Goals for 2009 (and accomplishments!)

1.) Lose another 10 pounds- (managed 13ish this year!)
2.) Sell condo with enough of a profit to start cooking school! (at least 30K would be nice...)
3.) Start taking ballet classes again.
4.) Launch cooking school in September 2009!
5.)Learn to ride a horse- summer 2009
6.)Have fun with the last 6 months of my job, and don't get bogged down by everyday crap there.
7.)Maintain my new friendships from the last year!

Pretty good places to start, especially when writing from my bed. :) Happy New Year, everyone!

Happy New Year! (almost...)

Things I am happy about:

1.) Only 6 months left at my job!!!
2.) Getting a HUGE tax return this year!
3.) My boyfriend is the most awesome! (wait, should that be #1?)
4.) 5 more days of vacation!
5.) The snow is almost entirely melted, leading to more walking in my future!
6.) Get to see Mindy and fam tomorrow!

Tomorrow? Goals for the next year, real ones that will actually happen. :)

Yea!! My internet's back!!

Through a miscommunication with the folks at Comcast, I was sans innernets for almost a week! But, the good news? Didn't pay a dime for the last month of service. :)

Last night, went to see The Nutcracker at McCaw Hall; it was gorgeous!! A weird story, to be true, but wow! Just amazing. The sets were done by Maurice Sendak, apparently 25 years ago- but there were so many pieces to it... very cool. There was one part where I just kept looking at how the tutus were constructed, so I could make one myself! They were layers of yellow, light green, and pink tulle, with some pieces of fabric layered under the top one almost like really big ribbons. I decided that the reason I liked them so much was that they were kind of like cupcakes! The snow scene was beautiful too; I tried to paste a picture here, but it won't work.
http://www.pnb.org/

Now I'm making piles of pirate cookies (pecans, coconut, and RUM). Mmmm.... :)

John and me, circa August...

Well, these all loaded in backwards order... oh well!

The little girl is Maia, my friend Tara's daughter... John is her husband's childhood friend, and how I met him.

And he recently cut all of his hair off... it's all cute and sticky-upy- and I think he lost this hat too... So, yes... not so accurate right now! (especially with snow everywhere!)

I seem to only post on vacation...

Maybe that's the only time that I think of it??? Anyway...

Today is holiday craftacular!! I am finishing up a yoga mat bag that I started yesterday? Saturday? Not sure... the strap-part it taking FOREVER to turn inside out, so I am taking a little break. Next on the list? Christmas stockings. John doesn't have one, so I'm making him a red plaid one, hopefully with some kind of a Santa alien on it. (he insists that it should be grey, but I say ICk to that- it will be festive green!) I got a light green plaid for myself, in case I need a new one next year; we just decided at the last minute to go over to my parents' on C-mas Eve, and he'll go see his family on Christmas night, while I stay with mine. I think it's a pretty good plan, but now I don't get to see his family. :( His older twin sisters both work at a Catholic church downtown, so they're tied up the entire day there... and both of our families do dinner, so it just really wasn't going to work... but I think now it is ok.

Also made: a lavender/rice filled shoulder-area relaxation bag for my mom, scarf for John, and plan to make some Martha Stewart paper ornaments, based on a kit I got for the kids at school (which most of them opted out of, the 2 days we actually had school last week.) Onward, and upward!

Preschool Rockstar? Not forever....

Well, considering that I almost never post... I've decided it's because I like having a zine more than a blog... new things that are going on:

-My childhood friend Angela is moving to Japan today, for around 2 years. I'm sure she'll get to visit here every six months or so, but it's still kind of sad.

-John and I have now been together for 6 1/2 months! And he's sleeping next to me on the couch, periodically snoring. Very cute.

-It is snowing A LOT. Like a whole lot. At least 6 inches, on top of some old snow/ice. I'm not driving anywhere!

-This is the last year I'm going to be teaching at my school. It's been decided for a while, but putting it in writing makes it really true. My plan is to start a cooking school, in Fall 2009. It's going to focus on vegetarian food, with mostly organic and/or locally grown ingredients. (to the best of my ability.) Still trying to decide on a name, but I have a little time still.... :)

So, yes. While I will still have preschoolers as a focus for some of my cooking class; I will be done with the rest of the bullshit! No more report cards, parent conferences, 2 hour staff meetings from hell, requests to translate report card comments, auction projects, political "the dollar is the bottom line" decisions regarding students' placements, hour-long commutes, stupid bosses, and intrusive bitchass parents who think they know how I should do my job! (well, there might be a few of those left in my future, but if they aren't happy, they can leave.) So, big yea for me for finally FINALLY figuring out what I want to do, in a way that will work. And my future zine? Will either be called "Eat Your Veggies" or "Bite Me!". :)

You try it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATFxVB4JFpQ

"There is only one kind of dance" "The Robot"..."And the Robo-Boogie"... "There are only two kinds of dance"

Yes, I'm sick, and staying home. Bleh. The good news is next week is my vacation. The bad news is that it's kind of silly to have to use a sick day the week before your vacation. Oh well.

My new favorite thing? Flight of the Conchords. OMG. These guys are so funny... especially their "Robot Song". I have cried laughing at least 3 times from watching it, and that's saying a lot. So... go and YouTube it. I'll wait.

Hmmm hm humm...

(tapping foot)

(looking at watch)


WAS THAT NOT THE FUNNIEST THING EVER??

They are these 2 guys from New Zealand, who had/have a show on HBO; (sort of) based on themselves, moving to NYC and trying to become famous and perform with their band. They have an inept manager (who is also works for the New Zealand tourism board, and has all sorts of travel New Zealand-type posters in the background that say things like "New Zealand ROCKS!!!" with a huge picture of a rock, or a picture of something very green that says "New Zealand; Just like Lord of the Rings!" You get the idea.) who, despite having no money, connections, or gigs for them, made them a music video on his camera phone. They also have one fan/stalker who is always hanging around outside their apartment, sometimes with her husband who she drags along. They have really silly conversations, and Bret always wears some godawful thriftstore sweatshirt from the seventies with an animal on it (like a tiger or an eagle)...

I can't even really do it justice; but the Robot Song is just enough to give me hope for the future of entertainment. So, yes. You should put them in your Netflix cue.

Facebook

Arrgh!@ I had a whole post here, and now it is gone, gone, gone.

Basically... I finally succumbed to the power of my friend Naty and joined Facebook. I have been very anti-that-sort-of-thing for quite a while (especially due to the preponderance of myspace, and all the 20somethings with 5 million friends, all of whom they've never met) but she convinced me. See, she lives in Ithaca, NY now.. .and I don't see her so much. (obviously) She uses it to upload pictures, rather than send them out in emails all the time; and I get that. So, now I'm there, I can see her pictures, and I think I have 7 friends! (all of which I know in real life)

I also had a very weird dream last night involving my best friend, her baby and husband, a cougar (who understood and obeyed French) and the brother of a former friend of mine. Oh, and a shopping mall. No celebrities this time though!

Juno

What a great movie! (and, I finally got out of the house! YEA!) The writing is really fantastic; I love the dialogue, and endless making up of new words and phrasage. There were some really nice and surprising moments too; like when her stepmom goes off on the obnoxious ultrasound tech. All around, a very clever film.

There have been some jokes about how if this was a film about a black teenager getting pregnant, it wouldn't have received all the accolades and praise... but I don't think that's necessarily true. It would have been a different story, IMO; since most films of that nature usually take place in the ghetto, with gangsters, and mymomwasalreadyateenmom backgrounds (if we're looking at stereotypes here, which I think those people with criticism are). This was just in the suburbs, with semi-hip middle class teenagers; and it was very good. So, yeah. (and who wasn't in this movie? Jennifer Garner? check. Jason Bateman? check. Rainn Wilson? check. Alison Janney? check. Laci Chambers? check. seriously!)

Brooklyn Botanical Garden

Man, I do love New York!

August, 2007:

On a day like today, so icky, rainy, and grey... it's nice to remember a place full of sunshine, heat, flowers, and a gorgeous fountain. (someday I'll have one in my yard. Someday!)

Los Musicos Part Dos

Wouldn't you know? Less than 24 hours after I write about my favorite bands of all time.. .I find out that 2 of them are playing at the huge (and hugely expensive) Sasquatch Music Festival! Am very tempted to go.... (C'mon! R.E.M AND The Cure? When does that happen?) There are quite a few other bands that I like too (Death Cab for Cutie, Teegan and Sara, The Kooks) so I guess we'll see if any of my friends are equally tempted to a.)spend close to $70 and b.)drive past Ellensburg for a festival! (I have a feeling that REM and the Cure will be on different days though; no way can I spend $160!!!)

Check it out:

http://sasquatchfestival.com/2008/main.php?page=lineup

Here is Lulu. Because I never post any pictures here... and she's just the cutest thing ever!

High Fidelity

In this movie, John Cusak has Top 5 lists for everything. Top 5 reasons he misses his girlfriend, Top 5 Dream Jobs.. and Top 5 Bands of all time. (well, not so sure about that last one. It's been a while since I've watched it.)

So... here are my Top 5 Bands/Musicians of ALL TIME:

1.) Fleetwood Mac
2.) Prince
3.)The White Stripes
4.)The Cure
5.) Tie between Jane's Addiction and The Shins. (funny too, b/c at a Shins show last summer, they started playing "Mountain Song", after joking that we all were as wild as if we were at a JA show, circa 1993.)

Pretty sad, there's only one girl in the whole lot of them...

Runners-Up:

Tori Amos, R.E.M. (there was a time when I thought I could just take 5 of their albums, and seal my CD changer shut because I loved them So Much.) and hmm... Hole. Yes, I do have Courtney Love's book. :)