Doctor, Doctor! Gimme the News...

I love the Doctor [Insert hysterical laughing at those that just just said "Doctor who?"].Everything about the show just makes me feel warm and sparkly inside. There's comedy, adventure, romance, and space and time travel. What else could a girl ask for? It also helps that the Doctor's also become rather handsome in his latest regenerations, but that's just icing on the cake. I'm perfectly happy to watch adventures of the doctor during his white haired I'm-an-old-professor days, too.

But to celebrate the premiere of series 6, part 2, I'm going to share with you some of my favorite Doctor Who and Doctor Who inspired accessories! Click on the photos to buy them yourself!

1) Red Wedge Trainers

In honor of the Tenth Doctor (who frequently sported red and cream Chucks) I picked up these adorable, girly red wedges. When paired with pants (especially suit pants) they give that same playful attitude of the Tenth Doctor. Why not just go with ACTUAL red Chucks, you ask? Well, I'm short, so if I CAN have the comfort and casual air of a sneaker with the height of a heel, I'm going for it!




2) TARDIS coffee mug (with lid!)

Thank you, Mommy for this awesome out-of-the-TARDIS-blue gift. It holds a large amount of coffee (the largest setting on my Keurig) which means I can be as wired as any version of the Doctor. Plus, the lid means that I can keep my coffee warmer longer!







3) Sonic Screwdriver (version 9/10) Pen

I love all versions of the Doctor, but Nine/Ten's sonic screwdriver is my favorite. The Anglophenia Blog said it best: "a very thin blue torch with dreams of becoming a lightsabre when it grows up". I think that sums up my fascination with this particular version. A birthday gift from my Mum, this is actually a toy sold in the UK and has both a black pen tip and a UV ink tip (with the sonic screwdriver emitting a UV light when the buttons are pressed). I've super glued the black ink tip onto it so that I can use this pen for everyday use. It permanently resides in my purse, ready to be whipped out in the case of a handwriting emergency...or to play with when I'm bored. PS: It's quite effective at jarring unsuspecting students with its "bzzzz" noise.


4) "The Angels Have the Phone Box" T-Shirt

Larry Nightingale, you are a genius. One of my absolute favorite episodes and it's iconic line is that a te-shirt was made out of the Doctor's words! I wonder if I can get away with wearing this to work....













5) TARDIS Key Necklace

A Sylvester McCoy era key. It bears the seal of Rasillon (the power hungry bastard) and has a kind of Celtic look to it. It works great as a piece of everyday jewelry that is a subtle hint to my nerdage. I usually get lots of compliments on it, but no one has actually recognized it yet.





6) TARDIS Cameo Pendant

I made this out of a broken cameo from my Mom (blog entry here). It's also a subtle jewelry statement, but not nearly as deep in nerdage as my TARDIS key. This is a nice chunky pendant that looks good on a long chain.





7) Rainbow Crochet Vest

OK, this one might be a bit of a stretch, but I'm including it anyway. If the fourth Doctor (Tom Baker) had been a woman, I believe this is what she would have chosen instead of that massive scarf...or even if the sixth Doctor (Colin Baker) had been a women. Anyway, I feel that this vest captures the spirit of the Doctor during his most colorful incarnations.









 
8) Brown Jacket

Another stretch, but this cheap brown jacket definitely says "David Tennant" to me. The color, the weight, the split up the middle; it's a girly version of Ten's favorite brown duster and wearing it makes me want to go gallivanting off shouting "Allons y!"

Out With The New and In With The Blue!

I kind of suck at blogging about my crafts. I get and idea and it turns into an itch and I have to finish the idea right then and there. Halfway through, when I'm thinking to myself how great this will look on the blog, I realize that I didn't take any pictures of the the "before" state of my project. :( ::sadness::
       Such sadness occurred today when I got home and half way through this brilliant idea that hit me while I was browsing the jewelery (costume jewelery) section of Target today. I found this lovely brass and "diamond" necklace on sale for $5. I liked the sparkly pendant, but the whiteness of it was just so blah. Lightening struck and the disappointment lifted as it occurred to me that I could simply PAINT the plain white crystals!

And that's what I did. I agonized over WHICH color to paint them (green, blue, multicolored...) and then finally settled on a deep metallic blue.

I've done this before, you see. When I was in middle school, I had a set of those cheap plastic gems from Disneyland. I used them for various crafts and eventually ended up with only boring clear ones...but I wanted a BLUE one!...for a trivial and meaningless project. I grabbed my nearest bottle of blue nail polish and slapped a coat on my little plastic jewel. It was shiny and blue and looked perfect! This moment stayed with me all these years and came racing to the front of my brain while standing in Target. You see, nail polish is ideal for jewelery painting because it often comes in metallic or translucent colors.
     If you're going to try this at home (which I highly recommend you do!), you obviously shouldn't use matte color nail polishes (unless that's the look you're going for). The best part about all of this? Once you get tired of the color, simply wipe down your jewelery with some acetone and slap on a new color!
Happy crafting!

 

I Always Get What I Want

I was too lazy to drag out the tripod...

   
        This summer I decided that my must have item was a maxi dress. It took me a while to warm up to them and see them as something other than pregnancy garb. No offense to you, Jennie (my fab sister in law) and it certainly wasn't you who gave me the idea that maxi dresses are only for preggos. There's something about that empire waist and the long skirt...it just looks like something that would be perfect to wear while cooking a bun in the oven.
       Former beliefs and ideas set aside, I still wanted a maxi dress. Earlier this year, I found a lovely maxi dress at Forever 21. It was cheap. It was sooooo comfortable. It looked great on me. So why did I put it back? I haven't a clue because I haven't been able to stop thinking about it ever since. I'd show you a picture of it, but I can't find one for the life of me. All I have is the memory of the perfect maxi dress to comfort me.
       Well, I couldn't take it anymore. I needed that dress. So I did what any good, stubborn, girl would do: I made it. And here's how:






First, I started out with a sketch of what I wanted. This is similar to what the dress at Forever 21 looked like, but I altered it to better fit my taste and my sewing abilities. I also made a swatch of diagonally striped fabric to make sure that the technique I had in mind would actually achieve the effect that I wanted.



Next, it was time to pick out my fabric and get to work! I'm lazy and the summer time just makes it worse. I didn't want the hassle of looking for a knit fabric (which I already knew what going to be a pain to work with) in four different colors that were all the same weight. What's the easiest way to get a bunch of cotton knit fabric in a multitude of colors?

 T-Shirts!

 

I picked up seven adult XL t-shirts in the colors that I thought I would need, including two black shirts that are not pictured. I chose XL for the sheer volume of fabric. Each shirt was easily two yards of fabric and they only cost $2 each. Sooooo much cheaper than buying knit fabric off the bolt!

      My plan was simple: Cut each shirt into bands of my desired width, sew them together, then lay out and cut the stripes to the shape needed for the dress. The best laid plans result in the worst disasters...

 I cut each shirt into two strips, each about eight inches wide. I used my very professional looking ruler to do so. I left the hemlines of the shirts as they were so I wouldn't have to work with a raw edge on every strip (again, because I'm lazy).

 Cutting the fabric was the easy part of this project. It was deceptively easy.

My next step was to sew the strips together in the color order that I wanted. Enter Bertha: the toughest machine I know.

She makes me so happy!

Sewing knit fabrics is tough. It likes to stretch, so when it goes in the machine (which tightens and pulls it) the stitches don't actually secure the fabric exactly where you want it to. Going fast is not an option or the fabric is just going to be destroyed, so I had to use the slow setting for an exceedingly BORING task. This is halfway through the first panel. Sewing all of these little stripes together took somewhere between 2 and 4 hours...I took a lot of breaks so this is a very poor estimate.

After finally finishing the front and back panels, it was time to construct the shape of the dress. I thought this was going to be a piece of cake: just throw it on the dress form, pin it in place, sew it, and cut of the excess from the interior. :D

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!

       I started draping the fabric and a day and half later I finally had a shape that somewhat resembled a dress. In order to create that shape, though, I had to add fabric all over the place. I had to split stripes and add some black panels just to get the gaps to close and the hem to even out.
       I finally got everything to the right length and shape after MUCH blood, sweat, tears, and cursing. I'm very happy with the outcome. I like how the color blocking gets a little chaotic near the bottom of the dress.
       For the top, I used a swimsuit as a model and fashioned it out of two layers of t-shirt scraps. I ran out of pink and gray, so I decided that using blue and black would provide a high contrast and give off the illusion that I did it on purpose. :)

 


   My original sketch had a crossed strap back, but that didn't provide enough support and the back of the dress began to sag. So , I just added another cross with the length that was left over.

       Moral of the story: I always get what I want.

=D

Day 19: Feeling Flighty

     Maybe it's the monochromatic scheme or the flowy scarf that makes me feel like a flight attendant. Or maybe it's the blond hair and the cutesy smile. I think the blue sweater with the purple dress was a bad idea. The purple is too grape and just makes me look like a big ol' bruise...with blond hair.

     The kids thought I looked pretty today, though. Saw some more of my old students at my first middle school. I think their Snyder-Sense is coming back to them; some kids actually came to see me before school even started. It's adorable having students hunt me down. I did shock some of them though, and I told them it was payback for shocking me with all of their crazy hair changes and getting taller and older and wot not.
     I used to think that I was a high-heel hero. I am definitely NOT feeling that way because of this challenge! I picked four pairs of heels that are quite high and I'm starting to feel the pain in my feet and my back. I have never had this kind of dull pain in these areas and it's got to be from wearing the same heels for 19 days in a row and not giving myself a break with flats. I'm also starting to worry about the well-being of my shoes. These black ones, for instance, were starting to feel a little wobbly in the heel as I was flitting across campus. That would just suck if they broke. I've only had one pair of heels break on me, and they were my absolute favorite pair. They were my first pair of knee high boots. Black, with rubber heels and soles, and with just enough shine; I wore them almost every day and even under pants. But, alas, I had this bad habit of rocking back on my heels when I was bored, and one day, during my freshman year of college, *SNAP* and "Wha-wha-whoa!" *tumble and tears*. Lesson learned: Don't rock back on your heels if you value your shoes!

     GOOD NEWS!

   I got a response from Enrollment Services this afternoon! I'm officially enrolled and settled up at CSULB! Yay! I'm so glad that I went through all of that for this tiny peace of mind {I'm still not sure if that's the right "peace"}. I'm also extremely impressed at the speed of their decision since I was told last night that it would be two weeks. Thank You, Enrollment Services, for expediting my case; I truly appreciate it. Please ignore the massive amount of profanity directed at the university from me somewhere around mid-terms and finals. KThxBye! <3

30 For 30!! AKA: I've lost my mind

          Thank you Adrienne for introducing me to the world of blogging and getting me involved in Kendi's "30 For 30 Challenge." If I my brain explodes, you'll all know why. I will now take on the task of maxing and matching the same 30 articles of clothing for 30 days while teaching full time, finishing up my math credential (which involves field work and a class that does not end until 10 pm), taking care of my house/wifely duties, and keeping up with my blog. I feel like I'm missing something...I'm sure it'll hit me eventually. Oh, and I'm down an entire box of jewelry to boot. >:P
          Even though I'm late, I'm still going through with my 30 For 30! So....here it is! Here is my wardrobe for the next 30 days as well as my outfit for Day 1!

 I know it's redundant, but  here's my outfit with a breakdown of its pieces. All the other pictures I took were horrible due to the fact that I leave home before sunrise and don't get home until dusk. I'm working way too hard for way too little money AND it's negatively impacting my blogging life-style!

I mostly wore this outfit as a vehicle for wearing the tights. I thought they were just so '90's! Or they at least reminded me of being a little girl again. This probably would have looked a lot better with black accessories instead of brown, but my brain was processing the tights as having a beige under-tone instead of a gray one. Oh well! Just means I get to wear them with again!

The Mirror Lied to Me...AGAIN!

          I can't believe I wore this to a party. And it was a party that I wanted to look nice at because the gal is such a sweet and fun friend of mine. When I walked out the door that morning, I felt I looked at least 50% better than these pictures would lead you to believe. :(
          One of my favorite shows is TLC's "What Not to Wear." I would gladly dress like a slob for several weeks if it meant that I got to get a style make-over and a $5K shopping trip in New York City. But, I have a feeling that the producers have some sort of style fraud prevention program in place. My favorite part of the show is the 360 degree mirror. While most people hate and fear it, I feel like I need one. Specifically to prevent outfits like the one above.
          You see, I put on this dress and shirt because they are extremely comfortable, cute on their own, and contain some similar colors. It was too cold to wear the sleeveless dress on it's own, so I threw on the shirt too. I SWEAR to you I did not look this bad in the mirror! The comfort factor must have warped my brain for the day. It wasn't until a week later when I saw pictures of myself that I realized how bad I looked. It's hard to explain how I felt, because I didn't feel embarrassed. As much as I don't like the way that I look, I know that this is not an embarrassing outfit. Perhaps, disappointed is a better word? This is certainly not the look that I wanted to portray at my friend's baby shower.
          So let's pick this bad boy apart! The first thing that I noticed in this picture that I absolutely hate it my sunglasses. Alone, or worn properly, they are cute {I've seen them in other pics}. On my head, as a make-shift headband, they scream "DUMPY!" I think it has something to do with my limp and thin hair. Shoving my glasses on top of my head gives it the oddest shape I have ever seen. And while we're at the top of the picture, I should remind myself that I should at least attempt a little something with my hair when I go out. Over the summer I was on this kick that I would not use any heat on my hair whatsover. That's fine, but letting it dry into crooked little have kinks isn't good either.
          I think that this outfit would have been a little better if I had just belted over the shirt and dress to give the outfit more dimension. As is, it looks like I just threw a plaid shirt over a plain dress and I didn't put any thought into what I was wearing. The truth is that I spent a lot of time adjusting and picking out shoes and doing my make-up. But you can't tell that any of that happened by looking at this picture.
          The good news is that blogging has made me more conscious of my outfits from different angles. Instead of only looking at myself from the front and back, I consider what an outfit will look like on a diagonal or if I am scruched up in a ball or hunched over a table. Taking pictures has helped a lot with that.
          So what about you? Do you ever have days where you put something on that feels great and you feel that you also look great, but later discover that you didn't look so great? I'd love to hear your stories and/or see your pictures and know that I'm not alone!

Inspired By Toby

Shirt & Belt: thrifted from SIL; Skirt: H&M; Tights:???; Shoes: Payless; Necklace: Target...or Walmart..I don't remember.

{What I'm Wearing and Thinking}

After playing around with music and iMovie last night to publicly humiliate myself with my dumb toy on YouTube, I began to think a lot about one of my favorite movies. Betcha can't guess which one!! If you seriously can't, then you need to go watch "Labyrinth" pronto! Then you'll understand the title for today's post. I'm ready to be wished away to the goblin city! One of the little girl Fourthies kept asking me if my feet hurt today because my heels were so high. Seriously, it was at least once every thirty minutes followed by "My mommy says those kind of shoes hurt her feet, but then she wears them to go out, and then she takes them off because they hurt and she walks around with no shoes." The story and innocent concern over my feet was cute the first time...at seven o'clock in the morning. It got irritating somewhere around lunch, especially when the whole class gasped at the sight of me walking boldly across the field in my red stilettos. Is it really that amazing? They thought so. Why not? I am the Hero of Heels! And, no; my feet still do not hurt. :P

{What I'm Writing}

        Most girls have a favorite outfit. The infamous Little Black Dress. Those jeans that make her butt look perfect. Sweats and a tee shirt. I'm not all that different. I do have a favorite outfit, but it's more of an idea than a physical reality. It keeps shifting. I know that it's perfect as soon as I put it on, because the perfect outfit is the one that inspires me. No, I'm not an artist. I'm a murderer...er, murderess. A lot of pop culture would have you believe that this is a mental disease or disorder. I don't. Killing is just something I like to do. It releases a lot of negative energy and gets rid of at least one annoying and useless person. My favorite outfit is the one that ends up stained with their blood. I love the-- I'm stopping here. This is terrible writing. It's melodramatic and fluffy. I'll come back to this idea when I have more brain power. Until then, enjoy this quasi-summary of a dream I had a while back.

          It's the end of the world. As usual, the rich and powerful of the world have created a safe place for them to stay until the world calms down. A man and woman rush frantically through falling debris and panicked people. They've been given two seats by the man's father, a powerful, but corrupt, senator who can only see the error of his ways in the face of death.

          There is a horde of civilians at the gates to the miracle ship. The ship has many seats, like a massive Grey Hound bus, and after the rich and powerful are on board a lottery for the boarding tickets will begin. People are frantically fighting and the scene is getting ugly. 

          The lottery is finished, but there are still two empty seats left. People can see them and are screaming to get on board. Finally, the man and the woman crawl through the crowd, literally clawing and grabbing to make their way on, over, and through people. They make it to the front of the crowd, but the ticket taker is in a heated, and rather ridiculous, argument with a civilian. He's completely distracted and ignores the man and the woman waving tickets in front of his face. 

          The ship is about to leave. Frustrated, the man grabs the ticket taker's hand and thrusts the tickets into his palm as he and the woman jump the guard rails and sprint for their seats. The ticket taker and his surrounding civilians are in shock and can only gape in disbelief as the man and the woman run through the ship. 

          Before they reach their seats, the ship begins to move. The man and the woman must brace themselves on the seats of others to keep themselves from flying through the aisles. Finally, they reach their seats and strap in. They've made it just in time. The ship must travel through the center of the earth to escape the impending doom [I don't know why this is, it's just the feeling I got in the dream]. The ship nose dives and the man and woman can see the red hot flames outside of the ship as the exterior temperature rises. Passengers near the hull are in danger. The heat and pressure cause some bolts and glass to pop. Many are wounded and some are even killed. The ship was designed to withstand the intensity of the earth's core, but the reality is more than disappointing. The man and woman hold hands and prepare for the worst.

Back to Work!!

Sweater: Macy's; Button-Up: New York & Co.; Jeans: Kohl's

What I'm Wearing
Um...you should be able to see it! Ok, that wasn't even close to funny! I got bold today: I wore a button up shirt under a sweater. ::gasp:: This was something I absolutely abhorred as a teenager and have been completely intimidated by as an adult. Yeah, yeah. If you don't know by now that I'm a little off, then you haven't been reading very carefully! I also wore a necklace *OVER* said collard shirt! ::double gasp:: I love the way this looks on others, but I don't really think I'm working it. I feel boxy. Maybe my sweater's too thin? I don't know. It certainly looks better with jeans than it did with the gray trousers that I wore to work. It turns out I could have gotten away with jeans at work today, though, since every other teacher and the principal were wearing jeans...and rain boots. ::soft wail from missed opportunity::

What I'm Thinking
          My last official day of winter break was awesome. Nicole and Tim came over and we played games and she and I went shopping while the boys watched football. By the way, "Curses" is an *AWESOME* game. Side splitting laughter ensued not five minutes in. This game has also made me decide that my hubby makes an excellent leprechaun. =D That's right: leprechaun. And on Sunday evening I got a call from one of my districts that a sub was needed. Hooray! Income! They need a sub for the whole week. Woo-Hoo!! Pay dirt! But the teacher only has plans for Monday and Tuesday. ::silence::...Ooookay, I think I can swing that. Fourth grade you say? I can figure something out {I hope}. I like that I get to work with the same class for an extended period of time {I really do}. It gives me a routine and a schedule and general consistency. I feel like I can do anything when I have a routine...which inspires me to break the routine and then I get all nervous and fidgety because I've lost my routine. But back to work!
          I love fourth graders; they're cute and innocent but have just enough bite to be interesting. I like that I can be goofy and they look at me like I'm completely off my rocker and they worry that maybe they shouldn't have come to school. The junior high kids see right through me and think I'm lame for trying to get a laugh out of them. They were a good group today, but they were SOOOOO tired!  I mean, these kids weren't even excited about rainy day schedule and didn't spend all day talking to each other! I  hope I'll be as lucky the rest of the week as I was today...especially since I have to ad-lib the plans.
         The best part about fourth graders is that they haven't quite got the hang of pulling one over on the sub. I can still ask questions about normal classroom procedures and get honest answers out of most of them. The ones that try to sneak in a little white lie are quickly bombarded by "NOOOO! That's not what Mrs. Smith does!" and the poor darlings have no idea that they just screwed themselves into reading the whole chapter by themselves instead of letting me read it to them. Adorable. I really want to laugh at them when they do this, but then I'll just make things worse for whoever has to sub for them after me. =D ::enjoy!::

What I'm Writing
          Blaaaaah!! ::tears:: I haven't written anything of worth in forever! And this guy that asked me to beta his Harry Potter story is 30 chapters in and all that needs fixing is a bunch of little grammar things. His craft is excellent, though. I want to write more about my serial killing duo and insert some girly Cosmo-esque fashion related entries. I can see it being very cute and successful {if it hasn't already been done}::[originality is highly overrated, Reg. Nobody is original anymore.]::<--I don't know what all this punctuation is supposed to imply, but I think it helps to break up the different voices in my head. TMI? I suppose I could always work on transposing my Star Wars story {which I'm very proud of} into a contemporary romance where the Jedi are replaced with firemen. Blaaaah!!! ::more tears:: I hate writer's block! ::suddenly remembers half finished zombie story::bangs head against wall::

PS: I'm really starting to loathe these self portraits, as I'm realizing that my outfits suck.

So Much To Say and So Little Time

Shirt: Banana republic, Jeans: gifted and altered from flares to skinnies; Vest: American Girl, altered to be more fitted; Boots: gifted; Jewelery: random beads.

I've been SO lazy these past couple of days! Seriously, the past week has felt like a month. The days are just c-r-a-w-l-i-n-g by. Not that I'm complaining...much. As lazy as I have been, I have also been busy. Sunday, Marty took me on a date and we saw Tron. I'll tell you more about that in a bit. Monday, I spent all day with my niece, who is eight, and we went to Disneyland. We'll get to the details on that as well. Yesterday....wow, I can't even remember. Oh, yeah, I did some shopping and then had dinner with "the girls" (who are actual girls and not whatever other thought you were thinking). And today was more shopping and hanging with the niece and SIL. So, let's rewind to Sunday...

<<Flash Back<<

Sunday night was date night, but that didn't register in my head until we were already at the mall and husband looks down at my feet and says "You wore those on our date?" He is, of course, referencing the purple rain boots I received as a gift from my mother {who reads this blog} that I wore because a) I was excited to wear them, and b) because I thought I was going to just lounge around and be comfy (aka sloppy). As I have told you before, Hubby doesn't like rain boots, purple or otherwise. We had a lengthy discussion about paying attention to each other, blah, blah, blah, ::tears::, blah, blah, ::annoying drama::, blah, blah, ::hugs::, ::kisses::, blah, blah.  

Lesson Learned: rainboots are NOT appropriate date attire and dinner and a movie always equals a date.

But "Tron" was excellent. It killed all the bad mojo in the air and replaced it with amazing techno-music and neon light wonderfulness. We saw it with the D-Box seats and it was like being on a better and extended version of Star Tours. It was AWESOME! So glad I saw it in the theater! Oh, and check this out:

The gentleman on the left is the character Castor from the new Tron movie. As soon as he walked on screen I thought to myself, "Hm, now doesn't he look familiar..." Ladies and Gents, this guy (in make-up, that is) is a dead ringer for David Bowie circa 1980's-ish. I used to have nightmares about David Bowie from the movie "Labyrinth," he scared the living day-lights out of me, but I love him anyway. Well, this Castor character's got that same creepiness to him that Jareth did. Maybe that's why I've been avoiding my computer. I was going to put a comparison photo together myself, but when I googled "Castor Tron David Bowie" this pic came up and I nearly fell out of my chair laughing. It totally made my day. :)

>>On Monday>>

Monday was the day I volunteered to spend with my niece. SIL thinks I was doing her a favor, but I really just needed an excuse to go do all the cool kid stuff again. So we went to Disneyland, full well knowing it would be a zoo, to run around and have some fun. We got there pretty early and headed out on a raft to Tom Sawyer's Island. My niece loved it! We spent a good two hours running around the caves and across the bridges. By the time we made it around to the front of the island, all of New Orlean's Square was jammed with a sea of people. It was nuts. The park actually SOLD OUT of tickets!! But it was still fun  and we managed to get in a few more attractions. The worst part was trying to get out of Disneyland...talk about fighting the tide!
Lesson Learned: No matter how crowded it is, Disneyland is still fun when experienced as a child.

>>On Tuesday>>

I slept in til noon. There! I admitted it! And it felt goooooooood! ::sticks out tongue:: Then I went shopping for house goods and drove down to Long Beach for dinner with my gal-pals. I love those girls; we're like peas in a pod, and nothing can tear us apart. ::crowd says awe...:: It's cheesy, but true. <3

 >>Today...again>> 

So, this week's been average. Not too eventful, not too boring. I should be cranking out some more fiction, though. After seeing "Tron" and getting halfway through Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy in one night, I'm definitely in Sci-Fi mode and the creative juices are a-flowin'! I also have Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter on my shelf, so there might be some more horror being posted.

Okay, done for now, more tomorrow, and let's all wish that I come up with something more interesting to post. I feel like I've just typed a whole lot of fluff.

I Swear This Outfit Looked Cute In Person!

You ever have "one of those days"? Of course you do. We all do; that's how we all know what "one of those days" means. Well, it was "one of those days" for me. I overslept because I didn't get any sub calls. I love to sleep in. I have actually spent 24 hours in bed before just because I like sleeping. The down side is that when I wake up I feel like I've been hit by a truck. So, that's how I felt this morning...as I rushed outside, in the rain, in my pjs, to move my car because I parked in the leasing center's parking last night (it's ok to park there from 6pm to 9am). Upon moving my car I ripped one of my paper-thin finger nails that I've trying to grow out for 5 months. Sucky. But I did have time to make corn pudding this morning. In fact, I made two batches: one for me and one for the Christmas party at my old school. That was the awesome part of my day. I love the people I (used to) work with. I also got the good news that the district is allowing teachers to choose their subs again! Hooray! This should mean lots more work for me!

Oh, and it rained today. Sort of. It was more of fast-paced drizzle. Which is yucky. It's not really heavy enough to merit an umbrella, but it still gets you wet and you still need to use your windshield wipers. And nobody knows how to drive in it. Everyone was driving half the speed limit and it took twice as long to go anywhere. C'mon people! It's just a little rain! Get it together and know where you're going!

 And I love my corn pudding. It's delish. It's also one of the only things I know how to successfully cook. Yum! 

School Marm-ish

I went to work today! Bringin' in that money, honey! And when I go to work, I like to dress like I'm going to work. Collared shirts, you're movin' up! I think it's important for teachers to dress "professionally," and by that I mean we should look as good as any cubicle worker does, if not better. After all, we are molding the minds of the future. Shouldn't they also be learning that a teacher is a professional and worthy of a white collar? However, I also get that being a teacher also may entail crawling around on the ground, tying shoe laces, running through fields (no, not nearly as romantic as it sounds), and wiping snot. In which case, you probably don't want to be wearing Armani...or even Gap, for that matter. But, still; maybe kids wouldn't be so abusive if we looked more like their bosses and less like their moms.

Speaking of moms...no, I'm not pregnant. You'd be surprised how many people think I am whenever I say I've got news (I know I am). I subbed for a first grade class today. They're a repeat, which is always easier, and I'm SO glad that none of them called me "Mommy" today. It was cute the very first time it happened (when I was doing volunteer work during college). It has progressively become more creepy each time it happens. I had a sixth grader do it once. That was just plain WRONG. A twelve year that is your equal in height should NEVER EVER mistake you for "mommy." EVER. They were cute, but it's exhausting to have to show them how to do everything. The worst, though, is the tattling. "Oooh! I'm telling!" is enough to make me cringe and shudder in disgust. I need a some sort of threatening or witty sign to detour kids from tattling. Where/when do they develop this annoying habit? I mean, these are little kids that are TRYING to cause another little pain by getting them in trouble. Seriously? How do they come up with the idea that it's ok to do that? I think Hobbes was right: people have to learn and try to be decent.

Also today, at the same school, no less, I was privy to a brief conversation being held behind my back about my outfit. It wasn't anything bad, actually these two other teachers were remarking how cute I looked. I accepted the unintended compliment with a grain of salt, though, as I next heard a teacher say. "but I would NEVER wear that to work! I mean, it's ridiculous!" I'm a smart girl; I know she wasn't saying that I looked ridiculous. She was pointing out the fact that she knew I was working in a first grade classroom. Would any of you be surprised if I told you that this other teacher wears 80's-style-mom-jeans, white Reeboks, and a shirt that looks like it cam from the bottom of Wal-Mart's Bargain Bin, on a regular basis? With no make up? Nothing done to her hair, other than color the gray? I didn't think so. I know Adrienne already had this woman pictured as soon as she started reading this paragraph. ::sigh:: All I can do is ignore it and hope more people think like I do in the future by leading by example.

 Oh! And now that we FINALLY have TV again, I've rediscovered all of my favorite after-work programming! Here's a short list:
- The People's Court {I looooooooove it! Judge Milian is my hero!}
- Property Virgins
- Ancient Aliens {This show is DA BOMB!{I can't believe I just typed that!!} Watch it if you care anything for aliens, ancient culture, or religion.}
- I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant {You'll never forget your birth control again!}
- What Not To Wear {Show me some style love, Stacey and Clinton!}

New Learnings
* I'll get back to you on that one. I can't recall any new lessons I've learned recently. My brain is fried and I have an itch to make some corn pudding.

Freckles Run In The Family

I'm finally feeling festive! Notice the Santa inspired outfit? Notice this is the third day in a row I'm wearing some kind of knee sock? And did you notice the wreath? Today I recruited my Lil' Sis to take some photos and I reciprocated the favor. I can tell she's done this before. ::rolls eyes::

So, Sister and I don't get to spend as much time together as we would like to. This is because she lives in Palos Verdes with the parental units and I live in OC with Hubby. It's kind of a drag because when we did live in the same house she was a little kid and I was a snotty teenager. Now that she's the snotty teenager (love you sis!), we have a lot more fun together. For instance, this photo shoot! As a teen in the era of FaceBook and readily available digital cameras, Sister's (Mitsy, not Misty, the 't' comes first) new favorite hobby is taking pictures of herself and friends to place on said FaceBook. I think it's so unfair. She gets to have her teen years documented in photo according to the moments she wants to record. Now, I also took a lot of photos as a teenager, but being the oh-so-responsible teen that I was, most of them either didn't come out or get developed (this is back in the days of actual film since digital cameras were a little too expensive to be buying for your 16 year old at the time). And all the other photos were ones my parents took. Mostly prom and formal pictures. Which were quickly burned upon break-up with whoever my date was. Yes gentlemen, your images were burned. It's a good thing we broke up. :)
Anyway, back to what I like about my sister. Well, she's got a killer fashion sense! She always looks adorable. But what do you expect when she grew up with a sister like me? ;) She also has a great sense of humor; very dry and sarcastic. I hope that sticks and isn't just a teenage phase. What I don't like about her are the following: her hair, her nails,  and her height. I want these. She got the thick hair and nails that always look great, no matter what she does with them. I got the wimpy hair and nails that never do what I want them to. And she's taller than me. Do you know how much that bites? On the plus side, I might be able to convince people that I'm the little sister a few years down the line. We're ten years apart, and I like it that way. I think she likes it too. And like the title says, freckles run in our family. Which I'm mostly annoyed about, but ultimately happy with. Our older brother also has freckles (he's twelve years older than me), but he might kill me if I tried to take his picture. If you really want to see his picture, you'll have to buy his book, Camberaxe, and see his author pic. Or you can follow his blog and bug him for a pic.
Ok, I'm tired. I spent all day at my mom's and all night helping Hubby troubleshoot why the COD: Black Ops update won't download, and I need to finish up writing invitations for my sister-in-law's baby shower so I can mail them tomorrow. Oh, and I have to work tomorrow (yay!), so I'll need to go to bed soon.

New Learnings
- You are never too old to play on a swing set, but some swing sets are too old for you to play on.
- My mom has WAY more clothes and shoes than I do.
- As the crow flies, it is less than fifty feet from our computer room to our TV.
- It's a good idea to get your lace cut before you had to check-out when at the fabric store.
- Brown mailing paper + bright ribbon = cute gift wrap
- My sister thinks it would be weird if I taught at her school, but her best friend thinks it would be cool.

I ♥ the 80's {but not cloudy days}

Jacket: gifted, brand: Split; Shirt: also gifted; Belt: from my Grandpa (my grandparents have THE best clothes! No joke.); Pants: Kohl's; Leg-warmers (squee!): Target; Boots: F21; Earrings: made by my cousin's wife's sister, Heidi.

 Another attempt to get back to my old self, since I don't have work today due to personal obligations. Speaking of personal obligations, why is it so darn difficult to get television service set up? I mean, if there's a satellite in the sky, then why is it that our home is never facing that particular direction? And cable: why can't you just have the programming my husband wants?!? I'm good with the basics and a little HGTV and DIY Network thrown in, but Hubby needs his football (which means that I get some peace!)!

So let's talk COFFEE! I love this stuff! I can't start my day without it, or I'll feel sad and deprived and be in a general funk all day. My students know that a day with no coffee on the teacher's desk is a baaaaad day. The little darlings always gave me Starbuck's cards for the holidays. Aren't kids sweet? I'd be happy to take ground coffee too ::wink wink::

↑ This is my super-duper, absolutely amazing, and fantabulous coffee maker! Which was bought by my super-duper, absolutely amazing, and fantabulous husband. It's a Kuerig machine, which means that I can have my sweet, sugary coffee and Marty can have his regular, tough, and manly black coffee. It also means a lot less wasted coffee that goes cold. It only has one eensy-weensy problem: It sounds like a rocket ship when it brews. See, the water gets heated to some outrageously high temperature and then gets shot through the little little K-cups (that's what I'm holding in the other pic) at 35 mph. This all makes for excellent coffee at the perfect temperature, but it's a little jarring when you've just rolled out of bed. The newer machines are quieter, but not nearly as stylish. My mom is totally envious of ours because it's a discontinued model. She wants it. Bad. Almost to the point of buying us a new coffee machine so that she can take this one. But she knows I love it, and she's not willing to fork out the $300 bucks for the new stainless steel one. So I'll have to live with my little rocket ship. I wonder if I can find a coffee mug that looks like a little space ship...?

Jedi Shirt Project Update

I think I've succeeded in...shrinking the shirt. Which is fine, it needed to be shrunk anyway. It seems a little bit softer, but not at all thinner (fabric wise, that it). I think it's also faded a little, which is also fine. Maybe I should try dragging it around town behind my car? Running over it? Stringing it up on a flag pole during a storm? Any suggestions are more than welcome!

New Learnings

- Do NOT attempt to finish an art project, that requires the object you're working on to sit in you lap, in one day. It will result in immense neck pain.

- Leg warmers are just plain fun to wear; who cares what they look like.

- Boys shirts are very durable. 

- I still FAIL at wrapping gifts, but have improved in the gift shopping department.

- I'm going to have to break down my thoughts on and analysis of Obi-Wan Kenobi, because they are too vast and numerous for one post.

- That's it for today because it's still early and I haven't even left the house yet.

Back to School and Other Mis-Adventures

Jacket: TJ Maxx and shortened by me; Under shirt: F21; Sweater: Mode 5 (I think); Pants: so old I can't remember, but they're by Union Bay; Socks: Target; Boots: Naturalizer from TJ Maxx; Eyes: FreshLook Blends

For the first time in a very long time, I experimented with my outfit and attempted to make something unique. For those of you that know me very well, this aint exactly the old me, but I'm trying to get back there (or at least find a happy median). I didn't bother doing anything with my hair because I had to drag myself around the house this morning as it was.

Today's Doings:
* Went to CSULB to turn in some paper work, and I am officially a college student again! Actually, I can now call myself a grad student, which I think is pretty cool. I got a cool credential program admittance card too. I was a little bummed to learn

that those little cards are actually just printed on card stock and cut out with scissors. I still feel like I'm a member of some cool teaching club, though. And while I was feeling so very collegiate, I took a trip down to the bookstore to grab a CSULB pride lanyard. After being at Davis, I feel like I need to show some more school spirit than I have been in my post-graduate years. That's when I saw this: .
Screw that!!! See those poor bastards standing behind the registers? That was me last week! Thank GOD I didn't have to wear a hideous shirt like they were though! Not only was it a T-shirt advertising the buy-back, but it was an obnoxious shade of fake-money green!!! Blech!

*ALSO did lots of Christmas shopping! Samurai Hell Kitty: You are taken care of! I found you an extra sinister gifty. Mom, you're done, but you already knew that. The little sis is done and so is my other fabulous S.I.L.. I'm also proud to announce that HUBBY is taken care of! I even got him stocking stuffers! I'm doing so much better this year, and I promise that I did not buy you anything that you already have; I checked all of your stuff before I bought. He's gonna love it! I wish I could show it to all of you blog readers out there, but that would spoil the surprise since I think he reads this but doesn't tell me. So, you'll have to wait til after Christmas to see it!

* Jedi Training Academy shirt is in it's fourth hot water wash. I did a wash and soak with about 3 cups of vinegar, THEN did a wash with about a cup and a half of baking soda. No more diy explosions for me! I think I'll run it through the dryer a few times and then see how it's turned out.

Super Power Up Bonus!!

While decorating the tree last night, I found a little red envelope at the bottom of of the Christmas tub. In it I found this: and a Starbuck's gift card!! Thank you, Logan (One of my former sixth graders)! And I still have the little Santa that came with the gift card; he's sitting in my window. :) It made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to remember my very first class to call my own. Someday, soon, that will happen again. Sara, if you're reading this, I'm almost there! Save me a spot!

New Learnings

- Bookstores are addicting and will cost you a parking ticket if you let yourself wander (this is actually a recurring lesson).

- Parking at a meter immediately after the meter-maid/man has come by means you're probably clear to go over your meter time by at least ten minutes.

- Square drinking glasses are a lot harder to come by than I thought.

- Going back to your college is lot more rewarding than going back to your high school.

- The Container Store just might be heaven on Earth.