On Highs and (the lack of) Procrastination

I never have liked attending Catholic mass. I love going to church, don't get me wrong, but the masses that we have at school are long, hot (or freezing, depending on whether the school deems it necessary to put the AC on in the gym), and boring. The only reason I have liked going to mass in High school is becuase I'm part of the choir.



Today we had an all school mass and it rocked. I never thought I would said it, but the choir sounded fantastic. We had wonderful music. The adrenaline that pumped through me when I was singing was such that I was on this incredible high for the rest of today. It makes me happy in so many ways. And what made it better was that we all had individual mics. So when the people heard me, they heard me loud and clear.

(Yay!!)

Okay, I have something I am proud of to show yall.

Look at all of that NOT PROCRASTINATING. See? Study notes. I can do it. (At 10:30pm). (Sorry the picture is dark. You get the point. Lookit at all those notes! It sums up the last 3 weeks of my class for my test tomorrow.)

And now, because I feel like it, a MYSTERY KNITTING OBJECT... OooOoOOooh... What is it?

I changed my mind

Today, I like Atonement. It took those 80 pages to get into it, but all of a sudden, THINGS ARE HAPPENING. Like, real stuff and not all description.

It's still moving at snail's pace, and there's still no dialogue, but it's at least interesting now. I kept on thinking about reading it while I was in Dance today, at which point I realized that I actually liked the book.

Anyway, moving on.

Today was my Wednesday night babysitting gig. (Yall should be used to this by now!) I went and I played with the kids and then one of the girls, who is a MONKEY, started climbing up me and Brandy. Separately, of course, but she would alternate between the two of us, saying "Give me a piggyback ride!" and when me and Brandy (Ahem. Brandy and I.) got sick of it, Brandy said, "You know, our best bet is just to lie down and play dead. It works on bears!" So we did. And then, simultaneously, all five children jump onto Brandy and me. They all weigh like 50 lbs so it's practially like air, anyway. So we're just lying there and the Monkey-girl starts to hit my back, like massagers do. And she said "Miss Stefanie," (which I find adorable. Miss Stefanie... tee hee) "Do you want a massage?" And I said "Sure!" And so apparently this started a trend. Soon all four adults were on the ground while our little worker minions - oh, I mean, babysitting charges - gave us massages.

It was wonderful.

They're actually pretty good. Most of the time they hit too hard, but other than that, it was wonderful.

And my thought the entire time?

"I'm getting paid for this?!"

It's early

It's early and I can barely focus on light.

Mom just nudged me awake. Granted, I was supposed to be awake about 15 minutes ago, but that's not important.

She handed me a letter...

I got into Austin College! With a scholarship!! Of $8500!! Hooplah!!

Anyway. I need to go stick my head in the shower or something to wake up. I just had to blog about this.

Taking a break! So sue me.

I'm such a bad procrastinator.

People see me as The Older Sister, who is Smart and who Sets The Bar.

Sure, I set the bar. Most of the time I can't even reach the bar, let alone raise it. And I know this sounds all Older-Child angsty, but come on. We have to rough it out, as the older sibling. We go through everything first, and we have to be a role model to anyone who has the luck to follow us. (good luck, bad luck. Beats me.)

Anyway, standards. Procrastination. Oh yeah.

In English class we're doing an interesting project. My teacher gave us a long list of British literature which spans the Romantic period all the way up to last year. This list consists of about 250-300 books. We all selected 5 books which we would be interested in reading, researching, and writing a paper on. Based on which books we chose, the teacher put us into groups of 2 or 3 people to discuss the book.

I just so happen to be reading Atonement, by Ian McEwan.

No, I haven't seen the movie. Which turns out to be a pretty good move on my part. Because I have a feeling it would have ruined a lot. So when I do see the movie, I hope it is as good as the book.

Anyway, I'm a procrastinator. We are independently supposed to read 1/5 of the book every week. This turns out to be about 70 pages for this particular version of the book. (It has the actors from the movie that's out in theaters right now... Keira Knightly and Whatshisface... He played Tumnus in The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe...)

So I mean, I'm a senior. We aren't being quizzed on this every week. I'm reading a significantly more fluffy and easy read right now (All American Girl by Meg Cabot. See what I mean by fluff? It's so easy to read. Plus, I mean, Meg Cabot. Not exactly difficult. She also wrote the Princess Diaries, which I read a few, but after a while they got kinda dull and repetitive.) So what do I do? I put it off, I put if off, I put it off. Which means that I am a smidge behind on reading and I now have to read 2/5 of the book tonight. I've read about 80 pages right now, which is 60 short of my goal.

I like the book. I do. (I swear, stop looking at me like that) but it's not exactly the most drawing story and the most interesting writing style for my particular preference. I mean, Kudos to McEwan and all for being all successful and Kudos to him for sticking with his dream, even though people probably stood in his way of his dream but come on.

Has the man ever heard of dialogue?

You know, it's the action. It's the driving force of literature? No? Not ringing a bell? Well I'll be darned. The man hasn't heard of dialogue.

Seriously. I've gone about 20 pages without so much as seeing a quotation mark. I've never realized how much I love dialogue until now. I do. I thrive on the moving force of dialogue. It's wondrous. It's easy (for me) because I apparently have a natural talent of conveying a story through speech. With description I need some help. I think I'm a little ADD when it comes to descriptive writing.

Anyway, I have to get back to reading that book. I'll keep yall posted.

A bit of sock knitting

Very quickly I am realizing the benefits of sock knitting:

1) They take like no time at all.

2) There is a sense of pride that comes with turning the heel that I associate with (bear with me) potty training. No matter how many times you do it, it's always "LOOK WHAT I DID! BE PROUD OF ME BECAUSE IT'S AMAZING!"

3) They are just so pretty! Especially the self-patterning variety. Just lovely.

4) Socks are always in season.

5) They always shock people. "Oh what are you knitting?" "A sock!" "Oh?"

Yeah, that's all I can think of.

LOOK WHAT I DID! BE PROUD OF MEEEEEEE!!

And look what I'm doing! Aren't the colors lovely??

Um... Help?

So. Y'all have met my yarn drawer, right? A smidge bit overflowing... Some extra yarn to help keep my yarnly obsession to have more of what I want to buy. Enough to make me one very happy knitter. There is some nice scarf yarn in there, some lovely sock yarn, and a bit of nice sock yarn (the sock yarn is growing very quickly...)



Meet Mom's Friend's Daughter's and Her Friend's stash (Let play with Acronyms! MFDaHF's Stash)



One Nordstrom's (the bag size to fit like 4 shoe boxes in... being very crafty with space.)


This has a lot of Scarf and Hat yarn. Nothing else, really. Can't make socks, unless they're really fuzzy and you want to slide all over the place. But this is a significant amount of yarn that I don't know what to do with in any way, shape or form. So it's been sitting in front of my closet for the day when I go, "I want a yellow, blue, pink, and purple scarf!"


Drawer Stash, and MFDaHF's Stash, meet Aunt's Neighbor's Stash (AN's Stash, for future reference...) This is the largest amount of wool that I've ever come across. Wool out the wazoo. So much wool that I don't know what to do with it.



Because I don't even want to contemplate a scarf for about six more months (still recovering from christmas knitting...) I think I'll make something like the Yarn Harlot's Unoriginal Hat. That should be good. I'm thinking white or something.


And now for something completely different.


Best buy ever.


$13 with my employee discount. From $89. At (where else?) Macy's!

The sky? Oh, wasn't it that big blue thing?

I can't remember.

Was the sky blue?

Hmm...

I feel like this phenomenon has gone on long enough for me to mention it.

Fog.

SO MUCH OF IT.

It's to the point where us Texans have gone back to the way we usually drive (terribly) without having to freaking out about weather. Because basically, as soon as it rains, is foggy, or it sleets, we all freak out, forget all driving lessns we have ever attended, and drive like maniacs. Ooh, and when it ices (Not snows.) all of our community goes to a standstill. "THE ROADS ARE ICED. EVERYBODY STOP!"

And I mean lookk at my car. All alone. Outside. In the cold, wet, dreary, England-esque weather. (It's my week to park outside. My brother gets the garage this week. -Sigh.- Doesn't she look lonely and cold?

Fog, I'm willing to make a deal with you. Bring some sleet, freeze the roads over for a day or two, and we'll call it even.