Astronomy, among other things

Oh, wow. Today just finished off so well!

I went to an astronomy session (you know how much I love those!) and got to hang out with my professor from last semester, as well as the SI ("Supplemental Instruction") leader, Kay Lane and because it was a lot of the same stuff as last semester I had a really good time just reaffirming my knowledge and getting comfortable with the night sky again.

We looked at the Moon (I took pictures, too!), the Andromeda galaxy again (It still looks like a piece of fuzz on the lens, to tell you the truth) and Venus, and various constellations (Taurus, Orion, Cassiopeia, etc.) All the usual stuff, but I got to hang out with friends and had a very different experience than I did last year.

After the session, I walked downstairs with a few people and we decided to go to Subway to get a sandwich. Once we had gotten our sandwiches, they invited me to go with them to BSM (Baptist Student Ministry, I think.) I went with them, and had a really great time just immersing myself in a reminder of my faith. I haven't gotten involved in any churches or anything here, and I probably won't at this point in the year, to tell the truth... but going there and being immersed in it even for an hour or so reminded me exactly why I am a Christian and why the church is such a healthy thing for me. I think I will try to go to more of these Bible studies. It just felt good to talk God with people, and I haven't really done that in a long time.

So, here are some of the better pictures of the evening! I made a facebook album of the pictures I've taken so far, and will update that whenever I get new photos. I don't know why. The moon doesn't change, but I don't think I'll ever take enough pictures!

I took this one on my way to the session, around 6:00. It was still light outside, and the blue it creates is so beautiful!


This photo is of the Moon and Venus, the star-looking thing up in the left corner. I love this picture!


When it got darker, I took another photo.


I wish this were more in focus as far as the light from the moon, but the cool thing about this photo is that you can see the rest of it! Did you know that when this occurs, it is because of light reflecting off of the Earth onto the Moon!

It keeps getting better

Still no bike, but I had the most fantastic day today! There's too much to make a big, connected blog, so I guess I'll just share my day in little snippits.

My French class went from 30 people last semester down to 13 this semester, (a lot of people transferred to the other teacher.) The only reason I see this is good is that as we start getting into more difficult stuff, I get more personal attention. For example, I was able to ask my question that I've been harboring for months about the pronunciation of double l's. Sometimes it's like "elle" and sometimes it's like "y" and I FINALLY got my answer. (With a few exceptions, it's a y sound after an 'i'. So viella sounds like "vee-ay-ah".) Aside from my question finally being answered, the professor had me read a rather long passage aloud, and then complimented me on my great French accent. I practically floated out of that class.

So I wasn't entirely honest with y'all about my article in last week's paper. I was on the front page, yes, but there was a rather terrible misprint on the "continued on page 3" part... where they reprinted the first half of the article again, instead of the second half! I blogged about how happy I was - because I really was happy and honored and all of those other wonderful little fuzzy feelings, but it was a little bittersweet. I really did think that my lil article would not see the light of day in it's full form... but I received a pleasant surprise this morning when I picked up the Paisano and saw my article, fully printed on page 5. Hooray!

I posted a chapter of my latest Fanfiction story this afternoon, and I got a review for it this evening! I've been posting once a week for a month now and only received two reviews so far... it makes me a little sad (in comparison, my story of 4 years ago currently has almost 300 reviews), but I love every review that comes into my inbox. It's like a little piece of bottled up sunshine, I'm not even kidding. (I was talking to Siobhan about this the other day, and she blames the slow business as a lull in the fandom. She's probably right... It has been five years since the last film was released. I wait in eagerness for 2011, when the Hobbit comes out. Plenty of reviews for me then!) (Right then, when I realized that it had been five years since the movies had come out I had an "Oh god, I feel old" moment, which probably shouldn't be happening for a good few more years.)

I made grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner. 'Nuff said.

During my Astronomy class, I played my 800th game of Solitaire on this computer! (We were talking about the sun... and while I love the class, I haven't really learned anything new yet. So, Solitaire and Hearts for me!)

That said, I finally figured out how to play Hearts over the last few weeks. Haven't won a single game yet, but at least I'm not getting fourth anymore.

Duncan has this remote-computer-control website that he uses to fix computers when he can't actually be physically there fixing computers. He logged onto me today, and made me smile. He didn't do anything like mess with settings or 'ghost type' anything in notepad... but it was still kind of funny to realize that he was there.

I (finally) remembered that I have a Twitter account, and made it so you can see my Tweets over there in the sidebar. (Twitter, for all y'all who don't know, is a sort of "mini blog" where you type in what you are doing in 140 characters or less.)

I think that I finally know how to spell 'definitely'. It's always been one of those words that I consistently misspell, and I haven't misspelled it in a week or two now. Perhaps I am cured! (Brandlyn, take heed. You, too, and learn to spell right.)

Well, it is 1am now and while I love blogging about my wonderful day, I do have to go to bed sometime. (And I can sleep late tomorrow morning! Hooray for 12:30 classes!)

Better, and a few funnies

My bike is still gone, the pizza's gone, the kitchen and bathroom need a good scrub...

But you know what? I am feeling a lot better today. Not all the way better, but better.

Time does that for me, you know? I'm one of those people who just can't seem to stay mad at anyone, too. I usually go to bed and then wake up and forget it ever happened. I guess I'm the same way with stuff that makes me stressed. Once I compartmentalize everything in my brain, de-stress, and find something really good to distract me (this week, the Sookie Stackhouse series, which was recommended to me by Kerry-Lynn. I think she's created a monster - I'm nearly on book 3), I find that everything isn't so bad and that walking when the weather is slowly improving isn't so bad. (Today doesn't count on the weather front. It was a million percent humidity and dropped from 60 to 40 degrees while I was sitting in class this afternoon, and now that the sun is down it's probably in the low 30s.) As far as a bike goes, I think that I will wait a month or so before I do anything about it. I don't know if I'll take another one from home (is there another bike that fits me at home?) or head over to Target and find a pretty one, but I will let the UTSA Police department do their thang. They've got a shining reputation here, and I hope they live up to it.

Tonight, I feel inspired by Barb's most recent blog, and want to list a few of the more amusing occurances that have happened to me recently. So while I smile, y'all can smile too. :)

In my Astronomy class last Friday, the professor handed out a quiz of general knowledge, so he could gauge how much we knew already. He didn't take down names, so he was able to gather the data up and present the most popular answers to us yesterday. (I got all of the questions right that had a real answer, by the way!) The questions were things like "Is there anything beyond Pluto?" (yes), and "What types of planets are there?" (terrestrial and gas giants). One of the questions was "What planet do you hear about most in the news?" Most people answered Mars. I circled 'Mars' too, but by the question wrote, "You mean aside from Earth?" The professor was so amused that he told the whole class about it yesterday.

There was a leak somewhere in our building in University Oaks, and the repairmen were working late into the night last night trying to fix it. (I know this because it seemed that they were working right outside my window.) This morning, the water was back on, and so I delightedly took a shower, happily basking in the warmth of the water and thanking my showerhead that the warm water was working. (For the last few months, around 20% of the showers I have taken have been very quick, very cold showers.) I got out of the shower, dried myself off, got dressed and started doing the dishes. As soon as I finished the last dish, the water sputtered and went out. "Excellent timing," I told the sink, and picked up my bag and went to class.

I was talking to Brandlyn the other night on the phone, talking about how irritated I was that some people just cannot seem to grasp correct grammar when they write. I was all in a huff, when Brandlyn pointed out very nicely "You want to be an editor, right Stef? Well, without all of us being awful writers, you'd be out of a job before you even had it."

Right, well that's all I can think of right now. I have a bit of English to read and then I am off to bed! Well, I am off to read more of the Sookie Stackhouse book (I am reading "Living Dead in Dallas"... which I would totally dig, because Dallas is just about the most boring city I've ever come across) and I have every intention of getting so lost in it that I lose all sense of time.

Bad Day

I hate writing blogs like this, but I guess that every once and a while bad days happen.

I haven't had the best weekend.

Abby is feeling a lot better, though, and we've had a relaxing weekend, if anything. I don't have the flu, and it doesn't seem like I will get it now, what with all of the active flu prevention I have been doing over the last few days. I think at this point that flu virus would have many easier targets than me. (So rawr, flu virus! Take that.)

I wear glasses to see distances, and usually don't wear them on the weekends, since I don't need them to see boards or notes or screens. But last night I got an awful headache, likely from eye strain, so I sat in my dark room, read a book for a few hours (I understand that reading would probably add to the eye strain, but it's better than a bright tv... and it was a good book), and made angry faces through my window at our neighbors downstairs, who love to invite friends over who are loud, have loud cars, or have loud stereos in their loud cars. As per usual, I woke up headache free in the morning, but just to be on the safe side, I wore my glasses all day...

Which turned out to be a bad idea. I wore my glasses and found that, because of wearing my glasses, I have a muscle headache. What must have added to this headache is that my bike was stolen this weekend.

Right from under my nose (well, balcony), somebody stole my bike. It was locked up, it was there on Friday... but sometime between Friday night and this afternoon, no more bike.

It's not like I need the bike to get around - I have got a car - but I do enjoy that bike. It's a lot faster than walking to the campus, and I love the fact that I can speed right through that parking lot that seems to just get bigger every time I see it. I guess that what I feel is that it's more of an irritation that of the hundreds of bikes around this apartment complex mine gets stolen. The 8+ year old bike whose tires have never been replaced and who hasn't ever seen much love, since I left it in the garage for most of my teenage years. Why me?

I talked to the campus police, reported the theft, and now what I am left with is no bike and another massive headache.

I need chocolate. And a giant hug.

On Mothering

I have this habit of mothering people. It's not exactly a bad habit, but I can always imagine myself later in life treating everyone in a very Mrs. Weasley-ish way, (annual hand knitted Christmas sweaters included) whether they are my own children or not. In fact, if I could be as awesome as Mrs. Weaseley, I'd be set. (I am also jealous of her magical, self-knitting needles. Jealoussss.) Brandlyn can attest to my mothering habit, Abby can attest, I am sure that you could get Ana and Jane, Barb's girls, to attest, too. It's a pretty strong urge at the worst of times. Now, I'm not a mother, not going to be a mother any time soon (Mom, breathe), and since I have no small children to mother while I'm at college, Abby has more often than not been on the receiving end of this for the last few months.

Well, today Abby has been the sole recipient of all of this mothering attention, and it has simply drained me. I am exhausted.

Abby has the flu.

(No, I am not sick, and I am doing everything in my power to keep it that way.Uber vitamin C, flu prevention medication, religiously cleaning everything. You know, the works.)

It is the perfect storm of circumstances for me to exhaust my entire stock of mothering attention in a few short hours, and I have definitely gotten rid of some of it. I wrote a funny "feel better" note on the whiteboard this morning using funny nicknames that would cheer her up (Hers is Superego and mine is Id, just so you know. She nicknamed me Id because I have this habit of constantly pointing out really stupid and useless stuff "that we need!" when we go shopping. It's a good game when we're at Costco, because there's lots of fun and useless stuff there!) I went shopping and bought medicine, food, and a thermometer, and brought back vegetables to make delicious, homemade soup. I proceeded to make the soup (it turned out perfectly, by the way), the Theraflu, tea, snacks, and anything else that Abby wanted all day... and boy.

I am exhausted, but it's that good kind of tired where you know that you got so much done today that tomorrow is going to be better.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go down a glass of orange juice and then go to bed!

Socks and Scones

Last weekend I made a batch of small, sweet raisin scones, and to my surprise, they all got eaten within days by Abby and I. (Because you see, last time I made scones they sat on top of the toaster oven in a box for a good two weeks before I finally decided that they probably weren't good anymore.)

So tonight, because the scones are all gone (and because they're yummy 'grab on the way out' breakfasts) I made another batch of the mini scones. If I can brag a bit, mine taste much better than the crap you find at Starbucks. (Bux ain't got nothin on me.)


See? Little balls of delicious pastry. As soon as I can get my hands on the proper ingredients, instead of substitutes, I'm going to work on shaping them. As it is, they're a little too moist... but hopefully next week (after a good grocery shop over the weekend) I'll be able to make them look a little prettier!

Speaking of pretty... Look at the socks I'm working on!!



They are made out of Noelle's Noodles (flavor: Taos), and they are delicious! Wonderful yarn to work with, and a simply beautiful colorway. It's just a simple 2x2 rib all the way down the sock... I didn't want to take anything away from those colors!

Well, I have English homework to write and US History to read... so while I do that, feast your eyes on my delicious scones and socks.

Okay, can I brag a little?

It's not exactly a secret that I've been writing for my school's newspaper for the last few months, in fact, I'd say that I spend a lot of complaining about it. Well, the kind of complaining that is generally pretty good-natured -"I have so much to do this week..." kind of stuff. In truth, I love writing, and I love seeing my name in print even more. (I can also compare this to the fact that I am a product knitter - I knit something to "have" the object, not necessarily just for the joy of making that product... Though I do love knitting, don't get me wrong.) Nothing brings me more joy than seeing the byline By Stefanie Powling, and knowing that I put the effort into it.

Today, when I picked up the Paisano, my article was not only on the front page, but also the headlining story on the front page.

In writer world, that's just about as good as seeing your name in lights up on Broadway.

(Warning: Gushing content ahead!) I mean, look at me! I'm even above the new President. It's not a vastly important article - just a follow-up story on an article written a few months ago about this awful professor who wasn't "fired"... but look at it! Isn't it beautiful? And on the front page? And at the top? And in bold? And all pretty?

Oh, yes. Life is good, today!!

(To read my fantastically Fancy Front Page Article... click on this link!)

Timely, for once

Over the break, I knitted a scarf. And I am determined to keep this one! (Don't let me give it away!)


It's the Harlot One Row Scarf that I mentioned a few weeks ago... except that it's finished! (Boo, I don't have a Legolas Standup to model it on!) Because it's alpaca, it's uber warm... which makes crazy 40 degree days like these that we're having in Texas much easier to bear. The only thing that I want to do to it is toss it in the washer and give it a good (but delicate) talking to. It's itchy, which is okay when you can't feel your neck anyway, but when it's only mildly cold, it is less pleasant. I've heard that alpaca washes up to be a very nice (and less itchy) fiber.

Ooh! I and I finally found a time to use my christmas gift for what I intended to! I got a new Fancy Tripod for Christmas from my dear mother (well, it's not fancy, just really useful!) and used it with my Fancy Camera to take a picture of the moon! I was able to zoom in all the way and not have a shaky picture!

And That, my friends, is one fabulous moon picture, complete with the whole shabang of 18x ZOOM! (I also happen to know that it was in its third quarter, based on the side that is illuminated and the time of night that it rose... and not just because I happened to check a calendar and found when the full moon was.) When I opened the file on my computer and set it to 100%, the center of the moon took up more than my entire screen. (If I haven't said it before, I swear the reason I asked for my Fancy Camera was to take pictures of the moon like this. I love it so much, it's my desktop background now! As opposed to this, which was my desktop background for the last two weeks...


I think I'll use that line sometime! Very appropriate, considering the direction that I'm aiming toward for the next few years...)

I also considered taking a picture of the bruises on my shin to show you, but they feel a lot more painful than they look at this point, and so I'll spare you any of the photography. But there are definitely two 2-3" bruises there, kind of linked by a less painful bridge of a bruise. But don't worry about me, it just means that I have to sit normally in chairs for a while. ;)

Oh, and Duncan wrote on my facebook wall something that completely turned my day around yesterday!

"hey stef!! remember when you fell off your bike that one time! that was HILARIOUS!!! and then that guy walked past.... omg... so embarrassing on your part... (hehe)"

(Thanks, Dunc. You make me feel so good about myself. ;) )

Well, a sock awaits in my comfy (and warm) bed, just begging to be knit, so I must away!

Story Time! aka "Whoops!"

So I have a story to tell you, and it's a rather embarrassing story (though not spectacularly so.) So I figure that it'd be alright to tell you, and I won't be treated to anything like "Remember when"s and "Boy that was funny"s, since none of you were actually there.

Yesterday, I fell off my bike.

Oh you roll your eyes now, but I assure you, it gets better. If it were just a matter of overbalancing, I would have dusted off my shoulders and been done with it.

No. Yesterday, I not only fell off of my bike but I totally ate it off of my bike. I had just dismounted, carried my bike down a flight of stairs, and was about to get back on the thing when I started it rolling, tried to get on, didn't find my footing on the pedal and the thing start to wobble and catch me and then dragged me down with it.

I did a boob plant (as opposed to a face plant) on the pavement, caught myself with my hands and somehow managed to scrape my left knee through my jeans (like a rug burn). On my right leg I have bruises on the front and back of my leg, because I think I got it caught between some part of the bike. My bruises hurt, my hands are scraped...

And I still cannot believe that I fell off of my bike. Nineteen, and I still can't stay on...

(And then a guy, who had just witnessed my embarrassing and rather painful moment, walked right by me without a glance. Apparently I not only looked stupid, I looked totally unworthy of a second glance.)

Semester 2, Day 2

Like I promised, here I am again on Day 2 of my official second semester of being in college. Today, I had two classes not only back to back but also in the same lecture hall. The good thing was that I was able to use my laptop for the entire 2 1/2 hours, because for the second class, I moved to a spot near an outlet.

My first class of the day is Geology. Technically it's an overview of geology known around campus as "Third Rock". (It makes sense, what with us being the third rock from the sun...) It's taught by a guy who is probably in his mid forties, and seems like a really cool, down to earth guy. He's witty, didn't set a book for the class (hooray - less required reading!) and looks like a scruffy, southern Keanu Reeves. (Abby is also taking the class, but with a different professor, and says that she thinks that if Bill Nye and Mr. Rogers got together and had a kid, that is what her professor looks like.) Geology seems like it'll be a really interesting subject, and coupled with my Solar System class (which is essentially the geology of all the other planets) it'll be a fun one. Another plus is, because there is no required book, the tests will all come from the lectures. I take fantastic notes... this will be a good semester!

My second class of the day is American History (from Pre-Columbus to the Civil War). I've heard that the professor is really boring, but I hope that I can hold out. The advantage that I see to taking this class is that I enjoy the subject matter. (Plus, I've taken American History about six billion times since elementary school. Okay, probably only 3 or 4 times at the most. The system they use in Texas to teach History is really easy to figure out - World History, US History, Texas History... Lather, rinse, repeat. Again, and again, and again.) Bottom line is I really like history. I think that if I had not been interested in writing and editing, I would have probably been a history major. The professor has all of these fancy and technical ways of taking roll and creating all sorts of small grades by giving out (nearly) daily quizzes. The more frequent ones will be 1 question and the pop quizzes will be 5-10 questions. The result is good, I suppose. It makes people attend class and it gets me all sorts of smaller grades in there so that if I were to not do so well on a test, it would not matter as much. I don't expect much of this class, but we shall see how it goes.

After classes ended, I went home and began reading the first chapter of my Astronomy and History textbooks. I've decided that I need to get in the habit of reading whatever is required for the class... I've never really done it (and if I did, I wasn't very thorough) but I can't do well in college much longer by only going to class and taking notes, it just won't be possible. So kick me if I start to slip. (Well, I think I should probably tell Abby that too... telling it to people who read my blogs won't do much. You could send me stern emails with pictures of your feet kicking me, but really kicking? Not possible over an internet connection.) I've finished the Astronomy chapter, but am halfway done with History. I took a break to do my French homework.

Oh, speaking of my French homework. If it's possible, my homework just gave me a gigantic ego-boost. There is a section in my chapter that lists seven dates and then what happened on those dates, but they're all scrambled. They include stuff like "France conquers England", "Eiffel Tower finished" and "Chalemagne crowned emperor of the Occident". Of the seven dates, I got five right without looking up the answers! (I mixed up the crowning of Napoleon and the storming of Bastille. Whoops!) So the result of this is that I am a very happy girl!

Something I learned today (in my Astronomy book) was that Galileo (You know, that guy with the telescope, Jupiter's moons, and phases of Venus? Yeah, him!), who was locked up under house arrest for the last eight years by the Catholic Church due to his controversial discoveries, was only exonerated in 1992. Isn't that bizzare?

Well, I have more reading to do! (Conquerors, plagues, and New Worlds, oh my!)

Semester 2 begins!

Welcome to Semester 2!!

Today I had my first three classes of my second semester of college, and it was good! Of course, the whole point of the first day of classes (especially the 50 minute ones) is to introduce the class, introduce the subject, and then say "See you in a few days" so you can really start the class. So today I did a lot of syllabus reading and anticipating the rest of the class.

My first class of the day is French. Because it's a continuation of last semester's class, we jumped right into the lesson plan. I have the same teacher, and a much smaller class. Last semester, my class had around 25 students, and this semester it's 14. The only thing I mourn about the size difference is the fact that I'll get called on to answer twice instead of once during class. At the end of class, my professor handed out the final exam to the people who she had last semester, and my grade on it was an 83. Yay!

Second class of the day is Composition 2, a continuation of a writing class. In a way, it'll be an easier class, because it's about rhetoric and argument forming (which is the only thing I wrote in high school) but because of that it'll be harder. It'll require a lot more effort to achieve the same grade, but I am not worried. My professor seems interesting. During debates, he says that he'll play devil's advocate just for the sake of keeping the argument going. He also said in his syllabus that if we are using laptops to take notes, we "shouldn't be insulted if he checks every once and a while to check that we're not playing WOW." The professor teaches both 1013 and 1023 classes, so he knows where we are, and where we are supposed to be. I have high hopes for the class.

Third class of the day is Astronomy, specifically the exploration of the Solar System. I'm looking forward to this class, mostly because we didn't really cover the Solar System as much as I'd hoped in the first class I took, as well as the fact that I get to keep studying the subject. I've said before that I love studying Astronomy, but going further and even narrowing the field of study is something that I'm greatly looking forward to doing. I don't have any opinions about the professor yet... but we shall see.

Apart from classes today, Abby and I had a movie night and watched The Princess Bride, and then started to do some research on potential housing for next year at UT. It's a big undertaking, but it's just the beginning. I hope it doesn't get too difficult!

I will blog tomorrow about my Geology and History classes!

Oh, and here is my schedule for the semester so my mother can print it out, pin it on her board in her office, and stalk me. Perhaps call me at those times to see whether I'm skipping class or not. (Which I don't... of course...)

OOH! Funniest thing happened this afternoon when I got home from my classes! Abby started talking about this guy in her Geology class, saying "I shook hands with the dorkiest nerd today! He came up to me and was like 'Hi! I'm T.J.!' and introduced himself to me and Nathan and Dustin! It was bizzare!" and little did Abby know that I had sat by the very same T.J. in my English class this morning, and he had given me the same treatment! I mean, what are the odds that Abby and I, who happen to be roommates, both meet and sit next to the same guy on the same day, in separate classes, mine of 30, hers of 400, out of the thousands that flood through the college every day. Talk about a coincidence!

Ahh, it's good to be back

Phew! I am back in San Antonio, got here around 5 last night, and I have had quite a busy day. Abby and I went out for a late dinner last night to Chili's (Apparently they're open to midnight on Saturdays, which was a pleasant surprise to me as Abby only arrived around 10ish last night, and by the time she got home I was STARVING.)

Before the long break, Abby and I went to great lengths to eat all of the food that was perishable (well, perishable in an immediate sense: milk, yogurt, meat, eggs, etc.) and we were greeted this morning with a nearly empty cupboard and refrigerator. We got to an "early start" (11 AM...) shopping at Target, HEB, and Costco, then to the campus bookstore to pick up books, and then to Walmart to finish up. We actually did really well both with food choices and budget. We probably spent around $150-200 today, but bought a whole lot more than we had on our list. Our kitchen is now fully stocked with canned fruits, milk, cereal, apple juice, coffee, macaroni, frozen meats, and a few delicious frozen meals that have become favorites over the last few months... among other things, of course. We both have new outlooks on the year (as far as eating goes) and are both (moderately) excited for the new semester's classes to begin.

Personally? I'm pumped. I love being in class and learning new things (I am less fond of working, though. Don't think I'm too weird! ;) ) and know where and when all my classes are, so tomorrow when the day dawns I will be ready to attend my classes.

Something that Abby and I realized over the last semester is that if the fruit is out on the counter, it is so much more likely to get eaten. If it sits in the fridge... it goes bad and gets wasted. So we shopped around Marshalls to see if they had a cute fruit bowl... and found the perfect bowl! Our kitchen has a yellow theme (as much as a kitchen can when you can't paint the walls and have ugly chairs!) and we have a cute oven mitt that has a rooster on it. Well, Abby get's the Eagle Eye award of the day and found an adorable fruit bowl that is yellow AND has a rooster!! We bought some cherries at HEB this morning and stuck them in the fruit bowl, and half of them have disappeared already.

Enough for today, I'm going to sit on my (ugly) couch and watch my (lovely) new TV before I go to bed!

Bulletin Board of Memories

So I threatened, and now I am making good on that threat! Here is a tour of my bulletin board as I declutter and relive a few memories.

Here you have it! Cluttered and loved bulletin board. Product of 12 years (give or take - I can't remember exactly how long I've had the board) of "If I put this down on my desk, I'll never find it again" (For the record, I cleaned my desk. At this exact moment, if I happened to put something down on my desk it wouldn't get eaten by other cannibalistic papers.)


I think the oldest thing on the board, is my Angel Catcher, which for years was tacked above my bed. It was given to me by one of the first nannies I had here in Austin, Tammy. I am particularly fond of it, because I thought that catching angels while you slept was much cooler than catching dreams. It migrated to the board only recently when I was decluttering my walls.


Next oldest, by my reckoning, is this little shiny wooden heart... thing. It was given to me by my friend Kelsey, probably when I was in first or second grade. I don't know why I've kept it, but it's been in my room for well over ten years, for most of that on top of the bulletin board.


Moving forward in time, we have Foxtrot comics from when the Return of the King was out in theaters. I don't know if you knew this, but I'm a bit of a Lord of the Rings nerd. ;)


Speaking of Lord of the Rings, here are some notes I wrote up about character development in one of my fanfictions from ages past. It sounds dorky to plot out a fanfiction, but a lot of effort goes into a good one, I assure you.


Here is a note that I will likely never get rid of. It's a note from my seventh grade Language Arts teacher, Mrs. Crouch, who even now when I see her asks me how my writing is going. When I write a book, it'll be dedicated to her, and she's first in line for a signed copy. She has always told me that she'll "See me at Barnes and Noble" when I am a famous author and signing books. I don't know if she knows how much that still means to me, even four and a half years after she wrote the note.


Next we have ACL wristbands...

A Christmas Lottery ticket where I won $1. (Santa always brings us lottery tickets in our stockings! I love that tradition. A few years ago I won something like $50!)


Here's a Blazer Laser Tag scorecard from when I ranked NUMBER 1. I seem to remember hat Duncan promptly kicked my arse in the next round, but I WAS NUMBER ONE for at least a good fifteen minutes.


Here we have some iron beads from my days of babysitting the Cooper gals. I think Jane made the one on the left for me in my first week of working there. (I found another one later in the declutter, but I didn't photograph it.)


Junior Prom professional pictures were also in the lot. (I didn't have a date, but my friend Josh was volunteering to pose with as many girls without dates as possible that night, so in the photographs I at least had a date. ;) )


Mini sock yarn swatches and mini socks!

A note from the stage manager on the opening night of Honk. (My character's name was Lowbutt! That was my favorite role I've ever played.)


There is also a $2 that I found in a book I bought at Half Price Books. (It's almost as if I didn't pay!)


And here we have the (mostly) empty bulletin board! After I took the picture, I stuck a few things back on like really nice thank you cards and the angel catcher... stuff that I can't bear to get rid of



Now that I'm really getting down into the layers of stuff, I'm realizing that this cleanup is really good for the soul. I'm saying goodbye to things, but they were stuff that I probably should have said goodbye to a lot sooner.

Next up for declutterment: SHOES (and my closet). I think I'm going to find a bag to put donateable shoes (and clothes) in, because there are shoes in my closet that I haven't touched for years, and would probably be happier on a different foot.

Allergy update... it sucks today. Last night, I didn't sleep very well (or very long) and I had to wake up early to let Mike's dog out, so I took a nap ( - Ahem, "rejouvenated my creative juices and problem solving skills" - ) on the couch this morning. I think this'll be a long day though... I'm not quite as miserable as the other day, but it's pretty bad. On the flip side, I'm going over to Dad's tonight to help cook Indian food!

Busy, busy, busy (but in a good way)

Today I got out of the house for most of the day!

Consequently, I am pretty tired here at the end of the day, but not tired enough to sleep. Just to warrant a some blogging and lounging in pajamas. This morning, I went to the mall and did a little solo shopping. I mentioned about a week or so ago that I was working on revamping my wardrobe with new shirts and stuff, and today I went to the mall and did a lot more shopping. Well, a lot more trying things on, a only a little more purchasing. I bought two lovely new shirts, some camis (they are so soft!! And the don't have the "bra shelf" that most do, which, in most cases, creates either too much cleavage for me or gives me a strange line right across the middle of my boobs. Neither look is desirable nor appropriate), a cute little day dress (purple and SO adorable) and some jewelry to begin accessorizing my cute new look. (I bought mostly necklaces that doesn't resemble the stuff that I have now, like really long necklaces that I didn't think I could pull off before!) I now have some really nice stuff that is the beginning of a good, more normal, mature(ish) wardrobe. It's a good time of year for me to shop, because of all of the darker colors out on the market. (I just spent the last half hour trying to figure out my "season". I think I am a "Golden Autumn" which means that I am a mix between Spring and Autumn, in that I am a Spring, but am pulled toward the darker, richer colors of Autumn, versus the paler tones of Spring.) Only downside of shopping right now is that most of the stuff out there is long-sleeved or too heavy for the practically nonexistent Texas winter.

After shopping, I went to St. Michael's and visited some teachers, and then came home and cuddled with Topher and watched TV. Then I turned right back around and went to St. Michael's again to their first "Senior Reunion", to feed us and give us a tour around the new campus center and theater - which I am so jealous of! After having dinner and catching up with friends, I went to a friend's house (Josh's) with Tina, James, Kevin, and Brandlyn. We sat around in Josh's living room and chatted, until I could no longer stand the allergic reactions I was having to Josh's cat and dog. So I left (at the same time as James and Kevin) and went home where I was greeted with a package that I have been waiting for all day. Earlier, I had had to leave to go to the dinner, and passed the UPS truck not a half mile away from my house. (I 'Grr'ed and told him not to hurry up, as I was leaving anyway... I don't think he heard me. Now I have cute new bras that fit! Yay!)

Tomorrow, I have a lot to do...

Oh, allergies - except at Josh's house - totally manageable today. Keep it up, Austin!

Every Year, it Hits Me Like a Truck

A few years ago I read one of Lance Armstrong's autobiographies, and I will likely never forget the passage in it when he talked about living in Austin, and having to train here without using any allergy medication because it apparently screwed with any drug testing conducted at the races. He talked about how all year round there was a constant barrage of various allergies, and how terrible it could be at times.

Boy, can I relate.

(Well, I can relate about the allergies and how much they absolutely suck... not about the races or drug tests.)

Cedar fever. Some years I can handle it... others it's worse. In one morning I went from Happily Confident in my Own Appearance to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I have a drippy nose like a leaky faucet, and it absolutely sucks. Drip, drip, drip. I've opened a completely new box of tissues and been carting it around today in a large purse while I babysat (luckily, an easy job) and cheered on the Longhorns to their victory. (Go Horns! Way to wrap it up, though you sucked in the first half, by the way.)

It could be worse, I suppose. I could have the flu like last year. I could have a stuffy nose, instead of a drippy one. (At this point though, I would rather have the stuffy nose. At least a stuffy nose doesn't require constant tissue attendance. Although... Fates? That was not an invitation to send me a cold.)

I look forward to tomorrow, where the pollen count will apparently be lower, and so my sudafed dosage will be proportionally lower. Well, here's hoping.

Bowling and (beginning) excavations

So I live in this house... and this house is going on the market soon... and this means to me that most every personal touch (poster, trophy, gushing fangirl magazine photo) that I have put up during my occupancy has to be taken down and cleared of clutter and, well, personality. I know that my stuff will stay in my room... but the last fifteen years of clutter need to be peeled away, layer by layer.

Tonight, I got out the gloves and started peeling.

The first thing to go (and, by far the easiest) were the posters. I haven't decided what to do with 1 Pirates of the Caribbean poster, 3 Lord of the Rings posters, 1 Orlando Bloom poster, 1 Evanescence poster, and 1 strange fantasy/mother naturey poster... but they're going somewhere, be it in the trash or to goodwill. Who knows...

One of the things I am waiting on taking down is my Wall of Accomplishment... perhaps you will see a tour of my Wall of Accomplishment sometime soon, just as you'll see a tour of my Bulletin Board. They are impressive sights.

Some things that Brandlyn and I found while doing excavations was my script from Looking Glass Land, the school play I was in when I was in sixth grade (I played Humpty Dumpty and the White Knight.


I particularly enjoyed the White Knight's character, as I got to be nerdy and wear big glasses and trip all over the place. What fun! My entrance as the knight was from backstage. I had to hurl myself out from behind the divider and sprint up the stairs and "aha!" or some other impressive line, and once during a dress rehearsal I slipped on the stairs and hit the edge of the stage so hard that my hip was bruised for weeks. Apparently the thud was so loud the entire library (in the room next to the Cafeteria, where we were rehearsing) went silent for ten whole seconds. (I believe that that moment was the first in many a year of impressive backstage occurances that ran the rest of my Middle and High School careers.)

Another... interesting find in the cupboards beneath my little windowseat was a lock of Brandlyn's hair.


Don't ask me how or when it got there, but that is Brandlyn's handwriting and definately a lock of Brandlyn's hair. (Brandlyn's nickname is Booba, for everyone who doesn't know.) My guess is that this is a remnant from many years past... probably when she had enough hair to cut a lock of it off and nobody would notice. It shall remain a mystery.

Something that Brandlyn and I did tonight was meet some people we graduated with for bowling. Many laughs were shared and a few strikes (amidst many more gutter balls) occurred. Brandlyn and I both have strange bowling styles... Mine is normal, until after the release, at which point I have to balance for a second or two on one leg and lift the other one up behind me. Brandlyn, ever the Kodak Moment advocate, managed to get this photo, which should explain it all. (It also gives you a very good view of my behind.)

Brandlyn doesn't even use the holes, she just runs up there and tosses it... and actually does pretty well! The funniest part is that she looks like she will totally eat it every time she runs up there and skids to a halt.



(For those who are not familiar with the term 'eat it', I am referring to the fact that she looks like she will fall on her face and "eat the floor".)


Enough of that for today, more on the excavations as they occur!

It's Time Again! (My 2009 Resolutions)

Is it bad that I've been procrastinating all day from writing my resolutions?

I've had a good day. Slept until 10:30 (Thought it was 9:30, but then I remembered that I remembered to change my wall clock - finally. Is it bad that I find it easier to just remember that the clock is wrong?) and cuddled with Tophre and watched Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and watched Mythbusters with mom in the afternoon while she "Worked on rejuvenating her creative juices" (aka took a nap) and then babysat for a few hours in the evening. The kid - Rusty, who I've mentioned several times before - had gotten a Wii for christmas, so we played a lot of that. Unfortunately, he'd gotten very good in the week he's had the game... so I had my arse handed to me by a seven year old in most of the Wii sports and Mario Kart. Kerry-Lynn and I just watched Step Up 2 (The Streets) and now here I am... 11:24, writing my resolutions for 2009.

It's not like I haven't been thinking of them all day... it's just that I haven't put them into words yet.

So while I procrastinate a little longer, let's look at last year's resolutions:

1) Be not afraid of venturing by myself
2) Turn in my applications (and get accepted to college)
3) Exude confidence

Number two was easy - probably too easy. I turned in my applications exactly a year ago... and as I'm attending UTSA, I think I got the second part covered. I like to call Number two the "insta-resolution". Instant gratification, my friends. (I'm glad I did get them done by the 1st. By the 2nd, I had gotten the flu - which royally sucked.)

Number one was a little bit harder, but it was a resolution mostly aimed at my summer abroad. I realized while making my resolutions last year that I really didn't know where I would be going or what I would be doing after May 31, 2008, when I graduated. It was a little scary to not have the security of 8am-4pm schooling anymore, like I'd had for the last 13 years of my life. As you have noticed, I'm doing fine. I think this resolution has been successful.

Number three is the only one that I'm a little iffy on. It's not like I'm terribly self-conscious or have an awful self image, but I think that because I still have a lot of growing to do, I am putting it on my list for 2009, too.

So here it is! My list for 2009.

1) Exude confidence!
2) Improve projected image.
3) Let go, but still retain.

Number one is kind of self-explanatory, but it ties in with Number two. I've mentioned in the last few days that I've been watching a lot of What Not to Wear episodes, and that's made me realize that dressing well is one large part of confidence and a good projection of self. I've not been dressing in a way that shows who I am, or that makes me feel good... it just makes me feel comfortable, and safe. The last few days I've been wearing my new clothes, and it feels really good to be wearing clothes and not St Michael's t-shirts and jeans (although I will wear jeans. You can't get me out of my denim.) Style is one thing that I am trying to introduce into my life... but slowly. After all, I'm still recovering from eight years of Catholic school dress codes.

Number three is about moving forward. Mom's putting our house on the market soon, and it's really hard to take. It's not the only house that I've lived in in my life, but it's been that way since I was about three and a half - more than a significant chunk. I've been (slowly) realizing recently that life isn't about going away and having something solid to come back to, it's about venturing out and taking everything with you, good memories and bad. So while I'm taking down posters and packing up trophies and clothes and packing them away for a while... I want to work on moving on, but still retaining what's important. It's not like I'm never getting any of my stuff or my family or memories back when I put them in a box. I don't have to say goodbye to my trophies, or my bulletin board (which, be forewarned, You'll be getting a tour of my bulletin board soon.), or my yarn stash forever. Just for a little while.

Well, it's nearly January 2nd, 2009. Time for me to post the blog and spend some time wondering where on earth I will start trying to pack up my room. I have a feeling that the first thing to come down will be my posters, then stuffed animals, then my dresser... and from there, we'll see.