Snow Day, Snow Day, Yay No Work Today!

After serious thought, I have decided that I should get every Wednesday off work. I enjoyed the good fortune of an ‘ice day’ and let me just say – I am a fan. Winter is not my favorite season, however ice days might just change my mind.

I’ll admit that I spend a large part of my day of freedom sleeping. It was scrumptious. Everyone should be so lucky as to be given the gift of sleeping till noon every once in a while. I was however able to pull myself together enough by late afternoon to continue work on a bag I am making for my etsy shop.



I love working on these bags because it gives me the opportunity to return to hand sewing – one of my first loves. There is nothing more peaceful for me than working on a hand sewing project. I’ve started spending my lunch break sitting in my car embroidering. Schools tend to reverberate with the energy of the students, computers/tv’s and stressed out teachers. I love the stillness of my car.

I don’t want to make it sound like I don’t love working with kids. There are definite joys. Today I was sitting in guidance with one of my students. The counselor was teaching the kids about not being bossy to their friends and was reading the class a book about Franklin the turtle who is a bossy cad and annoys his other animal friends. A little girl raised her hand and proceeded to criticize in a serious tone, “Um…animals do NOT talk.” The counselor tried to explain that this was a book and it was pretend but she was not to be swayed. I think the lesson this little one learned today was not about being bossy but that her crazy counselor doesn’t know animals don’t talk. Kindergartners are great.

Now Presenting Prude and Prudence

This weekend my sister and I finally posted some items for sale on Etsy (Prude and Prudence) which is exciting. We’ve been working towards it for several months now so it is thrilling to see our hard work out for all to see. We make hair accessories right now. We’ve started with felt but plan to branch out in the future. It is fun to work with Anna because we have very different creative processes. As teenagers this tended to mean we both thought the other was crazy but as adults we have learned to appreciate each other’s differences – and to keep our face making in check.






I plan to soon put up some handbags in my own shop but I’ve got a little more work to do. My fingers are crossed that we have a snow day tomorrow and maybe I could get some work done – or maybe just sleep if I’m honest.

The Year Was 1985

I completed the twenty-fourth year of my life this week. Birthdays always make me more reflective and as I take stock of my life, it is honestly surprising. Where is my disposable income? My health? My naturally shiny brown hair (now going grey and thus not so natural)? Where are my vacations to sunny beaches and/or the Alps? Where is my moderately sized but beautifully decorated abode?

It’s been nine months since I graduated from college and unfortunately, the reality of supporting myself in the ‘real word’ is far less charming than it appeared in my head.

I tend to spend a lot of time in my head and I have become used to the blank/alarmed/confused stare I tend to receive from people when I reveal my thoughts. I remember telling my mom that I had always feared I was actually retarded and no one had the heart to tell me. My mom laughed. But I mean really…how am I to know if I’m retarded? I’ve only been in my head! It is probably a little self-centered of me to think that the world revolves so much around me that whispers of “She’s retarded but don’t tell her she’s retarded…pass it on” follow me everywhere.
Tonight as my best friend Cassie and I passed I hospital I mused, “Don’t you wonder how many people in there are dying right now?”

She was clearly disturbed by me.

It seems normal to me.

She did agree that no one at hospitals is nearly as attractive as tv portrays. But I secretly wonder if I just need to move to Seattle to find Dr. McMakeOutInTheCloset.
When I was in design school, I had a lot of plans and dreams. None of them included being a special education teaching assistant, living in an apartment that has roaches in the kitchen, sustaining life on peanut butter and honey sandwiches (to avoid the kitchen) and a steady stream of trash tv (to avoid thinking about the kitchen.

Don’t get me wrong. I am happy with my life’s direction – it’s the pace that sticks in my craw (or however that goes). Waiting to fulfill my dream of owning a prosperous (not to mention decadently gorgeous) store where I could be my own boss. That is my job description. Waiting. Boo ya. Patience is a virtue but no virtue of mine. It is a good thing then that God blessed me with the virtue of sarcasm and the ability to laugh at funerals (you know for when I lay to rest the idea that I have beautiful natural hair).

I am becoming convinced that something I had always believed to be bad karma is actually God placing crazy things/people and awkwardness in my life just to provide me with something to laugh at.

Example #1 – My neighbor who clearly suffers from some sort of weirdness disorder: I know very little about her except that she invited us to a funeral….for her squirrel. She is probably in her thirties and she can make me run up three flights of stairs simply out of my fear that she will want me to go into her little animal paradise which is something I do not want to endure – ever.

Example 2# - The assistant that I work with who while very sweet and loving towards the kids is also totally certifiable. Over the past few months of working with her she has suggested to me that the U.S. offer global health insurance without raising taxes. This leaves…..you guessed it – print more money to solve the health insurance crisis! She also casually asked me one day how many planets we have landed on. I looked at her blankly, my mind racing to figure out the appropriate expression/response. All I could muster was a smile.

Example 3# - I am the person that sits next to a family that breaks out into a fight (including food throwing) at a hockey game. I am the person who accidentally sits on the rotary cutter while in the middle of a time-crunched school project. I am the one who has neighbors that have some sort of a techno band.

As I begin my blog I have some goals for what I want it to be. Mostly, I want it to be an archive for me to remember this time in my life. I really want to write about my experiences as I jump off the college ship and swim (sometimes aimlessly) towards my future. My ultimate desire is that this would become a source of inspiration for myself – and hopefully others – as I have seen on other well-established blogs. I want to document the beauty I see in God’s creation as well as the beauty (and humor) I see in the life He has blessed me with.