FOUR

With four days left of school, I think it's only fitting to have a daily-ish countdown. This one is all about our bathroom, which is quite interesting to me right now, but quite boring to the rest of the world. There are no "it's finished" photos included because it is not finished. We still need to paint the ceiling and the walls. As we're both big fans of color, including both grown up and not-so-grown up looking colors, it will one day soon become a striking shade of Honeydew Behr. One day soon, I'm also going to stencil some birds on an old sheet to hang up as a shower curtain. However, I'm procrastinating on that project right now. I have the stencil and I tried it out with spray-paint on a t-shirt. I found it impossible to control the extra spray-age and it left an aura of the outside perimeter of the stencil. Granted, it could be pulled off as intentional, but mostly I think it looks sloppy. I guess I'll need to play with it a bit more.

Ah, yes. It's that time again. My garden is quickly coming back to life. Even some cactus that I thought were dead for sure are coming back with lots of new shoots all over the place. They look like wicked little monsters and I just love 'em. I've even got a new little side garden planted by the fence. I wanted to hide an ugly corner with sunflowers, so my mom gave me some that she started from seed and I transplanted a few that started themselves under our bird feeder. My peonies are pretty much done blooming, but they were beautiful this year. Last year the bunnies ate all of the buds, so it was fun to see the bush so full of blooms this year.
Yes, yes ya'll, it's also GARAGE SALE SEASON. Oh my word, yes. This cutie little vest came with a matching a-line skirt for $2. They're both suede, which is kind of weird, but cute. I won't bore you with all the other crap (I mean treasures) that I've picked up, but it all makes me feel a bit high on life... Which leads me to our venture out last night to hear the Roe Family Singers for the first time. SO FUN. With school ending this Friday, and no more getting to bed by 10 so I can get up by 5:30, I'm planning on making it a regular stop on Monday nights.

After watching baby Joey all day, I don't quite have the motivation to go to the grocery store like I'd planned. I'd have to change my clothes, and nothing is clean at the moment. I have spit-up both on my skirt and on my top. My allergies are also going a bit, shall we say, ape-shit right now. Instead, I'm going to try and revive a bag of salad mix that's supposed to be good until Wednesday, but is looking a little limp. Why do the salad companies lie like they do? Maybe I'll dress it up with some black beans or something. Gourmet night at the Cannon house it is not. Tonight I'm going to dig into The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. I keep hearing what a great book it is. Has everyone except for me read it already? Is it as good as all the three year old hype suggests?

Joey Smiles and then Julie Smiles

I just got home from work. It was kinda, really crappy. Right now I have one really difficult class that frequently tarnishes my day. Today was tarnished. Instead of coming home and enjoying the sun, I put in 10 hours, and I'm all the crabbier for it. Then, I got home to see that the bathroom contractor (who is not a good communicator) put the towel rack in the wrong stupid place. In the scheme of things, this is not a big deal. In my frame of mind, it is catastrophic. Coping technique? Bit my sweet husband's head right off, and promptly felt like the biggest b-i-t-c-h (sshh, I'm sure the students are reading) in the entire world. Luckily, I just found this picture of little Joey, and most of the drama has just melted away. Now, I just need to go attach aforementioned sweet husband's head, and all will be fine.

Student dilemma

OK, I'm going to admit it, I really wish that my students hadn't found this little journal. Sometimes I want to crab about them, sometimes I want to tell cute stories about them, and sometimes I just want to disclose more about my life than a student really needs to know about their art teacher. That being said, one of my students who checks the heck out of this blog, has a dilemma and I think that reader comments could provide some insight for her. PLEASE COMMENT. Her and her mom are moving to another school district this summer. If she wants to continue at our school next year, she'll have quite a commute every day. Of course going to another school is another option, but gosh, it'll be her senior year and that would be a pain too. The last option is taking her senior year courses over the internet. While I could not possibly be paid enough to go back to Roseville High and live through those not-so-glory-days again, I think mile-markers (like prom and graduation and trying out for the plays...) were really important to me at the time. At 34, are the memories and experiences of my senior year in high school really all that important to who I am now? What about closure?

Aren't there just so many things to love about spring? After being cooped up in the house all winter long, it's so fun to get outside and see what's popping out of the ground. It kind of shocks me when things that I planted last year are actually coming back now. I found two little lily of the valley plants hiding behind my roses the other day. They're probably my favorite spring flower. My Barbies used their petals for drinking cups when I was a wee little Barbie girl. Oh, and yesterday, for Mother's Day, I made blueberry rhubarb crisp with some of the rhubarb that Gnomie gave me last summer. It was delicious. Speaking of rhubarb, a woman from work told me that the leaves of it are toxic and that you've got to get every bit of leaf off and wash your hands, OR ELSE YOU WILL SEE DEATH. Anyone ever heard of this before?

Z and I went to the May Day parade over in Powderhorn a couple weeks ago. I love these little pod people.

I'm also loving anything with skulls these days.

Frida was at the parade too. As many of you know, she is MY homegirl and of course I thoroughly endorse her having a slice of the parade all to herself. However, don't you think this woman is a total Frida wanna-be-poser? I'm thinking about dressing up like the REAL Frida next year and hopefully finding this woman and chopping her stupid oversized watermelon in half.

Another thing I love about spring this year, is getting to babysit little Joey. I love it when he talks to me and I even love it when he's crabby. It just makes me laugh. We watched him all day on Saturday, and sheesh it was hard work. I didn't get one damn thing done except feeding him, burping him, changing him, tickling him, and trying to make him take a nap. Oh, and taking lots of cute pictures.

Find your own pose!

Check over on the CC for the latest meeting's pictures. A few highlights: 1. HoLyn as our poster girl. 2. The return of The Mess. 3. An impromptu post-crafting dance party in the livingroom. I think we were all giddy about getting out of the basement.

stencils

I adore working with stencils. I especially love making my own. Whether it's using freezer paper for t-shirts, or by cutting out a cardboard piece and spray painting the heck out of it, I love it all. However, a patient woman, I am not. And cutting out putzy little lines and pieces for a stencil makes me want to puke. So, $10 for a wide assortment of REALLY COOL stencils is right up my alley. I think the sparrows might show up in our bathroom soon.

Yeah, here's us chaperoning the prom last Saturday night. Our real-life prom picture, taken in front of a winding staircase wrapped with white Christmas lights should come be coming in the mail any day now. I can't wait to see them, mostly because I'm a dork. My friend Melissa did my hair for me. She's genius. After narrowing down my outfit options for her, she settled on an era 'do, complete with what looked like finger curls. I felt SO elegant. Speaking of outfit, I wore a cranberry flapper-like number from a clothing swap that happened more than a year ago. We had a great time. It was so fun to see prom fashion 2006. And really, if my students didn't check read my little website, I'd have way more snarky commentary about that.
Oh, and I just found Pandora over at Superhero Designs. Just type in what musician you like, and it'll make a play list of that and similiar artists.

Well, I've either caught a teenie little cold or my allergy season is starting a month early. My nose is just dripping. Lovely timing with the new piercing. Ahem. I'm feeling just under the weather enough to skip cardio kick (my FAVORITE class) and stay in for the night. Which means I can't go wish the marvelous, yet non-blogging, HoLyn a very merry birthday. JoLyn, tonight I'll raise you a glass from my couch. Bummer.

Since I'm in for the night, I'm also cooking. I bought some fennel to try out in a new recipe, and I need to use it up before it goes bad. Not like I'd know the difference, I've never even tasted fennel. Blech, it smells like anise but it sure is pretty. I'm in love with polka dots these days, so it was fun to find them hiding inside the bulb.

Today I discovered that my workplace has filtered out the use of Blogger. While I can look at my website at work, I unable to check any comments or have access to the Blogger website. Interesting. I wonder if many teachers have time to blog while they have students in the room? Mine would be look like this: Starting clay today with Art I. Must send some muscle out to get clay out of my car. I hope City Pages on the front seat isn't still opened to Savage Love. I also hope I don't get in trouble for giving them my keys. Damn, where are my keys? Oh here they are. Alright I'm back. One of the kiddies needed help finding their project. It's looking good, but how is it that only I can find things in this room? AND, I just got ink on my skirt and it's only 7:30am. We're not even using ink today, how does this happen? Good thing I wore my crappy wrap skirt today. I hate this skirt. It makes me look like a total frump, but I feel like it's casual enough to wear with tennies, and my feet needed a break this morning. I can't wait for flip-flops. Except that my toenails are awful. Oh crap, how the time flies. It's already 10:00 and I forgot to eat the breakfast I brought along today. Yogurt smells a bit funny, but I'm sure it'll be fine if I add a little Fiber One. Time for the bell to ring. Students are hanging out around my desk. Someone is playing with my toothbrush and wondering why I have one. They think it's gross that I brush my teeth during the day. Why can't I brush my teeth without being scrutinized? Back from lunch. I love Taco Tuesdays in the cafeteria. Sat in the staff room like always. One of the teachers that I like to call Garanimal was blabbing on about how she teaches the students to love to read. Thank god she didn't teach me how to love to read. I'd definitely be a books-on-tape-only-girl. This room is a mess. I must stay late and clean. I need a Diet Coke.

Here's the happy couple on their wedding day, way up on the very top of a mountain in Colorado. We had such a great time just staying at the foot of the mountain, taking in the lovely scenery, catching up with family, and for Zander, actually skiing. (He's a really good skier. I hope we have time for snowboarding lessons together next year--I think that'd be so fun.) The ceremony was on the very top of a mountain, and most of us were sitting on a deck-like structure that sort of hung off the side. The little kids kept wanting to go to the edge of the deck and get some snow to suck on/throw/kick around, while the rest of us gasped every time they got even remotely close to the sides.


Yesterday we went over to my mom's house for an Easter lunch. Hello, I ate too many chocolate eggs! You know the pastel ones, they look kind of chalky on the outside, but have chocolate inside. Yeah, I'm thinking they have some kind of crack on the inside that makes you continue to eat them long past the time that was ever considered within moderation. Anyway, my little nephew was there and I love holding him. Especially now that he's starting to laugh and make little cooing sounds. Here's little Joey laying on my knees and drooling all over my skirt.


Well, I've never claimed to be photogenic, but you'd think I could slap on some blush before I put my picture out there for the world to see. I will admit that I took about 30 pictures of me looking out this window trying to get some good old natural lighting and a decent looking picture. Where did those wrinkles on my forehead come from??? Anyway, another little piece of Easter this year was going home and showing off a new little piece of jewelry that I got this weekend. I've been wanting to do it for a long time, so it was nice to get the family seal of approval. Oh, and Zander likes it too. Yeah, and I really like it too.

Today I worked like crazy to get everything organized for a few days off from school. It was time consuming because things that come as second nature to me, obvious as all get out, easy as pie, I need to write out piece by piece for a substitute teacher. As I was prepping my students for my days away, making sure they don't miss me TOO much, really all they wanted to know... "Is the sub hot?" Anyway, we're heading out to Colorado for a family wedding where the bride and groom are going to ski down the hill as they tie the knot. Pretty exciting. Being not much of a skier myself, I'm going to ride down the hill instead. We'll be back on Sunday, and I'll update a bit then. Have a great weekend!

After school today I headed over to Savers and found some pretty incredible booty. This shirt was $1.99. And seriously, I keep reading in all the magazines how important the white shirt is this season. Especially with a little victorian looking lace going on, and BAM, there you go. I want to shorten this one so I can wear it untucked and add a couple of darts to make it fit better.

I also picked up the most perfect wool, plaid, little a-line number. $2.99 While it's pretty much perfect as is, I'm afraid it might look a bit Christmas-y. I'm thinking about adding a wide navy ric-rac trim.

1. I just found bloglines. Oh my gosh, reading my smut just got way more efficient. If you're a subscriber, I'm a subscriber now too.
2. Have you ever used Neutrogena's Lash Tint? Wonder Product of the Friggin' Year. There are two reasons why I hate regular mascara. A) While I have dry skin, I somehow manage to have oily eyelids that make me blink the black off of my lashes and on to my under eye proximity. Coon eyes. B) While I consider myself to be quite artistic, I totally lack the luster of wearing mascara without looking like Tammy Faye. I'm a clumper. While those of you with dark lashes are clucking to yourselves, "who cares, just go without..." I want you to know that I oftentimes do go without, and those are the days when people ask me why I look so sick/tired/weird/pasty/bloated/off. The lash tint solves all of these problems and more. All for under $6.
3. I have VPLs with the black yoga pants that I wear to the gym. Thongs do NOT improve the situation because when my shirt rides up and my pants ride down (even a little) there lies the tell-tale T hanging out for the world to see. Any suggestions?
4. Last night I dreamt that I had really long nails that were breaking off. I have super short nails in real life. Anyone with a dream book got an interpretation for me?
5. Only 50 more days of school this year. Ahem, not that I'm counting or anything. My students were especially charming today, and we're doing cool projects right now (like linoleum printing), so it's especially fun. Still, I do long for days spent in the sun-- when I can wake up at a natural time and not have to worry about being asleep by 10, which makes me feel like a complete LAME-O.

This will be a quickie. I'm on spring break this week and have had an absolutely LOVELY time. Zander and I went up to Door County Wisconsin early in the week. While this isn't a balmy beach scene, we were on a beach, and I'm not sure I was dying to get into a swimming suit anyway! We did lots of walking and relaxing in front of the fireplace on our little trip. Our inn was right across the street from a ship yard on Lake Michigan, so it was fun to watch the boats come in. We had a great time, and would love to go back in the summer time when there's a little more open.

We've also done some babysitting over spring break. Joey is getting so alert. He's even starting to smile, although he's not showing it in this picture.

Yeah, Boo likes him too.

Lots of crafting is going on too. Usually I decide to organize first before I begin a project. This time I just jumped right in and I'm having a blast. I'll post pictures as soon as I've got some things done.

Oh, tonight is going to be a good one over at Creative Electric. I hope to see you all there!

Here's some exciting news... The city of Minneapolis is giving us a 0% interest loan that gets paid off only when we sell our house. While we certainly don't want to change the place a ton and therefore price ourselves out of the hood, we do want to make some "quality of life" changes. Such as, oh yeah baby, a shower in the bathroom instead of down in the basement. It feels so self-indulgent to do this when the shower downstairs works just fine, but really folks, it will be heaven to shower in a proper room with a light and even an exhaust fan. We need to pick out the tile for the backsplash, and then the shower head and faucet. I think that'll be fun to pick out. Speaking of self-indulgent, why not build a deck too? I mean, we don't even have one tree on our entire property, so it's not like we can go for the cool, shady oasis that the Juice has going on. (That I'm so jealous of, by the way) Here are a couple of imperfect, but on the right track for our space, ideas that we've seen so far. Please insert all the weird crap you can imagine I'll be using my summer to find, giving these spaces oh so much more personality.



I love the shade provided in this one, but hate the metal banister.



Again, I like the shade given on this one, and I kind of like the privacy latice... but there's still something about it that I don't l-o-v-e love. I keep getting hung up on coming up with something that will match the era of our little stucco house. I'm not sure what that would be though.

On Friday afternoon I found myself in Anthropology wondering how to justify spending $68 on a tank top. Folks, I REALLY tried, and it just can't be done. Happily, lots of the stuff I liked was just a basic tank with a little birdie sewn on. Or a basic a-line skirt with an extra little vintage-looking ruffle sewn into the hem. I can do that kind of stuff no problemo! I'm going through my fabric stash this weekend, and I'm totally looking forward to hitting the sewing machine hard tomorrow afternoon.



This bird is hand sewn, but wouldn't it be adorable in a light color embroidered on a dark t-shirt that's just lying around the house? Martha has all of the state birds just ready for your downloading pleasure.

Speaking of Martha, I just might need this. You can get it here.

Wow. Last week felt like a month and it fried me to a crisp. By Friday afternoon I felt like one of those cream cheese wontons from a cheap Chinese food buffet. One of those that look a little wonky and so everyone leaves it behind to cook under the heat lamp until it becomes an inedible brick. Fortunately, the weekend was lovely and I'm feeling just as fresh as a Vietnamese spring roll. So to speak. Speaking of spring rolls, my (favorite) aunt Judy once reported to us that she tried a spring roll because the waiter told her that it's just like an egg roll. She thought it tasted like lettuce in a condom wrapper and had to immediately go smoke a cigarette to get that horrible taste out of her mouth. Haa! I love that story. Back to the weekend. We started it out with The Lynns at the Monte Carlo. I got to pick out the restaraunt and I got it mixed up with another place that's close by. I don't remember the name of the place that I wanted to go to, but it's famous for it's mac and cheese and it's either got a zebra on the wall or in the name... can't remember. The Monte Carlo had the best szechuan green beans I've ever had and the staff all had on black diner dresses with white aprons that I wouldn't be caught dead in, but were somehow lovely too. However, it does seem like a shame to spend $10 on a side dish, even if it is really good. I'd like to try out this recipe at home and add in some green beans. After dinner we rushed over to the Jeune Lune to see Amerika. It was pretty amazing. Throughout the entire play we kept thinking that the cast must be huge, but it turned out to be pretty small and the actors had multiple parts with insanely quick costume changes. Pretty much the only theater we usually hit comes straight to our doorstep from Netflix, so to get out and see one was a total treat. Saturday morning I had my second to last belly dancing class, and I'm already sad that it's almost over. Yes, my dance teacher is much nicer than my painting teacher. I'm thinking about giving her a card on the last day that reads: Thank you for not being a bitch like my other teacher. I wonder if Hallmark makes something along those lines? Anyway, I'll definitely register for the next session. I did some thrifting Saturday afternoon and got a cute little polyester a-line bright blue skirt... Perfect for any season and never needs to be ironed. Saturday night we chilled out on the couch with some cocktails and the newest season of NYPD Blue. I KNOW it sounds lame, but man-oh-man, it was nice to have some down time. Today we met my parents for a bit, and then caught up on a little laundry. We also started our power cleaning sessions. Zander sets his watch for 15 minutes and we both run around and clean up as fast as possible until the timer goes off. When it goes off both of us need to stop where we're at and go back to enjoying something else. Hopefully, if we do this everyday (or so) we'll stay somewhat organized and not have to spend big chunks of time doing it on the weekend. Wow, that feels like more lameness, reporting on our cleaning, or lack there of.

If you haven't checked out the conspiracy website lately, there are lots more posts coming in. It's certainly worth a peek!

The last class that I teach everyday is a doozie. While there are so many serious/wonderful/fun/smart kiddies in there, there are also some real, shall we say, hand-fulls/poop-heads. Right now my energy is completely zapped, I'm crabby, AND I have to go to both Weight Watchers and my last oil painting class tonight. To look on the bright side, it is the last painting class. On the flip side of that coin, I can't stand that beyotchy teacher and I'm really just drooling to write her a crappy evaluation. Staying on the pessimistic side, I chowed down last night and so I'm sure the scale will be up today for weigh-in. Dang Yo, excercising makes me hungry. To latch onto any little piece of zen that I might, I'm reading the "guiding principles." (over and over again) It's really just a list of the (supposedly) most commonly used words from the Constitution, Bill of rights, the Koran, the Bible, and the Boy & Girl Scouts of America. Here goes:

Responsibility
Contemplation
Initiative
Perseverance
Optimism
Courage
Respect
Compassion
Adaptability
Honesty
Trustworthiness
Loyalty

If I could add creativity to the list, I would. It helps me feel good. What would happen if we took every aspect of our lives and made them creative? Dealing with the disgusting bathroom at work that leaks sewage everyday? (Just another perk of being a teacher) Fold a 5 star hotel toilet triange everytime you pee. It'll make you laugh. Got another parking ticket in uptown? Mail it in with scratch 'n sniffs. The gross kind.

Check this out. Adorable.

Look at this cutie-cute purse that Da Juice came up with. I had such a fun time making it!

child's pose

I'm pretty proud to say that I've been hitting the gym 3 days a week for the last 3 weeks. Add in the belly dancing on Saturdays and that's not too bad, especially because I'm totally enjoying myself. Anyway, I'd been thinking all week long that I'd like to try sweating out my cold in the sauna, but I didn't know where it was, if it was co-ed, and what one should wear while in there. Finally I found out that it's connected to the shower room and on Thursday, I made my way in there hoping that a towel fastened securely around me would pass for acceptable because I forgot my swimming suit. (whew, take a breath, that was one long sentence) When I got in there, there were three very naked women all doing the above pose, with their bums facing me. Yeah, hello, my towel was totally fine. Their stretches made just enough room for me to squeeze in and sweat in my own little corner. I loved the sauna and I loved that these women felt comfortable enough with themselves that they could just be, butt up, in front of other women, without even sucking in their stomachs or worrying about whether or not they'd shaved. I could use a little of that. I don't worry about how Zander sees me, but I do stress out sometimes when I see another woman give the "once over" judgment day glance. Wouldn't the world be a better place if that was just gone? These sweaty women weren't thin, made-up, sweet young thangs, but how accepting they were of themselves was pretty hot. That all being said, I'm working on it, but it'll definitely be a while before I'm all naked and in the child's pose sweating for the ladies.

Well, I'm happy to say that I'm finally getting over my cold. Yeah (for yeah)! I've got some minor sniffles, but the green slime is happily replaced with a constant, yet clear, running nose.

Today was totally fun. It started with belly dancing at the Cassandra school. I love that class. I'm even thinking of moving my way slightly forward from the back row. I'm certainly not ready for the front row yet, although, neither are most of the women that are there now. Snark-snark. Today part of the class focused on the difference between looking like a stripper and actually belly dancing. Very useful. After the dance, I headed way the heck out to White Bear Lake to see my girl Melissa. I know her because she cuts my hair, but really, the chica is fantastic for far more reasons than that. Today she set me out into the world with a partial beehive.


It's fallen a bit in this picture, but by the time I took a picture, I'd been out in the wind AND pulled a coupla sweaters over my head. Not too shabby. I'm not sure I could duplicate it myself, but I'll certainly be giving it a try.


I happened to stop at Kohl's this afternoon and, oh boy, look what I found. I know that these are not very practical due to the height of the heel, nor do they match everything in my wardrobe. However, they were on the $5 rack and I LOVE them.

Man, this little cold has officially got me down. My face hurts, my voice hurts, and I'm taking the day off tomorrow. I should have done it today, but well, it's usually more difficult to miss work than it is to just buck up. Speaking of bucking up... The painting class that Zander and I are taking together totally bites. I'm skipping tonight because I honestly believe that I would kill our instructor if I went. Last time I asked her if she had any rags for us to use and she proceeded to tell me that for the first couple weeks of class she's happy to be my mother, but that time has come to an end. If I want someone to mother me, I should bring my own. I bit my tongue on that bitchy comment, but believe me, I can't wait until she passes out a class evaluation. Oh, did I mention that she rips apart almost everyone's paintings? Pardon me for not being Degas, bitchy-pants. However, despite my grumblings, I am enjoying learning how to oil paint. It feels like REAL painting, I think maybe because it's stinky.

Last night Zander and I tried out El Meson. Sangria = delicious and Payella = really delicious. It was a fun, romantic night out with my sweetie.

Maybe I'll update more tomorrow when I'm home watching Ellen and being less of a grouch.

Cute Alert!

Here he is! Just about a 1/2 hour after he was born.


Here's one more... I think this was his first yawn ever.

Well folks, it's Friday and I'm sooo ready for the weekend. Last night at Kardio kick I totally hurt my leg because I was tired and being sloppy AND I also have a sore throat. I feel like I'm falling apart! I left the weekend pretty open so I could go see little Joey, but I don't want to get him sick. So now I've got a pretty wide open weekend, which hasn't happened in a long while. I'm kind of looking forward to drinking some coffee, doing some cooking at home and maybe breaking into my crafty room.

Joseph Donald (Joey, Joe, or JD) Bastian was born last night right around 10:30. He's a little over 7 lbs and he's about 20 inches long. Oh, and he's adorable. I'll post his picture when I get home. He loves me already, and I think he's pretty cool, too. You know, being that I just want to eat him up and all. My sister is doing great, and she'd be mad if I'd release any of the really up close and personal details anyway. Especially on the World Wide Web.

Tonight I'm going to core and cardio BOSU ball at the Y. THEN, I'm meeting the Lovely-Miss-Thang-Kari for coffee and cheap shoes at the Nordstrom Rack sale. I'm on the hunt for tough, yet glittery athletic looking shoes. Not the kind you really do anything athletic in, puhleez.

My friend Jeanee has pointed me here. Apparently it's the most stripped down little shop ever, but wonderful. The sale ends on Thursday and we're making the trek. Anyone have a little shopping list for me? For a small price, (or a small glass to sample) I might even deliver.

Anyone have some fun valentine plans coming up?

My sister's water just broke! I'm so excited!

This morning we met some friends for the most delicious homemade Indian brunch. We started with mango smoothies and then had potatoes inside something that reminded me of a crepe, to be dipped in a coconut sauce or a peanut and lentil sauce that were both a little like hummus, but even more wonderful. Thanks to Archana for all your slaving over the kitchen stove! Next we headed out to IKEA to get a butcher block for the top of our lovely new dishwasher. I know that it's mundane to talk about it again, but we used it for the first time last night and it was fabulouso. (Oh, and by the way, convenience won out, and Best Buy in Burnsville had it in stock AND matched Walmart's price)

My sister Sara is due to have her baby today. I've been thinking about her like crazy all week long. A few minutes ago she told me that she thinks it's going to happen tonight. I really just HOPE HOPE HOPE so. While we're so ready to have our own stinking baby, I'm also really ready to be an Auntie. Auntie Julie has a nice ring.

In other news, this week is going to be a bit more chill than last. Yeah, I'm thanking my lucky stars, am I. (Insert Yoda voice) I love being busy and I love seeing friends and being social and living an interesting life, but I totally recharge at home, and my batteries are running low. I hope it's not the grunge that everyone else has, trying to get me too! However, other than an outrageous salary and summers off, being a teacher in the public school system has given me a bionic immune system.

Well, I just got home from belly dance class, the gas station and a quick thrift store haunt. Today at class we were learning how to move and use the finger cymbols. Presently, I can do one or the other quite well, but both at the same time are proving to be a challenge. Now we're making a grocery list for the week and debating about whether or not we should break down and go to Walmart for the dishwasher that we're now dead-set on getting. Zander's side: Walmart is EVIL. My side: I think maybe Best Buy is evil too, and Walmart's price is already lower without having to get someone to price match. Also I think it might be more likely to be in stock at Walmart and we could get a few of our other errands done while we're there. Notice how I've got to share every last reason because I feel guilty and ashamed and I know that Michael Moore won't be friends with me now, so I've just got to JUSTIFY.

Isn't the sun lovely today?

Crafting last night was absolutely lovely. I'm afraid that I was very, shall we say, special needs, in the whole knitting department. However, after about 25 attempts, I'm now able to cast on and do the knit stitch. Lots of the women went on to master the pearl, but in this case, I'm comfortable within my limitations. Knit only, for now and big yarn+big needles=pretty easy and quick=feel good about yourself, you just learned something new. Sarah was a really gracious and patient teacher, and that's not even mentioning all the great food she put in front of us. I came straight from kick boxing and was absolutely famished. I hope I didn't embarass myself with all of the dip I ate! It was so strange and yet so freaking good... Cream cheese, fresh basil, dried cranberries, roasted garlic and maybe walnuts or something. DEElish.

Tonight we're chilling out at home and I need it in a big way. I'm pooped. Anyone wear a size 41 in Danskos? They're 90% off at Bibelot right now. I stopped in there this morning because I had a doctor appointment, and I always need a little eye candy after being poked at. I think it's pretty cool that my blood pressure was 94/68

ALERT: Whine fest. I'm feeling more-than-slightly bitchy today. Our house is a wreck and we've got something going on every night! I know that seems like no big deal, but I'm not getting enough sleep either. Fortunately for me, the stuff that's going on is all pretty fun stuff. Last night was an oil painting class, which would be slightly more fun if the teacher didn't think of Zander as a god and me as a strumpet. And just because she does think that, she doesn't need to make it so flipping obvious. "Oh beautiful work Zander, and you, little what's-her-name, could you look get it into your thick scull that I don't really like you???" Tonight I'm going to learn how to knit for the crafter's conspiracy meeting. (HOPEFULLY the teacher will be a little nicer) I'm bringing pretty green yarn, but I forgot my needles at home. I'm hoping she has an extra pair. Oh, and before the CC meeting, there's Kardio Kick class at the Y, which I'm so excited to try it out! I wonder if the instructors snicker about us after class?

Has anyone tried El Meson? Is it wonderful? It looks adorable from the outside.

Thanks to Sarah, this might be the one!

I had a Barnes and Noble gift card burning a serious hole in my pocket. That is, until last night when I picked up the new ReadyMade book that I've been drooling over. The design is of course good,the projects are interesting even if I'm not interested in replicating all of them, and the book doesn't take itself too seriously. There's an awesome garden fountain basically made from a hubcap and a heating duct. I love outdoor stuff that's not cute. Come summer, I'm making it.

You might have already seen the article in yesterday's Star Trib about don't miss 'em sales, month-by-month. The highlights: Bargain Seeker (Cherokee Center in Brooklyn Park) sells Target returns. All men's, women's and kids' summer stuff is $2 until
February 14th. Nordstrom Rack shoe sale on February 7th. Unique Thrift and ARC have their holiday sales on February 20th. March 9-12 Half-Price books offers an additional 20% off. In the end of March, Habitat for Humanity has it's warehouse sale in Northeast, and used households will be 1/2 off.

Had a lovely dinner last night with some girlfriends at ThanhDo in St. Louis Park. Jewel brought the absolutely ADORABLE little Ruby, and the food was GREAT. It's always refreshing to be with the girls.

The Y-Dub was all about the Bosu ball (half of a ball that you balance on) last night. First was cardio bosu, and then strength training bosu. Oh my word. My breast muscles (they are not pecs yet) are writhing in pain today.

Well, it's about freaking time, eh?

Thanks to all of you who've left smartie-pants comments, and those of you who've checked in on my little piece of cyberspace time after time, just to be duped once again... I'm back. And to celebrate this back-ness, there will be a DAILY update for the next week or so. Hopefully this promise will make the update process habit forming, sort of like having a snack the minute I walk into my home, preferably before I take my coat off. This particular hiatus was kind-of sadness related. I'm more than on the mend, but not really ready to talk about it. SO DON'T COMMENT ABOUT THAT PART, HELLO.

What's new? I joined the YWCA yesterday. I love it. I had a short "core workout class" yesterday that today has me begging everyone I run into NOT to make me laugh. It hurts. I also took a rebounding class. I didn't even know what it was until everyone around me got out their mini-trampolenes. Oh my gosh, yes, it was so fun. I was sweating and laughing like a crazy woman the entire time. The goal is to push your feet down into the trampolene on the beat. But one wrong move and it springs you into the air. SO much fun. Tonight I'm going back for a BOSU class. I guess it's something about part of a ball. I'll keep you posted. Any YWers, let me know when we can take a class together. I'm always up for a little humiliation.

What else? I had a baby shower at my house on Sunday. More than 30 people scrunched into our little house, playing silly games off of pastel paper plates. Actually, I was a little nervous about pulling the whole thing off until the day it went down. People stayed well past the obligatory hour or so, and seemed to have fun. I OD'd on the mints, which I normally don't even notice. I think it's the whole Weight Watchers stigma. Now that I started the program, every little thing looks delicious. But, because someone other than me now looks at the numbers on the scale, I at least think before I put random stuff in my mouth. And as for the "Points Nazi", she'll be very happy to know that I'm not on the points plan, so I only have to think about them occasionally. (Insert cute sideways smiley that lets audience know I'm joking in a kind way)

What else? I hit a pretty good estate sale last Saturday. Although the owner was totally unwilling to negotiate prices, I still loaded up on some vintage polyester, but the biggest score was a 50's cutie-cute tablecloth for the kitchen table. I'm thinking about getting a cheapo portable dishwasher that will replace the kitchen table. I'd put a butcher block on the top, so it'd double as counter space. Any input? Tacky? Gross? Awesome?

Tomorrow is hump day. Go pick up a bottle of Twin Fin and share it with a buddy. It's delicious and cheap.

More to come tomorrow.

Wow, how time seems to get away from me these days! Going back to work after vacation is such a drag. I mean, getting up and going to bed early? Having puberty-stricken youth dissing my fashion? Someone barfing in class today? (She made it to the trash can) Shopping at Dick Blick (worst store ever) in my down time so we can make plaster hands in class today??? Well, today I'm just longing for a little FREEDOM. I can't really complain though. My job is pretty good and my life is certainly good, especially because my belly dance class is tonight AND the CC meeting is tomorrow night. Yee-haw!

On the way to the Uptown Art Fair, my mom and I found this glittery tree in someone's dumpster. It's been hanging from the rafters in the garage until last weekend, when we put propped it up and put on some decorations. Zander's mom sent us the beautiful tree skirt a few weeks ago. She made it out of one of Zander's great-grandma Pearl's tablecloths. I LOVE it.



After the last CC meeting, with a crash course in ornament making, I whipped up some Christmas softies of our kitties. One of Boo and one of Juno. The one of Boo is cuter, but that does not mean that we love him more. We, especially I, love them both the same.



I'm still messing around with felted sweaters a bit more before I but together a big quilt. I made this scarf for my co-worker that I didn't think I would like, but has turned out to be a dear friend already. How is it, that so many things in life that you let yourself get freaky-psyched out about, turn out better than could've imagined? Anyway, she loved the scarf. She's funky and the scarf is funkier looking that it is in the picture, so it was a good match.

EARLY on Saturday morning we're heading out to Christmas with our Colorado clan. It'll be so nice to get away and spend time with all of them. All of you, have a fun and safe and lovely holiday!

I got tagged by the Juice to tell all ya'll five interesting things about me. Hmmm. I feel like it's all so obvious, but here goes.

1. In college, I started out as a classical music major. Since then, I've totally given it up (except the not-so-ocassional-karaoke) and would love to take voice lessons again. Oh, and maybe learn how to play the guitar.
2. When I was a kid I'd start to have flying dreams, but it'd always turn into the devil making me levitate instead. Last night was the first time that I could actually fly in my dreams, and it was so flippin' awesome. Yep, the conservative Christian upbringing scared me to pieces. Our children will have to ask their friends what a devil is.
3. I love taking classes, but I also really love discovering things on my own. I want to take oil painting and continue belly dancing this January. I also really love the time of day (4ish right now) when there are really long, purple shadows, and everything else seems golden.
4. I'm most likely to swear when I'm happy and cry when I'm angry.
5. This last one is a tease, but I've got a secret. Don't even try and guess what it is, because I'm not telling.

Bonus Track: Oh, and in the summer my challenge is to get to where I need to go, but only go through the alleys to get there. It's not just my OCD coming to the surface, it's the best way to get the best junk.
Extra Special Bonus Track: You can find some of life's sweetest poetry in Patty's music.

Now, I'm tagging:

Messica
Reuben Sandwich
McGoose
Jackalope Ranch
The guys over at the Big Attic

A few nights ago, at the very swank Big Time Attic Christmas party, we were discussing olds trends. Specifically, the pinning of the pants. We were all quite specific that the pants needed to be pegged, but our methods varied slightly. I sewed mine so tight that my foot could barely make it through the ankle hole, and then rolled them with a cosmetic safety pin out the outside of the roll. Others constructed the peg with a single fold and roll, and yet others made it all possible with a double fold. Well, news flash... And it really is news because I've only just noticed it today, but I've noticed it on about thirty high school girls in the last half hour. The rage is now pinning the back of your shirt to make it fit even tighter. Mostly I'm seeing this accomplished with huge safety pins, but I've even seen a few with the old style diaper pins. This one's bound to be a classic.

Send a big day old smooch over to Reuben. She had a birthday yesterday!

No Child Left Behind

No child left behind, unless of course you're on an ART II field trip at the Minneapolis Institute of Art today. In that case, it's two children left behind. We realized it right before the bus driver got a call from the museum, but just before we got back to school. Whooops!

This summer I found some really lovely quilts that are pretty light weight and not so great for our Minnesota winters. I was so sad to put our old comforter back on the bed... it just looks so blah now. However, today I found this, and it's just filled with beautiful blankets made out of felted sweaters. I've been picking up old wool sweaters around town for a while now, and I've got a small collection going. I might give the whole quilt idea a try. After messing around with how to felt, I think I've got it down to a science. Hot wash/cold rinse with a couple tablespoons of dish soap. Dry on high, but empty your dryer filter mid-cycle because it makes a huge mess.



Isn't this skirt adorable? Lots of fun stuff over on their site. It looks like it'd be pretty easy to make without a pattern. So, I'd like to try and slap one together soon. Does it seem like it would be better with a stretchy fabric? I don't want it to pull when it's tied, AND I don't want something I'd have to iron. Any suggestions? This is a total side bar... The website where this skirt is from sites on every one of their pages, "Don't Steal, Karma is real". It's not like I'm going to put one together and then try and sell it to Target. I just like making skirts, but what I hate is how superstitious bullcrap sucks me in, even when I don't (especially in this situation) feel like I'm doing anything remotely wrong that'd warrant me getting hit by a truck. In my mind this goes along with the forwards that you're supposed to forward to your all of your friends within 5 minutes or a baby angel will lose it's wings and fall dead to the ground. Or, none of your wishes will come true. Ever.

On a happier note, we had a great weekend over here at the Cannon house. I took a class at the MIA about modern American painters on Saturday afternoon. I wasn't all that excited at first, when I found out that the class would last for 4 FREAKING HOURS. But, the class was wonderful! I got to see the new exhibit, which was pretty good, and heard lots of background info from the docent. Best of all, there was a 70+ year old artist that came for a show and tell about his work. His stories were wonderful. Many centered around LSD, which seemed especially cute because he was just so darned old. After that, almost ALL of our holiday parties happened on Saturday night. So Much Super Lots of Fun. Then, Sunday we got to see the Gnome, the Gnome's husband, and the Gnome's darling baby. It was great to see you coffee slurping mongrels.

On a more personal one, I've been a bit under the weather lately. Nothing catching, just trying to get this crappy thing called Factor V under control with... You guessed it, yeah baby, self injections. Like most people, I like to be in control. In fact, I like to be the driver. I like to be the teacher. I like to follow recipes where I know things turn out yummy. I don't like that this is probably why I miscarried last year. Right around this time. That sucks and it makes me sad in my otherwise happy world. I'm feeling pretty sorry for myself, jabbing myself in the gut every night with something that feels like poison. Ugh. So, tonight I'm making english muffin pizzas and drinking light OJ (which is surprisingly good) and we're going to watch a comfort movie like Moulin Rouge and I'm going to sing along through the whole entire thing. Lucky Zander, eh?

Last night I had an absolutely lovely time at the Mess's place for our CC meeting. The food was great, the project was fun, and as always, the women were fantastic.

Right now I'm reading A Million Little Pieces and really loving it. The writing style is choppy and sort of runs on and on, in a surprisingly good way. You might have already read it, but it takes place at Hazeldon, so it has lots of little Minnesota cameos. Reading this book makes me especially glad to have met Zander. Before Zander I dated 1 or 2 nice guys and about 100 FREAKS. One of these freaks was a guy that I met at the grocery store in the Midway. One of the previous nice guys had just broken my heart and I thought a date with someone new was just what I needed.
Him: Yeah, my car's in the shop. Do you think you can pick me up when we get together?
Me: Of course, that'll be so fun. (He wrote down an address and I didn't think a thing about it)
The next weekend, I got all gussied up for our date and went about finding the address. I drove and drove and drove. I FINALLY happened upon Hazeldon Treatment Center and (surprise, surprise) the address matched. At that point, I should have turned the 1989 Ford EXP right around. But I just didn't think that was very nice. I mean, who am I to judge someone when they're trying to get their stuff together? Well, to condense, the night was bazaar. Just a few highlights: He was the president of City Pages, but he used a different name in print, so no one would find out. He created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. His father thought he was Andrew Cunanan. Hazeldon was his temporary housing. He was a millionare that really just wanted to be real. He gave away all his cars and cash to the poor. But more than anything, his family was the most important thing in his life. (This he proved to me by sharing an old picture of a family picnicing more than a block away) Enough. I've disgressed. The book is good. Pick up a cheap copy at Costco.

Right now I'm stuck in my room with about a million students cramming to finish a painting that's due tomorrow. Panic is finally settling into their cold little hearts. Mmwaah, haa, whaa. I really can't believe that tomorrow is already Friday, although I can't say that it upsets me much. Especially because I can FINALLY get my hair cut on Saturday. Melissa, if you're reading this, you're impossible to get an appointment with. Especially on my one-two day's notice.

Zander and I were supposed to be heading down to Nebraska this weekend for the family Christmas party. We're just not going to make it. There are all kinds of reasons why not, the least of which is just that I'm a big old winter riding/driving baby. Luckily we got to see my Grandma a lot in the last couple of weeks, so I don't feel quite as bad about it. So, since we're staying in town, I am super-excited for the craft and mcad sales coming up... Especially since I've done zero, zilch, nada, and nunka Christmas shopping.

Alright, the kids are outta here and so am I! Have a good end of the week!

Yesterday I taught for half the day, and then had a check up in the afternoon. I hate having to be gone and leave plans for a sub. Really, it's almost more work than staying. Anyway, my check up was quick, so it bought me some thrifting time. My most exciting purchase was a pair of rollerskates that fit perfectly. I'm a kind of sucky rollerblader, but I absolutely LOVE rollerskating! I might even put some cute little pom poms on them to bring me luck. I also scored one of Jane Brody's cookbooks, which really looks like a good one. Maybe it's silly for me to keep picking up cookbooks, when I know that pretty much everything is available online. I just really like the idea of one great cookbook that I use for everything, full of my own little notes.

In other news, if my calendar is serving me right, we should all shout a happy birthday over to Ugly today!

1. Whew, conferences are over. Lots of intense parents this round. I think they wanted me to define their child for them so they could decide where to send them off to college.
2. In between the 30+ parents that I saw yesterday, I was felting little balls to string on a necklace. It's extremely easy. I just felt a little ridiculous when some showed up early because I had to shake their hands with wet felty fingers. Gross. Oh, the cats found my stash of little felty balls in the middle of the night. They're EVERYWHERE.
3. Juno is going to the vet today to get his shots. He must know it because he's been a little bitch all morning long. He likes to hide under the bed and dig his claws into my ankle as I walk by.
4. My grandma is still in town and she's going to show me how to crochet today. Yeah, I know... Teachers are already way overpaid and then they give us off a non-holiday on top of it all.
5. We're getting some Grumpy's tonight and then heading over to see The Hopefuls. I haven't seen them before, so I'm pretty excited to hear what all the fuss is about. The music starts after I'm normally in bed.
6. Zander seems to be getting sick and I've got a sore throat. Ick.
7. Have a great Thanksgiving everyone!

So we went to see Jethro Tull last night at the State. I got the tickets for Zander's birthday, and quite honestly, I can't say that I'd ever heard their music before. We met the lead singer and flute player after the show. He's not a hand shaker, so here he is, rubbing elbows with Zander. The show was absolutely wonderful. It was great on so many levels, but especially the addition of Lucia. She's this young, beautiful, violinist prodigy that played in a frilly pink dress and bare feet. I've never heard a violin played like that, and if I had, I'd of surely taken it up as a child. Wonderful. The only down side of the night was the prissy State Theater. People needed to rock and they tolerated very little of it before sending down security. The rockers won in the end, there were just too many people that were moved and finally the security people just scowled by the back door and let us be.

Since my sister works for Parasole, she got us into their new, and not yet opened, place over on 50th and France tonight. I'm pretty excited. I remember when we opened Chino and had our first pre-opening event. It was really exciting. I'm also excited because Anthropology isn't far from there and I LOVE that store. No, not to buy anything, I'm far too cheap. Instead, I love to browse and then RIP OFF their ideas.


And speaking of stealing ideas, I'm definitely going to steal Martha's idea on making felt balls. I think you can buy the wool at Micheal's (I've got some left over coupons, you know) and then I'd like to string them into bead necklaces. Maybe even some dangly earrings. How cute!

A Reason to Knit

I found this little Yoda and it's rekindled my hopes of someday learning how to knit. I want to make one for ME!

Getting to school by 7am and getting enough sleep to make somewhat rational decisions while I'm here is proving to be a challenge. So I've been coping by making very few plans after work during the week and then cramming in every ounce of fun on the weekend. Monday morning? Sucks. Must create new system. We definitely need more weekend chill time. Next weekend there's Jethro Tull and virtually nothing else. I'm going to sleep in late and then read in bed. Oh, and drink coffee.

I'm stuggling putting together a witty and meaningful entry today. So here's some randomness:

1. Does anyone have the new Fiona Apple CD? Is it good?
2. I've got to get new paint brushes for my art room and I'm just cruising through my budget, so I've collected Michael's coupons from my students. I know that it's one coupon per transaction/per day, but do you think they'll really mind if I go through the line 11 times?
3. This weekend, Zander bought speaker guts from AxMan for 12 bucks and fixed our broken ones. So much better than throwing them away and buying new ones like Best Buy suggested! Besides, I use them for plant stands too.
4. My grandma gave me a large collection of vintage matching earring and necklace sets last weekend. They're absolutely adorable (she wore most of them to go square dancing) and special because they're from her. The clip-ons only bug me once or twice and day, and at that point I feel like smacking things with a baseball bat. Luckily the feeling passes quickly.
5. The students are super wired today. The Sadie Hawkins dance is this Friday and I can almost smell all of the hormones in the air. I even saw two students dry humping on a locker before school this morning. Barf city.
6. I want to make baked acorn squash for dinner this week with a scoop of something good inside. Any ideas on what would be good inside AND if I'd cook them together or separate?
7. Snow already? Please no.
8. I'm looking for a huge mirror to hang on the wall in the basement. Yes, so that I'll be able to watch myself practice my bad-ass belly dance moves. Instead of just imagining how stupid I look.
9. I love Method cleaning supplies. I especially love the one that kind of smells like almonds and is for wood. Oh yeah, and the grapefruit kitchen cleaner... ahh, so nice.
10. I've got to hem two pairs of pants this week. I'm so crappy at it. I really wish I could find a good sewing class that would cover basic alterations.

Wow, it's 5pm and already almost dark out. Today started out just gorgeous. I went for a long, fast walk down by the river and actually got hot enough to take my jacket off. Most of the leaves are off of the trees and I'm just loving that leafy smell. I keep thinking that it'd be interesting to take one picture a day of some kind of urban beauty. Today it would have been the little boy sitting in the corner of his yard, on my way back home. From about 20 feet away he had this goofy look on his face and when I got up closer I saw that he'd been grinning at me the whole time. "What doin'?" "Goin' for a walk." "It fun?" "Yeah, it fun." After I'd walked about a block farther, I heard him yell, "BYE!" Hey, I have slow reactions too sometimes... alright, alright, maybe most of the time!

Tomorrow my entire family is coming over for an early dinner and we're making waffles. We might even make everyone wear a robe. After all that we've eaten this weekend, that might be all that fits anyway.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm slacking on the posts these days! No lack of love here, just lots of random busy stuff. Here are my highlights...

On Halloween our first trick-or-treaters were all excited to get their candy until Boo jumped out the door and they screamed "BLACK CAT!" and ran away. It probably didn't help that I kept yelling "BOO, get back here". They just ran faster and faster.

For Zander's birthday on Tuesday, we headed over to Rice Paper again. It was good, but not as good as before and I wanted it to be great for a birthday night. The server sat down the check with our meal! That's fine when the bill is under twenty bucks, but I was pretty irritated because we'd had wine and entrees and appetizers, how about offer us some coffee??? I got us tickets to see Jethro Tull for Zander's present. He LOVES them and I don't think I've ever heard their music. I'm kinda excited to check them out.

I had one of these on Thursday. It kinda really hurt. Thus, I missed my beloved Crafter's Conspiracy AND and chance to craft in a crack-users home. SHIT BALLS. By the way, despite my previous suspicions, my test results looked good and I've not recently peed out an ovary or anything.

I got two lovely vintage dresses at Value Village. One is brown two-piece dress that I adore for its conservity. Anna, is that a word? I'll wear it to conferences. And then there's a knee length, empire waisted, hot pink polyester number that I love for promising me the hottest christmas ever. Hot pink is the new red... or so I'm telling myself.

Friday I got to skip school and attend the art educators of Minnesota conference. It was a nice change of pace and I scored some great samples. It was like trick-or-treating except that I got scissors, construction paper, and Sharpies instead of Twix. The best part of the day was having a glass of wine at Thistle's afterward and bonding with my co-worker. All summer long I thought we were going to hate each other and I absolutely LOVE her. She's funky and funny and thinks I'm funny and she's 56 and got carded at the bar. We giggled a lot. I thought we were going to get kicked out.

Dinner last night was the most delicious I've had in ages. We went over to Julie and Brian's downtown swanky condo and just chilled. We drank, we played a fun game that I've forgotten the name of, and just chatted away while it rained outside. They built a fire. It was wonderful.


Today we're going to the school play and then heading over to my Mom's to make some soup because my Grandma is coming to town this afternoon. She thinks that Minnesota is the coldest place on earth, which is her version of hell, so I'm just doing my part to warm her up. I'm just dumping things together, but something with chicken, spinach, and tortelini.

Have a good Sunday!

Party Guilt

What a weekend! About a gallon and a half of red wine and a pound of cheese later, here I am, just getting through Monday. Tomorrow is Zander's real birthday, so I'm trying to figure out a fun place to go to dinner. As many of you already know, we had people over to celebrate yesterday and Zander REALLY had a great time. I had a great time too, but I'm suffering from day-after guilt. I keep thinking that I didn't get to talk to everyone I wanted to enough AND that maybe people felt weird just pouring themselves a drink and I should have been more hostesserly. So, if I didn't sit down and chat or pour you a drink, please don't think I'm a jerk... Just a little ADD in a big group, and then sorry for it the next day.

FRD

What do these crazy characters have in common? Well, F, R and D! Frodo and Frida had a lovely time at Rob and Amy's reception. Lots of red wine, good pizzas, exceptional dancing, enticing conversations, and an all around fun time. Now, so sweepy. Must go to bed. Zander is putting the meat in the crockpot as I type. Tomorrow's gonna' be fun...

Wowza. It's been quite a day! First hour one of my students came up and said, "Look at my hand." I need to preface this. Usually this type of statement means that the above mentioned student has learned some kind of trick to make their hand LOOK mangled. Like putting a bunch of glue on their hand and then sticking a pin through the glue... Unfortunately that was not the deal this morning. It was a clay needle tool and it went all the way through the "webbing" between his thumb and index finger. It didn't bleed because there was too much flesh. He went into shock. He went to the ER where they made sure it didn't splinter a bone or hit an artery. This needed to happen before they could remove the needle. Oh, and had he taken it out in class, it would have sprayed us all. I'm not going to get into how or why it happened, but needless to say, I'm planning where I'd like to stop and get a bloodymary tonight. Whew.

Last night we made it over to see Minnesota Pro-Wrestling at First Ave. Usually we have to drive all the way out to Maple Grove, but now at long last, we have some true culture in our very own downtown. What a blast! The next show is on November 30th, at 8pm. Put it on your calendars people!

In other news, I need to put up a picture of my newly sewn kimono shirt. It's really pretty cute, but might teeter on the edge of looking a bit pajama-ish. I'll wear it to the next CC meeting and get some opinions. I've also been experimenting with the quilting foot on my new machine. I cut up an old flannel shirt and a pair of sweats and cut them up into skinny, long strips. So now I've been quilting the flannel and sweats into a long and skinny scarf, leaving the edges unfinished. Not exactly high fashion, but a good experiment for me.

Alright folks, I just found out that my insurance will give me $20 off at the YMCA if I go 8 times a month. I'm going there right now to check out their class schedule and see if there are a plethora of classes that will be uber convenient AND so interesting that I'll be eternally enticed into working out all the time.

I'm trying to cram lots of good stuff into my couple o' days off. This morning I had a leisurely coffee and egg, gave Boo and Juno some extra love, did a bit of reading, and then headed out to the new H&M. There was LOTS of interesting stuff there. I really held back so I'll be able to justifly making a return trip out some other time with girlfriends. I did "splurge" (come on, it was under $30) on a cute little sundress that I'll wear with a turtleneck and jeans. Sounds a bit awful, but really looks cute. I also got a cheap pair of dangly earrings to wear to a fancy wedding reception this weekend.

I also met my mom for lunch over on Como Ave. I love it down there right now. The leaves are beautiful, the air is crisp, and I used to wait tables at Muffuletta, so it's filled with some fond memories and funny stories. Next I headed down to the Boy Scout Garage sale in Roseville. Total Boringsville. Eagle scouts keep lots of crap that even I don't want. Next stop, JoAnn Fabric. While it's not my favorite fabric store, I do like their sale bins and 40% off patterns. I got something really simple that I'm hoping to embellish, but really who needs to embellish when you're working with a skunk/squirrel print with a polka dot contrast? I'm pre-washing the fabric as I type. Oh, and keeping an eye on Oprah and how irritating she is. Why isn't Ellen on at 4? She's got ALL the dance moves as far as I'm concerned.

It's my last day of school for the week and I'm just giddy happy. Happy to have a few extra days off, happy to have eaten a delicious dinner with good friends last night, happy to have hogged (held) just the cutest, fattest little 12 week girl for the whole dinner, happy to blow off a home improvement project tonight and go see the Wallace and Grommit movie with our very favorite five year old, and happy that Zander doesn't have any stupid conventions this weekend so we can play! Alright, sorry if that rant made you want to puke. Dinner last night was at Rice Paper. It's in the adorable Linden Hills and I guess that it's a fusion of Vietnamese and Thai food. The food was delicious. I had the lettuce cups filled with marinated chicken and toasted coconut. The wine was good and I especially liked that their wine glasses were the traditional shape, but stem-free. We were even lucky enough to be served by the lovely Reuben's cousin.

Our basement sanding project needs to wait a little bit longer than I'd planned. I'll explain why later. Maybe. Other than that, I'm planning on hitting a few thrift stores tomorrow morning and then settling in for some hard-core sewing in the afternoon!

Well, it's the Monday of a three day work week for me, and I must say that I'm pretty psyched for a four day weekend! I hope, hope, hope that the weather stays nice. Normally fall gives me this doom-like feeling that we're all going to be frozen solid on the side of the road waiting for AAA to come by and give us a jump. Strangely enough I don't really feel that way this year. I'm not sure if it's the weather, LOVE, or job happiness, or what... I'm going to ride this good fall feeling as long as I can. Oh yeah, school is great. No more bomb threats lately. The kids are great and I'm especially enjoying my art club. They're funny and smart and especially proud of themselves for thinking up things to shock me. I'm not as easily shocked as I used to be (after being married to Zander for four years), so I do my best to indulge them and ACT shocked. So yeah, I'm still enjoying working with these high school people, yes, even the somewhat LOUD Irondale lovies that read this blog regularly.

On Wednesday night Zander and I are planning on renting a sander to get all of the paint off of our basement floor. What kind of wine goes with home improvement? Maybe some Grateful Red? Anyway, the paint has been peeling like crazy and it's so disgusting to take a shower down there and then have to clean the paint chips off my feet before I can put my socks on. Paint chips stuck in the toe of my tights on regular basis is no way to live. I think it's going to be a really hard and dirty job getting underneath all of the stuff that's accumulated down there already, but hopefully well worth it.

In other news, I'm injured. Somehow (I don't remember falling or anything else that I'd associate with this kind of pain) I hurt my tailbone and now my whole body is paying the price. It sounds like an exaggeration, but seriously, tailbone stuff sucks. It hurts to sit almost as much as it does it stand up, and that hurts almost as much as it does to cough or sneeze. I've been trying to cure myself by doing some yoga stretching, but I'm almost to the point where I'm going to call the doctor. Poor me and poor Zander for having to hear about the status of my butt every time he turns around.

Woah There!

GOVERNOR ANNOUNCES MOUNDS VIEW IS APPROVED FOR Q COMP
Today was an exciting and historic day for Mounds View Public Schools. At a press conference held at Edgewood Middle School, Governor Tim Pawlenty officially announced that our district was approved to participate in the State's new Q Comp program.

Q Comp supports districts that establish alternative compensation plans for teachers. Mounds View's version of Q Comp is called Mounds View Teacher Professional Pay System (MVTPPS). To date, Mounds View is the largest suburban district and among only four districts in the state to be approved to participate in this innovative program.

As Governor Pawlenty said today, "Mounds View has a chance to be a very large leader," and clearly, this unique achievement demonstrates that our district has a progressive spirit. It also represents a shared commitment to doing what's best for students by aligning teacher compensation with teacher performance and student achievement goals.

Wow. This seems like good news, doesn't it? (Insert stressed out maniacal sarcasm here) I mean, don't get me wrong, I want to get paid for my outstanding work with student achievement. I work hard and I really like my job. I'm really quite good at it. But, in order to get paid, I will now have to give my art students tests that can ONLY be answered by marking letters A-E with a good old #2 pencil. Student achievement must now be measured by a very precise little machine that scores these little A-E beauties and then barfs out the data for us. Data is very important you know. Data is the wave of the future is what I'm told. OH, and will ONE of these tests per semester truly measure my job performance and my students abilities? Probably not. So, I'll just test some more and gather more data, and many of my students will shrivel up right before my very eyes. Then I'll truly deserve the pitiful check that I live month to month for. I CALL BULLSHIT. Thank you Mr. Pawlenty for allowing me, my art students, and my entire school district the unique opportunity to become your own unique opportunity to put something (data) in your file set aside for education. Why don't you pick on the elderly next time???

This is yummy ya'll!

Tomorrow I've got double duty in the potluck area. At school the art dept is in charge of this month's "Wednesday is Treat Day," and it's also the second Thursday of the month, so that means it's time for the Minnesota Mosaic Guild meeting. I usually just buy something for the guild, but since I'm already cookin', I thought I'd make a double batch.

Cheryl's Pumpkin Bars that She's Been Making for Thirty-Three Years

4 eggs
2 C sugar
1 C oil
2 1/2 C flour
1 can pumpkin guts
1 TBL cinnamon
2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt

bake at 350 in a cookie sheet, when it's cool frost it with...

The Best Frosting Ever that Cheryl has Been Frosting the Pumpkin Bars with for Thirty-Three Years

2 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3/4 stick of butter
1 tsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
4 oz cream cheese

Tonight Zander and I are baking Mom's pumpkin bars, listening to Death Cab for Cutie, and I even talked him into doing some T-shirt stenciling with me.

Mike Joyce is officially titled, "Da Bomb."

After a VERY productive day inside yesterday, I'm ready to get outside and enjoy this sunshine. How productive was yesterday, you ask? Well, my Mom and Mike came over and bailed me out BIG TIME. We had maintenance on our furnace last week, only to wake up yesterday to a brisk 58 degrees inside. After trying to get through to Centerpoint Energy for 30 minutes straight, I found out that we couldn't get a service call until Thursday! The woman on the other end eventually realized that was shite and pulled some strings to get someone out to us on Monday. Well Mike to the rescue! He fixed it by pulling a DEAD BIRD out of the blower and replacing the old one. How does a bird get inside the furnace? How did the maintenance guy miss the dead bird last week? Why do you have to read about it now? Anyway, 68 degrees feels perfectly balmy now. I appreciate his work so much, I mean, all I could do was hide in the stairway, afraid that something was going to blow up. (While I was watching in fear, I did plan out how I'd save everyone involved.) Oh, he also drilled a hole behind my beloved fridge and connected a pipe to our cold water pipe downstairs. This is a project that the Home Depot guy told me that I could totally do all by myself if I only bought a fridge from him. I believed him at the time. Luckily I didn't run with that belief. I've now learned that copper tubing is a sensitive little beyotch, and our hammer and phillips screwdriver set are no match for these kinds of projects. Thanks again to Mike, we've now hatched our first litter of adorable little ice cubes AND we can drink cold filtered water from the little thingy inside the door.

Today Zander and the boys are at the show, so I'm thinking that I'll stop in for a FEW minutes and see what's up. My motivation for going to the show isn't really based on my souls love for comics, but to see the BTA guys all dressed up in their work outfits/costumes/uniforms. Or whatever you want to call them. They're jumpsuits with a shirt and tie. They look cute. I want Zander to wear his to parties or at least around the house, but he's still refusing at this point.



I love looking for cutsie t-shirts at these comic conventions, but mercy me, we made some pretty cute ones ourselves at the last CC meeting.

Oh and really, the night is not over until the three grouchy owls fly in and break up the party.

Zander's Mom, Betsy, just sent me the new magazine called Cloth, Paper, Scissors. It's so awesome. This issue shows how to transfer photo images onto metal (even from the inside of a pop can), and I'm completely psyched to try it out. I'm kind of on project-wanna-do-overload. Especially because I re-discovered the Public Library recently. Browsing through the stacks of sewing books just gets me excited to make, make, make. I totally want to make these culots (can I make them even if I can't spell them?) from a pattern that Messica is letting me borrow. I'm working on a pottie humored mosaic entrance to our bathroom. It's all pieced, but needs to get glued and grouted. I also have about 3 other mosaic things that need to get grouted. And hello, Christmas is coming and I want to make people stuff. Like maybe a quilt sewn together from felted sweaters, or a dirty cross-stitch...

I'm a bit obsessed this week about if our Gnome has had her own little Gnome yet. I'm checking my email about every forty seconds!

Water in our basement again this morning! Rain, rain go AWAY! Poor Zander got stuck hearing me bitching about it AND having to clean it up. Henceforth, he's way into our wet/dry shop vac right now! I called the CEE about it and they suggested an energy evaluation. They're coming in with lazers and fake smoke on the 21st to check where our warm air escapes to and where the nasty rain water comes in. The audit takes three hours and then they need another hour to discuss the results and prioritize what needs to be done. While the possibilty of hearing that our house is broken and can't be fixed and we got hosed on buying it in the first place doesn't really thrill me, I am proud of myself for taking care of business instead of just trying to forget about it, which is what I normally do. Wow, run-on-sentence-o-rama.

Zander and the guys at BTA seem to be loving their new studio. Since my house is full and I love shopping the thrifty way, I'm on the lookout for cute chairs or couches for their place. I'm back on Craigslist with a vengence now. If you run across something cool at a sale, give them (or me) a call!

I'll spare you the details, but this weekend has put me into a bit of a funk. But luckily, how can I look at these faces and not feel all squishy and happy and... better?



This is Juno our new cat. Some friends gave him to us and I'm still thinking of how to really thank them. He's cute and sweet and still pretty scared of us. He mostly likes hanging out in the basement where he can hide. But when he's brave enough to snuggle, he's a purr machine, especially when you scratch right behind his ears. Oh, and he LOVES Boo. Boo is used to ALL the attention, so naturally when I'm dancing in the livingroom with Juno, he gets a little bit jealous. But mostly the two of them chase each other around, bite each other, and then have a lick fest. I'm starting to think that they're gay for each other.



Despite the funk, I'm disturbingly thrilled about getting a new fridge. I'm thrifty. I buy used. I shop alley ways. I could buy a couple more trucks for Zander if I hadn't bought this little Maytag, but gosh darn it, it's so nice. It fits right in its spot instead of sticking out a foot too far, which in turn allows us to open the basement door all of the way. Until now, the basement door has NEVER opened all the way. It also has a freezer on the bottom, which I think is pretty nifty. It's also pretty. I didn't really want to put food inside, because I know my jelly jar is sticky and I just hated to mess it up.