Hobbies. I've Got Them.

We've all got them. Those things we do just to entertain ourselves. And some of us, myself included, have quite an assortment of them. Personally, most of my hobbies are solo, mostly crafty endeavors. If you know me at all, you know that I often spend a LOT of time knitting, crocheting, sewing, quilting, scrapbooking, taking photographs, reading, blogging and who knows what else. And people probably wonder how I manage to find time to do all of these things.
Well, truth is, I don't. There was a time when if I had a free weekend, I would plan to hit every single one of my hobbies for at least a little while. I'd work on all of my little projects and feel quite satisfied at the end of the day.
Nowadays though, I find myself doing the exact opposite. I pick ONE hobby and become obsessed with that one thing for hours, days, weeks, months... And thus neglecting the rest of my hobbies. Last fall I went through a MAJOR knitting/crocheting phase... and it paid off too. I made hundreds of dollars from my Etsy store. (YAY! I love Etsy!!) And then I got pregnant and did absolutely nothing for awhile. Except sleep. And throw up. (You needed to know.)
I was really into making stuff for Garrett for awhile. In two or three obsessive spurts (with lots of sleeping and throwing up in between) I made him a beautiful faux chenille baby blanket that I'm really happy with.
But, a lot of my other hobbies have gotten neglected as of late. I haven't scrapbooked in God knows how long... much to Danny's annoyance, because I collected loads of stuff in Australia JUST to scrapbook and he's worried that it will all get lost/ruined/forgotten about. (Maybe HE should start scrapbooking!) I haven't blogged (obviously). I barely take photos (even though I got an awesome camera case for Christmas.) And read a book? Yeah, that wasn't happening.
Until recently.
Suddenly, it seemed like EVERYONE I know was the biggest book worm ever. And they were all talking about their awesome books, and I was like "I read! I like reading! And I like those kinds of books too!". So I picked up the Hunger Games. And then Catching Fire. And then Mockingjay. (in the middle of that one.) and then I went out and tried to find aaaaaaalllll of the young adult dystopian fiction. All of it. I can not get enough. And it starts again. Obsessed with one hobby. Neglecting the rest.

So, I ask you, my probably-non-existent-at-this-point-because-I-neglected-to-blog-audience, help me bust out of my one-hobby rut!! How do I do it? Preferably before I give birth to my son and HE becomes my one obsession and I never craft or read or sleep or do anything productive ever again.

Give me your time management advice.
Or order something from my Etsy shop so I have a reason to craft that I can't deny.


Or suggest a good young adult dystopian fiction novel. :-D

Etsy Giveaway!!

Love Etsy? And more specifically, love MY Etsy shop??
Well, here is a chance to get something from my Etsy shop for free. And the best part is, you get to choose!  Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter a giveaway for a $20 credit to choose whatever item you want from my Etsy shop, plus get free shipping on your item!! (Credit can be used towards a more expensive item)

Here are some of the great things you could choose!

 

 

 

Giveaway ends 7/14.

Entries MUST be done through Rafflecopter in order to count.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway


 

I'm a seriously sucky blogger. I KNOW.

*sigh*
I want to be a blogger. I really do.
I just can't seem to get into it lately. I used to blog all.the.time. And now? I have stuff to blog about. I just... don't. Someone please tell me why. It's okay if your answer is "Because you're a just sucky blogger." I'll understand and love you for being honest with me.

Anyways.

For those of you not privileged enough to be my facebook friend, here's my belly growth since my last post at 16 weeks.

 

17 weeks

18 weeks

19 weeks

20 weeks

21 weeks

 22 weeks

23 weeks

Most efficient way to update on the pregnancy is probably the survey thing I was doing and have neglected for like 7 weeks. Oops.

How far along: 23 weeks 1 day
Total Weight Gain: Last appointment I believe I was up 5 lbs (counting what I gained back)
Stretchmarks: Possibly? Or worsening of the ones I have before. I can see some coming on the belly a bit though. I won't be spared.
Sleep: Not too bad, actually.

Best Moment This Week: When he kicked me tonight and I actually jumped because he kicked me so forcefully. He's definitely big and strong in there.
Cravings: Nothing specific. Just food. Lots of it.
Movement: Allllll the time. This child has not stopped kicking me in 3 weeks.
Gender: BOY!!
Labor Signs: Started getting Braxton Hicks a few weeks ago. Boy those are fun. Urgh.
Belly Button: Just now starting to stretch and look weird.
What I Miss: I'd say I miss wearing jeans, but that would be a lie. I miss guilt free caffeine though.
What I am Looking Forward to: My baby showers in May.
Milestones:  So many in the past few weeks!

So yeah, since I last posted we found out that we are having a BOY. I thought for awhile there that it would be a girl. Maybe was hoping a little bit as well. But then everyone starting saying they thought it was a girl and I changed my mind. My child would obviously be more complicated than that. And sure enough, it is a boy. I knew as soon as the ultrasound tech started to look after she found out that I wanted to know the sex. She says "The babies hand is down there so I can't see right this second" and I was like "Oh, well, that definitely means it's a boy." And sure enough. My son. Playing with himself already. Of course. :-)
We decided on a boy name a week or so before we found out the sex and decided to name him Garrett Mark. Here's a picture of the little guy.

 Most adorable fetus ever? I think so.

Other exciting news?

I bought a car!

Less exciting new?

It's pretty much the same thing as the car we already own. Except a different year and a different color. Boring, I know. But ya know what? I love it anyways because it means life will be a whole heck of a lot easier when this baby comes. (Except the whole finances thing. Urgh) Sharing a car would be really freaking difficult then and I'm so excited to have some independence! I haven't owned a car in almost 2 years, so I'm really happy to have my own wheels. 

Anyways, hopefully it won't be another 7 weeks before I post again. By then I'll be 30 weeks pregnant. WHAT.

Weeks 15+16

 

15 Weeks

16 weeks

How far along: 16 weeks, 6 days
Total Weight Gain: At my last appointment, I'm still a pound away from where I started. Catching up at least though!
Stretchmarks: Nothing new. Starting to get itchy though.
Sleep: Not as good. A lot of back pain.

Best Moment This Week: Best moment last week was getting to hear the heartbeat again at my OB appointment. It took the doctor a few minutes to find it, because the baby was moving around so much. You could hear the baby moving, even. So cute.
Cravings: Everything. I'm so hungry all the time!!
Movement: Possibly felt a little baby somersault while grocery shopping this past Thursday. Nothing definite yet, still.
Gender: My appointment is made for April 6!! I'll be almost 21 weeks. I was hoping for sooner. :(
Labor Signs: Still too early.
Belly Button: In.
What I Miss: Not being in pain all the time. Either my hips, ribs, or back hurts at all times lately!!
What I am Looking Forward to: Finding out the gender!!
Milestones:  Ultrasound scheduled!

Week 14

14 weeks

 

 

How far along: 14 weeks, 6 days
Total Weight Gain: I'll find out tomorrow.
Stretchmarks: One that I had before on my hip is getting red... maybe means its getting worse?
Sleep: Still good. Need my body pillow though.

Best Moment This Week: My also pregnant coworker finding out the sex of her baby. Not significant for me, exactly, but that jut means its that much closer to when I find out mine! (We're 3 weeks apart)
Cravings: Bugles. You know, those chips that are shaped like a horn? Haven't gotten my hands on any yet though. And coffee.. had a decaf Starbucks latte earlier. SO YUMMY. 
Movement: Maybe.
Gender: Don't know yet.
Labor Signs: Still too early.
Belly Button: In.
What I Miss: My fat pants being fat pants... now they're regular pants.
What I am Looking Forward to: Finding out the gender. Feeling some baby kicks. My appointment tomorrow!
Milestones:  Baby has doubled its weight from last week.

Week 13

 Starting to grow a baby bump!! 13 weeks, 2 days.

 

 

How far along: 13 weeks, 6 days
Total Weight Gain: Yeah, I still don't know. No scales in this house!
Stretchmarks: None that I didn't have before.
Sleep: Good. Sleeping really soundly lately, which means back and hip pain in the morning. :(

Best Moment This Week: Ehhh... this one is difficult. It's been a ROUGH week. Though, throwing up in my own hand will definitely be a memorable moment of the week.
Movement: Nothing definite. :(
Gender: Don't know yet!
Labor Signs: Still too early.
Belly Button: In. I have a really deep belly button (I think, anyways). Interesting to see when and if it pops out.
What I Miss: Being able to eat without wondering if I'll vomit it all up later.
What I am Looking Forward to: Finding out the gender. Feeling some baby kicks.
Milestones:  First trimester - COMPLETE!!

Mommy Blogger?

It's been a long time since I've blogged... and since the last time I was here, something MAJOR has happened.

I'm having a baby!

See?

Little raspberry growing in my uterus! (at 9 weeks, 2 days)

I'm currently 12 weeks, 5 days at the moment. I wish I had decided to start blogging much sooner so I could document this pregnancy more fully. There's already been so many things I don't want to forget. I'm sure I won't, but I know that life is about to get crazy crazy! 

Hoping I can remember at least to do this pregnancy survey week...

How far along: 12 weeks, 5 days
Total Weight Gain: I'm not sure. At my last appointment I was 5 lbs down. I've probably at least gained that back.
Stretchmarks: None yet! Bought some cocoa butter cream to start combating the inevitable. (My sister and my mom both got tons of them)
Sleep: Pretty good. I wake up once between 1am and 4am to go to the bathroom, and I'm able to go right back to sleep.

Best Moment This Week: Putting up a poll in the bathroom at work to see if people think my pregnant coworker and I are having boys or girls. Most people think mine is a girl. I hope so!!
Movement: Not sure... I think I might be starting to feel something in there, but everyone is telling me it's too early and it's just gas. I think I know my body though, and I think it's the baby! I won't say I'm officially feeling movement until I'm sure though.
Gender: Unknown. I have an appointment on the 27th, when I'll be 15 weeks, and I'm sure they'll put the order in for my anatomy ultrasound then.
Labor Signs: Way too early for that!
Belly Button: Still in.
What I Miss: Being able to eat anything I want. I did have some sushi last night... fully cooked shrimp sushi, so no one jump all over me!!
What I am Looking Forward to: Actually looking pregnant. Right now I mostly just look a little chubby.
Milestones:  Most of the critical body systems are full formed.

Bump Photo

I Get Really Domestic on the Weekends

This weekend has been QUITE the success.

Here's the run down.


Friday
CRAZY insane day at work. Especially the last half hour. We had all of the really tough kids left, my room wasn't cleaned yet - none of the rooms were clean yet. I go to clean my room I hear the other two teachers screaming to me from down the hallway... toilet is overflowing EVERYWHERE. Apparently I was the only one who knew how to shut the toilet off. Plus the plunger was in my room. So I took care of that, cleaned my room, and THEN had to clean up the massive flood in the other room. But before we could do that we had to remove a MASSIVE spider. Ugh. Half an hour after closing, we finally got out of there. Quick trip to the store for yarn supplies and finally home.
We made a trip to Trader Joe's the night before, so I was really craving the Chicken Shu Mai that we sampled and then bought. I decided that fried rice would be just the thing to go with it. Having never made fried rice before, it was going to be quite an adventure. But it was SO FREAKING GOOD. And I will share my recipe.

How to Make Fried Rice - Ashes Style

Ingredients
- White rice
- Green onions
- Bean sprouts
- Oil
- 2 eggs
- Soy sauce
- Marmite or Vegemite




* Cook or have six cups of rice. I made it up because I didn't have any on hand, but apparently leftover rice is also good.
* Chop up some green onions. Set aside.
* Lightly beat 2 eggs with some salt and pepper. Set aside.
* Heat up a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of oil. Once it's hot, add the eggs. Scramble 'em up. Don't overcook. Take them out and set them aside.
* Clean out your pan, and then put 2 tablespoons of oil in again. Add the rice. Stir fry it for a bit.
* Add a couple tablespoons of soy sauce. I didn't measure it. I just splashed it in until it was a color I liked.
* Add a little yeast extract, such as Vegemite or Marmite. (I used Marmite. We ran out of Vegemite and can only buy Marmite locally.) Again, I didn't measure. I was stirring with chop sticks, so I just dipped my sticks in and grabbed a little blob. Stir stir stir.
* Add the eggs back in. Add the green onions. Add some bean sprouts.
* EAT


Saturday

Oh yeah, baby. I found some Tim Tams! FINALLY. FINALLY!!!!
Danny and I had crazy plans to walk the rail trail from Easthampton to Northampton (about 7 miles) in 40 degree weather. I decided that I was going to do this, I needed a fleece vest. So we went to Old Navy, and since I'm a glutton for punishment, decided to make yet another stop to Target to hunt for the elusive Tim Tams. I wasn't getting my hopes up. Even though Target's website said they were in stock - they day I checked online, I also checked in stores and it said they were in stock and they definitely were not. So I checked the dollar racks for stickers for my preschoolers and Danny went to look for himself. Moments later he returned with two packs of TIM TAMS!!!! I literally squealed out loud. And then ran back for two more packs. Like just two would be enough. PAH. I would have bought ten if my budget had allowed for it.
Even though I had loads of Tim Tams, I still went for my walk. And it was lovely. But the Tim Tam Slams to be had when I got home were even lovelier.


Sunday
Domestic goddess day. I had the whole freaking apartment scrubbed and shining before noon. NOON. Floors, dusting, organizing. The works. Still kind of smells like Lysol in here.
After that I rewarded myself with hours upon hours of Sims 3, while knitting an amazingly long scarf made of lovely lovely lovely baby alpaca yarn. And then I baked like a billion pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for my preschoolers, while chatting on the phone with my Nana about affordable, tasty recipes. Check these babies out.

 

I'm going to have some happy kiddos on Tuesday. Let's just hope they actually last that long! They are yummmmmmy. No canned pumpkin up in here. This is still from the pumpkin we carved. So far I've made a double batch of pumpkin pie pudding, a loaf of pumpkin bread, a dozen pumpkin muffins (or was it two?) and then these cookies. And I still have another bag of it frozen. I don't know why I haven't been doing this for years. Fresh pumpkin is more fun and FAR more cost effective than canned pumpkin. And while I was skeptical at first, I do think it tastes better. 

How did you spend your weekend?

World Food Market

I think I like international food better than American food. My favorite cookie, by far, is a Tim Tam. (I'm still on the look out for them... It's October. Where are my Tim Tams?!) My regular grocery store carries Jammie Dodgers, which make their way into my cart fairly often. I'm even starting to learn how to cook some Asian meals. (Plus I make Indian food from a packet on a regular basis too)

Yesterday, I looked for Tim Tams at a different grocery store (I only KNOW that Target carries them... gotta keep looking at other places too though!) and they didn't have them. Big surprise. So I decided because we were kind of on the way towards Hadley (still way out of the way) we should go to this World Food Market I've driven past a few times.

Definitely a great idea!!! There's an Asian Food Market beside my work, but this place was like 10 times bigger. And so much awesome, fun stuff. Here is everything we bought.

Strawberry Wafers from Thailand (I think?)

These are actually your basic artificial strawberry flavored (but a nice, sweet flavor!) wafers. Nothing too special. Still tasty though.

Red Bean Cake

Danny's choice, but I had a taste of it. Very... interesting. It's definitely straight up beans inside of that thing. For me, the more savory taste of beans doesn't go so well with the sweet bun flavor. Also, the texture of the bun and thick, slippery, and well, kind of reminiscent of flesh. Then look at the shape of the bun... Well??? I'm not the only pervert out here, right???

Taro... things.

So these remind me of those Pirouette sticks, but I'm not sure what you would actually call them. Wafer tubes? Cookie straws? I don't have a clue. These are another Danny pick. He loves taro. I haven't actually tried these... I'm not a huge taro fan.

Mochi Ice Cream

OH. MY. GOD.

SO GOOD.

I don't really have anything other than that to say about mochi ice cream. Just go buy some, right now. I hear you can get this at Trader Joe's. DO IT NOW.

Hawaiian Coffee

Another Danny choice. I should have gotten some more things for just myself. Danny thought this tasted just like iced coffee we make at home, but I thought it was delightful. :)

Do you have a World Food Market nearby? What's your favorite thing to buy there?

What I've Been Up To

I miss blogging. I really do. I miss writing, and I miss talking about my life.

So what have I been up to lately? Let me shoooow you!!

I moved into my new apartment.

 

And I've been enjoying it to the fullest. I basically spend all of my free time at home doing this...

 

and this...

And really just enjoying life. I'm so much happier in my new job and my new apartment. I'm making sales in my Etsy store left and right, which makes me feel so fulfilled and proud of myself. It's always been a hobby I've been really into, and being able to share that with other people (for a profit!! That I put right back into crafting :-D) just makes me happy.

I have some photos and stories about road trips and shopping trips to share... probably tomorrow. :)

New Blog?

My Tumblr

Maybe I'll be more devoted to tumblr than this...

Teaching and Stuff

So, I a a terrible blogger lately. Really terrible. I want so badly to get back into this and call myself a blogger again, but I find myself coming home from work and just crashing. And on the weekends... more crashing. And packing! I can't believe I'm finally moving in just 2 days. Oh my.

Teaching. I should talk about that. So, I'm teaching preschool at a daycare/child care center (whatever you want to call it it... I prefer child care center. Daycare sounds like I just play with kids all day. I don't. I teach.)I started during the summer (it's year round) and now the "school year" is starting next week. So all but a few of my current kids will either move up to Pre-K or the kindergarten in public school and I will have a whole new class next week. Luckily though, I have met just about all of my new kids and I am excited! My very very tough class is about the get just a bit easier. And now I will be used to my school and my classroom a but so we should have a very good school year together.

I am finally starting to love my job. It's been a rough couple of weeks, getting settled in, worrying that I was selling myself short by teaching early childhood instead of trying to get into a public school (it's for the experience though), still living with my roommates instead of having my own place, general money anxiety, plus then the work stuff of having a really tough, undisciplined group of kids and being evaluated by the state my third week (did not go well. Not at all). However, I'm feeling confident now though. It helps immensely that I have a great teacher's aide who always manages to keep things humorous during the day. I'm so glad that we hit it off right away. I had so much trouble at my old job because one co-worker immediately decided that she hated me. Having a teammate in this class really makes the job easier.

So, that's where I'm at. Hopefully I can manage to blog some more in my new apartment next week. :)


Oh, how about some Ten on Tuesday?

1. What is your favorite brand of shoes?
I don't really have a favorite. The only kind of shoes that I am "loyal" to are Old Navy flip flops.

2. How old were you when you learned to tie your shoes?
I think six. I remember having to have my 1st grade teacher tie my shoes (yes, I remember stuff like this) and I do not remember my second grade teacher tying my shoes, so I'm guessing I learned in first grade.

3. How do you feel about freckles?
I have a few random ones sprinkled around. I kind of wish I had some on my face. I feel like I'd be the kind of girl who looks cute with freckles. (Sorry, freckled girls, but some of you don't wear it well.)

4. I can count to ten in ___ languages.
Three, I think. I could probably remember how to do it in French if pressed to.

5. What is your favorite store-bought ice cream flavor?
All of them. It's ice cream, guys. You can't go wrong. (Okay, you can. But I just don't have a favorite. I like ice cream)

6. Were you in ballet or gymnastics as a little girl?
Neither. I was in baton.


7. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character?
This question was recently asked (as evidenced by one of my blog posts that I just read) so I refuse to answer it again.

8. What’s your bedtime?
I don't have one. Whatever 8 hours before I need to be up is. Or 7 hours, if I'm feeling rebellious. Oh this life I lead.

9. Do you have any jewelry that you wear every single day?
Yes. My tourmaline ring and my infinity loop necklace.

10. Who is the bug killer in your household?
The cats

18 Days

That's how long until we FINALLY move into our own place. I hope to never, ever have to do the roommate thing ever again.

We bought a few things for our new place yesterday at IKEA. First trip there! Some may think it's insane to drive 2 hours to go shopping, but I guess because we're from Maine and you HAVE to drive at least 2 hours to get to ANYTHING it's not a big deal. And it was actually a lot of fun. I love spending the day with Danny and just getting away from here. Lord knows I need to.  We were after a desk for Danny in our new office (yay! office!) but we didn't find one we liked for a price we liked. However, we did get a new coffee table and side table for the living room, and a sewing desk for me! Also, a new set of dishes. They're green. And beautiful. And a few little incidentals like a $1 pack of candles (how could I resist!!!), a toilet brush (something I don't think should be brought along on any move - gross), and a new frying pan. (broke the handle on my old favorite one)

I'm getting really excited. 18 more days!!! We get the keys on the 1st of the month, which is a Thursday. Logically, we should wait until Friday night or Saturday to move, but one of my roommates (who has a truck) is willing to move it all up Thursday night when I get home from work. I'm not even going to pretend that it's not because he wants us to move out as soon as possible. And I'm not going to pretend that I'm not perfectly okay with this.

10 Day "You" Challenge ~ Nine Loves

9. Teaching. So much.

8. Crafting (Particularly quilting right now)

7. Sleeping.


6. Really good food.


5. Daytrips. Overnight trips. International trips. I love to travel!!!


4. Being famous in Australia. It's kind of amazing. I even do love cricket now.


3. My kitties, when they decide that they love me too.

2. My nephew, Hunter. And the rest of my dysfunctional, "bat shit crazy" family.

1. Danny - of course. :-D


Last week's 10 Day You Challenge ~ Ten Secrets (Okay, so it's been more than a week.)

My Life

So things are finally starting to look a little brighter here these days. It took awhile, but I'm finally getting somewhere in  my life. Someone a few weeks ago stated that I'm finally "getting my life together". Well, I certainly do not believe that my life wasn't together these past 10 months, but it just wasn't where I wanted it to be at the time. But it's not like my life was in shambles or something. I've been doing just fine, and working really really hard to make advancements in my career.

That being said, I finally landed a teaching position! A real one! With my own very real classroom. No more floating around doing other people's jobs in someone else's classroom. Starting this Tuesday I'm the lead teacher in room 5 at a local preschool. Local as in no more 45 minute commute for a sucky job. In fact, the apartment that we're moving into at the end of the month is less than 2 miles from my new job. The fact that this job is in a preschool (which is really part of a child care center, or a daycare if you want to call it that) and not in a public elementary school does make me a little sad. It's not my dream job, by any means. It's not what I saw myself doing in my second year out of college, but I didn't see myself being famous in another country for a sport I'd never watched before either. So, I'm taking life as it comes right now. Whatever seems like the right thing to do, I'm doing it.

So... apartment!!! We're finally moving into our own apartment. and it will be OUR apartment. For the past 10 months we've been living in my aunt's basement which SUCKS but whatcha gonna do? It got us to a different area that we love and were able to find jobs in. Decent jobs, at that.

I'm excited. :-D

10 Day "You" Challenge ~ Ten Secrets

Secrets.... Not so good at these! I'm pretty much an open book, but I'll try.

10. I don't really exercise and I don't diet. I'm making a conscious effort to eat healthier, but I've never been "on a diet." Yes, I will admit, I am slightly overweight. But I am healthy and I have a healthy body image, so I don't see the point in depriving myself of food (especially because I LOVE food) or forcing myself to go to the gym.

9. I didn't have a good relationship with my brother (AT ALL) until our mother left our father and we were forced to redefine what "family" meant to us (and we're still working on that). But at least now we can get through a weekend without fighting and annoying the crap out of each other.

8. I pride myself on having good spelling and grammar, but a lot of times it's because my Mac has built in spell-check. And I use it.... a lot.

7.  Sometimes, I don't like my cats and think about giving them away. But then I remember them as sweet little kittens and how Danny and I adopted them together the first year we were dating, and I know I could never get rid of them.

6. I have to look up "how to boil an egg" every. single. time. Cannot for the life of me remember how to do it. I'm certainly no expert when it comes to cooking, but this is one of the only things that I can never just "do" and hope it comes out okay. Because it doesn't.

5. I'm kind of okay with living in my aunt's basement. Some people in my "family" (see #9, where I've redefined what family actually means) have tried to make me feel ashamed of myself for making what has been a very economical choice for us and kept us from accruing any debt in the past year. But I am smart enough and mature enough (contrary to the belief of my so called family) to realize that no one gets their dream job right out of college (without some really good connections, anyways) and sometimes sacrifices have to be made in order to get where you really want to be in life.

4. I want to have kids someday probably more than I really let on to people. I scoff at the idea of having kids quite often, but I really do want them - someday.

3. Sometimes I'm quite self-conscious about my teeth, but seeing pictures of celebrities (like Kirsten Dunst and Anna Paquin) make me realize that they are just a part of who I am, and you can be beautiful even with messed up teeth.

2. I used to be addicted to Frontierville (Zynga game, like Farmville)

1. I don't wear a lot of make-up, but I HATE leaving the house without at least mascara.



I'm going to ATTEMPT to post this weekly. Presumably on Sundays. No promises, cause I sometimes suuuuck at this sort of thing. But I think I just need to write. It's good for me.

On Being 23

I turned 23 last Friday, and to be quite truthful, 23 somehow feels older than 22. Perhaps it was a maddening bout of immaturity I experienced in my last days of being 22. Perhaps it's my sassy new "grown-up" (as in, no more ponytails!) hair cut. Or perhaps it is that I may possibly be nearing the end of my quest for a big girl job. Whatever the reason, 23 feels older.

Danny and I had a discussion about where in your 20s being 23 falls. I believe that I am in the last year of my early 20s and he will be 28 this year, and therefore well into his late 20s. He disagrees, at least as to which part of his 20s he's in. He doesn't think he's in his late 20s yet at 27. He thinks this:
20, 21, 22, and 23 are the early 20s.
24, 25, 26, and 27 are the mid 20s.
28 and 29 are late 20s.           Yea, cause that makes sense.

I think it's this way.
20 doesn't count. You're basically still a teenager and not even old enough to drink.
21, 22, and 23 are early 20s.
24, 25, and 26 are mid 20s.
27, 28, and 29 are late 20s.        Your take?



Anyways, I am looking forward to being 23. I'm looking forward to getting a big girl job (hopefully this week, ya'll!) and moving into Danny's and my first apartment together. (We lived in what was my college apartment for a year before we moved in with Jen and James).

This year in my life has potential, guys. Will it be as exciting being 22? Probably not. But I'm kind of okay with that. A lot of negative came with the positives of being 22. And some kick ass things happened right before I turned 22 (graduated from college, birth of my nephew) and aside from Australia (which was holy crap amazing) not much else lived up to being 21. But 23.... 23 has potential. Honestly, I'm hoping for a calm, unexciting year, really. I want to start a career, get an apartment that will be our home for a few years, and just be settled.

Ten on Tuesday

1. What’s the recipe for your favorite drink? (Smoothie, alchoholic, coffee, whatever.)
I'm kind of a big fan of coconut rum and orange juice. It's delightful.

2. What kind of razor do you use?
I used to ALWAYS use Venus razors, but they're expensive. And now that I live with a man who believes that razors are communal and uses them on his massive beard, which ruins them. So I just buy cheap ones now. Not like suuuuuper cheap, slice your leg off type razors (cause that's what I'd do, not even kidding) but definitely disposable.

3. Who is your favorite Sesame Street character?
I always loved Big Bird because my aunt bought me a stuffed one when I was little. Now, I don't know, there's probably more interesting characters.

4. What makes the perfect salad? (Lettuce type, toppings, dressing, etc.)
I like my salad with a lot of crunch. A good crispy lettuce base (like iceberg) is an absolute must. With other crunchy veggies like celery and onions. And crunchy toppings like bacon bits and croutons. (I'm almost drooling right now)

5. What was your favorite subject in school?
Language Arts. I love to read. Love it.


6. What’s your favorite summer tradition?
Cooking smores on a campfire. Hands down.


7. Do you suffer from season allergies? How do you combat them?
The further south I move, the less bad it is. But more so in duration than intensity. Last year in central Maine I had a HORRIBLE bout of allergies that actually resulted in an outbreak of hives, a trip to walk-in care, and a prescription for a triple combo of anti-histamines.

8. How often do you have to charge your cell phone?
Every night.

9. Do you have a bucket list?
Uhm, not really. But whenever I do awesome things, I usually think "Well, that's something I'm glad I got to do before I die." Almost a better way to think about it, I think.

10. Do you have any desire to go back to school?
Yes, but not for a long time.

It's Monday

I had a second job interview this morning. My initial reaction of the school was positive when I first interviewed last week. Today I had a teaching interview and spent some time in a classroom... and I would say that view of this place as drastically changed. It was a toddler classroom... I expected bright cheeriness, happy teachers, smiling children. Yeah, none of those. The classroom was dingy and dirty. All the furniture was at one time white with yellow trim and no other colors. All the bulletin board type stuff was old, faded, peeling laminated construction paper letter. Yuck. Yuck. Yuck. The teacher had poor routines and poor teaching techniques. I don't think they were people that I'd get along well with as co-workers. I just... ugh. I don't want to teach there. I'm not even sure how well the interview went... probably not that good. But if offered, I won't be taking the job.
However, I'm still holding out to hear from the pretty much dream job in Easthampton. I waaaaant that job. I want to live in that town. I want my own cute little corner classroom with my 8 or 9 cute little preschool children. However, just in case I don't get it I put in an application for another job in the dream town and a company with several job openings in the general area. Plus maybe there will be something full-time coming up in my current company, which I would jump all over.

Today is June 27th. My parents' anniversary. Their last anniversary. Their divorce hearing is tomorrow. And tonight my mother is sleeping on my father's couch so she doesn't have to be up at 4 AM to get to court. All kinds of fucked up, guys. All kinds.

Also, I've been hearing some oh so freaking lovely things about myself from my family. Apparently a certain family member thinks that I am overly emotional, I blow everything out of portion, and now apparently I am untrustworthy and I am trying to turn everyone against my mom. The only information I passed on to other family members is common freaking knowledge. The absolute truth. Shit my mom has completely admitted to. Yup, and I'm the evil, malicious one now. Oooookay. I'm not the one who tore the family apart. I had no part in that. And I don't believe in doing that kind of thing. It fucking hurts. I would know.
One of these days, I'm going to confront this family member. One of these days...

Tornadoes in New England??

Wednesday was very likely to be on the scariest days of my life. I check the weather on my way to work. They were forecasting thunderstorms to begin around 1 o'clock... nap time at preschool. Fun... I have several little ones who are quite afraid of thunderstorms. Many who could care less, but a few who are afraid. So I was not looking forward to crying, terrified children waking up from their much needed naps.

One o'clock rolled around and no storms came. However, the Pre-K teacher assistant informed us that we were under a tornado watch. Being in New England, tornado watches come on occasion, but we never get tornadoes. Ever. But, just to be safe we reviewed the emergency plans for the school. The plan was to be aware of the weather (the director and mentor teacher were listening to the weather radio) and when the watch got upgraded to a warning, we would move from the classrooms to our "evacuation" place in the stairwell to the basement. At this point, we were light-hearted about it. The mentor teacher was running around saying "Auntie Em! Auntie Em!" and said it was okay to take the kids outside to play - just come in if we saw cows flying by. (For the record, I didn't take my kids outside. Storms can come on fast! Keep reading). I did, however, text Danny on my break to make sure he was home from walking from the bus. Westfield (where we live) was under a warning before Springfield (where I work) was.

Around about 3:30 when I go back to my own classroom after floating for breaks, it started storming. Bear in mind, this is my first week that I'm "allowed" to be in the classroom by myself (Complicated situation. Needed to be licensed in the state of Massachusetts, needed 3 months experience, etc etc etc) so I was a little nervous. I managed to keep my little kiddos under control though. Once the thunderstorms started, many parents picked up their kids so by 4 o'clock I only three children left. Two boys who were playing an imagination game about African safaris and my little girl was snuggled up in the quiet space with her blankie to hide from the storm. After one of the boys went home, I took them to the classroom next door where there were more kids to play with, and so I could clean up everyone's snack dishes.

And then fun began!
We got no advance warning before we got word that a tornado was on the ground in Springfield. The teacher from the downstairs preschool room ran up and yelled to us that a tornado was on the ground in Springfield, so we immediately evacuated the classroom and moved to the stairwell. (Which is the best place in our school - central, below ground, no windows)

All the children were safe and entertained, although many of the parents were exceptionally late, mostly due to traffic. We were able to take the kids back upstairs at 5:30 (end of my workday). From our vantage point, it looked like not much happen. However, traffic was horrible (the cause of most of the delay in parents picking up their kids) so we knew something must be up. While there was no damage to the school, there was a lot of damage to nearby areas, and some of the students' homes. Everyone is safe; everyone I know anyways.

On my way home from work, I hit crazy rain (thankfully not much traffic.) Called my dad and my sister, who were also having crazy storms up in Maine. Found out when I pulled into my yard that there had been a possible tornado on the highway right after I had driven across. Most terrifying thing I've ever heard in my life.


The damage in Springfield, Westfield, Monson and surrounding areas is devastating. I'm just thankful that no one I love and care about was effected.