Happy Halloween!

And that figures...

Two years ago I dressed up for Halloween, as did many faculty/staff from the Ed Dept. Last year I didn't and again many faculty/staff did and they all asked me where my costume was. So... I dressed up again this year and no one else did. There are rumors that one faculty member was going to, but no one's seen her yet.

Ah well. I'm all flowy and angel-like... and I'm in the mood for the Monster Mash.

And tonight I'll be emo/goth girl with my black clothes and super dark make-up. I'm a tour guide again for the Oak Haunted House.

Saturday night is my big Murder Mystery Dinner. I'm super excited about it and I've already started decorating and moving the furniture around. I have my outfit ready and I know what I'm doing with my hair and make-up. My character's name is Moma Rosa and I'm an Italian widow, my husband is the murder victim. Poor Pepi.

Eee! Fun, fun, fun!

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey is looking for a teacher to travel around with them, to be housed on their own private train.

If I was licensed for 1-12 (instead of K-8), I might consider applying. That would be an adventure of a lifetime and a great way to see all 48 continental states.

The hang of it

Thanks largely to an Intermediate Ceramics Student who spent over half an hour walking me through different techniques last Friday... I've finally got the hang of this ceramics thing. And it's about time... over halfway through the semester... geeze! I've made a plate and three cups and three bowls with a bit of flare.

Yay!

Saturday I get to go to a baby shower. Haven't been to one of those in.... years.

Also planning a Murder Mystery Dinner Party for a few friends.

Watching

Ok... so it's a little creepy to open my web browser and be confronted with my own eyeball staring back.

So... time for a new post.

I checked out a 2 bedroom in my apt. I was thinking if I gave up my garage it would only be $40 more than I'm paying now. However, the floor plan was completely whack and my apt is actually much nicer. So that's a BIG NO.

I spent a couple of hours in the ceramics studio yesterday and managed to make a couple of cups (my first). A guy from the intermediate/advanced class helped me out quite a bit - showed me some new centering and opening techniques which made everything so much easier! Yay!

Dog-sitting tonight for Aya's mom. Aya's cousin is getting married.... right about now, and they all went down for that.

Open

My brain is open for business.

Extinction

Aya and I just watched Resident Evil: Extinction. She jumps SO BAD at scary scenes. I might flinch or cringe a bit but she'll jump out of her skin and her jumping scares/startles me more than the movie so that I jump - belatedly. I'm sure we're entertaining to the rest of the theater audience.

On the way home I was trying to remember the first two movies, but I was getting scenes from the two movies all mixed together. Good thing Aya's going to let me borrow her movies.

And no new job for me. At least... not yet.

Getting Better

YAY! I finally had a couple of things come out of the high-fire kiln that don't suck terribly!

My first bowl has a crack in the bottom that goes all the way through, which is sad. I'll have to find something to use it for that doesn't involve liquids of any sort.
From the top:


Pretty color variations... From the side:


My second bowl is purrrrty. It has some minor imperfections in the glaze that you can see up-close. But still... I'm definitely improving.


I love purple and this is kind of a purply-blue with turquoise and black spots. Kinda nifty.

Sweeny Todd

Call me crazy but I'm actually so excited at the prospect of another musical that I don't mind it being about a murderous, demon barber.

I've heard the name Sweeny Todd before, but I never knew who or what it was. Tim Burton is pairing his wife with Johnny Depp again (plus Alan Rickman) in this film version of a musical.

Interesting.

Wedding 2.0

D's brother and sister-in-law took lots of pictures and Aya loaned me the CD's.

Aya's new family:


Wedding ceremony:


The car:


The head table at the reception/dance hall:


Aya and D at the reception/dance hall:


Aya and D's first dance:


Me dancing with a baby:


The garter:

The Wedding

We decorated and had the rehearsal on Friday. This took from 9am - 10:30pm, but the end result was well worth the effort.

I spent almost an hour scrubbing pumpkins/gords:


The church sanctuary:


The center piece on the punch table at the dining hall:


Unfortunately, I misplaced my camera before we decorated the dance hall, so I don't have pictures of those decorations or of the wedding day.

I'm emailing people asking them to send me pics.

I found my camera when I got home from the wedding and took a couple of pics of my hair because it was soooo purty!

From the back (I got to have flowers in my hair!):


From the side:


I'll post more pics as I get them. The actual wedding day lasted from 8am - 2am. But it was SOOO much fun. And I actually did a lot better with my toast than I was expecting. I was terrified to give a speech actually. There were about 200 people there. I've put in a copy of my speech at the end of this post if you're interested in reading it.

I didn't sleep well for a week before the wedding and then worked my bum off for two days. But it was beautiful and fun and I danced and hung out with friends I hadn't seen for quite a while. Aya was a gorgeous bride. The decorations were perfect. It went off without a hitch... well except for the one that was supposed to happen :)

Sunday morning I had brunch with some Res-Life friends and then around noon I dropped off the last of the decorations to Aya. I came home with every intention of taking a well-deserved nap, but I noticed my landlords next door and I brought them over to my apt to see if they could figure out why it's always so hot (between 80-85 degrees on average with the heat turned off). After climbing around in the basement we came back up and my landlord started feeling around for sources of heat. The culprit? My retro-avacado-green fridge. So sad. I fell in love with that thing when I first walked into the apt. Ah well. I now have a newer, white fridge and my apt is already much cooler. Apparently the green beast was running constantly, pumping out all kinds of heat.

I still couldn't sleep Sunday night - was up until 4am. Just couldn't turn off my brain. Finally, last night I took a sleeping pill and got my first good night's sleep in over a week.

And... I woke up to SNOW!


All in all - I had a blast this weekend. I saw old friends, got a new fridge and married off my best bud.

Here's my speech:

Hello there.

Who here remembers the dept store Montgomery Wards? (raising of hands)

Well I'll never forget that store. My first job was working there in the draperies dept. I remember on June 10, 1997 my boss introduced me to a new employee, this mousey, little, blond-headed girl. Yes she's naturally blond. (indignant "Hey!" from Aya)

Now, the draperies dept isn't exactly a hip and happening joint. We were kind of tucked away in this darkened corner of the store. It was actually quite boring., but those of you who know Aya, know how creative she is.

Well, somewhere we both had found these little beanie baby-type toys – hers was a lizard and mine was a turtle. We always left them at the cash register. Well… one day I came in and my turtle was missing. In its place was a hand-written note. This note, in a suspiciously familiar handwriting, (look at Aya) gave me cryptic clues as to where my little turtle was to be found. I spent the first ten minutes of my shift hunting for my turtle. After I found him I decided to return the favor with her lizard. And that was our beginning.

Aya moved up here to MN and less than two years later I followed her. She graduated from college, and a year later I graduated. Aya was the first to get her masters, and in May I'll have mine. She was the first to be employed in career-type job. I'll be seeking permanent employment in May. And now she’s the first to be married. I'm single. If any guys out there are interested - I'll be here all night. (whistles and woots from the audience - *grin*)

Over the last ten years we’ve had quite a few adventures. Some wilder than others. If you're interested in hearing about those come find me.

We’ve helped each other through lots of ups and downs and survived multiple road trips together - which wasn't always easy.

Aya’s more than my best friend. She’s my sister.

Please join me in wishing both Aya and Daryk a life filled with laughter and love.

Cheers!

Out of state

Mom called me yesterday afternoon to let me know that she and Dad made it to Clayton, NM. They were going to try and visit a friend who lives nearby and then head out to Taos. I'm kind of jealous, but not terribly. I have plenty to keep me here busy, but I miss the mountains.

Sharon's knee surgery is today, so my thoughts are with her.

Aya and I start primping this afternoon (she has a manicure scheduled). Decorating the church, dinner hall and reception/dance hall tomorrow. Wedding Saturday. And then....

Sleep.

How do teachers use blogs in their classrooms?

That's the question... That's MY question.

I finally narrowed down my Research Paper topic... thanks to my advisor. I was really struggling with it and I asked her if I could use actual classroom blogs as examples and she said why don't I just interview them and make that the focus of my paper? Well geeeeee that's pretty much awesome. So I get to use real-life/practical applications and mix it in with what the journals and books say should be done. I'm so excited! Woot!

Counting Down

3 days left.

An example of why Get Fuzzy is my #1 comic:



I don't think this one is appropriate for my office door... too bad.

Bustle

Yesterday we ran around like crazy running wedding-errands.

Somehow I was talked into (by 5 other women) trying on a wedding dress. It was gorgeous and it had a train and a bit of a bustle. It was fun to try on, but geeze those things are hot.

Working now, then class then I'm free this afternoon to run MY errands.