Head colds and rocking chairs

I'm sick again.

I don't know what the deal is, but I've just been walloped the last few weeks with one illness after another. I assume my current levels of stress and lack of sleep probably have something to do with it. But if this is the way cold and flu season is stacking up, I'm totally screwed!

Clearly the next logical option...

Fall quarter is just around the corner for me, and I'm experiencing this weird combination of being excited and nauseatingly stressed about it. On the one hand, I'm the nerd that likes school and learning and challenging myself academically. On the other hand, I have enough going on right now that adding one more thing makes my brain hurt.

But I just need to keep plugging away at it. So close to being done, can't crap out now.

On the plus side, potty training has been going well. Monkey is managing to stay dry most of the time, and likes the reward of getting to pick out what color M&M he wants after a successful "go". Poops are still a solely-in-the-diaper thing, but I figure I'll address one battle at a time.

The end of the diaper era is nigh!

We went up to see the house this weekend. Seeing as how we live so far away right now, I'm not up in Cheyenne very often, and therefore hadn't seen the house in person in probably three weeks or so. It was very cool! The drywall is up, and most of the mudding and taping was done. The siding had also been started too. It looks so much more like an actual house now, rather than just some generic construction site, it was hard not to get all giddy about it. We're a month (ish) away from realizing our dream!

My favorite part of the house so far? As random as it sounds, it's the front porch.

It's huge! And it's just so pretty. And the way it is situated, it's almost totally blocked from the wind, so we'll actually be able to sit out there and enjoy it.

I'm very much looking forward to sitting on my giant porch in my cute little rocking chair with a cup o' tea and a good book. Because clearly I'm almost-30 going on almost-70...

Exactly

So I'm trying a new recipe tonight, and I'm a little concerned. It's the first meal that has sounded good to me in a few days. And that's the issue. See, when I'm sick, my tastes are usually pretty out of whack, so the fact that this recipe sounds really yummy to me makes me worried that it will actually taste like the feet of 18 dead frogs. (Nice visual, eh?)

We'll see. If it's yummy, I'll share it on here. If not, we'll just pretend we never had this conversation.

Sociology of Marvin the Martian

My textbooks came today.

*dunh dunh dunh*

Yep. Fall quarter is officially just around the corner. Slightly over three weeks away.

I can feel it lurking, staring at me, daring me to once again maintain my 3.9 GPA and my sanity simultaneously.

It's not an easy feat, and thus far I've done... well, not too bad overall. Oceanography nearly killed me, but that was awhile ago, and the scars are finally beginning to fade.

Too dramatic, you say?

I assure you, it's not. That class was brutal. I swear it left me with a limp.

Anyway, this is my LAST fall quarter ever! Well, unless I go to grad school. But right now the thought makes me gag slightly, so I'll put a pin in it until... indefinitely...

So yes, Last Fall Quarter.

This is quite possibly my last "not scary" quarter. Winter will be when I laughingly try to juggle an extra course load, and Spring is when I'll be doing my utterly terrifying degree capstone.

This quarter I'm taking Intro to Philosophy, because I love nothing more than blithering on about metaphysical nonsense, and Sociology of the Family, because it genuinely sounded interesting (and the other sociology class I wanted ended up being canceled for this quarter, so plan B).

My main stress for this quarter (besides the "new class" jitters) is the fact that I will be moving right in the middle of it. Which means that I'll need to arrange internet service before we're even in the house, because I will absolutely not be able to wait two weeks or, god forbid, have to attempt dial-up or DSL! It also means that I'll have to do all of my assignments while also packing, loading, and unpacking my entire life, once again.

Le sigh.

I swear, somewhere inside my brain is a tiny little sadist...

Or just him...

Spring breaking

So the Easter food coma is subsiding, and the kids' Spring Break is in full swing. We have a busy week ahead of us, between movie marathons, game nights, play dates, sleepovers, bike riding, and maybe a hike or two if the weather holds. It seems to be that any break from school is the time when every parent tries to cram in as much stuff as possible that there otherwise isn't enough time for during the school year.

It can get a little crazy...

But it should still be fun. The kids are enjoying their break so far, and I'm enjoying not doing the crazy School Morning Marathon. The irony is that so far this week hasn't exactly been any slower or more relaxed than a regular school week, but isn't that the way of it?

Most nights so far we've been playing Wii sports, and suffice it to say, it's a little demoralizing when your elementary-aged children whoop you at bowling. Like, badly. Really badly. Sigh...

Monday I took the kids to the library, where I got my littlest guy his very first library card! It has a picture of a sailing bear on it, so apparently that's pretty much the coolest thing in the world when you are almost 3. Mental note.

We roamed the library for about an hour. My youngest quickly picked out three books. Two that had machines on them, and one that had a bear that matched the bear on his library card and was therefore a clear must-have.

My daughter was a little harder to please. She had a few very specific books in mind, but all but one of them were already checked out, which bummer her out. I persuaded her to try some Baby-Sitter's Club books, since I loved them as a kid and so far she's liked the books I've recommended to her (Beverly Cleary is godlike in this house!)

My oldest son had the hardest time out of the three, because... well, because quite frankly, he's read everything. He reads well above his age group, so all the books that are supposed to be at his level are way too young for him, and it seems like all of the books that are more challenging yet still age appropriate he already owns or has at least read. So we wandered awhile until we found one of the books in a series that he started reading at school. The book is probably close to 300 pages, but I bet he'll finish it in a few days. He's a book-eater, that kid. After finding that book, we pretty much struck out in the fiction section, so I brought him into the history section to scope out some books on Ancient Greece or Rome or Egypt or something like that, since he loves all of that. He ended up picking one about "heroic" people throughout history- men and women who changed the world in one way or another, like Dr. King, Helen Keller, Alexander Fleming (the guy who discovered penicillin), people like that. And it goes throughout history, not just modern times. And it's also a gigantic book, but again, he'll probably have it done within a week. That's my boy!

Yesterday we were supposed to have a Harry Potter marathon, but those plans were ruined by some unexpected errands that had to be run and ended up taking all freaking day, so we've pushed back the marathon until tomorrow.

Today, a friend of mine is coming over with her two youngest boys, one of whom is my oldest's best friend, and the kids are going to run amuck on our trampoline and jungle gym while us ladies chit chat. It should be fun! We haven't gotten to really see each other much lately, and the boys are in two different classes with two totally different schedules and they never see each other anymore either, so us two moms decided to carve out some spring break time for all involved.

Of course, this means I need to go get my house all spiffed up. Like, now. 

*Update* So for some reason this wouldn't publish earlier today, and so now it's a little out of date! My friend and I had a lovely visit while our kids all ran around causing chaos, and after they went home The Husband and I went out and tilled up some of the garden beds and got our corn planted. It's supposed to rain for the next few days, so the rest of the planting will have to wait, but the corn was the priority for now, so... success!

Artsy-Fartsy

So as of two days ago I am officially done with winter quarter!

WHOOHOO!!!

Now I get three weeks off before jumping into another round of crazy.

And so far I'm loving it!

Yesterday I did... well, pretty much nothing. I mean, I did my standard cleaning and housewifery requirements, but beyond that? I pretty much sat on my rear end and cross-stitched. I didn't sleep worth crap the night before, and was therefore pretty much a zombie.

A crafting zombie, mind you.

I grew up in an artsy-craftsy family. Quilting and crocheting and sewing and cross-stitching and embroidery and scrapbooking and ornaments and jewelry and stained glass and painting and all that brouhaha.

And I inherited? Very little of that natural talent.

I can sew.

Ish.

I mean, not in a straight line by any means. And I've pretty much only made napkins at this point. But my goal is to be able to make curtains for my living and dining rooms one day, to make tablecloths and napkins for the various holidays, to be able to make at least a basic block quilt, and to one day, if I'm brave enough, maybe sew a summer dress or something.

For now I stick with slightly crooked napkins.

I also want to learn to crochet. But I don't yet have the patience, so that's on the back burner for the foreseeable future.

BUT!!!

I can cross-stitch.

I mean, anyone can cross-stitch, so it's not like I'm gifted or anything remotely resembling talented.

(And I still can't do French knots to save my life, which irritates me greatly)

But I enjoy cross-stitching. There is something soothing for me in the rhythm and pattern of all those bloody x's. For some people it makes them crazy, but for me it's almost zen-like.

This is one I did a few years ago, when I first got back into cross-stitching as an adult. I love the saying, and use it regularly, so finding it in a cross-stitch pattern was serendipitous I guess!

First time out of the gate

After completing that (quite easy) one, I moved on to a slightly significantly more challenging pattern. Because, you know, why start slow when you can jump from zero to 60, right?!?

My most recently completed one

This one took me a long time to finish, because I ended up putting it down for a couple of years out of frustration (that whole zero to 60 thing). But I picked it up again last spring and just slogged through it, and now it's hanging in my hallway in a pretty black frame.

Now I'm working on this one.

Current project...

Needless to say it's going to take me awhile. My goal was to have the main stitching done by the time spring quarter starts, but I think that may be an unrealistic goal, as right now I only have the pink butterfly, the big white flower, and the little flower above it (and the leaves) done.

Because clearly doing things that are less complex isn't really my style!

After I complete this one, I have a really cool pattern that The Husband's coworker gave me. She actually designed it years ago when she lived in the UK, and usually sells them, but since I'm so awesome she gave it to me for free.

It's a map of Ireland, England, and Scotland, and it's really pretty. The entire pattern is in blues and greens and white, but she includes red thread so you can stitch in your own path when you visit over there, which I thought was a really cool touch.

When I finally go, I will be sure to map out my journey on my cross-stitch pattern!

Back in the saddle again

Hiddely-ho internets! It's been awhile... But I'm back, bitches!

I had a blog many moons ago, back when blogging was less mainstream and more...

*gulp*

... hipster-y...

I know, the horror!

But then in a fit of writer's block and doldrums I erased it (three years of work!) and never looked back.

Until recently, that is, when I realized that I needed a creative outlet again. A way to express my constant, rambling dialogue that goes on my harried little brain. And so, here I am!

Don't really know what more to say. I don't really have a specific "plan" for the blog, per se. I know many people start out with the intent of "I'm going to write a travel blog", or "I'm going to show of my culinary masterpieces", or "I just really like pictures of cats"... but that's not me. I'll talk about many things on here, most of which will likely seem hilarious or culturally relevant to me and be nothing more than a *headscratch* and *facepalm* to others, but that's okay!

I'll talk about parenting and vegetarian cooking and my sad attempts at getting any of my work published (I know, a blogger who is an aspiring writer...SHOCKER!!!). I live in the Seattle area, so I'll toss in some Emerald City love here and there. I'm a student, so there will be venting and swearing during midterms and finals. I also love hiking and road trips and books, so I'm sure I'll throw a few of those in there from time to time to mix it up.

But basically, as with most things in my life, I'm just going to wing it and hope for the best!

And away we go...