FeeL Good Inc.

Presently in love with these things:

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. Pure goodness. Must have been a hippie in a previous life. They make me soooooo very happy.

Also, this book:

More on my fragmented happy list:

the series finale of LOST!!! very soon.

the season in general. crab-apple blossoms, caterpillars, bohemian sandals.

long days. warm nights. a three-day weekend coming up.

Sunshine.

exploring insects with a new set of eyes... the joys of a kindergarten classroom.

the thought of my cousin's wedding. rocky mountains. hot springs. photography heaven.

the glimpse of my scrap supplies every morning - the thought that today might be the day i attack my stash again.

a trip to ikea, soon. watching sarah richardson every morning before i leave for work with my giant coffee mug. the discovery of this and this. wonderful. like having a scrapbooking page on your wall :)

the excitement of a hockey-loving school and town (and boyfriend, of course). never thought i'd become a fan, but turns out the habs are that much more entertaining when it's the playoffs.

5-fit. lifting heavy mo-fo weights and feeling proud.

browsing teacher art blogs like this and this. making templates for the kids. am i a geek or what?

inside jokes. safe havens. letting down my hair and all the rest at the end of the day. the joys of being cared for when i'm sick and yucky.

that is all for now. cheers maties.

xo

Circus Birthday

We were here on Saturday. Great, great show, I must say. It was my mom's surprise birthday present, although I have a sneaking suspicion that she knew all along. I was surprised that the boys (my dad and bro anyways) wanted to tag along, but they actually had their minds blown by the whole of it, me thinks. There was some stellar acts, and the costumes and set design were out of this world. I highly recommend it to anyone in town.

The whole day was mom-centered. We made her brunch in the morning, then saw the show, then went out for dinner, and came back home for cake. I think she was happy with her double-whammy birthday/mother's day weekend. I hope so at least. It's hard to live up to her birthday party planning legacy. But I'd like to think I came close.

On another brain wave.... less than six weeks left before the end of the year and my big trip to BC for my cousin's wedding!! As grateful as I am for the experience I've had this year, I'll be looking forward to the break to recharge my batteries and do some more me-centric sort of activities. Instead of making portfolios for all my students, for example, I might get back into scrapbooking on a regular basis.... one can still dream.... I've been told by colleagues that this is a normal part of the year - feeling completely fed up and exhausted and such - so I'm trying to go with it. I still love my group but I'm so sick of having to make and plan everything from scratch day in and day out. It's hard to understand unless you're a teacher I suppose. It's just that the work never ends; it always comes home. I guess this year's been about learning to set boundaries and accepting to go with the flow a little more, or else I would have absolutely no life. I'm a little discouraged that this might get worse in the older grades with a larger class size, but I'm trying to not let it get to me too much. I think overall it's been a super positive experience and I've learned a lot - professionally, socially and personally. Can't complain, really.

Okay, well I've got a date with the BF and some Smallville to catch up on. Gotta love the cheesy goodness of the Kents. Come on now. Cheers.

Happy Birthday Mom

So, haven't been blogging... my priorities lie elsewhere at the moment and that's okay... although I would like to get back into the groove soon. I just stopped on quickly to share this little clip I made for my mom's birthday. Although it's annoying, you'll have to pause my playlist while listening. Cheers!

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Easter and such

Hello world - enjoying the glorious long weekend? I know I am. It feels so good to have four consecutive days off.

I feel like today I might get back into the scrapbooking groove. I've been completely uninspired the last little while. I think it's because I've been feeling cluttering and disorganized. And my basement is so damp and dark right now (due to Spring in general, and also because new lighting is going up). But today... I feel a change coming. I hope I will make something before our Easter dinner.

I have been preparing an Easter egg hunt! I know I am a big geek, but it's soooo entertaining! I think of all kinds of random/witty clues and send my family on a treasure hunt. Their prize is probably going to be lotto tickets. Gotta get on that before dinner as well. I am trying to build and keep up traditions other than just sitting down to eat supper. Yes, that's nice, but I like to have something more as well. Just because we don't have any kids in the family at the moment doesn't mean that we can't do something creative. I just might encourage everyone to decorate eggs this evening as well. We'll see. I feel like I'm prepping an activity for my class or something, it's funny.

Yesterday we took a trip to Plattsburgh. It was the perfect day all around. The weather was summer-like. The shopping deals were superb. The highly anticipated trip to Applebee's did not disappoint (except for my mom, who claimed she was sick of eating there). After searching many stores and debating long and hard over bedding choices, Pat and I finally found "the" set. It was the last one we looked at and we weren't expecting anything great. But alas, Ty Pennington saved the day. It's purdy, ain't it?!

It's a little hard to see the detail from this photo, but I assure you it is even nicer IRL. Also, we got a very good bargain. It would have cost 500$ plus here for the entire set, but we got it for much, much less. We did get hit with a large sum of duty, but it was still worth it.

The condo/house hunt continues as well, but I'm pacing myself a bit more. It's easy to get lost on the net for hours, but it's no good for my back/posture. I've discovered that I get a lot of tension headaches for not taking down time when my body is asking for it. I'm learning how to do that now, with help from Pat. It feels good to respect the little signs that I often take for granted. Trying to be more aware of the little things that accumulate into so much baggage.

Alright, well I'm gonna go enjoy the sunshine and get ready for the family dinner. Enjoy!

a poem for a year

one year ago we lost you in the early morning hours
funny how time can project so far forward and yet fold in on itself
all in one breath; one thought
one raw emotion.

looking back at a blur that was
that nearly consumed us
i'm struck by your fearlessness in the face of it all
despite the haze, the drugs, the pain
your essence was altogether coherent.
constant.

stubborn, unyielding, as was your way
you clung to us - to life
in those last hours
until finally returning to
the salt of the earth.

the scar has healed but
still, a spec of pink
bubbled over a tingly core.

let's not pick apart
that last chapter
of calamity
night terrors and bile.

focus on the calm,
the normalcy that was
before it began.

I miss you showing me the flyers. I miss your calm, appreciative nature. I miss the shine of your rhinestones off the kitchen mirrors. Your laugh. Your quiet determination. Your willingness for peace. I even miss the way you always reminded me of the correct way to play with the kitty. I see hints of you everywhere and I am trying hard not to let the little, everyday details slip through the cracks of time. Please don't scare me in the dark, though. I know you would love a little trick like that.

We miss you Patsy and you are forever in our thoughts.

Another post in the same week - yay me! I have been taking some time off from the gym to nurse this reoccurring cold, so I have had more scrapbooking time on my hands, seen here. I think I'm even going to clean off my scrap desk and pull out some stuff very soon while Pat is busy with clients. I have some new Dear Lizzy stuff, as well as some new K&Company. Oh, and a new scalloped circle bunch and a fresh stack of white cardstock. And, a new cutting mat for my Silhouette. Sounds like I could keep myself quite occupied. Man, it's crazy how much scrapbooking stuff I manage to accumulate... Terrible, terrible (but wonderful) addiction!

In different new, some players from the Alouettes visited our school today. They played basketball against the teachers (not me!!) while 400 students cheered them on. And by cheered, I mean screamed and yelled like frantic maniacs while flailing inflatable rods that were handed out by the Als. Hahahaha! Try keeping students tame... My poor little guys were complaining about how noisy it was! Still, it was a lot of fun and the guys were very good sports. They kept us quite entertained even though they completely creamed us! But Stace, there were really none that were appealing, so don't worry, you didn't miss much ;) In the same vein, what a complete turn-off to discover that a man who is seemingly quite buff on the upper portion actually has chicken legs. Ick. Big calves are totally sexy to me. Along with good pecs and lats. And we'll throw in some stubble and big-ass sideburns while we're at it. Voila.

Okay, time for me to go experiment with my new scrappy products. Enjoy your Friday demain!

Present Obsessions

Hello y'all, how's it hanging? I'm a few minutes away from the covers and a good book. But right now I felt like depositing some thoughts, in no particular order. I'm a little spazy at the moment, so bare with me. I am currently quite entranced by the idea of looking for condos or houses. Like, possibly obsessed. I know that I'm just dreaming of possibilities in the future. But still, it's fun to imagine and then plot for hours on end... I am going to book a visit to one place in particular rather soon, just to get a feel for it in real life. I know that it would probably be wise to wait another year before getting our own place, but I really, really want to right now. We shall see how that works out in the next little while. Can it be attributed to spring fever? Not sure.

What else is going on? I have allergies or a cold of some sort. Yes, again. It's really sad, actually. I am assured by colleagues, though, that it's very normal for the first year of teaching. I'm toughening my immune system apparently. Well, I hope so. I thought that working in daycare for years was prep enough, but apparently not. What can you do?

I thought these pictures were the funniest thing ever. These two were getting rather cozy together whilst sharing some afternoon nappy time. Should I be jealous? (PS, nice butt crabby Patty).

Sagua, I love you and your ridiculous behavior. I'm not sure if I bug you more than you bug me; I think we have a nice little love/hate relationship going. But please stop trying to steal my boyfriend.... hahaha....

Alright, I said I would be in bed soon and I've wasted tons of time on here. So much for an early night. Cheers!