5 Things Friday

It's been a while since I've relied on this old chestnut. And 5 hours of sleep make for scattered thoughts...

1--Reading. For school: The Day of the Locust by Nathaniel West
For bedtime: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

2--Eating. Snacks galore when my mama and I watch the University of Nebraska beat the University of Nevada. I've got some mixed loyalties but I was born and raised a Cornhusker.

3--Inhaling. The scent of rain. It rained yesterday for the first time in months. Here at work, the rain came down like it used to in New Orleans. The skies opened up and water spilled out.

4--Debating. Hair, to chop off entirely or just a little? My eternal quandary.

5--Knitting. I'm going to start Secret Project Number Two this weekend because I can't just have only two projects going at one time (Secret Project Number 1 and this poor neglected Daisy scarf). This weekend, I will post a photo of the socks I finished last week.

Have a splendid extended dance remix weekend!

Goodnight, Sweetheart

The world is a'spinning and we're hanging on for dear life. Hubby is up at the crack of dawn and gone before I wake up only to return after I get home. I hope these first few weeks of teaching don't treat him too harshly. I bet it gets easier, Sweetie, really...I bet it does. Despite the fact hubby has every evening off, he is so drained by the end of the day he is in bed as soon as the kid goes to sleep. It's strange being the last one to bed at night. Kidlet is worn out by her own school day so it only takes a half hour to get her to sleep (as opposed to the hour it has been taking the past few weeks). Me, I'm just trying to cobble the remnants together the best I can...household chores, food, yard...I'm sure you know the drill. Add my own scholarly pursuits and work to the mix and wow, no wonder we are exhausted.

I couldn't really tell you how hubby's first days of teaching are going except 'damn, those teachers work hard and deserve waaaaaay more money than they receive.' Kidlet is back at her school and now that it's the actual school, I think it's going really well. As iffy as I was feeling about their 'summer day camp', I'm glad she participated because it gave her a (somewhat) gentle introduction, meeting several of the children in her class as well as her teacher ahead of time. There hasn't been a tear (at least while I've been there) at drop off. There was even a day when she got mad when Nonna came to collect her because she was busy with a friend. I know it's only the first week, but I'm finally feeling positive about the experience (and I'm going to hold it close to my heart, damn it).

Autumn is feeling closer despite the fact it is still a billion degrees during the day and not even cooling down at night like it was a few weeks ago. One of the trees in our neighbor's yard (seen above) changed to yellow overnight and lost most of its leaves. Kidlet gave me one of the dried up leaves and said "Isn't it beautiful? It's for you, Mama." Yes, yes it is. It sits on my desk in front of me, a talisman to bring the new season closer. It's been a hell of a summer.

It's a cloudy morning and I'm loving it. Just had to tell you.

Vacation-Go-Round

Well folks, I'm back. I had a mini-vacation. Six days! Can you believe it? Amazingly, I feel somewhat refreshed despite the fact that everything is ramped up to DEFCON 2 stress levels. Hubby starts his very first day of teaching sophmores today (woo hoo)! Kidlet goes back to school! Somehow I missed the line in the school paperwork that stated she only has a half day today so today is a big race from home to school to work to school to home to Nonna to work again. Oh joy! But that's today. I've got other stuff to relate.

I discovered that if I didn't work, I wouldn't blog or flickr. I don't know if blogging/flickring is a way to remind me that "yes, I can be creative" with the very limited amount of time I have when I'm working, but I had little desire to do either during the past week and it was wonderful. Since I had time, I wanted to do more 'real life' projects like actually print my photos to put around the house (except for the fact I lost the battle with my printer). I went to the state fair and saw the 'creative living' competitions and thought, "i need to enter some stuff. i can do this." I finished the purple socks and started on another (super secret) project. I've got a billion ideas swimming around in my head. I'm mentally prepared for the fall postcard swap. I love recharging the creative batteries.

I got a ton of schoolwork done too, in between trips to the mountain lake, the fair, and eating ice cream. However, last night I had the dreadful realization that instead of the 8 classes I thought I had left for my BA, I have more like 13 classes. That was a big blow. At the rate I'm going, I'll be done in 7 years. Yeah. And that doesn't even include the master's degree I have planned for myself. I'll keep plugging away for now since I only have about a month left with this class and then I won't need to do anything but create(!) until January. Maybe I need to rethink all this and go with plan B or C. Then again, if I quit school then I definitely will never finish. Better to keep on keeping on and finish someday in the distant future, right? Right? I still don't regret dropping out and living the wild life in New Orleans when I was 21. But it sure was easier to take 4 and 5 classes at a time when I was a kid instead of now when I have a kid and work full time.

Ok, that was a big ramble. But that's what you come here for, right? Right? Big hugs to you all and now it's off to catch up with you here in Virtual Land.

Just a moment

Gliding down the freeway: windows open, cool breeze. Mind riding with Brubeck's piano. Taking stock of my New Year's resolutions and I sit up straighter. I simplify where I can. Dreaming of next week, only one day of work. Old fashioned chocolate cake to make, lakes to visit, cotton candy hands. I take pictures with my mind. Wondering if I'll be able to come back and actually use my camera. Nope. The moment is fleeting.

Just pretend

By not blogging, I think I'm somehow pretending I'm away on an extended vacation spending lots of time sitting next to a sparkling body of water, digging my toes into the sand while working on a happy crafty project, eating yummy food while having a glass of wine, and reading good books. In Realityland, I will be taking a few days off next week to watch Kidlet before her two week school break ends, but any travel will be daytrippish. The state fair will be starting and I will take the opportunity of being able to go in the daytime, before all the questionable crowds come out for the rides at night. A trip to mountain lake. A trip to desert lake. And a bunch of schoolwork. No, we cannot write a post without mentioning my arch nemesis, schoolwork. But I'm looking forward to it (minus the schoolwork), as short as that time off may be.

So I think I may continue this blogging vacation for now. Maybe I'll feel refreshed if I stay away. Maybe I'll shut off my computer (except for schoolwork) next week when I'm off. Ha ha ha! Good one. I'm such an addict to the internet but one can dream, eh?

The cool of the morning

I was instantly transported when I poked my head out the back door this morning. There was a certain amount of dampness in the air.* I remembered being in Omaha and going on a field trip with my school to see...a train? I remember the train depot, but I don't know if that was what we were really going to see. But the air. It smelled exactly the same as it did that morning 30 years ago. Fresh. Slightly chilled. And I could even feel the electricity of being away from school with all my classmates. Wonderful.

*Ummm, said dampness would not be caused by me leaving the soaker hose on ALL DAY. Yeah.

The last of the summer swap...

From Ali. Yes, I've had this lovely all to myself for about a month. I guess I didn't want the swap to end and I knew that as soon as I posted the last card it would be over. Thank you, Ali, for such a gorgeous card! Each one she made was so unique and full of care.

I hemmed and hawed and then happily said "yes!" I've joined the fall swap! I don't think I could do the more complicated knitty-sewing-megagoodie bag swaps because, well, it takes me at least 6 months to knit a pair of socks. But this, it is small and can be as complicated or as simple as one chooses to make it. I've got ideas a'brewin' in my head already. What makes you think of fall? Or are you not ready for fall yet?

And back to our regularly scheduled program of kvetching and dreaming of finding enough time in the day to finish knitting a pair of socks

Something has been bugging me hence, an apology

I had a sudden realization the other day and I hope I haven't inadvertently offended anyone. I realized I've been lax about giving credit where credit is due. I can blame it on my hazy state of morning blogging, I can blame it on the state of my overworked brain, but I wanted to say I am sorry if I haven't been making it crystal clear if a photo was not mine. Photos that show up when you come to the blog are mine, taken by my camera (of which I'm not really fond...shhh...don't tell). Links may take you to flickr where it usually will be someone else's photo (and you would be able to see that from the account icon in the upper right hand corner of the page). No one has contacted me stating that I was not making this clear but I realized I had a couple of recent posts that may have been construed as "attribution hazy" as some links were to photos I took and some were not. I have since edited these posts.

Again, terribly sorry. Let's make tea and cookies.

Inspired...

Madre Adoptiva just recently came back from a Sun Dance in Oregon. Reading her blog, talking to her, as well as reading Fools Crow has been getting me thinking about my own (tiny, but hopefully growing) spiritual life, nature, and people in 'civilization'. These things have been stewing for quite a while but have really come to a head for me in the past week. I don't want to leave people with a rant about civilization so I'll just say I think the time has finally come for me to start a meditation practice, renew my efforts to be more kind and understanding, and hopefully get out in nature more often. Sadly, my weekend is already lining up to be full of 'civilzation'. Bleh. I hope yours is filled with juicy, red tomatoes, blazingly bright sunflowers, and dips in cold lakes.