday, April 27

Scheduled Sleep

I had actually planned to sleep in a little today and ended up being called into work suddenly. Now, I'm totally looking forward to some shut-eye since I know I can't be summoned to school on a Saturday. XD

So... here's an eclectic collection of videos that have greatly amused me! Hope you enjoy and get a great start to your weekend.

The voices of Disney Princesses banded together at the 2011 D3 Expo. Paige O'Hara (Belle), Lea Salonga (Jasmine/ Mulan), Anika Noni Rose (Tiana), and Jodi Benson (Ariel). Even their dresses are inspired by princesses. Childhood epic-ness happened right here.

This actress and mini-series from this comedy troupe are near perfection!

Pretty sure I've posted this one before, but I can't help it! Haven't tried Pottermore since it went live, but can't wait to do so!

Not the best quality, but she is so darling! She was dancing to another song, but I don't remember what the video was called. Watching her dance makes me so happy though!

The tears-(of laughter)-they fall.

My heart goes out to my friends who were constantly deemed "too nice" to date. <3

Thursday, April 26

Growing Knowledge

Coming up with titles for these posts can be really difficult, lol.

It's not even 9:30pm and I'm ready for bed already. Volunteered at school today and finished the front display (hooray!) before the workroom became sweltering hot.

 
Probably not winning any beauty contests, but it's full of kids' artwork and done!
 Flat Stanley went to college and around neighborhoods.
 He even went to Disneyland and Chuck E. Cheese's.
 He went to the county fair and has his own website (that a family made) after his trip to Mexico and Texas. Yeah- whoa.
 Flat Stanley also went to the doctor's, that's my nursery project, and to Argentina & Brazil. Booyah.

The SO and I went to get long overdue haircuts today. He convinced me to take it a step or two further by getting shampooed there too. There was extra stuff too but I have no idea what happened, it just sounded good at the time. As you can tell, I've never done anything like this before. My stylist was very nice and patient with my newbie-ness and gave me tips along the way. She gave me this really firm head massage, but I'm such an anxious person and I was super inwardly freaking out because of this foreign experience that I was very uptight and tense. It helped, but I'm sure it was a bit frustrating for her.

Not that I wasn't cooperating as best as I could but... yeah. I'm a wreck, lol. So, we cut off a few inches and layered my hair. She even blow-dried and use some products in my hair to give me ideas of things that I could do, especially for my visit to Florida next month. I have thick hair that already poofs up whenever I get a haircut on top of testing up volumizing products so... I'm a mess right now. More than usually. However, I am super relieved to have gotten it done after trying to maul my hair on my own last month and reaching the point where typical hair ties were not enough to put my hair up in. I've had to stretch out headbands to get my hair to fit. Sigh.

With the cloud cover, I snagged the chance to get out and plant what seeds that I still had available. My cilantro has been done, I didn't have any more Poblano seeds, Stevia hasn't appeared, there was the one jalapeño plant that was snapped by the wind, my baby Basil has been eaten, and the peas were burnt to a crisp. We'll see what ends up in those pots. 


The other day, while FMIL and I were at the the craft store for the hundredth time, we found the cutest little figurines to use in class. It's the same company that makes the detailed hand-painted animal figurines that I also adore.  
 The growth of a green bean plant! How perfect is that?
And here are some of the terrariums one of the classes have assembled and planted with succulents and grass seeds.
This is just reaffirming my obsession with plants. XD

Wednesday, April 25

Spring Fever

It has really hit and sunk in that spring is here.

I was checking things off and adding items into my planner and I realized that there are about twenty school days left. Students are being added to FMIL's classroom left and right nowadays and they want them to start the next day or asap. It's insanity. Patience is thin from all parties and I have a three week trip to think about!

Haven't even had a chance to plan what I'm going to bring. I still don't know when bulk trash pick up will be, haven't been able to sift through our boxes in the garage, and still need to go through all of my old clothes and find a good place to donate them to/ that will take them. May is practically here and that's crazy!

Still haven't caught up with digi-scrapping anything. I started off reorganizing and prioritizing my life so well at the beginning of the year and we're practically a third of the way through already! Whoa! I need to get better at this life thing and fast. Time waits for no one! I still have presents to figure out too. Oh dear.

Um, I guess I can report that the front display about our Flat Stanleys is nearly complete. I left space for more projects, just in case the kids bring them back in time for open house. I also have two coworkers who are bringing in fun pieces of luggage for me to use as decoration. Got a lot done in the past few days (somehow) but that workroom is sweltering hot! It's weird how during different parts of the day, some classrooms are freezing while the hallways are toasty warm, and then some rooms are turned into sweat lodges while the hallways are pleasant. At least today wasn't as bad as earlier in the week. It had cooled down considerably with lots of cloud cover. There's a small chance for it to rain tomorrow and then we're back up to the heat again. Not fair at all! Where is our spring weather in all of this madness?

I'd keep fretting but I'm also about to fall asleep where I sit- something I had already done a week or so ago. Good night!

Tuesday, April 24

Music & Mischief

It's been a little while since I posted a playlist of sorts so here we go! In order of... how much I like them at this very moment, I guess. That will probably change after a few listens. I follow a lot of their vlogs now too and just really enjoy them as people. Many of these are just fun videos.

I've heard of them but hadn't heard them until this cover. Finding them endearing.
The Script's "For The First Time/ The Man That Can't Be Moved" mashed up by Before You Exit:

The video is just so goofy and "adorkable".
Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" covered by Alex Goot, Dave Days, & Chad Sugg:

I haven't heard one of his covers in a while, there are some with his wife that are amazing too.
Gavin DeGraw's "Not Over You" covered by Peter Hollens:

We know that I'm already obsessed with this song, there's just something about the visuals and drums later on that cinches my love for this cover.
Taylor Swift feat. The Civil Wars' "Safe and Sound" covered by Alex Goot, Chad Sugg, & Luke Conard:

There is just something about his voice that fascinates me.
The Wanted's "Glad You Came" covered by Landon Austin

I don't want to fangirl over this song, but it's really catchy and I like their harmonies.
One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful" covered by Michael Henry and Justin Robinett:

Monday, April 23

Inferno

Okay, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it had been hot for the past few days. On Saturday, we broke a record for the second earliest 100 degree day.

We actually reached 101 degrees.

Yeah, we could have done without that.

It's been lingering and the various cooling systems in the area have struggled to figure themselves out. We can turn them on and be freezing for 45 minutes at the most because shutting them off to save power (or toes) and be sweating within five. It's a bit frustrating and very uncomfortable.

I brought in my Flat Stanley goes to the nursery display and the kids loved it. My job today required me to run around school a lot and the first graders would spot me and compliment my work. It was so sweet of them! I'm really proud of it but it makes it thousands of times better that they genuinely enjoyed it. I hope they found it informative as well.

Worked on the front display with some of the materials that the kids have finished making. We hope to center it around the Flat Stanley projects that one class is doing (and were supposed to turn in today >_>) with travel-themed decor from another class. They made little posters of stamps, postcards, suitcases, and flags. I'll make sure to take a picture of it when I'm done. It's my first time doing something so big in a really long time and I'm a bit nervous about doing the kids justice. This is going to be one of the first things people will see during open house next month! That's not too far away! Some families may have taken this project a little too far and sent their Flat Stanleys to Mexico and places like Florida with relatives. Which is one of the usual things to do with Flat Stanley... Over the summer... Oh boy, lol.

We also had a volunteer breakfast today. It was a Mexican-food catered meal with fresh fruit and juice for all of those staff and community members that go the extra mile for our school. I always love going. You bet I shoved food in my mouth before rushing off to meet the kids. I don't know how they manage to organize events like these while still doing everything else it takes to keep the school running smoothly. My hat's off to them!

To make up for not much around here visually, I did do another quick vlog about what the heat has done to the garden. It makes me a sad panda.

Sunday, April 22

Earth Day

Not only was it Earth Day today but the planet decided to be a bit cranky and have us reach a record high! It got up to 101 degrees in town today and I am super grateful that we had the swamp cooler up and running when we could. That and the upright fans we invested in last year. They are saving our butts now. It is really early for this type of tomfoolery.

To go along with the theme, I have a little update from the garden, of course. The fence and gate seem to be working out well in terms of keeping bunnies out. I have to admit that I usually climb over the gate instead of opening it like I showed in the second vlog. That still doesn't keep the various bugs and birds out of the area though! The sudden heat has been rough on these pretty young plants and I hope they hang in there. It's just practice for the impending scorching summer.

Disclaimer: I'm not affiliated with any of these companies and I'm not being compensated for my opinion. I just like trying out new stuff. :D

Earlier this week, the SO and I went a little crazy in the seasonal garden section in Target.

 We snagged a non-kinking 75 ft long hose for 25 bucks! 
The one at the house is old, has been patched up, still leaks, and had its nozzle end cut off years ago. While we didn't throw the original hose away, the SO bought a Y-connector with on and off dials. Works beautifully!

I also decided to try out the Miracle-Gro plant food sprayer that I see in nearly all of the stores. I have to say, that I am not impressed with how it attaches to the hose. The threading is the green plastic and it was being ripped to shreds by the metal hose end even though I was being mindful and gentle. It has three spray-shape settings, a trigger locking mechanism, and a way to spray food-less water. I have liked the plant food itself so far with the box I got last year.

 
I went as far as to get a nice elongated multi- shapes and pressure sprayer. It was only 6 dollars and I like being able to reach the back pots while sitting down on my rock border. The pressure control is amazing. We can water a Palo Verde tree that's outside of our fence while standing on the porch. FMIL and I each have our own favorite settings for watering different things but we've had a lot of fun with it so far. The whole set up is a bit heavier than we're used to, but we could use the work out. :P Plus, this means that we're saving so much water due to the lack of leakage.




We have flowers in the garden now! Well, besides the strawberry plant and the silly herbs that have been bolting.

 This is one of many from the first jalapeño plant.
Its sacrificing many leaves that have made it bushy to have enough energy for all of these flowers.
 The pea plant is beginning to flower! I was not expecting this at all but probably should have if I checked the growth calender. They are so darling! I will freak when I begin to see pea pods.
The Hogwarts of Birds' Eye Chillies have been budding pretty early and Gryffindor is the first to have a bloom. I'm really worried that they are not ready to start producing fruit already but there's only so much I can do when plants are this determined! 

Everyone seems to be growing a bit taller and greener, except for the herbs. They are slow to make any progress and I think they are reaching the end of their life cycle. I really have no idea and have a hard time understanding the research that I've done so far. I don't think that they are done once they've flowered but they are sure unhappy anyways. I hope you all were able to give back to the Earth today and be a little greener. It couldn't hurt to try. :P

Saturday, April 21

A Silly Adventure

It has taken up most of my day, but I am finally done with my Flat Stanley project!

I came home sweaty and covered in soda, but it's done. With temps in the 90's, FMIL and I headed up to pick up a few things at the craft store before heading to the nursery. Armed with a half-charged camera and some vague ideas, we ran around exploring and snapping pictures everywhere.

We even ran into our former music teacher and her husband there. It never ceases to amaze me at how "small town" this city is all of the time. Asked random workers and customers to help us take pictures for this assignment and everyone got a kick out of our antics. There is little to no shame in our game. XD

I realized that I didn't have many pictures of Flat Stanley and I together, so of course we got a few of the two of us trying to eat fruits still on the trees. I can't wait to show the kids the different kinds of plants and textures. I did my best to not just take photos that I thought would look nice or cool, but to have a lesson/ fact/ tip behind it.

Got them sorted and developed, had grabbed some poster board at the craft store earlier, and then set about typing up my story. It took me about two hours to cut out all of the pieces and assemble it. I blame my lack of speed on lack of energy and my obsessive-compulsive tendencies flaring up this past week. Thank goodness for my Cricut Machine, paper-crafting adhesives, and what little experience I already have with good Flat Stanley scrapbooks.

Here are a few pictures from today:
 
 
 
 

Friday, April 20

Bamboozled

I really think I super funny sometimes. Like when I thought of the title for today's post. See above. :P

May just be reaching that point of exhausted delirium for tonight. I am so grateful that it's Friday! Woohoo! It was another long day of running around, trying to help as many people as I could doing as much as I could. Not sure why I do that. It's really tiring, lol. The usual work, creating more visual communication cards, and trying to figure out my schedule next week working in 1-3 classrooms a day. I don't know how they do it. I can handle throwing all of my focus into a single classroom but to split it into four rooms daily? I would leave such a trail of disaster in my wake. Oh, and I began volunteering to set up the volunteer appreciation breakfast. FMIL kicked me out to go volunteer in her classroom because she that it was ironic in a ridiculous sort of way. I can't help it if we're super helpful people like that! Or if we're always some of the last people to leave... We just keep finding stuff to do.

It's only just past 9pm and my eyes are bloodshot red from being tired and the crazy dry weather. It's steadily creeping towards that 99-100 mark and I do not appreciate that! :P We checked out one of the garden plots that one of the classrooms just planted in not too long ago. They have a whole bunch of radishes sprouting and some squash. The carrots, zucchini, and marigolds also have made their initial appearances. The kids were watering the area with tiny squirt guns while we attacked the plot with a leaky hose. Obviously, I got soaked and muddied up from the knees down. That was first thing in the morning too. Lol. Of course! Not a dull moment when one of your unofficial job titles is School Garden Fairy.

I had one thing keeping me going strong(-ish) today. The fact that after the rough day yesterday, I asked FMIL to stop by Best Buy as we ran errands on our way home after school. Then... I splurged on this: The Bamboo Create. Yep, one of the tablets that I linked here the other day. Been wanting one for so long and no one was stopping me... and yeah. I am in love! I have yet to truly explore it with how exhausted I've been physically and mentally but hopefully I will get a chance to this weekend! I'm practicing using it during web browsing, tried it out writing with it by opening up the typical paint program, and... actually that's all that I've managed to do. I haven't tried to seriously game with it yet and I just barely managed to install all of the neat programs it came with last night. Oh! Another thing I've done with my new graphics tablet? Well, for some reason, it reminded me that I now use the SO's old headset and that meant I was compelled to try some free online karaoke again! Because... I'm a weirdo like that. XP

That's probably all from me today, I want to get back to my delirious shenanigans.

Thursday, April 19

Out Of The Wreckage

I really wish the work week was over. It's almost there! I've been doing my best to get more sleep but I still feel like such a train wreck. I look the part as well.

Thankfully, it was the last day of testing for my group of kids. They found it bittersweet, lol. I guess I can still be considered a fun person despite bringing down the hammer at times. They're good kids that had a lot of sense. Whether or not they listened to that voice inside is another matter. XD Either way, I hope they did well.

Did my best to earn my keep and helped out a couple of classrooms while figuring out my schedule for next week. The end of the school year brings a new level of madness that's almost too much to handle and yet, this staff handles it time after time. I really admire that quality they share. I'm in increasingly high demand now. Found templates for class projects, made so many copies, and completed another visual PEC schedule for another new student. That's the fifth new student from that class in the past two and a half weeks! Insanity, right? It happens every year!

I have been so scatterbrained this week too. At least I'm not the only one. We know the names of nearly all of the students that we see so often, but there is some force in the universe that finds enjoyment in having us fumble monikers left and right. Luckily, we often can figure out what's up thanks to context clues and being on the same wavelength during a brain fart. XP I have also been leaving my things all over the school- not uncharacteristic, honestly- but I would remember and go back and get it right away. Nope, I would leave it in some unknown location and not realize it until 2-3 tasks later. I'm very lucky that my butt is attached. O_o.

My favorite accomplishment for today was joining the ranks of the selected few who know how to load the laminator. I have really needed it for various projects I'm doing for a few teachers and it unexpectedly ran out. The office manager hunted down the old machine, stole the film off of it, and I figured out how to put that onto the current hardware. This piece of equipment and I have this special bond and we chatted up a storm today. I got some quiet "me" time after school and off the clock while I was volunteering to keep working. There's a binder next to me right now that I'm eyeballing. It's a continuation of said work.

This weekend is going to be media-filled and I can't wait! It's also may reach 99 degrees this weekend and that is way too early for that kind of nonsense. I have things to do and don't want to be burnt to a crisp doing them! Where is our spring?! Then it's back into the fray for another crazy week. XD Need to cram in as much positive "me" time as possible this weekend in order to refuel. That may result in sleeping a ton. Probably not.

Anyways, I should have something fun to share soon enough!

Wednesday, April 18

Standardized & Stylized

I am not even taking these tests (at the moment) and it's still draining.

I've been anxious with and for them but someone has to be the adult in the room, so yeah. I guess that's me. :P I am proud of how they have done, as squirrelly as it got today. One more day! Woo hoo!

Went around before testing started and was the primary garden fairy. LOL. I brought in a little bit of my own plant food to help out the sad ones that the classrooms have planted in the past few weeks. We hope to see more progress because there's about four weeks left in the school year! I hope that some of the teacher who planted indoors will start sooner next year. It feels a little anti-climatic to send home cups of dirt that may or may not have seedlings in them in hopes that they bloom two weeks into summer vacation. I know they try to follow the kits they are given but those are the last to be sent out and it just ends up frustrating most of those who participate. My mentor has taken it upon herself to get other materials for the kids to make their own terrariums with a better selection of planting materials and guaranteed to grow seeds. I've brought in some of my seeds for them to possibly use. Okay, enough of the plant-talk.

It was 9:30 and I was already ready to go to bed. However, I don't feel like walking up at 3am. One sad panda that would make me. ... What did I just write?

Oh! I have homework from the one of the classrooms that I've working in to do. I have a Flat Stanley! It's a little earlier than last year that I wrote about him. The kids are going to bring him back with pictures and we'll set up a display that's in the main hallways of the school. I can't wait! My unofficial title at school seems to be creative consultant and I have no problem with that. I can do elementary-aged creativity. Just hope that I can think of something remotely interesting to do with Flat Stanley this weekend. XD I definitely will make sure that I will do something with one next month when I'm in Florida because the environment is so foreign to kids here.

On a vaguely related note, I am obsessively looking into graphics tablets. It's always been a dream of mine to own one despite that I'm not nearly talented enough to use it to its full potential. Ever. It's an electronic tablet that (nowadays) attaches to your computer a la USB port and instead of using a mouse, you use a special pen. Higher-quality tablets have greater number of sensitivity points on the various sizes of workspace.

You can often transcribe your own handwriting either into a graphic or have it type it up for you. Many graphics designers use it instead of drawing on paper, scanning it, and then painstakingly trying to clean up that image on the computer with what I've seen deemed as a "soap on a rope" (mouse). It makes a lot sense to have tools that closely resemble a paintbrush, markers, or pencils for digital art.

I'm hardcore eyeballing ones that not only can be used for basic photo-editing but the one with a bigger workspace (the small ones are roughly 4x6 inches) that is easier to do art on. Many people stop using a mouse. I think I'd keep mine around A) because it's fairly new and a good mouse and B) gaming. End of story, lol. I would love to be able to add doodles and my own handwriting to my digital scrapbooking. That and it would be a million times easier to do the finite movements and adjustments that I attempt to do with a mouse and two hands.

A few years ago, these suckers were $500-800 with the Photoshop boom but before that $1200 for super professionals. I've seen some basic models for $60-80 and I am mentally drooling. I am checking out a particular company that has been a forerunner in this technology for years: Wacom. Check out the products if you want to learn more! They have handy comparison charts. Before I get any weirder...

Tuesday, April 17

At It Again

It's another vlog about the garden!

I promise I won't replace last year's crazy amount of garden photos with these videos. This week is just a busy one and it's much easier to take a few minutes to record and begin the upload to run in the background while I do other stuff. Plus, I'm really excited and pleased with a change we made to the garden right after I posted the last one. I also tried a higher resolution on my camera, but I don't think it helped much in the end. :( Let's see how using Blogger's YT linking works...

Hope you enjoy! The second video is an outtake of sorts.
 

 

Monday, April 16

"Hey! Whatcha Doin'?"

Lack of sleep has definitely taken it's toll on me today. I have a vlog uploading now but don't think that my stamina will be able to stay up when it finishes. While it's a lot shorter and another one-take, it's still taking quite a few hours to upload. I can't imagine what would happen if I had poured hours into editing it into something nice, rendered it, and then uploaded it. I admire regular vloggers and big YouTubers!

Went into school to volunteer and work on a hodge-podge of projects and was roped into substituting. Not only is there state standardized testing going on with most of the grades during the first half of the day, we have a book fair going on in the library, and community voting in the cafeteria some time this week. Insanity. I'll be assisting with proctoring over the next few days, doing my class observations in the afternoon, and then subbing again. A jammed pack we but we realized that there are less than 30 school days left! Holy cow.

I'll probably post the videos tomorrow but in the meantime, I hope you can enjoy this random and sweet video that the SO found on his homepage. Listen carefully and see if you can figure out what these parrots are chatting about:

Ugh, the cute-factor.

Sunday, April 15

Four Years

It's probably a good thing that it doesn't quite feel as if the SO and I have been dating for four years.

Even if reminiscing about events that happened early on in our relationship seem like ages ago. Time is such a weird phenomena we've created, lol. It's no wonder our pets struggle to figure it out.

Been wrapped up with schoolwork today but I do have those photos from yesterday to share!
This fun place works with a great pizza place and an old west theater that puts on amazingly hilarious plays during dinner shows!
Isn't it absolutely darling?
This is also one of the first places that the SO took me during a visit before I moved here. I love the chairs because not only are they bright red, but the shimmery too.
 
His chilli burger and fries with ranch.
It smelled so good but I had my own cheeseburger to deal with and FMIL got a Mushroom Swiss burger that she has been craving.
 Banana-split!
I can't remember that last time I had one and it was delicious. I cannot count how many cherries I ate because the SO kept getting soda topped off with handfuls of them.

Needless to say, the leftovers for lunch today were almost just as good. There was a DJ playing tunes from the fifties and giving out free ice cream for trivia answers. The tables are covered in paper and each table gets a small cup of a few crayons. I can never resist drawing and coloring in those situations. I even saved the paper we both doodled on from the first time he took me here. We got a ridiculous amount of food that time (add on milkshakes and pizza- we made our own buffet), lol. Never been a good bird-eater and during our first meeting, we chowed down and stuffed our faces at Arby's. Delicious foods at treats are one of our beloved traditions that we love to share. I hope to share a vlog soon about what else the SO did for our anniversary. We'll see how quickly I can get the footage ready!

Saturday, April 14

Garden Vlog

Hi all!

The Significant Other and I celebrated our four year anniversary together today by heading to one of our favorite fifties-style diners with FMIL today. While I do have pictures of that, I need time to edit them before posting. So instead, (partly in celebration of getting over 6000 views here), I did a one-take vlog in the garden earlier today and had it upload to YouTube while we were out and about.

Hope you like it! Not too shabby and relatively painless. :D


Friday, April 13

Experimentation Fail

All I could think about today (Happy Friday the 13th, btw) was the impending monthly ladies' night happy hour.

It was a traditional/ event started by my... "adopted sister-in-law". Lol. FMIL is her local "mom" so I guess that makes us related in spirit somehow. :P Once I started tagging along a few months back, I was hooked! It's great meeting a few new interesting ladies and trying out new places around town while- hm, I have a feeling I've already gone on about this before.

I am paying for my loading up on soda and sampling five different dishes though. Not bad for 10 bucks! There were a dozen or so of us that made it this month and I'm already ruing the fact that I won't be able to make it to the next one. That's okay, maybe I'll be throwing my own happy hour party in Florida! Trying to stay psyched up for the trip.

Did try something new tonight for the occassion. A few weeks ago, I wrote about hairspray that I'd gotten in hopes of trying to curl my hair with my flat iron. Lol, I just looked at the date, it was a month ago. Go, me! :P Anyways, I tried it tonight and it was terrible! Or rather, I was terrible at it. I kept running back and forth between the bathroom and video tutorials on my laptop. I had to put a t-shirt around the back of my neck so my hot hair wouldn't burn me, I couldn't consistently grab ideally located or sized chunks of my hair to curl, and for some reason, I could not remember which way to twirl my hair or the iron for than three times in a row. Ended up with certain pieces that were flatter than ever, a very select few that were super curly, some that were pin straight in the middle and very... wonky at the ends, and some that looked kinked at the top but were very straight at the ends.

Basically, a rat's nest.

No, I did not take any pictures of it, but I'm determined to get better at this! I ended up doing a messy faux-half-up-half-down. Straightened out the super curly pieces, running my fingers through to break up other curls/ waves/ whatever they were's, hairspraying to keep the the texture, and pinning some pieces back. So, for the rest of the night, I pretended that I meant to do all of that. I did end up liking my outfit though... of which I forgot to change into between finishing my makeup and doing my hair. Trying not to mess up a hairdo/style- even if it's a messy one- is really tough! Being a girl kind of sucks sometimes. It's a lot of hard work. XD

I'm in for a solid weekend of homeworking so a part of me is dreading to go to sleep because that means when I wake up- the fun begins. Sigh... :P

Thursday, April 12

Steam-Powered. Not.

There is nothing like exhaustion to motivate you to finish what you need to in order for you to go to bed with a clear conscious.

Do you see the look that I am getting from this little boy?

That is such a cat look that we constantly apply very human definitions upon. The latest is from me showing off my newest garden treasure that we picked up today on the way home from school: chives from our local nursery. It reminded kitty that his mediocre (I really think it's the new blend of cereal grasses that bugs him) pet grass was looking a little sad lately. I have already started a new batch but it takes a few days for it to become a safe height for munching. In my mind, it works out perfectly that his current grass will not be worth salvaging in a few days, just in time for the new grass to make an appearance. In his mind, I'm being a terrible go-for/ mommy because I have to be hiding a perfect new batch of grass from him somewhere. Sorry, sweetie, I literally cannot make grass grow faster. XP Then, after an hour of begging and kissing up to me, he goes and sulks for the rest of the evening. I'm such a disappointment. LOL.

Just lost all my momentum once I began to slow down. Don't you hate it when that happens?

Lots to do, but that is just going to have to wait until I wake up tomorrow. I couldn't think once we got home and this is pretty much all I managed to do in my efforts to stay awake:

Don't they just make you happy with how cute they are? The cups are no more than one and a half inches tall. I gave my army away to a family that could probably use all the cheer they could get right now. Of course, that means I just needed to start building another one. While I mull over my next actual yarn project, these were good to keep my hands busy today.
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