What are Sundays again?

oh yeah... Sanguineness. Which isn't hard when you've been in the apartment for four days without leaving. My only hope is to GET OUT!!! Which I will, tomorrow, so that's good.

Now that that's out of the way let's check up with the 30 by 30 shall we?

Completed:
#7: Get another tattoo: Whoo!
#22:Participate in a charity marathon even if I just briskly stroll the whole thing: done. Please see original 30 by 30 post for details. Nearly died. (not really)

In the Works:
#1:Design and knit my perfect cardigan out of hand-spun hand-dyed yarn- the J.Baas cardigan was the prototype for this (scroll allll the way to the bottom). Now I just need to spin the hoardes of fleece from Chrissy so I can dye it and get started!
#4:Crochet a bedspread with one of my Grandmother Hazel's crochet hooks and laceweight thread: got the thread and the pattern and have temporarily lost the motifs somewhere in my living room but no worries. Hopefully I'll find them this Wednesday.
#11: Publish one of my poems (and not self-published)- started writing again! Wooo!
#13: Keep my blog- look at me go!
#14: Pick up some kind of activity or sport thingie- yoga is well on it's way to accomplishing this goal for me.
#17: Use my 5' by 7' canvas for a painting- the pencil has been laid down and I'm still working on the smaller one for practice first.
18: Get another family portrait with all the new people in our family- what do you think... this December? I think so!
#19 & #20: Organize a serious charity knitting project & Get involved with a Feminist organization- have started looking at different organizations in Vancouver and nothing serious yet but wheels are turning. Hoping to get into this one after Xmas.
#27: Write and illustrate a picture book- again, started writing and painting again so I'm pretty pleased.
#30: Design and sew a dress that is spectacular- Got the materials but haven't done much with them. Maybe Project Runway will inspire me (not this season though, this season sucked).

Haven't the Foggiest:
#2:Get a spinning wheel- whatever. They are too much money. I don't have the time. I like my spindle. This one may be something like a gift to myself for my 30th birthday or something. I do want one but I'm discouraged.
#3:Make a really awesome bookshelf- have talked to my Dad about this one. If I really stick to it it may happen this summer.
#5:Go on a real vacation: what's that?
#6:Bike around one of the islands: not in this weather. Get back to you in the summer.
#8: Pay off bank student loan: Aaaaaahahahahaha
#9: Visit my friends in Gimli- have started up communication again so maybe next summer?
#12:Become an Aunt again- I'm crossing my fingers but besides that.
#16:Be a bridesmaid again cause it is fun- let's get on that people!
#21:Go swimming in the Atlantic Ocean with my friends on the East coast- double sigh.
#23:Do the European coastline trip with Julia- oh yeah.. getting right on that one.
#25:Scuba or snorkel- I know where the vancouver school of scuba is now! Yeah.
#26: Garden- no matter how small- I figure I'll have to get involved with a community garden in case I don't move. We'll check them out in the spring.
#28: Adopt another kitten- nearly did the last week of August but going to hold out till I a) get a vet and b)get Spike all his shots again and c) have three weeks off at least to make sure Spike doesn't eat the kitten.

In risk of being changed:
#10: Get really good at the violin- like stellar- this may be changed too... get considerably better at the violin so you can play independently without relying on someone else to tune or have the cat run away and hide. True story. When Alyria came over and house sat for me when she played my violin Spike CURLED UP IN HER LAP AND PURRED. He runs when he sees me open my violin.
#15:Learn how to be awesome at chess and play a game with those really serious russians downtown- again, may just be changed to learn how to play chess in a way that isn't pathetic. Still want to challenge myself to play with the scary serious dudes downtown but we'll see.
#24: Hike the West Coast Trail- I'm getting a lot of varied reports about the West Coast Trail so I don't know. This may just become 'do a day long hike' but let's be clear... I don't 'scale' things, I don't do rickety bridges or unreliable ladders, and I don't do freaky ass heights either.
#29: Make a life list- I started to do this but it seemed really lame. I didn't like any of the life lists I found and I wasn't inspired at. all. I think I'll turn this into a book list of 100 books to read. More about that later.

So there you have it. Is this a boring post? Are you at all interested in updates? I feel like I'm babbling about things I've babbled before. I guess for me the coolest thing about this list is the way it's making me look at time and my life so I don't know how that translates on to the blog. Hm.

Anyhoo, see you tomorrow! For... Maniac Monday!

Saturday of Sheesh

Story Saturday? What was I thinking? I can't think of any stories! Ugh.

Um..... okay.

Once upon a time there was a clean apartment. It had spaces that were entirely empty. It had a distinguishable floor. The books weren't stacked up, down, sideways, and over there somewhere. It didn't have dustballs that were threatening the cat. It didn't have laundry in every single room on every single surface. It wasn't covered in kleenex and teacups. All the fibre in this apartment was... well it was still everywhere but it wasn't so haphazard. The desk wasn't drowning in paper. The bed was for sleeping and not for storing more stuff. And it just looked... nice.

But this apartment was cursed! By the evil warlocks and witches of Laziness, Head-Coldness, and All-Around-Contempt-For-Cleaningness, it had became a rather uninspiring land. And frankly we're in danger of losing the cat somewhere. Like remember, in Who's That Girl when they meet that really rich guy in the mansion and he says that he's lost his butler and so the others think he meant his butler died but then the rich guy says 'I think he's in the west wing somewhere. At night I hear him crying.' TOO FUNNY! But wouldn't be funny if that happened to Spike. I have shut him in closets before because he'll crawl into the funniest places to sleep. Anyhoo... the apartment is cursed! For many a moon now and the day of Judgement will be this Wednesday as I try to wrestle the curse from this place and maybe, just maybe, I can photos that look like these to show you. Since these photos were taken in... um... March. Yeah.



Now if I can only get my Mom here to pose in them as well! I love how messy that daybed is but it's still cleaner than it usually is. If I succeed on Wednesday than I can also show you some new stuff in the apartment.

Stay tuned!

(I know this is a dumb post but I'm really tired and still kinda snotty but the exciting thing is I'm about to go watch the first Jurassic Park!) (wheeeeee!)

Phlegmy Friday

I swear I'm producing my body weight in snot every hour.

Blarg.

I like spinning but some times it takes too long and I'm not very good at it. But I really enjoy it. And I like what I produce even if it's not really perfect at all. I like it all wobbly and mishmash (also my favorite kind of bagel). I don't even want to ply the current stuff so I'm researching how to navajo ply on my drop spindle. I just like how it looks. All... natural-y. And it's not just me saying that because I want an excuse to suck! I'm hoping to get better and stuff but I really really do like what I'm making right now. I'm hoping to knit a very simple shawl out of it so it showcases the yarn. Also I love my turkish drop spindle. Check it out.
Full of yarn...
remove the stick...
remove one doo-hickey part...
remove the other and voila! Ball of centre pull yarn!


I'm soooo close to finishing the yarn....
so. close.


Blarg.

I'm thinking...

so... apparently Thursdays are for thinking. I've spent since 11am on the couch drinking tea, orange juice, ginger ale, water, and more tea while watching the first season of Buffy.

I'm sick. Blarg. It's a cold. I miss my students. I feel yucky.

I guess Thursdays are not for thinking.

I just had ice cream

Which I think is a great way to start a workout post! I didn't do much today as I had a date (and why yes, that is all I'm going to say about that) but working out is going soooo positively for me right now, really for the first time in my life.

I'm pretty sure it chalks down to yoga. I don't dread yoga at all. Sometimes I'd rather go eat burgers, but frankly, I always would rather be eating so that's moot. I never don't want to go to yoga. Does that make sense?

Yoga is awesome and just so... good for you. I feel so good doing yoga and I feel like I'm doing such good things for my body and for getting to know my body. Slow descent into yoga freak: check. I just don't associate it with all the negative things I tend to do with anything that resembles working out.

Also because of yoga I'm just more likely to go to the gym, either it be on a machine (ellipticals make my feet go numb, what is with that?) or to another class. My sister and I are going to a step class that is pretty intense but really fun. Unlike the step class I went to during university where I never knew what was going on and felt stupid. This instructor is firstly, really jazzed but in a good way, and secondly, shows an achievable move, and then makes it harder for the experts, but the beginners and non-crazy people can continue doing the first move, so we're always moving and not tripping over the step trying to figure out where our feet should be. And then it's always funny because you go from using the step to a mat and you're all like 'oh thank god we're off the step' but then she makes you go through the most drilling ab excerises.

But I still like it.

And that is my workout post.

Last post I showed you my costume but here is my partner-in-crime for the evening....


Sheena the Jungle.. I mean Pirate Queen!
This is just a glimpse of our evening...
and my new boots which I love so very very much.

Good night!

Woah... I'm a teacher?

Seriously, sometimes that still rocks my world. I'm, like, in a career... and... it's the career I want... so weird.

Anyhoo, I have the day off guilt free as I didn't get called for subbing. I really enjoy teaching but subbing, not so much. I don't mind if I get called the night before but getting a phone call at 5:30 in the morning and having to figure out where your school is and how to get there... meh. I have to admit because I have a temporary three day a week job right now it's harder to get out there on the other two days.

I'll share with you an awesome day I had with my K/1s. I'm still new with the primary grades but it's getting better as I start to get to know the kids and figure out how they like to do things. We like to look at all the different ways you write (poems, stories, songs, scripts, lists, etc) and we made a camping list and I told them we were going to go pretend camping. We made a list, they drew all their things inside a backpack colouring page, and we discussed all our experiences camping.

The next day we got ready to go pretend camping (though I did have some concerned parents coming in and saying 'why did my son tell me he needed to bring a sleeping bag to school today?') and we packed our imaginary backpacks and talked about what we were going to see. Then I sent them out for recess and while they were gone I put all the tables in a circle and taped sheets to make a 'tent'. I stayed away from props and decoration because I did really want the students to use their imagination to see everything.

When the students came back in they were soooo excited. We first walked through the coatroom (the forest) and they told me what they could see in the wood. They were awesome, they saw salmon in creeks (though the salmon in the puddle was the best sight I thought), bald eagles, trees so tall you couldn't see the top, bears, deers, bunnies, and a cheetah so it was a pretty cool forest overall. We had to step over fallen logs and wind our way around big rocks. Super fun.

Then we climbed a mountain by going along the long outside part of the tent to get to the opening. We started out tall at the bottom, but slowed down and went to a crouched position at the middle, and then crawled our way at the top because we were soooo tired and exhausted from the climb. I had to go rescue a student who claimed 'he can't do it!' 'it's too far!' but holding my hand we made it to the top where we all drank from our imaginary water bottles.

Somehow I got all the students under the tent which they loved. This part was pretty chaotic but it was super fun. We unpacked our backpacks and told others what was in there. Lots of students brought imaginary books which they started to read out loud, some brought apples, some brought stuffed animals, and after sharing with our neighbours, we rolled out our imaginary sleeping bags and did a relaxation/mindfullness quiet activity.

Afterwards we packed up our bags, started down the hill, back through the woods (the cheetah was still there!), and then returned to our classroom. It was just the most fun. Afterwards they wrote in their journals about it and it was some of their most creative writing yet. I was soooo happy for them.

It was also great when the parents came and the first things they heard were things like 'we went camping!' 'We hiked up a mountain' and 'I saw a bear!'.

Okay, I'm off to be productive today. Though I think we all know I'll be spending the day like this.
Curled up next to the bubbles jar.

Might need reminders...

I think because I haven't really realized it's November yet and because I didn't really angst over whether or not I would do naprobloporomowhatever but just decided to do it~ I did just nearly turn off my computer completely forgetting I needed to blog! Huh.

And this day to day theme thing is great!

Productivity Mania: got groceries and made pizzas to eat and freeze! Did dishes! Worked out! Went to work! Got stuff for my passport done! Mailed stuff! Exchanged mouse!

I haven't knit yet, and may not... I'm kinda tired. And I accidentally cooked the pizzas that I was going to freeze uncooked but that's fine too. I like how I consider going to work productive. Anyhoo, tomorrow I'm going to do lots of laundry even if it kills me. Augh. What would I give for insuite laundry?

Holy rambling blog entry Batman.

Expect more. I'm out and about every evening and nearly every day till next Tuesday. NEXT TUESDAY! But I'm the bartender at Kyrsten's bollywood party so you know, that'll make it all worth it. Measure? What?

I am a faerie princess!

Naproductivepoblomo

Thanks for everyone who helped out! Some were pretty intense, some deep, some silly, and all appreciated (aaawww!). The overall theme is productiveness, which is ironic since being on the computer is one of the most non-productive, productive-time sucking activities I do, but whatever.

I'm glad to get today's post out of the way though. I woke up to a possessed mouse which has happened before. I don't know why but when I return this one (I've returned one before for the same reason) I'll also get a mousepad. I hope to find one with Bettie Page on it or something. Does April Flores do mousepads? Anyhoo. Possessed mouse (impossible to click on things, scrawls around the screen randomly without the mouse moving, jumps over links, basically a total bastard) and last night rocked so slightly hungover, slightly grumpy equals really grumpy me. I've done nothing productive today. Wait... I sewed buttons on my Hey Teach and finally finished it but that was because I was in the company of productive people so it rubbed off on me. And I'm happy to report that I have so far stuck to my no buying yarn till January pledge.

So Napropoblom, after today, will follow these themes. I reserve the right to 3 Random Pirate Overtaking if for some reason I need to blog outside the guidelines. If I do two entries in one day, as long as one of them is on theme, it is not considered one of my RPOs.

Maniac Monday: How productive I am being (productive like a maniac) either it be cleaning, knitting, reading, teaching, etc etc.

Teaching Tuesday: If I could post the pictures of how cute my kids were for halloween... oh god~ SO CUTE!!!!

Workout Wednesday: talking about what I'm doing at the Y and where else I'm being active. (I really like your idea Beetnsy about woeful Wednesday but I'm sure I will work my angst into every post but high five!)

Thinking Thursday: Deep thoughts.

Fibre Friday: wheeeee!

Story Saturday: changed this one to be stories about friends and family so meshing everything together. If my sisters want they can pretend this is Sister Saturday.

Sanguineness Sunday: (yeah, whatever) So this day we check up on my 30 by 30 and I talk about my goals for the future and new things I want to achieve, either travel or apartment wise... so major goals and long term dreams.

Okay, I'm off to make myself a hot chocolate because apparently all the sugar I've consumed recently isn't enough. There will be pictures from halloween they'll just show up after I get the new mouse since as I write this the pointer is hysterically jumping up and down the left side of the screen.

Stupid computer.

A photo of Spike protecting my stash for the masses.