Sunday, September 30

Planning For Fall

The supplies for this years Christmas cards have been ordered and we're planning a little get-together for some solid card-making this weekend.

Guess that means my workspace should be cleared... sigh. Just came to that realization. It's an abyss of numerous projects.

It's time to catch up on a lot of chores now that I've caught up on rest. I'm doing some e-management work for a friend this week, plan to switch out my wardrobe to cooler weather clothes, organize and clean out one of the spare rooms for guest-use with the holidays coming up, and hope to do some more prep work for my garden blog notes and monthly scrap layouts.

Typing it out makes it not sound like much, but I'm sure I could dedicate the entire week to each of these tasks and yet will try to do them all at the same time instead. Why does this already sound like a disaster?

Because I can't just sit (while reading or reviewing footage) and do nothing, I have kept my hands busy with some new yarn! Wanted to share the pretty colors that I got because they made me think of great fall/ winter accessories or for another cute idea that's a spin-off of a part project.

Celestial - Soft Blue
Chocolate - Sage

Saturday, September 29

Lazy Day

I had semi-ambitious plans to plan out my vacation and didn't do any of that.

I did plenty of other miscellaneous things but I wasn't able to sleep much last night and it caught up with me midday. The subsequent nap was awesome. I was able to pick up some more yarn today because it was on sale along with more doll eyes to finished up a few yarn projects.

Tomorrow I'll be more ambitious and organized! : )

Friday, September 28

Filled

Today has been full of activities.

FMIL and I got to sleep in an extra hour, had breakfast out and about, and checked out the local farmer's market that was just opening. That was really fun to get a preview and we picked up a few things that were full of local character and charm. Then, we finally moseyed into school about two hours later than normal.

It was a grading day, so no students, but I went in anyways to help my supervisor get organized and caught up. We've never really had the chance to convene and plan out what goes on since I started working there so suddenly. I didn't volunteer as much but rushed home to take care of some errands since today was also pay day! Hooray!

I wanted to get them done and squared away so I could come home and get ready for my sister-in-law (SIL)'s birthday/cocktail party. We finalized and collected all the pieces of her gift while delving into the dangerous abyss of picking an outfit and trading clothes/ accessories. We've often come early to help set up and cook but she had an out-of-town guest who was co-birthday girl.

Tons of finger foods to choose from and it was great mingling with new people and familiar faces. What a nice way to kick off the season and our fall break!

Still trying hard to keep my temper in check, let negativity go, take care of business, and enjoy the many blessings in my life. Gonna map out my week's worth of activities in the morning.

Thursday, September 27

Blurbs

My friends can say the darnedest things.

I'm keeping better control on my temper today. Talked about it a bit with the SO and saying it a loud may have helped a little bit. At least, repeated my mantra of letting things go helped somewhat.

Here are some things that my friends have posted that made me chuckle:

"Customer: So, what do you do for a living?
Me: (really? I'm at work) I hunt and kill aliens.
Customer: What?! Aliens aren't real!
Me: Have you ever seen one?
Customer: Nope. 
Me: You're welcome."
  - JQP

"I've decided I'm not going to have kids. I love babies, but I'm not ready for the commitment of uploading that many photos to Facebook." - JTB

"Always trust people who like big butts- They cannot lie." - LC

Tomorrow should be a fairly fun and laid back day.

Wednesday, September 26

Not Slowly

I came home early today instead of volunteering. There was an intention of catching up on some sleep (though it's been improving greatly) but that was a complete joke.

We also tried a new slow cooker recipe and, in my opinion, it was lackluster. It was a Sesame Beef recipe that I found here. I guess it was still decent for minimal effort and just being food. I'm not sure why I have the expectation of amazing deliciousness whenever we home cook food.

Suppose there's my mother's amazing home-cooking and I keep forgetting how talented she is at it. She's the type of person who can taste a new dish and know exactly everything that was used in it and probably how it was cooked.Even when I can pry a recipe out of her, I'm lucky if it comes out edible let alone recognizable. Let's not talk about the time it takes for me to cut a tomato. It's truly pathetic.

Oh, and I have been spoiled by modern Western over-saturation of artificial flavors. 

I did get a chance to hang out with some friends because of coming home early. It's been... well, ever since I started my job, lol. While that was pretty nice in its own odd way, it was because I couldn't get back to sleep. Not sure if today's lack of patience bred with yesterday's crankiness, but I am one giant squid of anger today. Nerdfighter reference. : )

I don't want to be this angry at everything, I really don't. Yes, I know things aren't always going to go my way, that I can't control everything (simply incapable of doing so!), and I know life isn't a basket of smelly roses. No matter what I do to take a step back and breath, my short fuse is ever present. Then, I'm suddenly focusing on the most minute negative details and becoming furious. The best thing I can think do to now is to just keep to myself in a corner until I figure out something that works.

However, I'm afraid that I'm just a ticking time bomb waiting to explode and there's no one around me in my life right now that deserve the kind of nasty treatment I can dish out with no qualms.

Maybe I should go and do some deep breathing until I get light-headed or something.

Tuesday, September 25

The Mists

I'm feeling pretty cranky today.

The conclusion is that I'm probably full of frustration from not being able to find my own time and space to just do something for me. Even though I've been writing about all the plans of projects I've had for myself, I've been stuck with helping others. Yes, I did offer a lot of those services, but the few times I'm not- I've still ended up doing so.

I could probably use a bit of a vacation but we'll see. Pay day and a party this Friday but I'm stressed with money and can't think of what I could do for gifts. I'm sure that plays into it too. I'm just all gummed up with resentment and stress- that's all. Will get over it soon, I'm sure. :)

I haven't given enough thought to the fact that the latest expansion pack (Mists of Pandaria) for a game I've played for roughly six years (World of Warcraft) just came out/ went live today. For the past three expansions, I've pre-ordered and went to midnight release parties with either my best friend or my significant other. This year/ time, I didn't.

It's been such a big part of my formative/ young adult life that I feel that it's finally an end of an era. However, it's not a piece that faded with time. No. Not exactly. Something in me has been starved to death.

I've forged so many deep and meaningful friendships through this venue that will last my lifetime. Countless hours have been spent logged into that game and chatting "offline" with those people after dozens of hours. I've even met a handful in real life. That is how real this massive-multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is to me. I've experience nearly every emotion and many crucial life-changing events while logged on.

Time has keep turning, younger kids grew older, moved away, and moved on with their lives without this. Too soon and suddenly, it felt as if I was talking to an empty room. I have been a bit lost without it, but I swallowed my pride and let the game lay dormant while I struggled to take care of my "real" life responsibilities. I still can't bring myself to completely let go. Some voice inside of me says, "Maybe I'll play regularly again some day."

I suppose I'm mourning the death of that part of my life. I still can't say that I've quit for good. Something that meaningful and rich in its own culture (at one point boasting 11 million players worldwide) let alone in the culture of my life can't be easily relinquished.

Maybe that's what's been bugging me in the back of my mind and putting my worn patience over the edge today.

It just doesn't make sense for me to delve in when most of my friends have moved on and I cannot afford such a luxury right now. I suppose that means I'm also mourning the loss of the time in my life that I didn't have to worry about much more than caring for and helping my friends.

Now, add that to how lonely I often feel these past few years subsequently.

I really need to sort out some new priorities or something.

I heard the new scenery is beautiful on the continent of Pandaria...

Monday, September 24

Not Bad

That sums up my feelings for today. I was expecting Monday to punch me in the face and it didn't! Awesome!

Along the lines of being determined not to let the work blues take over my life, I've taken some steps to keep feeling productive after hours. I sent my cousin a birthday card (it'll probably reach her a day late but better than never!), I've compiled the first draft of notes that I would like to record in the monthly scrapbook layouts, I've compiled all but two months of garden notes, sent messages to my friends on FB to make sure their addresses are current before I send off holiday cards, and I made a ton of mini Flat Stanleys.

That later project took a lot more time than I thought it was going to, but it may have been because I zoned out while doing it. I hand-colored more than 20 little paper dolls to send to my friends. I hope that they can take a few pictures of him where they live so I could compile an awesome book while keeping up with their own adventures. Cute idea once you get used to it. :P

I also talked with my mom about her reviewing the files I sent her about the scrapbook and she gave me the green light to get it printed! Will probably wait until after payday and a few other things are taken care of first. Freaking out a little bit that no one else is taking a thorough look at this document before its a tangible thing! AHHH!!! *deep breath* It's okay. I've put a lot of hard work into it and the nice thing is that it will be DONE. That's the important part right? So what if some of the pictures will come out lackluster or that my grammar is subpar? That's not a big deal, right? Oye.

Think I should go before I become hysterical or something just as ridiculous.

Sunday, September 23

One By One

Not sure where my mind has been at this past weekend.

It seems that I've checked out for the most part. Guess that's a good break for all the mental anguish I've been in lately.

Caught up with all of the Vlogbrothers videos and now I'm watching their modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, their education web show, and next up will be their science-themed show. I cannot wait! It's been comforting to refresh and learn new things about these subjects. Maybe it's because they remind me of the great times I had in high school. Oh boy, reliving the "glory days", lol.

This week should be great. Yep, we're gonna go with that mantra for all of our sakes. :P

Saturday, September 22

The Beginning Of Harvest

It doesn't quite feel like the middle of September yet, but it really is and I am having another one of those moments when I think: "Holy cow, it's the middle of September- where did the year go?" It makes my head hurt.

That may be from a bit of dehydration and sleep deprivation.

I did a little more harvesting in the sad garden today. That's probably what I should call this year if I ever make a scrapbook about my garden: The Year of Sadness. Here are some pictures I remembered to take!


The birds have recently ravaged three of the four Hogwarts of peppers. Usually they hone in on one at a time, but there hasn't been enough regrowth lately (I'm guessing) and there is an assault on multiple fronts now. No peppers since Gryffindor's early batch but now I'm very worried that soon there will not be enough leaves to sustain my pepper trees and that would make me so sad if they died now.

 

I have rotated the smaller pepper bushes. The Serranos are now in the back and I hope this helps them recover their burnt tender leaves. They are growing appropriately sized fruit for the past few weeks! We find that astonishing. The jalapeƱos that we've gotten are thick and super short when they are supposed to be the same length as the Serranos.
 

Tucked away and behind the leafier plants in this corner on the patio away from the main garden area is my new strawberry plant. Have I talked about it yet? I got it about two weeks ago, it's a different type, and was already fruiting but continues to do so even if the fruits are small and oddly shaped.


 Back to the main area of the garden, these are my tomato plants this year. Big Boy #1 - Cherry - Big Boy #2. Big Boy #1 is huge but had yet to have any fruit. Flowers, sure. Fruit? Not so much. Cherry is going nuts with appropriate-sized fruits and it's awesome. Big Boy #2 is super bushy and working on some fruits that are a bit on the small side but there are now two candidates for becoming huge.
 

 I love seeing the different ripening colors of the cherry tomatoes together. You know, right before I cut them apart.
 

This is the biggest Big Boy we've had so far. Crossing our fingers that it keeps going!
  

 I didn't mean to, but this is a pretty cool picture I took of that bug being very interested in the single Basil flower stalk I missed when I trimmed them off last weekend.

This was the modest little harvest this week of ripening fruits. Cherry tomatoes on the left, a Serrano pepper (two inches), tiny strawberries, the tiny Big Boy tomato, and some chubby jalapeƱos.
 

Thinking about it in terms of being a mini harvest haul made it feel much more like autumn around here. For that, I am grateful.

Friday, September 21

Bullies

I wasn't sure what I wanted to write about tonight, but after going through my current routine of stimulating my mind and soul by watching more Vlogbrother videos from over the years, one suddenly touched a raw nerve.

It has some strong language in it, so you've been warned.


Hank is hardly ever this angry and upset during his vlogs, so this really struck home with me because I try to emulate the patience and understanding people like him often show the world. However, I am human (and an angsty/ angry one at that) and that means I mess up a lot.

There is probably never a good reason to be mean. Even if people or life is mean to you first. It's what we're supposed to teach the kids I see everyday. I say that I believe in the mantra of "Treat others how you want to be treated" as I struggle with the schism within myself because of the deep mean streak I have accepted within myself. 

Am I being hypocritical, honest, both, or something else?

I cannot stand watching what politics have turned into in our society but I know staying involved is important. I cannot stand to watch the dramas unfold on social media platforms. I cannot stand seeing a friend that I care about who I believe is a genuinely caring, bright, and sweet individual being humiliated every day when she's doing her best. 

But what have I done about it? I used to just sit and fume in resentful silence. In the past few years, I have followed the procedures and spoken out. I have also learned to do my best to stay away from those kinds of environments and how to keep that negativity out of my life. However, the biggest action I've been able to take is to show an outpouring of love and support for those affected.

It's really senseless how people can treat one another and I'm sure that involves a good hard look at oneself to figure out why and what can be done about it.

Man, I am going to stew in bed for a while tonight before getting any sleep. All I can say now is TGIF.

Thursday, September 20

That List

The list I'm referring is almost always the "To-Do" one.

Not enjoying the feeling/ attitude of working my butt off during the day that starts early and coming home thinking I have no energy to do anything else anymore. Not acceptable.

Can't help but take on all sorts of intensive projects at work and while a lot of it is actually volunteering, I've justified my efforts  by thinking it would prepare me for a full-time job. Maybe. :(

However, submitting to that worn-out attitude neglects the things I love because it brings me personal happiness. This includes talking to friends or working on crafts, and that's on top of maintaining a safe environment to exist in.

The obvious answers would be to get better sleep (I have improved my sleep schedule so much in the past two weeks even though the means makes me emotionally unhappy), eat healthier, and exercise in a more formal manner.

Sorry, I get really tired around 9:30pm and now I'm solidly delirious. So happy for the weekend coming up! I can't believe another week has flown by, but I don't want all of the hours within it to crawl, but I want my personal hours to be more fulfilling and productive. My sentences are way too long. :(

Wednesday, September 19

The Band

While I do my best to stay strong, positive, and hopeful to just make it through each day, I wanted to share something that made me so purely happy that I cried with laughter.

These are from the VlogBrothers. The first is younger brother, Hank Green, and his song about quarks which I didn't really understand (despite my science teacher introducing me to them when I was 12 years old) until just about 10 minutes ago. The latter is older brother, John Green, and his audition to be in his brother's band.



Tuesday, September 18

Finally!

A year and one month later, I have finally finished assembling, embellishing, and proof-reading the scrapbook for my folks. The files are zipped up and sent to them for approval. I'm somewhat eagerly awaiting their input.

Time for bed!

Monday, September 17

Feeling Happier

Today, I was in a better mood than I thought I would be.

Maybe it's a bit of the spirit of my former mentor that's bolstering me on through my grief. My heart aches to see the my friends and classmates mourn too.

Somehow, I was able to smile when I got to school today. Not a morning person by any means and I've been very worn down physically and mentally lately, so that was no small feat.

The next couple of weeks are going to be a bit insane at school. There was baseline testing, parent-teacher conferences, planning days, grading days, and fall break coming soon. It sounds like it should be a good thing for me to get a bit of a break, but I keep getting the feeling that I am going to stress the heck out over something. Maybe the holidays? Not sure yet.

I keep watching the VlogBrothers to stimulate my mind and spirit. That may have helped me get back into tackling my regular chores again without making excuses about how tired I am with the new work schedule.

I keep chanting about "Decreasing World Suck" while I'm doing things I'd rather not be doing or whenever I'm feeling discouraged. It's a small bit, but baby steps for now. Constantly have to keep reminding myself that there's no point in complaining about less than desirable circumstances if I'm not willing to do something to change it for the better.

Sunday, September 16

RIP Mrs. Barnett

Received news today that my beloved psychology teacher from high school had succumbed this weekend to her fight against pancreatic cancer after years of battling. Rest in peace, Mrs. Barnett.

I was living what feels like such a different life than I am now- not sure which reality feels more surreal.

 I was in a serious relationship with my high school sweetheart my senior year. He was a teacher's aide in her class (everyone wanted to be but only a few were picked) and they enjoyed constantly teasing me because I was so easily embarrassed and much more anxious than I am now (if you could imagine). 

She had a "rule" that there should be three feet between any romantic pairing. She had a big show about  yelping, throwing her hands up in the air, and running back into the teacher's lounge to hide when she "caught" my then-boyfriend and I giving each other a kiss in the hallway before class started. While he laughed off her joke, I freaked out and pushed him away from me. About three feet. 

One time, we were taking a practice exam for the Advanced Placement course (AP) and my then-boyfriend was whispering with her about me not being able to concentrate because they were whispering about me. They knew I would be the only one able to hear them and would fixate on something like that. I kept giving them dirty looks and signaling them to shush so I could concentrate and not bother the people around me. They kept going and it ended up interrupting the entire class with my outburst telling them to cut it out. They cried laughing because it looked like I was crazy in the middle of a psych exam when they feigned innocence. It's a good thing everyone knew better- you know, being psych students and all, lol.

The summer after graduation, we got engaged because my then-fiancĆ© had made the decision to join the Marine Corps. While Mrs. Barnett did her best to keep some personal distance from her students who loved her so much, she made exceptions on occassion. My fiancĆ© idolized her. She wrote to him during boot camp and it helped him so much. 

Six years after graduating, August of 2011 actually, a few of us were able to contact her through a brief private Facebook messages. I was able to thank her for all of her encouragement and wisdom and let her know that because of her passion and dedication to education and psychology- she's the majority of why I ended up majoring in psychology in college. I told her how I was forever grateful to have her in my life and that I was now in Tucson, Arizona working to becoming an Exceptional Education Teacher- it differed from my original plan of becoming a high school guidance counselor.

Messages of sorrow and condolences are starting to pour out from her former students and I pray that she knows how much we've loved her then and ever since. I hate how the decline in true education and her health forced her to leave a job that she loved. I hate how she had to spend her retirement fighting cancer when she deserved so much more than that for all of the lives she touched so deeply. I pray that she is having a blast and kicking up her heels where ever she is now.

Thank you for everything, Mrs. Barnett... HOO HA!

Saturday, September 15

Enthusiasm

The yarn stash has had a decent dent put into it in the past two weeks. The rest of my personal projects, not so much, lol. Lots of new patterns experimented in and here is one of them:

 Tiny Cactus in progress and inside-out. LOL.
It's finished and funny-looking in a very cute and excited way.

I was talking to my mom recently and I guess there was something about me turning 25 years old last month that must have suddenly gotten her to think that if I don't marry soon, I'm going to die alone. Oh yes, lol.

This is quite the difference from about a month earlier than that when she was reasoning with me that there was no point in getting married unless I was ready to have children and then proceeded to ask me to promise not to make her a grandmother for another few years.

A bit of background about my personal choices: I really want to be a loving wife and mother. I always have. I also do not want to bring children into the world if I don't feel that I can provide for them. So, with how my life has turned out presently, kids are not in the picture at all. 

I've been with the SO (my significant other) for over four years now. So, it's "pretty serious" as some of the ladies put yesterday. We've discussed issues like this since before we started dating because we didn't want to waste our time pursuing anything romantic if we were not on the same page fundamentally.

Needless to say, this conversation with my mom (as many of them are now that I'm more of an adult than ever) was very amusing. We both know that she knows me better than that, but the fact is that the concept of me living the life of an old maid has invaded her brains so much lately, that she just had to talk to me in length about the matter to be verbally reassured. 

I would love to be married right now. I always thought I would be married at age 23 and starting a family by 25 years of age. Yes, I am a little sad that things didn't work out that way, but such is life and modern expectations and circumstances. It's one of those instances that I agree that it is hard to miss what you never had. An idea/ ideal has died, but I realized it was dying for a while now, so mourning it's absence isn't all that bad.

My mother and I joked about taking a girls only vacation next year with my cousins and aunts to find me a husband overseas in her native country. Being an American should assure that I'd get my pick of the litter or something. While that is so not happening if I have anything to do with it, it is hilarious. My comeback was threatening to march downtown and obtain a marriage license in a courtroom between the phone call we were having and the next. She knows I would do something like that too.

That would take away the wedding I want to create for myself and my mate plus the one that she wants to invite her friends to that I do not want to participate in. Another story almost entirely, lol. I just wonder how the new digits attached to my age turned the tide so much in her thoughts on the matter. What's so different about 22-23-24-25? 

I realize that I'm am a old maid culturally-speaking but um... I'm a young American-born female with no children in a steady and serious relationship for a few years now. That's kind of the norm here if you ignore "reality" television. I don't know if I wasn't as concerned about it because I was truly at peace with how life has panned out in that respect or if it was I was in some sort of denial. 

Things that are semi-out of the blue that are on my mind as of late. :P

Friday, September 14

The Weekend

I am so happy that the weekend is here.

It means more time with my bed and I could not be happier.

It was also payday but that, unfortunately, did not mean anything to me this time around. Sigh. Having faith that this business will all be sorted out soon.

Did go to our monthly Ladies' Happy Hour at a restaurant I've actually been to before and knew that I'd enjoy. It was another more intimate gathering but yet so much fun. More new great people were met- actually we think we've met before briefly- but because we were able to fit at a single table, were able to get to know each other better.

We were all happy that it was Friday and that there was a mariachi band that played for us. Oh yes, this place makes their salsa fresh at the table to our tastes. We traded stories about work and dating and eventually got free drinks from the nice people who had been sitting at the table next to us when they realized that most of us were teachers and/or worked with really young children. I don't drink, but the gesture was super nice all the same.

This is supposed to be the time I set "aside" for my personal projects, but all that I really want to do now is sleep. A lot.

So, here's a picture I took recently of the reverse sunset we could see from the backyard. The monsoon season is ending and these clouds will soon be a thing of the past. At least, until winter rainy season.


Thursday, September 13

Cuddly Cactus

Thank goodness that the blog title is accurate and not just me trying to make light of a close encounter with desert flora. At least it's not the case today.

I'm really tired and looking forward to tomorrow because it's Friday, we're heading out for our monthly Ladies' Happy Hour, and it's pay day. Okay, I might not even get paid because of the paperwork nonsense but crossing my fingers anyways.

Sorry, I'm tired but I'm saving my caffeination for tomorrow. Here's the pattern to what I was testing out tonight: Amigurumi Cactus! Too many parts to make it a good quick and easy gift to stock up on. Still pretty cute.

Wednesday, September 12

Personalized Present

A few days ago a special package arrived.

It was my birthday box from my best friend and her sister! Who is pretty much my sister too, lol. I was so happy to be able to see them during my last trip to Florida last May.

It had been years and that was super odd because I lived with my best friend for a few years and we'd regularly take weekend trips to visit her sister. I've have Skype dates with them a lot this past year as part of our mission to keep in touch more.

We're pretty certain that whenever either one of us finally settle down, the other one will gravitate and there's a high chance we'll become neighbors again. Some day, some how.

Where was I?

Right. My presents! I didn't open it until we started a Skype date as is becoming a tradition. Here's what was inside!


The Card is soooo freakin' cute! It's made with different mediums and I love that kind of stuff! That's probably why Blue's Clues is one of my favorite shows of all time. No lie. The matching envelope is super cute as well.

Moving clockwise, Jake the Dog and Finn the Human from ADVENTURE TIME! My brother and I- well, all four of us, really- love this show! The pilot was super trippy but we adore it now. The marathons we've had. I've Skyped with my family and my brother just stuck his laptop in front of their TV and I watched an episode I hadn't seen yet while they ate dinner. Jake has Velcro on his arms and legs. Teehee. I figure that my brother, for once, will try to steal these the next time I see him. He flipped out when I texted him a picture of them.

Those ice cream and cupcake treats are actually puzzle erasers! Each layer can be separated and I've started to see these in the classroom treasure boxes and love them! I never ever ever want to use them to erase my numerous mistakes! It's a good thing that I like to sketch in pen, much to my best friend's chagrin. I may have the biggest sweet tooth out of the three of us, but we definitely go nuts when we're baking together.

There's a gift card to Target, which is one of my favorite stores of all time and it's one of the nearest stores to me. When we lived together, we adored shopping and buying home goods and holiday decorations there for our first apartment. It makes me really miss those time while anticipating doing that again for my next apartment.

Those Skittles. This picture was taken tonight and I got this package on Monday. That bag is almost gone and I'm slightly ashamed. The colors do not match the flavors because it's a bag of confusion! Well, they call it "Skittle Riddles". The colors are red, blue, teal, lime green, and pink while the flavors are everything red. Or rather apple, strawberry, raspberry, punch, and watermelon.

FMIL and I spent a good 15 minutes on webcam trying to figure out the flavor-color combinations. I think we got it, but I guess I shouldn't spoil it. It was much harder than I thought it would be. Good way of getting people to buy the other themed bags so they could taste them within the typical context.

The story behind Skittles is that I wouldn't say they were my favorite but, for some reason, I drool uncontrollably when I eat them. Like a Golden Retriever. It's disgusting and hilarious. My best friend's sister and my brother actually suffer from this as well. Even when I start to talk about them, I start salivating. I can't read something on my lap, talk, and eat a Skittle at the same time. Dribbling. Everywhere. I'm drooling now, sigh.

It just made me so happy because they know me so well. I don't want to put any of it away because I keep looking at it all. Alas, I have to head to bed.

Tuesday, September 11

In Remembrance

Anything I was going to post can wait. This is much more important. We will not forget.

RIP and love to all of the families that were affected by the original attacks and the ones ever since.

I really hope these headlines/ summaries are true for today, but there were so many that I couldn't research them all today. They are from the publication "Mental Floss" and I feel much better knowing that it is all true. The sentiment that we are not just citizens of our respective countries, but children of the world is so beautiful.


In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, people all over the world stood shoulder-to-shoulder in mourning, solidarity, sympathy and friendship with the people of the United States. Here are a few of those international reactions, both organized and spontaneous, that occurred in the days following September 11, 2001.

In London, the Star Spangled Banner played during the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, while traffic came to a standstill in The Mall nearby.

In Beijing, tens of thousands of people visited the U.S. Embassy, leaving flowers, cards, funeral wreaths and hand-written notes of condolence on the sidewalk out front.

In Moscow, women who spoke no English and had never been to the U.S. were captured on film sobbing in front of a makeshift tribute on a sidewalk, and every single church and monastery in Romania held a memorial prayer.

In France, a well-known newspaper, Le Monde, ran a headline reading, “We Are All Americans.”
In the Middle East, both the Israeli president and the Palestinian leader condemned the attacks, and made a show of donating blood.

Kuwaitis lined up to donate blood as well. Jordanians signed letters of sympathy.

In Tehran, an entire stadium of people gathered for a soccer match observed a moment of silence, and in Turkey, flags flew at half-mast.

In Berlin, 200,000 people packed the streets leading to the Brandenburg Gate.

A thousand miles south, in Dubrovnik, Croatia, schoolchildren took a break from classes to bow their heads in silence.

In Dublin, shops and pubs were closed during a national day of mourning, and people waited in a three-hour line to sign a book of condolences.

In Sweden, Norway and Finland, trams and buses halted in tribute, and in Russia, television and radio stations went silent to commemorate the innocent dead.

In Azerbaijan, Japan, Greenland, Bulgaria and Tajiskitan, people gathered in squares to light candles, murmur good wishes and pray. And in Pretoria, South Africa, little kids perched on their parents’ shoulders holding mini American flags.

Firefighters in Hungary tied black ribbons to their trucks, firefighters in South Africa flew red, white and blue, and firefighters in Poland sounded their sirens, letting loose a collective wail one warm afternoon.

Cubans offered medical supplies. Ethiopians offered prayers. Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan offered their air space, and dozens of other world leaders called the White House to offer their support.

Hundreds of thousands of people in Canada, Albania and Sierra Leone marched in the streets in shows of solidarity, and mosques in Bangladesh, Yemen, Pakistan, Libya and Sudan trembled with clerics’ condemnation of those “cowardly” and “un-Islamic” attacks.

Lebanese generals convened to sign letters of sympathy, and in Italy, Pope John Paul II fell to his knees in prayer.

Albania, Ireland, Israel, Canada, Croatia, South Korea and the Czech Republic all declared national days of mourning, and the legendary bells of Notre Dame echoed throughout Paris.

In Italy, race car drivers preparing for the upcoming Italian Grand Prix silenced their engines, and in London, hundreds stood quietly during the noontime chimes of Big Ben.

In Belgium, people held hands, forming a human chain in front of the Brussels World Trade Center, and seventeen time zones away, strangers in Indonesia gathered on a beach to pray.

In India, children taped up signs that read, “This is an attack on all of us,” and in Austria, church bells tolled in unison."

This was also an interesting sentiment to see today. What else can we do more than a decade later? It's terrifying to think it has already been that many years. I do believe in doing this and will start planning out my own letters soon.



 

Monday, September 10

Monday Questionnaire

 This was taken last month after a catnip-induced stupor from his beloved giraffe-mouse. However, we did check-in with his vet again today and confirmed that they had only given us half of the antibiotics our kitty needed to treat his Upper Respiratory Infection. Picked it up and he's again reluctantly letting us give him the banana-smelling stuff.

1.) Mood:
Slightly more positive and awake than I thought I would be. 

2.) What are you looking forward to most today?
I'm looking forward to laying down today. Didn't get much sleep last night. Other than that I'm expecting a package from my best friend and her sister. That would lead to a Skype date!

3.) Someone is bringing you breakfast in bed, what is on the perfect tray?
A super cheesy omelette, bowl of sweet cereal with milk, and buttered toast sprinkled with sugar. Super healthy- not really at all. >_< Oh! A cute little note would be so perfect!

4.) Current nail polish:
I actually have a color on this time! Finally put one on last night: OPI's "Ate Berries at the Canaries". It's described on their website as a "cool fuchsia".

5.) Where do you keep your handbag when you are home?
Often next to me on the table or on top of the printer that's right inside my bedroom door. Yeah, we really do not have enough storage space in our little space. Can't wait to stretch out one day and give everything it's own space.

6.) Current outfit:
A fuchsia tank top with lace on the v-neckline, dark gray yoga pants, and a short-sleeved knit sweater that ties in the front in a dark khaki color. Regular black sneakers for work.

7.) If you could try on any celeb's hairstyle for a day, whose would you choose?
I have to go look up some celebrity hairstyles now, sigh. I would love to try the long wavy hair of someone like Sofia Vergara or the casual country up-do that Taylor Swift/ Carrie Underwood/ Reese Witherspoon can sport.

8.) Do you sleep with your bedroom door open or closed?
I prefer closed and locked, but with our sweet cat we keep it ajar so he can come and go as he pleases. Just a sign of how much I love him.

9.) What is the last beauty product you finished?
Foundation. It's bad because I have more than one of the same foundation that are in use from when I kept one back at my folks' house. Then, I was sent more in a care package from my mom.

10.) Weekly goals:
So many. My biggest personal goals are to finish embellishing, proofing-reading, and sending the summer vacation scrapbook in digital form to my folks; sorting through my monthly receipts; a monthly scrapbook layout; and some garden monthly catch-up. Apparently, monthly goals do not work out for me, LOL. 

Sunday, September 9

Project Proof

I keep watching the Vlogbrothers and I'm on year two right now. It's motivating me to decrease World Suck and make the best out of any situation by taking advantage of the fact that I am made of Awesome. You have to watch at least some of the videos to understand why I'm proud to be a nerdfighter now.

I think the key for me is to start off small- by decreasing the amount of suck around me. Helped with dishes, did tons of laundry, tried to be more conscious of turning lights off when I left the area, and worked even harder to use up my stash of yarn to make gifts for others.

Maybe this kind of attitude and peer group with such acceptance are just what I need to get me out of this funk that I've been struggling through recently.

This is a spider web slouch hat that I tried to make. Hats and my head do not get along well, but hey! It turned out cool enough!
 



Another Moebius scarf in "Grey Heather"...
... and "Autumn Red". At least, I'm pretty darn sure it's that color.

Work with me on this one, I used up my eyeballs so I haven't finished this one just yet.

 It's a barrel cactus and about 4.5 inches tall. I didn't realize that at first and thought it'd be a fun mini gift. Great experiment, nonetheless.
FMIL texted me to come quietly into the living room to see how the kitten was sleeping. He did wake up when she started to whisper to me, but I still caught this moment. He's such a wet noodle.

As frustrating or mundane as life may get, I am remembering to take a deep breath, a mini step back (that's all I've managed to do so far- still working on it), and to capture these kinds of moments because I'd regret it down the road. What with my terrible memory and all. These are things I'd like to look at to spark the memories of everything else, even the sucky parts. Because it's all a part of life.

Saturday, September 8

Tomorrow

I know I had ambitious plans for myself this weekend. Most of them will have to wait until tomorrow.

I feel like a slug today.

Today wasn't a complete waste. I have finished a few little projects, but I'll take the pictures of them tomorrow. Worked on some more PECS cards, dug out my book of 100 Christmas songs, and depleted much of my reserves of patience. However, I have calmed down my worrying over seasonal planning.

That may be because enough time has passed or that I may just be very tired. Or both.

Something that I've been working on is watching nearly every single Vlogbrothers video from the beginning while I work. I feel smarter and more validated as the person I am and haven't even finished the Brotherhood 2.0 year yet. Really loving being a nerdfighter.

By biggest nerdy moment today was managing to straighten my hair while wearing a headset. Didn't even burn myself or the plastic sitting on my head! Woohoo! LOL.

Going to get to bed, set an alarm to wake up earlier tomorrow, and load up on coffee so I can get more things done. Like laundry. Oh, laundry.

Friday, September 7

TGIF (Mostly)

I am glad that it is the weekend. I really am.

It was a bit of a rough day, still am having trouble sleeping, and then I found out that I've been working for a grand total of (as a friend would call it) "Free Ninety-Nine." There is a miscommunication about paperwork processing and yeah. My next paycheck is going to be miniscule. Which pretty much sucks. Hoping that the back pay will be honored by the end of the month.

More yarn work but I've been struggling to stay awake until a decent bedtime. That means lots of miscounting and redoing- which is not fun. More work on communication cards was also done. Errands were run and I'm too tired to remember what else right now.

This is our poor kitty cat hiding and heavily sulking in his despised carrier at the vet's office. Poor baby.
Insect we found on top of the doghouse on the porch. At least two inches long/ tall.

You can almost count this praying mantis' pores. If it had any...

The recently harvested Serranos. Only one was red when they were picked and now we have to rotate them every few hours to avoid too much discoloration.

 That is the biggest Big Boy Tomato we have. Pretty tiny instead of the one pound fruit it's supposed to be. :( Those are three cherry tomatoes that ripened on the vine. They are almost full grown.

So, things are getting mildly exciting in the garden. Just vaguely.

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