Due to my own laziness, I barely blogged at all during the year I was in Hawaii. Thank goodness a day doesn't go by that I don't recall some wonderful memory. But as I come upon my one year mark of being back from paradise, I'm starting to worry that my memories will fade.
Therefore, my dear readers, you few....you lucky few.....will have to bear with me as I unload these stories as they come to me. Because I never want to forget! Most of them probably won't mean anything to anyone. But they mean the world me! So here we go!
It was the end of spring term, I believe, and Millie and Charli were getting their room cleaned out. They were both moving into single rooms (lucky ducks) and Charli was vacuuming behind her bed. I remember Millie and I were either in the bathroom or just out in the hall but Charli started yelling. She had apparently sucked something up into the vacuum. We spent forever trying to figure out how to get it out and in the end it turned out to be a sock. One of Millie's Madagascar socks, if I remember correctly. I have a distinct memory of her joyfully calling out the character's name after we freed it, like she had found a long lost friend :)
10.31.2011
10.28.2011
Give Away Shout Out!
My wonderful friend Millie is having a give away on her blog. She is a crafty little crafter and has made some adorable items such as:
Totally adorbs! To enter, all you have to do is visit her blog,Thoroughly Modern Millie, and leave a comment about your favorite holiday. Super easy and totally worth it :) Good luck!
Totally adorbs! To enter, all you have to do is visit her blog,Thoroughly Modern Millie, and leave a comment about your favorite holiday. Super easy and totally worth it :) Good luck!
10.19.2011
The Quest For Boots
Here's the thing: I want a pair of boots.
Here's the other thing: I have short, fat calves.
Curse you, viking ancestry!!
I have searched far and wide for the perfect pair to fit my plump posts. I thought I had struck gold during last Christmas when I bought a pair from Ross. They were short and bunched so I didn't have to worry about them not fitting over my calves. But once I got them home and tried to wear them with different outfits, I realized that because they cut across my ankles, they made me look like I had cankles. So, in my closet they sit....unworn and drooping in the darkened corner.
Then, last week, I found a fabulous pair at Payless that weren't short and actually fit over my favles (fat calves). These are they:
Once again, when I got home and started trying them on with different outfits and standing in font of the mirror, something was just off. Discouraged and frustrated, I returned them to the store.....but made myself feel a little better by some cute lacy tights.
Tights, however, will not shod my feet with those wonderful, perfect boots that I just KNOW are out there, somewhere, calling my name!
Taking to the internet, I commenced in a vigorous quest to find out just what kind of boots were meant for my viking lady legs. My research showed that these are the attributes, or, as I like to call them, "attri-boots" (SO CLEVER) that I need to look for:
-Mid calf
-Some kind of heel, but not stiletto, which is fine because I do NOT want stilettos.
-Darker in color, complimented with dark tights so as to elongate the leg.
With this knowledge in hand, I began to scour the web for my precious boots. Website after website, I searched, never giving up....never surrendering. Just like Alan Rickman in "Galaxy Quest". Guess what....
BOOTS ARE EXPENSIVE. Holy cow. Holy boots made of cow. I cannot imagine ever spending that kind of buckage on a pair of shoes. Not only that, but wide-mid calve boots are clearly on the back burner because I found next to nothing. I looked at thousands of pairs of boots. THOUSANDS. When I close my eyes, I see them...marching on and on to a theme song fit for Mordor.
I haven't completely given up yet. Oh no, I want those boots far too badly. And mark my words, blog friends. I will find them. And when I do.....I will wear them. I will wear them so good.
I'm thinking that first, I will have to start a fund if I'm actually going to spend a fraction of what most boots cost. Secondly, this is going to have to be a motivator to get some weight off. Maybe I can sweat these viking genes out of myself. Until then, I will just have to pay homage to the ones that got away.
These boots were made for walkin', ya'll. Just not on me.
Here's the other thing: I have short, fat calves.
I have searched far and wide for the perfect pair to fit my plump posts. I thought I had struck gold during last Christmas when I bought a pair from Ross. They were short and bunched so I didn't have to worry about them not fitting over my calves. But once I got them home and tried to wear them with different outfits, I realized that because they cut across my ankles, they made me look like I had cankles. So, in my closet they sit....unworn and drooping in the darkened corner.
Then, last week, I found a fabulous pair at Payless that weren't short and actually fit over my favles (fat calves). These are they:
Once again, when I got home and started trying them on with different outfits and standing in font of the mirror, something was just off. Discouraged and frustrated, I returned them to the store.....but made myself feel a little better by some cute lacy tights.
Tights, however, will not shod my feet with those wonderful, perfect boots that I just KNOW are out there, somewhere, calling my name!
Taking to the internet, I commenced in a vigorous quest to find out just what kind of boots were meant for my viking lady legs. My research showed that these are the attributes, or, as I like to call them, "attri-boots" (SO CLEVER) that I need to look for:
-Mid calf
-Some kind of heel, but not stiletto, which is fine because I do NOT want stilettos.
-Darker in color, complimented with dark tights so as to elongate the leg.
With this knowledge in hand, I began to scour the web for my precious boots. Website after website, I searched, never giving up....never surrendering. Just like Alan Rickman in "Galaxy Quest". Guess what....
BOOTS ARE EXPENSIVE. Holy cow. Holy boots made of cow. I cannot imagine ever spending that kind of buckage on a pair of shoes. Not only that, but wide-mid calve boots are clearly on the back burner because I found next to nothing. I looked at thousands of pairs of boots. THOUSANDS. When I close my eyes, I see them...marching on and on to a theme song fit for Mordor.
I haven't completely given up yet. Oh no, I want those boots far too badly. And mark my words, blog friends. I will find them. And when I do.....I will wear them. I will wear them so good.
I'm thinking that first, I will have to start a fund if I'm actually going to spend a fraction of what most boots cost. Secondly, this is going to have to be a motivator to get some weight off. Maybe I can sweat these viking genes out of myself. Until then, I will just have to pay homage to the ones that got away.
9.20.2011
I'm Not Usually One For Poetry, But...
"If" by Rudyard Kipling
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!
______________________________________________
This reminded me of one of my favorite paintings by James C Christensen.
It is called "The Listener" and while it may not directly relate to Kipling's poem, to me, both are a little bit about being in the world, but not of it. And that is something I need to take more to heart.
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too:
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;
If you can dream---and not make dreams your master;
If you can think---and not make thoughts your aim,
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same:
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build'em up with worn-out tools;
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings,
And never breathe a word about your loss:
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings---nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much:
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And---which is more---you'll be a Man, my son!
______________________________________________
This reminded me of one of my favorite paintings by James C Christensen.
It is called "The Listener" and while it may not directly relate to Kipling's poem, to me, both are a little bit about being in the world, but not of it. And that is something I need to take more to heart.
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