If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

A customer used the drive through at a Starbucks in Moline over the weekend. That person paid for his or her drink and the order of the person in the next car. That started a chain reaction of people paying for the next customer’s drinks.

Before it was all over, 160 customers took part.

I Stumbled upon this story, and while it is very nice that 160 people got free drinks and good feelings, what the heck was happening with the 160th person who didn’t pay it forward?

For me, that would be the real story. Someone who simply said, “Cool! Free drink!” and left it at that? Someone who was scrabbling for change to pay for a simple short coffee and who really needed the money? If so, why were they at Starbucks? A complete jerk who could care less about breaking the chain?

8 Comments »

I’ve never been all that into watching YouTube videos, but I’ve seen the light. I LOVE how you can type in the name of a stitch that you need to learn (today it’s a ladder stitch) and a nifty demonstration comes right up. Bless these people for doing this!

I’ve made another cat. Once again, it made my family laugh. That is my criteria to judge whether it is a good cat or not. I intend to be a cat lady of sorts, it seems. I’ll post a photo of that one once it has clothes. Right now, we are in cat body assembly line mode. Sage gets paid $2 to turn and stuff the arms and legs. Nothing like having a bit of child labor at your disposal…

I’ve also made a couple of other things. Another bag…

It is made out of some 60’s vintage fabric that I purchased on eBay a few years ago, some fabric I bought in Mexico ten years ago and yet more fabric that I scored at an Austin thrift store. It’s about time I started using some of my stash!

I also bought some more Amy Butler fat quarters and made this little crochet hook organizer. I can never keep track of my hooks, in part because I keep giving them away to people I have taught to crochet. (Hurricane refugees, students.) Now I can tell if I’m missing one in a particular size. By the way, does anyone else think that this fabric looks like the Internet?

I found something pretty amazing in American Craft magazine. One of those things that I absolutely wish I had thought up myself, because it’s totally up my alley. I found a link to it–just click on the photo to read about it. Unfortunately, the photo is too small to do the work justice. The entire background of this work is made of tiny baby dolls. Seeing this just hit me in the gut…

The artist is Gyongy Laky.

On another note, we watched Inside Man last night. We’re still catching up on movies we haven’t seen… What a cast. What creativity. What cool film noir tweaks. I absolutely loved this song, also used in the Bollywood movie Dil Se. (Here’s another reason I’m loving YouTube…)

I am just now realizing that quite a bit of Indian music has that Eastern sound that I had thought was only associated with the Middle East specifically. What a pleasant surprise!

5 Comments »

I dunno. Alarmed kitty? Melancholy kitty? Prozac kitty? Her look seems to change depending on what she is wearing and the situation in which she finds herself.

Here she is, just born. Sage stuffed the legs.

Here she is with her new dress.

She looks a bit alarmed, and there is a reason for that. In our house resides a kitty purchased by my mother specifically to be chewed on by the dog! As a result, he has become quite the bully. (Photo setup by Sage.)

Fortunately, she also has some peaceful times in the garden, although I’m not so sure she likes being up that high…

Update: I got carried away and decided to make her a tote bag to carry as well. The inside fabric matches the dress, and the outside has one of my crocheted flowers with a bead in the middle.

4 Comments »

It’s been far too long since I’ve found an incredibly awesome blog. I was at BlogPulse looking at craft trends (dollmaking in particular) and I found Du Bah Du Designs. Tell me, have you ever seen a doll this divine?

Also, I have to mention that this site caused me to bounce over to iTunes and download the stuff from her playlist. This is the first blog, EVER, that I have not immediately left upon hearing music. In fact, Sage passed through the room and commented on how beautiful it was.

She’s also posted some great photos of Portland, which is nice, since Sky hasn’t sent me any lately! It’s nice to have a visual…

I’m now starting to get Kelvin’s bug to make 3-D creatures, although mine don’t talk. The thing I’m into is cats. Some of you may remember Nervous Kitty and Mad Kitty, from years ago. Unfortunately, due to deleted blogs, photos that weren’t backed up and stolen computers, I no longer have a photo of either. Sage has Mad Kitty in his room, but I am too lazy to take a pic of the poor battered thing.

At any rate, I’ve set up a cat production center in the back room of my house. I bought a cutting mat and rotary cutter, which has helped me standardize the pattern and get things exact. I also ordered some American Girl patterns (I can’t stand that doll) to work off of in terms of making some basic trousers and shirts for it.

I did take a couple of photos of the bag I sewed at a sewing workshop that I went to on Monday. It was so easy to make, and I learned a couple of tricks. Here it is. You can see the dust on the piano and the fingerprints on the door as well. It has some pockets on the inside. I made it out of a total of six fat quarters. The fabric is Amy Butler. We finally have a little bit of trendy style in this small town!

Obviously, the photos leave something to be desired. As I finish cats, I am going to have to learn some serious tricks. Hopefully, I should have some cat photos up by Monday, bad or good.

And do check out that blog–I have it open listening to The Forgotten People by Thievery Corporation right now. Nice.

2 Comments »

2 Comments »

I’ve almost cried once today. And I actually did cry before that. It’s been such a roller-coaster of a day.

The first thing that happened was that Sage was getting an award at school today (for music!) and I had to work. I did walk over to his school to drop off some goodies for the class, and when I saw the other parents filing into the auditorium, I just totally choked up, because I wanted to be there instead of at work.

One of our instructional aides saw the tears in my eyes when I got back and asked what was wrong. I told her and she got someone to cover my class. So I walked back over there and got to see my kiddo get his award!

I ended up telling my students about this experience–how very difficult it is to be both the parent you want to be and do the job you want to do. Some of my students take parenthood lightly, so I suppose I was hoping to convey how darn important it really is. Several of my students shared with me that they had never gotten an award. That made me so sad, because while watching the award ceremony, I noticed that the students who received the most awards were those who parents are pretty active in the school, so I know those students are very supported. My students should get awards for surviving hellish upbringings and neighborhoods without being incarcerated (at present, anyway).

Sage also got “commended” on our state standardized test in writing. Although I’m not a fan of standardized tests, this meant a lot to me, because after seven years, Sage just got out of the special education program for speech/language. When he was struggling, he never got awards or recognition, and it seemed that he was overlooked because of his disability. I used to feel so angry about that.

The guy came to fix our washing machine, which had a broken lid switch. Greg was at home, and called me this afternoon to let me know how much it cost. It was $130 for 15 minutes work and an eighteen dollar part. I told my students about this as well. They need to give this guy some competition so that prices will go down a bit! For a moment, I wondered why I didn’t go into appliance repair.

Here’s the reason, and the reason I almost started crying again. School’s about out, and I was telling my students how much I enjoyed this year, and had really been enjoying this class in particular. I said, “I really like yall”!

Well, this one student I have, who has been challenging to say the very least, not to mention rude, disruptive and a host of other bad behaviors, said, “I like you too Miss.”

And that meant the whole world to me.

Seeing that kiddo (and others) learn manners and exhibit a desire to learn over the past few months has been amazing. He hasn’t been the only one. One of my juniors told me that she had been paying close attention to my World Geography class all year, and that she had never learned so much in a class in her entire life. Kids gave me email addresses, phone numbers and promises to stay in touch.

Unlike working with washing machines, with kiddos it’s really hard to let go sometimes.

5 Comments »

Here’s the thing. I really don’t get the point of Memorial Day in this country. We are typically off from work, unless we work in an industry that sells something that can go on sale on Memorial Day of course.

We cook out, camp out and shop our hearts out. What we don’t seem to do is honor any of the people who sacrificed their lives for our country or their families either, for that matter.

I think Memorial Day needs to be an IN YOUR FACE sort of holiday. As in, PEOPLE DIE IN WARS, AND WE ARE GOING TO TAKE AN ENTIRE DAY OFF FROM WORK TO ACKNOWLEDGE THIS SAD, SAD FACT.

If we can’t do that, then the heck with it. We can call the holiday something else, like National Day of Shopping. Let’s be honest with ourselves, at the very least.

3 Comments »

I’ve been thinking about how a lot of pregnancies are due to “alpha males” spreading their genetic material around. As for the women, surely it is an expression of our genes that we so frequently choose to procreate with men who offer little hope of security for the family. An Oxford study done in 2004 suggests that there are over 14 million people who are descendants of Genghis Khan, perhaps the most alpha male of them all. So what do you think? I think that beta males are easier to live with, and make better friends and life partners. And no, I’m not pregnant.

I’ve been fighting off a yukky cold for the past three days. I’m hoping I’m over it before school begins again on Tuesday. At that point, there will be three and a half days left. I’m really going to miss my kiddos. But…I’ve already started making plans to keep myself (and Sage) busy this summer. The first thing I’m doing is taking a sewing class downtown at a new fabric shop that I just adore. I’m going to hone my skills and get really crafty again. (I’ll have to seriously limit computer time–I’m so addicted to StumbleUpon!)

Today, Greg did the grocery shopping. He called me from the store six times. But Sage was feverish (same cold) and it was nice not to go. He brought home some raspberries and tulips. The raspberries are sooo gone.

I’ve started a pattern of downloading new music every weekend. Today it was Bill Evans both because he reminds me of shopping in Neiman Marcus and because of course we need a wide variety of piano music in the house. Oh, and I like jazz.

My next project is going to be to make this cute fabric bowl. I’ve got the perfect fabric for it…Gotta finish the hubcap clocks first, though.

The cake I made last week? Everyone who tried it said that it was the best cake they’d ever had. Seriously. The staff kept finding excuses to come by my room after they heard about it, and the kids raved about it, which is unusual for a group of tough guys. The recipe is a keeper for sure. It’s easy too. For the frosting, I simply made a ganache, beat it up and added powdered sugar until it was the consistency I wanted. It will be making an appearance at our end of the year potluck, sans truck.

Speaking of trucks, my kiddos are seriously into fixing up their cars with expensive rims and all that. It seems that many Mexicans approach cars the same way some approach building a house–get something cool and affordable, and then fix it up as you get the money. It’s a great way to do things–if I didn’t think so, I wouldn’t have my house…ha! I’ve been referred to a man named Nacho, who can give my minivan a candy coat, rims and replace the falling crap on the ceiling with a lizard print if I’d like. I’m seriously tempted. It would be more fun to have a pink tricked out minivan than a boring newish car in my price range…

Missing the lowrider shows in Austin…

1 Comment »

Sage and I had a blast making this cake. The cake itself is very chocolaty, as you can tell from this prizewinning recipe. The frosting is a ganache that I whipped up with some powdered sugar. I saved some of the original stuff for the mud puddles. The sprinkles are cows, which I thought was appropriate, because these country boys around here are always hitting them with their trucks.

The cake is for a student of mine who is turning 18 tomorrow, although he has had to grow up pretty fast, as he lost both of his parents this past year. He’s been spending a lot of time looking for a new truck, hence the truck idea, which is also partly the fault of a cake I saw on Cakewrecks.com becoming part of my subconscious cake library…

We almost went with a Lego truck, but decided the monster truck would do just fine (and wouldn’t need to be put together at the last minute.)

I’m counting down the days until school ends. At this point it is eight days. I really don’t know why I am doing this, because I have been enjoying being there, especially lately. I’m on some sort of creative roll, and I have a class that has really bonded and become a “community.”

I found this flower, which is on a big ole weed, when we were out walking the other day. I’ve never seen anything quite like it, and the plant looked like a dandelion plant–but wasn’t.

We had a blast this weekend hanging out with Greg’s cousin Sherylyn from Idaho. Frankly, she’s the first person in his family that I’ve clicked with. We went out to eat together tonight, and I’m sad that she’s going back to Idaho on Wednesday. I don’t feel that “click” feeling all that often around here, so when I meet someone cool, I really appreciate it.

I found this picture, quite possibly on Apartment Therapy, but I’m not sure. At any rate, I’d love for my bedroom to pretty much look exactly like this one.

Sage is doing excellent with the piano. He’s adding his own little bits, experimenting with songs done in different scales and all that. He picked it up really fast. I downloaded a LOT of music this weekend for him. I really believe that he is going to become a musician. He already is! While I was doing all of this downloading, I found Dengue Fever, a Cambodian band from LA that really rocks. I also downloaded a lot of jazz piano and “Play that Funky Music White Boy.” You know, cuz I got to keep it real.

I don’t know about you all, but I am really hating politics/the world situation right now. I think we should all work on saving our country and ourselves (for starters) by overwhelming the corporate “governments” with our farmer’s markets and other local endeavors. Here is a very inspiring article on that very topic: How Local Self Reliance Will Overthrow the System. I think the time is finally right for people to finally start pulling together in this direction. People are feelin’ that there aren’t any local jobs, you know?

Can’t wait to have chickens again!

5 Comments »

A few minutes ago, I rescued this ladybug from a bucket of some sort of sludge that Greg has left in the front flowerbed. She’s relieved to be on some lemon balm, I think!

I bought another new plant this weekend and then forgot the name of it. We are going to be overrun with plants. This one will be living in my already-crowded classroom window during the winter. It is starting to look like a greenhouse in there, since my sunny classroom is the perfect place to winter plants, especially when there are so many helpful hands.

I found an unexpected bunch of flowers when I opened up the crisper and found these had been growing on the bok choy…in the dark of all things. Who knew?

The rest of the weekend has been really relaxing. We played Monopoly, and although I tried to teach Sage to be ruthless and make deals with me to get Greg out of the game, he sold Greg a property because otherwise, “it wouldn’t be fair”. What a sweetie!

Sage and I made origami boxes, and we were working together on making peace cranes, and HE ended up showing ME how to do it. So when my child can follow a tutorial better than I can, I guess I can stop worrying about comprehension problems. We found some great video tutorials and animated tutorials on Wonder How To.

We also made a bracelet for him. It is silver two letters on a black rubber bracelet. They say, “HA”. It stands for “Homework” and “Agenda”, because he needed a visual reminder. No one has to know that, though. It just looks cool.

I got my Mother’s Day gifts early. Sage was pretty much dancing up and down until I opened my gifts, which he was responsible for telling Greg I wanted. I got some lovely earrings, some chocolate and a gift certificate for a mani/pedi.

My own mom has taken off gambling in Louisiana, so I’ll have to wait until she gets back to give her my gift, which she’ll probably find a reason to return, because that’s how she rolls.

We found an awesome new store downtown. It’s a hippie/new age kind of joint, and I spent a ridiculous amount of money on a huge Tibetian singing bowl, because the tone relaxes me like a drug. I don’t have it yet, because it’s on layaway–remember that? I got to play a didgeridoo, and was told I have natural talent at it. Who’d have thunk? It was soooo fun! Greg had to drag both Sage and me out of there. We would have stayed all day.

I made a frittata for breakfast, we ate green tea ice cream for lunch, and there’s a roast cooking for dinner. I’m almost done with the laundry. Life is good.

However, I am too fat. I gained almost all my weight back! I saw my aunt and uncle for the first time in forever, and I won’t post the photo because I look so BIG. That’s the same reason there is no photo of me wearing my new earrings, either. This summer, Sage and I are going to be working it at the rec center. Part of the reason I fell of my low-carb thing is because of sites like foodgawker. Seriously. Just type in broccoli. Or chocolate. Or blueberries.

Moving right along, the previous week was good too. I taught two students to crochet, and four how to play chess. We’re having a chess tournament next week! My students are really bonded, and are disappointed that they can’t come back next year, which is weird since I work at the disciplinary alternative school. Anyway, I’m hoping that this week is just as good–three more weeks left and we’re outta there!

Upcoming things…working late every Wednesday to make up hours for a holiday that my district wasn’t supposed to have, Boy Scouts, piano practice for Sage, dermatologist appointment for Sage (wart, moles, rash), Sage’s school play, Sage’s piano recital…it’s going to be a busy busy couple of weeks!

The last day of school? I have a massage scheduled.

4 Comments »