Fancy! (aka I Clean Up Good)

I say often that Cat Deeley's hairstylist (or stylist in general) should live in my closet.  I warn any hairstylist that I go to that my hair will never look as nice as it did when I leave their chair because I don't style it.  Heck, I don't even blow dry it in the middle of winter.  Most of them laugh me off.  The few who take me seriously and give me a great cut that looks awesome after I do nothing are worth every cent I pay them.  Seriously.  I blame my mother for this. 
As a child, my mother had my hair cut short.  Really short.  I was mistaken for a boy short.  It wasn't ego boosting, and I'm not posting pictures.  And while that haircut made the most sense for a mother with short hair who had no idea what to do with her daughter's hair, it meant that I never learned what to do with hair other than wash it and comb it.
In high school, I won a perm in a draw, and I started to grow my hair, much to my mother's chagrin.  I believe that my hair may have been the biggest rebellion of my high school career.  Like every other girl in my high school, I had a spiral perm for years until I looked at my yearbook and discovered I had the same haircut as 90% of the female population.  At which point I went back to straight hair, had it bobbed, and never looked back.  While it has been all lengths from my ears to my shoulders, I have had the same hairstyle for the past 20 years.  It works with my hair, it's easy to maintain, and it's wash and go.
Which when you come right down to it, isn't a bad thing.  I buy shampoo and conditioner and steal J's hairspray on the off chance I need it.  I've experimented wildly with colour, which really is a hobby in and of itself, but so long as I can pull my hair into a ponytail with a black covered elastic, we're good to go.
But I admire people with fancy hair.  People who can braid it, and put it up and make themselves look good.  The height of my skill is really twisting it and holding it in place with a big clip.  If I'm looking for fancy, I'd rather buy a great hat.
Hat wearing is a lost art.  Not basball caps, but proper high tea or Sunday service hats.  I was born in the wrong time.  I have many.  Both winter and summer.  With feathers, and ribbons and even earflaps.  I have never been so happy to have a good, solemn hat as I was at my great aunt's funeral on the 22nd of December when I whipped out the earflaps under the brim of my hat.  This summer I decided that I wasn't buying a new dress for wedding (How thrifty!), but I would buy a new hat (How extravagant!).  I spent as much as I would have on a new dress.
I started searching for a facinator, which led to Etsy, which led to a local girl who specializes in wedding accoutrements.  She donates part of the proceeds to a project in Ghana, and she does fantastic work.  I custom ordered a facinator from here.  If you're looking, I highly recommend Corrinne!  Check out her stuff at Buds and Blooms.  I'm now in love with her headbands.  Sigh.
The thing with a great facinator is you need equally great hair, which we've already determined that I can't do myself.  So, I found someone I think I'm happy with, and I'm now ready to unveil Sarah's fabtastic wedding hair, also known as I wish I had talent to do this:

This is me, after the ceremony.  Unfortunately, Mr. Blue shirt behind me means you can't really see the teal feathers.  Please excuse the sexy tan line.  I got rid of it the Monday after, after looking at this picture.  Sigh.

These slightly fuzzy ones were taken by my slightly tipsy, visually impaired husband after the party.  They're not the best.  He's learning to use my camera.  However, the facinator and my hair colour from January (I KNOW) are both looking good here.  One More.  I'm posting for posterity, or for when I think I've never had good hair.

Yep.  We should all have hairdressers in our closets, and dress up more often.

One Month Down...

So summer has been happening.  You'd think from the lack of time that I spend here I would be out in the real world, but sadly that is not the case.  Summer has been lovely, though. 

We spent a few days at the beginning of July visiting J's dad, and going to Cleveland for a couple of ballgames.  We also visited the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which I highly recommend.  We weren't sure what to expect, especially with taking my parents, but the 4 of us had a good time.  J's equally a iffy in museums:  he can't read the captions on things and get bored quick.  He found lots to do too.  A great afternoon for the lot of us.

I didn't put together a Summer 15.  I'm soldiering on with the 15 for 2011.  There may be a little editing as we go.  Let's see, shall we?

1. Hang the garden hose mount on the side of the house and break down the large cardboard box it came in that is currently on my living room floor and has been there since April with the cordless drill that has been charging since late May.  I'm not sure this one will ever happen.  The box moved to my family room floor when I hosted a wedding shower in the living room in June.  I have a friend who's promised to help, but our schedules haven't meshed.  Le sigh.
2. Work on scrapbooking my wedding. It's been 3 years, people.  I've picked up a new project, and this has fallen off the radar.  More on the project when I'm ready.  It's not going as fast as I'd like.
3. Decide what to do about the laundry sink and the current plumbing problems that it has (we cannot turn the hot water tap, there are no shutoffs, the tub itself isn't particularly sturdy).  Hooray!  There are shut off valves and new taps, thanks to a faulty trap.  The plumber came, and an hour later we had a working laundry sink!  I get to replace this one!!!
4. Repaint the side door off the garage, as well as the front door shutters, and the trim around the new window as well as the wood trim and spindles at the front door and the top of the stairs.  I have the paint!  We bought it yesterday!  I'm not going to get it done before the small group BBQ, but it will happen!!!
5. Replace the light fixture on the patio.
6. Research how much that front window is going to cost to replace, and then decide if it should be done before the energy reassessment is done on the house.  Oh - and get them to quote on shutters and a new storm door.  The front window has been replaced.  And the storm door.  I've decided to repaint the shutters.  I'm hoping to go nowhere for Victoria Day, and paint then.  The shutters and the garage door.  And the front door.  I've decided that it needs another coat of paint.
7. Learn to operate the sewing machine from my mother in law, or get rid of it.  I've researched buying the manual online.  Has anyone ever done this?  The machine is about 55 years old, but it's a Kenmore - and was top of the line in its day.  I want it for curtains and cushions and so on.
8. Deal with the boxes on the living room floor.  For the wedding shower, I compacted everything yet again and we're down to a neat little line along the wall.  I would really like this done before I go back to work.
9. Buy a great carpet for the living room.  And great curtains.  Must. Deal.  With.  Boxes.
10. Practice the guitar.  Ongoing.  We've been on a U2 kick recently, with One and Sunday Bloody Sunday.  I heart guitar. 
11. Freecycle more. Candles, gift bags, etc, etc.  I also have an Ikea floating shelf to dispose of on Kijiji. 
12. Cook at home 5 days a week, and try some of the recipes that seem to be stacking up everywhere. I should not spend time on allrecipes.com.  The crazy pictures on Facebook continue.  I sat down at the dining room table at the beginning of the summer, and made a big list of things to make.  I'm getting through the list.  We're having fun with our BBQ, have started having people in more regularly, and are eating at home most of the time.  Going out is so easy...and so expensive!
13. Research and plan for getting a dog.  This is one that J and I have been rolling around with for a couple of months.  We're thinking summer.  This is currently on hold.
14. Go swimming, or do something. I have been looking at the Summer Activity guide and have come to the conclusion that I should be doing something. Swimming has always appealed, and it's not that much.  I've started lap swimming at the municipal pools in town!  I love the outdoor one!!  I'd like to start some sort of accountability around this too.  Yoga is on hold until the fall...everything is in summer mode.  But both the Doctor and the Osteo are happy about the swimming.
15. Read. I've been reading more.  We did a series at church about our relationship with technology, and I've been working my way through the reading list.  It's be fascinating to read about the online personality, and what is happening to our brains.  Right now, I'm in the middle of The Help.  It's so good!

It's coming, isn't it?  I need to post more regularly, and clean my house, but I look at the list and the number of ongoing projects, and I think that things are doable.  They have to be.  Or the list will never roll over, and that would be so wrong.

On Cooking, Accountability, and Being Forgotten

You know what magazine I love?  Despite the fact that it is a 40 page advertisement that shows up quarterly?  The Kraft Canada What's Cooking magazine.  I positively salivate when I know that it will soon be arriving, and I will have another 40 pages of not-so-good-for-you-but-oh-so-delicious-and-freaking-simple recipes will soon be showing up in my mailbox.  Besides, when I'm trying to cook at home more, Kraft makes this waaaaay easier.
To go with this, I have been spending the last few months uploading pictures of my dinner to Facebook.  When I make something new, and to prove that I'm eating at home, I take a picture or 2 of dinner and upload it so that my friend Scott knows that I have cooked again that day.  After giving me a hard time for going to the grocery store and then eating dinner out, I started posting pictures to make a point that we do eat at home.  Now, it's as much for me as for anyone else.  Accountability that makes me giggle is always effective.  So, if you're my friend on Facebook, you often know when I've made something new...but I've been a little lax recently.  I don't think I got the burritos last week...or the asparagus and snap pea stir fry earlier this week.
I subscribed to Martha Stewart's Everyday Food for 5 years, and I make a ton of stuff out of those too, but when I want something quick, tasty, and disgustingly simple, Kraft wins, hands down. Case in point:  tonight's dinner.  I made a crockpot lasagne that took me maybe 20 minutes to throw together, the longest part of it being the browning of the ground beef.  Likewise, when I don't know what to make, the Kraft Mexican Bake Thing is an easy go to recipe.  "Bake Thing" not being the actual name, but the name by which it is known here on the mountain.  It's the only reason I keep a case of Kraft Dinner in the house.
So as I have been getting ready for hosting a wedding shower in June, I started looking for fun, easy desserts in my back issues of What's Cooking.  It was then that I realized that I hadn't received an issue since the Holiday '10 issue with the Toblerone Cheesecake on the cover.
I started searching the Kraft Canada website - had the decided to get rid of my favourite advertisement?  Apparently not, seeing as I could see the cover of the Spring '11 issue, and flip through the digital issue.  In poking around, I discovered that Kraft is "not taking new subscriptions at this time."  But where was my issue???
I was home today, with a Dr.'s appointment smack dab in the middle of the day (I'm fine - just in case you wanted to know, and no, I'm not pregnant) so I decided to phone Kraft and ask politely where my magazine is.
Ready for this?  I was removed from the mailing list for a reason no one can explain.  Um, what?   But it's one of the few things I enjoy receiving in the mail!  So the girl went to see what she could do.  Happily, she readded me to the list.  But I might miss 2 issues...which she's going to make sure get sent to me. 
I'm so happy!  Having stopped my subscription to Everyday Food, this is really my only new source of recipes.  As I cross things off my list (the goal is always to make at least 3 new recipes out of each magazine.  I make a list that is constantly updated so that I know what I want to make.), it's nice to know that there will be magazines and recipes to crowd out the other favourites in my repertoire.
It's the little things, really.

What I Want to Be When I Grow Up

Osteopathy had made me realize something.  I didn't think particularly hard when I decided to become a teacher.  I mean, a music degree in education really qualifies you for little to nothing else, but I'm not sure I truly thought this through. 
There are a lot of cool jobs out there.  Perhaps it's the time of year, or that I'm just *really* tired, but I'm wondering why I didn't consider "gold digger" or "slot jockey" as a viable career option.  Perhaps it's the fact that my husband is unemployed and unable to collect benefits because he's an immigrant that makes me think that he's considering new options and so should I.
It's been a hard couple of weeks at school.  It's that time of year when kids brains turn to thoughts of summer and they become stupid.  Suspensions rise, productivity decreases, and my office becomes a hopping place.  I feel like I've been going non-stop for the past little bit, and we still have 2 months left.  Don't get me wrong.  I do love my job.  It's challenging and always changing, and I get to work with some great kids.  I just sometimes think that there should be more than what I'm doing.
Recently, I've been wondering what I could do from home.  I would love to do something creative.  I would like to do something that allows me to direct my time a little more.  I would like to do something that doesn't make me think, "REALLY?  I went to university and beyond so that I could reason with a defiant and mentally ill child/ explain to a parent why they should call the police over what happened last evening after school and off school property/ convince a staff member why they can't say that over the PA in front of their class."
I actually said to a staff member when she asked me what I wanted to do today "get in my car and go home."  And I meant it.  It's not a good scene.
J and I are working on what he's going to do next, and how I fit into it.  For now, I'll be staying where I am.  But I may be dreaming of becoming the next Etsy mogul.

While it Smacks of Sham...

So I've been going to an osteopath.  It makes me question why I chose my current career path.  Let me explain.
Back in the winter, around the same time that my blood pressure went all wonky, I realized that I was walking around the school with no neck.  Literally, my shoulders were up around my ears and I was walking like Lurch.  It was so wrong.  I spent time visualizing length in my spine and consciously lowering my shoulders; and complaining to the kindergarten teacher about how I felt.  She suggested that I make an appointment with her osteopath, who is part way between work and my house.
"Just go with it,"  she said.  "There's something about it that just makes you wonder."
So at the beginning of February I made an appointment.  Essentially, I went, laid on a table fully clothed, and closed my eyes as the osteo took the temperature of my feet before working her way up and down me with a pressure that wasn't as deep as a massage. When she was done, she said in a calm, soothing voice, "I'll leave you for a few minutes to let the patterns settle."  Um...okay...this is when I began to wonder about what I'd really gotten myself into.

I went back to work and talked to the kindergarten teacher again about how I wasn't really sure about what had happened, and how I felt better (maybe), but wasn't really sure.
"Just go with it," she said.  "It makes no sense, but keep trying."

So I went back in March.  And wondered why I was there.
In April, I went to my next appointment.  I'd been suffering with congestion and mysterious bug bites on my legs (which have since been diagnosed as a minor case of shingles).  I told her about the bites, but didn't mention my nightly congestion.  It didn't occur to me that it was at all important.
I laid down on the table, closed my eyes, and let her go to work.  She spent a lot of time working my outer thighs.  At the end of the session, after the patterns had settled, the osteo said to me, "You're really congested!  I could feel it in your system."  I explained that yes, I was, and that I usually stuffed up in the evening and then didn't sleep well because of the snoring.  She said, "I spent a lot of time releasing your sinuses.  See how you do this evening."
Releasing my sinuses?  Riiight.  Yet, that was the first night that I didn't stuff up and sleep poorly in weeks.
I'm going back in May.

Welcome to Spring

 Sigh.  Perhaps I need to make the commitment to write quarterly.  This seems to be all I am good for.  A quick update on life:
      J has lost his job, and hasn't worked since January.  While this doesn't affect our lifestyle (beyond my loss of a cleaning lady), it does affect his mental well-being.  And mine.  He needs gainful employment.  Anyone have a job he can do from our house?
     I have once again been unsuccessful in my campaign to become an elementary school principal.  There's something about my interview style that turns the committee off.  I, apparently, have "a quality".  This has made me sink back into daydreams of chucking it all and running off to make homemade preserves and sell them in a handmade stall on the side of the road...or to hie myself off to academia and get another degree...or win powerball and megamillions and spend the rest of my life travelling the world.
     Actually, I do have a small side project that I'm exploring at the moment.  If it comes to fruition, I'll share.
     Invariably what I return to when faced with disaster and a lack of control is making lists so that there's an illusion of control.  I turn to the 15 for an update as I begin to think about summer projects and what I want to do with those 10 blessed weeks that can't come soon or fast enough.

1. Hang the garden hose mount on the side of the house and break down the large cardboard box it came in that is currently on my living room floor and has been there since April with the cordless drill that has been charging since late May.  I'm not sure this one will ever happen, despite the fact that I want the square of living room floor back.  It is now Spring.  I need to impose.
2. Work on scrapbooking my wedding. It's been 3 years, people.  You don't honestly think I've done a thing about this, do you?
3. Decide what to do about the laundry sink and the current plumbing problems that it has (we cannot turn the hot water tap, there are no shutoffs, the tub itself isn't particularly sturdy).  Hooray!  There are shut off valves and new taps, thanks to a faulty trap.  The plumber came, and an hour later we had a working laundry sink!  I get to replace this one!!!
4. Repaint the side door off the garage.
5. Replace the light fixture on the patio.
6. Research how much that front window is going to cost to replace, and then decide if it should be done before the energy reassessment is done on the house.  Oh - and get them to quote on shutters and a new storm door.  The front window has been replaced.  And the storm door.  I've decided to repaint the shutters.  I'm hoping to go nowhere for Victoria Day, and paint then.  The shutters and the garage door.  And the front door.  I've decided that it needs another coat of paint.
7. Learn to operate the sewing machine from my mother in law, or get rid of it.
8. Deal with the boxes on the living room floor.  I have offered to host a wedding shower for a friend in June.  I have to clean out the living room.  I have a month.  Good Lord, what have I agreed to?
9. Buy a great carpet for the living room.  And great curtains.  This is to come.  The curtains are hideous, but we're still going around about colour for the walls and if the living room curtains should match the dining room (note:  they should.  Don't listen to my husband.)  Then we'll talk area rug.
10. Practice the guitar.  Ongoing.  I'm working on After the Gold Rush by Neil Young with arpeggiation at the moment.
11. Freecycle more. 
12. Cook at home 5 days a week, and try some of the recipes that seem to be stacking up everywhere. I should not spend time on allrecipes.com.  Ongoing.  Some weeks are better than others.  But with less income means a need to not go out so much.  I try lots of new recipes, and a friend gave me a hard time about eating out, so I've taken to taking pictures and posting my dinner on Facebook.  Accountability helps!
13. Research and plan for getting a dog.  This is one that J and I have been rolling around with for a couple of months.  We're thinking summer.  This is currently on hold.
14. Go swimming, or do something. I have been looking at the Summer Activity guide and have come to the conclusion that I should be doing something. Swimming has always appealed, and it's not that much.  I haven't been.  My osteopath (looong story...I should really blog about the experience and the revelation that it has been) suggests I try some yoga.  I've been looking, but haven't done anything.
15. Read. Currently, I am rereading one of my favourite trashy romance novels.  It's all I'm good for.  I'm hoping this summer to try something a little newer, but not a lot deeper.

New Years and All that Planning

Okay.  It's been a while.  5 months a while.  Like many things in my life, I look with longing at people who blog regularly and realize that it's just not me.  I am a busy girl who spends her spare time on Facebook, churning my numbers for the rather addictive game Mousehunt.  It's a small life that I live.

Let's recap what's happened in the past 5 months, shall we?
I started at a new school.  I have 450 new names to learn.  There are moments when this is going well, and then there's most of the time.  I like the school, but I miss where I was.  It was comfortable.  I keep realizing how little of a people person that I am. 
To go with the new school was a new role and another course.  I never want to take another AQ.  Especially with people who just graduated.  They anger me.  Greatly.  My greatest joy in the course was baiting other students.  'Nuff said.
U of M football season happened.  The defense sucked.  The kicking game sucked.  The offensive line was explosive and exciting.  The triple OT win was awesome.  Man, the Big 10 was bad yesterday.
I went to the doctor, and my blood pressure is out of control.  My best guess is stress from work.  I'm pretty sure things are pretty good right now, but I've been off 2 weeks.  I'm going back in February for more blood work and to see what's next.  Thankfully, they've decided I'm "borderline", so no meds yet.  But we'll see.
I got a Blackberry Torch.  I can barely make it run.  But it's fun to try.

I've been thinking about the Summer 15 and how far I got.  I realize some of this is ongoing, but I'm thinking I'm going to turn it into the 2011 15.  There is some overlap, and some changes.  Here we go:

1. Hang the garden hose mount on the side of the house and break down the large cardboard box it came in that is currently on my living room floor and has been there since April with the cordless drill that has been charging since late May.  Grrr....this one stays.  The bos ix still in my living room, but the tools are put away.  I'm going to have to impose on a friend in the Spring.
2. Work on scrapbooking my wedding. It's been 3 years, people.  Now that I'm done my course, I may actually have time for this.  I am no further than I was in August, except I have printed pictures.
3. Decide what to do about the laundry sink and the current plumbing problems that it has (we cannot turn the hot water tap, there are no shutoffs, the tub itself isn't particularly sturdy).
4. Repaint the side door off the garage.
5. Replace the light fixture on the patio.
6. Research how much that front window is going to cost to replace, and then decide if it should be done before the energy reassessment is done on the house.  Oh - and get them to quote on shutters and a new storm door.
7. Learn to operate the sewing machine from my mother in law, or get rid of it.
8. Deal with the boxes on the living room floor.  There are 5 boxes left, and they're filled with total crap.  I am very much enamoured with Freecycle at the moment.
9. Buy a great carpet for the living room.  And great curtains.  After I have the picture window replaced.
10. Practice the guitar.  Ongoing.  I'm working on Moonlight Mile by the Rolling Stones right now.
11. Freecycle more.  We have so much stuff that needs to go.  J got a Magic Bullet for Christmas...we should get rid of our blender.  I have so many gift bags from my wedding showers still.  They need to go to a home where they will be used.  I think I have our old Christmas tree storage box to get rid of too.
12. Cook at home 5 days a week, and try some of the recipes that seem to be stacking up everywhere. I should not spend time on allrecipes.com.  Ongoing.  I've been horrible this fall.  Between learning a new school, my course, laziness and lack of ambition, we've been going out more than staying in.  I'm hoping to change this in the new year.  We went to the grocery store today to encourage eating at home.
13. Research and plan for getting a dog.  This is one that J and I have been rolling around with for a couple of months.  We're thinking summer.
14. Go swimming, or do something. I have been looking at the Summer Activity guide and have come to the conclusion that I should be doing something. Swimming has always appealed, and it's not that much.  Sigh.  I haven't been.  And I need to go.  I'm not sure if it would be a stress release, but I need to do something.
15. Read. I would love to actually try the Twilight series and know what my intermediates might be reading. I also have a large quantity of professional reading that I need to complete for my job.  I read the last book of the 39 Clues.  It was great, and I'm waiting for the next series.  I'm hoping to try the Hunger Games books this month.  I read nothing but Spec Ed publications for my course this fall.  It was boring.

So there's the new/old list.  Hopefully, I'll be back sooner rather than later with more of these done or at least in the works.