The life of a Catholic school teacher

So...the bomb that was supposed to go off on my 30th birthday, was a dud. I turned 30, and didn't explode. I also didn't get a single thing done on my checklist. But I'm not disappointed. Instead, I seem to have taken on a new sense of self-confidence. Previously, I always felt a twinge of intimidation when passing by a group of teens or college kids. It's obvious to me that the feeling was the result of four years of high school where I was either ridiculed or feared the harassing comments of my peers on a daily basis. It has been 12 years since the trauma of high school, but prior to turning 30, I still felt a flutter in my stomach when walking past people younger than me, as if these strangers were going to somehow recognize me as the object of so many malicious rumors. Instead of automatically casting my eyes toward the floor when passing by youngsters, I now keep my eyes forward and my head held higher. With age comes wisdom. I suppose the old adage is true. I have reached my 30s where I am no longer in the same age class as these kids. I no longer have a reason to fear the persecution that I irrationally feared. This new age is liberating. It's not the beginning of the end as many people lament. For me, it has simply been, a beginning.

I realized the other night that my ginger cat Joey is often the subject of my blog posts. In fact, the last Weekly Dose of Joey was all about his routine before settling in for the night and the comfort it brings me. My tuxedo kitty Faye deserves the spotlight now. Well, she doesn't deserve it so much as she demands it. Faye's name derives from Faye Dunaway, the actress who played Joan Crawford in the movie "Mommie Dearest". To play the part of Joan Crawford, Faye Dunaway had to give a very dramatic performance, similar to the performance that Faye (the cat) gave on her way to my apartment in her kitty carrier after I adopted her from a family I had found on craigslist. The wailing and clinging to the side of the cat carrier brought to mind the classic movie, and thus, Faye received her name.

Throughout the five years since that initial car ride, Faye has not wavered in her demands for attention. To say that Faye is vocal is an understatement. She is a sharp contrast to Joey, who is aloof and likes to keep his distance, only wanting attention when he is good and ready.

In these past five years, Faye and I have developed a nightly routine. Being the obsessive snuggler that she is, any instance of my fiance and I being in any sort of a horizontal position on the couch or in bed is, in her mind, an invitation to climb onto our bellies and lay with her head on our chests. As a kitten, this was adorable and even welcomed, however, Faye is no longer a kitten and has gained considerable weight since then (17 pounds to be exact). The fact that she is as heavy as a small watermelon has not deterred her from climbing on me at night when I first get into bed. Though I think it's sweet that she does this, I have instituted a new way to snuggle with her each night, one that does not reduce my air intake.

Every night, after the lights have been turned off and I'm settled in bed, Faye, without fail, will jump up on the nightstand. She will then walk down the edge of the bed and lay on my left leg for a while. Next, she will get up and walk back up to the nightstand and turn around and come back onto the bed where she will finally lay down against my side with her front legs and paws resting in the crook of my elbow which I have positioned in such a way so that when she lays down, I have my arm around her. We will lay like that until one of two things happen. I will either be on the verge of falling asleep and she will jump down on her own and be on her merry way, or I will gently nudge her so that she'll jump down and I can stretch out my arm again. For five years, we have bonded this way each and every night. Sometimes I can psych her out and pretend to be asleep when she arrives on my nightstand. Reaching my hand up to pet her is the signal for her to do her rounds on the edge of the bed before settling against my side. If I don't reach my hand up, she goes away. This is a gamble though, because sometimes she will take offense to this and go into the living room and get into some mischief, i.e. tear apart some of my knitting. This is why it's best to just let her lay on me for a little while so she feels loved and does not feel a need to be destructive. Of course, up until about a month ago, this was a silent routine. Those nights are over because now she jumps onto the nightstand and meows at me until my hand goes up, giving her the green light. Of course I can't let her continue to meow, unless I want my fiance to wake up, so on and on the ritual goes...each night...without fail.

For your viewing pleasure, I have a snapshot of Faye in action. I have a tendency to also let her lay on me when I am napping on the couch. I can position my body in a better way on the couch so that her girth is resting more on the back of the couch than on my stomach. This works until she has the desire to get down, in which case, her four paws dig painfully into my flesh as she uses me as a launching pad. This photo was skillfully taken while I began a nap on the couch. My cellphone was within reach, thus my ability to capture the typical "Faye" moment.

"An exit to eternal summer slacking..." (from the song "The Way" by Fastball).

I wouldn't necessarily categorize the past 2 weeks as 'summer slacking', I have certainly done my share of cleaning, organizing, knitting , and half-hearted exercising. As I have done in the past, I have made a list of goals for my summer. It makes sense to do this, afterall, items on a grocery list or any to-do list seem to always get checked off. But then again, lists of big goals/things to-do, seem to go unchecked and eventually fall by the wayside. New Year's Resolutions are a great example of this. When I look at things I really want to accomplish, and know that I haven't completed those tasks, I feel a sense of incompleteness, even if only temporarily.

In less than a month, it will be my turn to celebrate a 30th birthday. I have watched, via Facebook, as many friends and high school acquaintances reached this milestone birthday. Though I may be one of a few people who actually look forward to getting older, I can't help but feel a need to examine my life thus far and take stock of what I've accomplished since my birth in in 1982.

Though I can look back with pride at most of the things I've done in my life, I can also see that I have a lot left to do; get married, have children, meet Jim Carrey... Of all the lists of goals I have made in the past, I didn't make a list of things to do before turning 30, as many people do. As a result, on my 30th birthday, there won't be a reflection on my life's goals. But I still want to feel that sense of accomplishment. So, in the spirit of competition (with myself), I plan to get as much done o n my summer goals list as possible. Losing 50 pounds in less than a month is probably physically impossible. But the other goals aren't. If I don't get at least 3 of the 7 goals checked off, I will officially and most definitely give up on these arbitrary to-do lists. Here I go...

Goals Before I Turn 30 & Explode Isn't that what happens when you turn 30? At least that's what it seems like will happen given everyone's fear of leaving their twenties.

1. Write THE book (the one that I have been writing in my mind my whole life--or atleast for the past 10 years).
2. Finish all 4 knitting projects that are currently in progress.
3. Archive all school newsletters on the website for the 2011-2012 school year.
4. Read 5 books off of my bookshelf that have thus far gone unread.
5. Catch up on my 2 scrapbooks (school and life since college).
6. Sew together liturgical color prayer table cloths for my classroom prayer table.
7. Lose 50 pounds.

There are two kinds of people in this world, those who take naps, and those who don’t. I am a person who does. I don’t know if my desire to sleep in the middle of the day comes from an unhealthy lifestyle that consists of junk food and a lack of exercise or the stress and anxiety that I sometimes feel due to making a mistake at work and fearing the consequences. Maybe it’s genetic, my mom is an avid nap-taker. I have programmed myself to not call her during certain hours of the afternoon because I can be assured of waking her up in the middle of sleep. Perhaps my tendency to snooze during daylight is connected to my teenage mentality. I will be turning 30 in a little less than a month, yet I still feel as though my teenage years are still within reaching distance. Teenagers love to sleep, and perhaps my connection to my youth is still making me sleepy. Whatever the reason, this afternoon, I found myself lying in bed covered in my favorite childhood blanket, with my cat, Faye, laying on my stomach and my eyes quickly shutting as I soaked in the relaxation of the afternoon.

Whenever I choose my bed over the couch as my napping location, I can be sure that I oversleep the typical hour to an hour and a half napping duration. Today I set my alarm for two hours before drifting off. When I choose my bed, I can also be assured of a deeper sleep...the room is darker and cooler, and the bed is more comfortable. Sometime in the two hours of my deep, relaxing sleep, either Joey or Faye made their move and attacked one of my many knitting bags. Upon waking up and stumbling back into the living room, I found that my recently finished sock was laying in the middle of the living room next to the bag that it is stored in. The yarn destined for the second sock and my sock needles were still in the bag. This was not a quick job. Not like the times the cat(s) pull something off my craft table for attention, this sock had stitches pulled loose, cat hair woven in, and a large wet spot right in the middle. This sock had not just been pulled out of the bag to get my attention, whoever the culprit was, took my nap as an opportunity to roll around and play with the sock, which was knit from 100% merino, a natural fiber that the cat(s) are quite fond of. They ignore every other synthetic yarn I knit with, but anything made from natural fiber, it's a challenge keeping them away.

I'm not 100% sure which cat it was, it could have been Joey, but more likely it was Faye, given her history of running off with my knitting even when I'm not napping. No matter the culprit, the evidence has been restored to it's original state as best as I can get it, and put up out of reach. If I have to stand on my tip-toes to get the bag down now, I am hoping that the felines won't be able to get to it either.

"Make time for yarn everyday" is the sign off on each episode of Knitting Daily. So far this summer, I have taken it to heart. Who am I trying to impress? I have taken this slogan to the extreme for quite a while now. This week, I still have not started that second sock, but not because I'm unmotivated to do it. I'd rather put my full effort into two other projects. One, a shawl knit in three pieces and then grafted together, is near completion. The other, a floppy beach hat that I would like to wear this weekend on a day trip to the beach. I am too lazy and broke to go to the eye doctor and get a new set of contacts, therefore, I cannot wear sunglasses at the beach and need something to shade my eyes. This was a spontaneous project that sprung up, but because it's a hat, I don't expect it to take long. It is mostly garter stitch in the round, which I knit at top speed. The shawl that I have been working on is epic. The pattern instructions for joining all three pieces was challenging to figure out, thank goodness for Ravelry! Now that they have been joined, I am on the edging, which consists of 80 plus repeats of a 10 row sequence that not only adds a lacy edge, but binds off the stitches on the body of the shawl. The end is near for this project and to prepare for the final phase, blocking, I had to order more pins from Knitpicks. Granted, I could have gone to Joann's and bought T-pins from the quilting section, but then I wouldn't have been able to scoop up some clearance Knitpicks yarn at the same time. Hopefully by the time my order of 100 flower-tipped pins arrive, this epic shawl will be complete. For my fellow knitters, and perhaps, shawl lovers, I am knitting "In the Pink" by Izzieknits.

“Omg, you’re one of them…”
-Drew Barrymore from Music and Lyrics

This movie is one of my favorites because the whole idea of cozying up to a famous celebrity, albeit an 80s has-been, is so intriguing. In fact, every now and then, I can count on having a dream in which I am best friends with a super-star (usually Jim Carrey). In my dream, I am hanging out with the person and referring to movies or shows they have been in, almost in a reminiscing kind of way. It’s a very cool feeling, and in my dream, I always come to the realization that nobody is ever going to believe that I am hanging out with whoever it is. This realization always comes at the end, when I’m about to wake up and find out that truly, it is an unbelievable dream because of course, it wasn’t real.

There’s another reason that I chose this quote for this week’s edition of Movie Quote Monday. I picked this one, not just because I was watching it last week in an attempt to distract myself while on my new/used elliptical for the first time, but because I can sort of relate to it. I’m not attempting to relate to Hugh Grant’s character who is the 80s has-been that Drew Barrymore is realizing for the first time when she says this line, in fact, my connection to this line is completely different. I chose it because I feel now, that I am “one of them”. One of those people who are into diet and fitness, one of those people like the women I work with who are very careful about watching what they eat. For the longest time, I have watched from the sidelines, knowing that I desperately wanted to be in the game, but just didn’t have it all together to play. My motivation was there, I had every reason to get on the diet and exercise “bandwagon”, but something, my own laziness perhaps, was stronger than my willpower. But now, finally, I am one of them. The reasons to lose weight are now outweighing, so to speak, my desire to remain lazy. As of now, I have a plan, and more importantly, the motivation, to take the weight off. As Billy Blanks put it, on one of his many exercise dvds that I have tried, “You put it on, you can take it off”. For almost 30 years, I have been steadily gaining weight. It is time, to steadily lose weight.

With the onset of summer vacation, I can't say that I am as relieved to get to Friday as the other people in the world who have to work over the summer. I am glad for my fiance, though, who I get to spend much more time with over the weekends. Looking back at my first full week of summer break, I see a lot of things that have been good. I have stuck to my diet the whole week, more out of necessity, since I have been broke the whole week and couldn't afford going out to eat. I have gotten out of the apartment and exercised for two of the past five days, and now, I even have a new/used elliptical taking up half of my living room that I'm looking forward to using. I think I'll be able to survive this vacation. Last summer I ended up in a weepy mess toward the end because I was going stir crazy in this apartment. I think I have plenty to keep me occupied, and if not, I have the elliptical to help me stay happy. Because as Elle Woods from "Legally Blonde" put it: "Exercise gives you endorphines, endorphines make you happy..." She went on to say that happy people just don't shoot their husbands, but in my case, happy people just don't get depressed and bored over summer break.

The lights have just been turned off, the blankets pulled up, and my head positioned perfectly on the pillow. All the conditions are perfect for sleep. My eyes close with a heaviness. And then I hear it, a scratching noise that alerts my mind to something unusual happening. Then I remember, it’s just Joey, and my eyes close again.

That scratching noise is the first of many that will follow, each more vigorous than the last. Joey is in the litter box, and because the apartment is so small, every scratch is echoed into the bedroom. I should be frustrated with his incessant digging that seems to come only when I first settle into bed for the night, but strangely, I’m not. I welcome the familiar, if not oddly comforting sound. It lets me know that Joey is engaged in his nightly routine, just as I am. We are all ready for a peaceful night of rest and relaxation. All is right with the world.

Knitting socks is a lot like getting a tattoo. Before getting a tattoo for the first time, you’re a little bit afraid of the process. You’re unsure if you can really go through with it. Then, once you get your first one, you’re hooked and can’t wait to get another. Sock knitting is very similar. I was very hesitant about knitting socks at first. The process seemed so complicated…turning a heel? Gusset stitches? What the hell is a gusset?! But then, I just picked a pattern that I liked (Monkey by Cookie A), and armed with sock yarn and size 2 sock needles, I got to work. It wasn’t so bad! Not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. Although, my virgin pair of socks never got worn. My guess is that there was too much elastic in the yarn that I used because the socks came out much larger than necessary. Unwearable actually. They slouched down to my ankles in a crumpled heap of beautiful, but unrecognizable stitch work. But, I was determined to make another pair. Having mastered the construction of my first pair successfully…almost, I browsed the patterns on Ravelry.com and found a great pattern that I liked (Diversion by Kiersten Hall). Today, I finally finished sock number 1 from this pattern. I attempted to knit this pattern a couple of months ago, but got confused in the directions and ended up frogging the sock before I got too far into it. This time, I learned from my past mistakes and created a beautiful new sock. I was nervous when I tried it on. As I was knitting the foot part, it seemed too big. But alas, it fits me perfectly! The ribbing around the top is even a little too tight and I have to work it up over my calf inch by inch. It is the most comfortable sock and did I mention that it fits my foot perfectly! I can’t wait for cooler, sock wearing weather when I can wear this beauty out in public. Though not very cost effective to make your own socks, this ball of yarn cost me 27 dollars, I highly recommend any knitter to get on the sock making bandwagon. Of course, my next knitting task can undoubtedly be to make the second sock. I better act fast before the 2nd sock syndrome kicks in.

I’ve come to realize that blogging is difficult. In the past I have had so many ideas and goals for my blog, but sadly, after a burst of blogging energy, my niche in cyberspace has gone un-updated for more than a year. The difficulty level of blogging, in my mind, is in direct proportion to how much free time a person has. During the school year, my time is consumed with writing lesson plans and grading papers. The miniscule amount of free time that I do get is spent with knitting needles or a crochet hook in my hand rather than updating my blog. However, I now find myself with a two-month supply of free time, known as summer break. Years ago, I was an ambitious, new teacher and wanted to spend my summer working. Granted, I never got hired anywhere and I have long since given up trying to find a summer job. I am in my first full week of summer break and I am already bored. I have a to-do list of goals that I would like to accomplish this summer. Maybe I’ll even accomplish them this time (I never do). Blogging isn’t on the list, but since it’s my list, I can change it as I see fit. Even before the summer, I have been tinkering around with some ideas for things to write about, and I don’t see any other time more perfect than now to write and keep my blog updated. I have created a weekly agenda of topics and themes that I will be sticking to, so please check back often.

Though I haven't posted since I was jamming to NKOTB at Christmas, I've been around, reading blogs of others and in general, wishing I had something to blog about. That is, other than the endless drone of paper grading, lesson planning, and desperately trying to find time to finish knitting projects and reading the library book that I have renewed 3 times since checking it out the week before Christmas. I suppose, uninspired, is a good word to describe it.

Then, today, while in the middle of a singing/dancing/cooking frenzy, a song popped up on one of my mix c.d.s that I've made (I'm only slightly "with it" as far as downloading and playing music). I always think it's funny when I get excited at a song that I like playing on my c.d.s and my automatic exclamation "Oh my god, I love this song!" Duh! That's why it's on here! Anyway, I've been a fan of the Berlin song, "Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun for a while. It's an old song, but still a good one.

There's nothing too special about the song. It's a love song, nothing more to say. But when it's turn on the c.d. came up today, the song struck me in a different way than it normally does. It made me feel a strange sense of nostalgia and...melancholy. Though I hesitate to use that word, because I was already feeling that way during Christmas. This wasn't sadness upon hearing the song, just a weird feeling of familiarity.

I began to wonder why this particular song would have this effect on me. Could it be that my parents really liked the movie Top Gun and would often watch it on VHS when I was growing up? I like the movie too and own it...also on VHS, not dvd. The movie, like the song, is not very special. An action packed movie with a love theme, that stars an up-and-coming Tom Cruise. Not a big deal. So I guess you could say, I grew up watching the movie. When I was in my late teens, I made a couple of trips to our local theme park, Carowinds. They have a roller coaster built around the movie, though it's probably been replaced by a bigger, badder, and more with the times ride. Looking back at the times I rode it, I think of the fun I had with the various friends I rode it with and the Top Gun theme music that played when the roller coaster began and when it came back into the station. Then there was my first turtle. I got Maverick when I was in my first year of college. His name was derived from the flight he took across the roof of my car in his take-home box when I was trying to unlock my car door at the pet store.

Could it be that this movie had a small part in the happiest moments of my life? My childhood...before the hell that was my teenage years...the end of my teen years...when I looked forward to my future with happiness...the beginning of my college career...before my mental health took a nosedive.

I don't know why this particular day, this particular song made me feel this way. Maybe tomorrow it won't have any effect on me at all. As my mom always said in response to questions..."we'll see."

(See? Christmas, NKOTB, and me, just naturally go together. Circa 1990.)

Would anybody disagree with me if I said that this Christmas season has passed so quickly? This time last year I was writing a similar post about just how fast Christmas seems to come and go now that I'm an adult. This year, I'm still marveling at the speed of the holiday, but I'm also feeling melancholy. I'm at an in-between stage in my life I think. Christmases are so different now than they were when I was a child. I'm an adult now, so I wouldn't expect everything to be the same. However, I don't yet have children to pass on the memories and the traditions that I remember. This could be the reason for the tug at my heart I'm feeling this season. Or is it the fact that I haven't seen my family in a long time? It's been a year since seeing my mom, about 3 years since seeing my sisters and their children, and even longer since I've visited my dad. I can't even remember the last time I spent a Christmas with any of my family. Though I miss them dearly, I wouldn't feel right not spending Christmas with my fiance and his mom. That's my new tradition. That's my life as it is now. I don't have a clever ending for this post...I'm feeling a wave of sleepiness wash over me and I'm desperately wanting to get to bed all of a sudden. The Christmas tree is lit as I prepare to sign off for the night, not entirely decorated yet, but still a bright beacon of Christmas to remind me that life goes on no matter how much things and/or people change.

It took me a month to finish reading this book, which is good considering books that I'm not "into" can lay dormant on my nightstand for several months before I finish them. This book, as you may recall is the one that details the life of a man who has known the exact date of the end of the world since being in the womb. I was completely engrossed in it, despite the various narrators in the beginning being a bit hard to keep track of. I have to wonder though about the voice that talks to the main character, Junior, throughout the book. This is the voice that tells him about the "Destroyer of Worlds" and continues to talk to him throughout his life. Who was the voice supposed to be? The voice implies that there is more than one of "them". The book, also alludes to there being nothing after the end of the world, no afterlife, no God. In fact, Junior makes reference to his daughter's silhouette being as thin as "God's alibi". Interesting. All I can say is, I may possibly have nightmares tonight.

From my favorite Saturday afternoon movie: "You've Got Mail". This is part of the e-mail that Meg Ryan sent to Tom Hanks after being stood up (or so she thought) for her date with her online friend and then not hearing from him for a while.

"The odd thing about this form of communication is that you're more likely to talk about nothing than something. But I just want to say that all this nothing has meant more to me than so many somethings. So, thanks."

I love how she is basically saying 'thanks for nothing'. She's not being rude and blunt about it though...she's using a more wordy way to say it, which, I suppose is a good thing for her character to do since she reads so much.

Or as future hubby said I should call this part: Daily Cup O'Joe.

In any case, I always thinks it's super cute when he does it.

Life is good, in my eyes. Not perfect, but good. I know the love of a good man and have a great job, not the highest paying job--quite the opposite, but a job that I love, nonetheless. To round out the picture of things that make life good, my cat Joey. He's lovable, friendly, snuggly (not so much since Faye joined the feline population of our apartment), and just all-around, the ideal cat. I'm always finding him laying in very interesting places. In an effort to keep my blog updated regularly, I will provide you all with a weekly dose of Joey.

Here he is for this week. A pile of fur among my attempts to reorganize and clean the living room.

I've come down with 2nd mitten syndrome. I have not yet ventured into the world of knitting socks, though I'm on the brink and equipped with all of the necessary supplies (sock blockers...check). In the meantime, I am building my confidence with dpn's with a pair of fingerless mittens for my swap partner on http://www.ravelry.com. Though the first mitten is completed, albeit with a few mistakes in figuring out the proper way to 'm1', I am struggling to make some headway with the second mitten. This must be what that whole 2nd sock 'thing' is all about. I gave myself the deadline of finishing by Friday, as this swap has gone on all year and Halloween is the theme of this round. Unfortunately, due to lesson plans and paper grading being a top priority, and in general, not having my heart in the second mitten, it remains unfinished. I've communicated with my partner and to my great relief, she hasn't finished my hand-made gift either. We have agreed to finish our projects over the weekend and ship our packages on Monday. Lesson plans are done, paper grading typically waits until Sunday, so I now have nothing standing in my way. I think I will spend much of my Saturday on the couch, catching up on my dvr'd knitting shows, and finishing this doggone mitten! I will cure this syndrome!

I have sworn off buying any more books until I have read all of the ones that are sitting forlornly on my shelves. I recently finished Youth in Revolt and its sequel Revolting Youth. There are two or three other books in that series, but I've had my fill of that story line. Hence my decision to sift through the other titles I have yet to read. I came across Everything Matters! on the clearance rack at the bookstore a while ago and was intrigued by the blurb on the jacket cover. To 'shorthand' the story, a boy, while still in the womb, receives a message that the world will be obliterated by a meteor 36 years after he is born. You can imagine the implications this has for the character having this sort of information.

As of now, I am on page 52 of the 302 pages contained within the book. It's a bit hard at first to keep track of all the different characters that the author presents, each advancing the story through their own points of view. However, I am truly captivated by this book. I am finding that I'd like to actually put my knitting aside so I can read, something I rarely do, which is likely the reason I have such a collection of unread books. I'm eager to see what happens to this character and what ultimately happens in the end. Does he use his knowledge to try and save mankind? Or does he simply live life to the fullest all the way to the end?

Today was the big day. Future hubby and I got up at, literally, the crack of dawn to drive the hour and a half to the State Fair. He wanted to get there right as it opened so we could avoid crowds and find good parking. We arrived a bit before 8:00 and had a nice time walking around with hardly anyone there but the employees opening their various booths and stands. The exhibition hall where my skirts were, didn't open until 9:00. We killed time by following the sounds of roosters crowing their morning song to the poultry exhibition tent. We enjoyed looking at all of the turkeys, chickens, and various other birds. It was quite loud as it seemed each rooster, or other birds that do the whole cock-a-doodle-do 'thing', were trying to out-crow their neighbors. When 9:00 finally arrived, we made our way back to the now open Education building. I was pretty nervous. All the hype that my principal worked up about my skirts...all the compliments...the long dream I had last night devoted entirely to experiences at the fair that could possibly, but not probably happen today...everything sloshed around in my stomach as I wove my way around the various displays looking for my entries. It didn't take long to come across these two cases:

It's hard to see in the picture, but this duct tape dress earned first place in a category that I would be interested in finding out.

We both enjoyed walking through the various garden displays that surprisingly, were also part of a competition that earned ribbons for the various exhibitors. Can you see the butterfly in this display? I was first drawn to the glistening c.d.'s in the background, but then I noticed the lawn chair serving as the body of the butterfly and the tape outlining the wings.

All in all, it was a terrific day and I'm glad I got to spend it with my future hubby. On our way home we stopped at a thrift store that we had never been to (we have recently started to enjoy sifting through the various potential treasures in thrift stores). While he searched out vintage cocktail glasses, I stumbled upon an arts and crafts section. I found a plastic bag with 6 unused skeins of Lion Brand Glitterspun which I'm a huge fan of for only 5 dollars. Some further digging around led me to some very nice, clean rubber stamps that will be used on letters during the Christmas season and also some large, shaped paper punches that will definitely be used for scrapbooking. All of these terrific finds, plus 4 glasses that future hubby had found only cost us 19 dollars and some change. If my spirits weren't lifted by the time we left the fair, they were now.

It was difficult keeping my eyes open on the way home, much to the dismay of my loving driver who always feels lonely when I fall asleep in the car. Now that I'm home, and lesson plans are finished for next week, I feel the fatigue washing over me. A good night of sleep is definitely the next thing to cross off my list.