OMG! This is my skin!

While delaying starting work some more, I came across this:




Totally describes my freak outs about my skin right now. Hilarious! I think I'll go apply some more lotion.

Motivation

It's one of those days when I should be better able to find motivation. There is loads to do on my To-Do list, all of which are very important. They are simple enough tasks that shouldn't take too much time. I mean, why not take advantage of the fact that I don't have to teach all week.

Ugh. But, there is no motivation. I just want to sit around and watch TV. Not write important letters, dust, vacuum, do the dishes, or (worst of all) put away laundry and clean my room. Isn't there a song that goes, "Growing up is hard to do..." Haha. There's the rub. I want a vacation from being an adult.

Well, I know what isn't going to help. Sitting here and writing on this blog.

Okay! Up and at 'em!

Long time, no blog

So, long time, no blog. Depression, life, and just lack of time will do that.

But, I'm back.

I've been long-term subbing, which is a totally new experience. I'm supposedly a natural teacher, but I'm not sure if I'm feeling that.

What I do know is that some odd and tiring hilarity will come my way each day--usually in the form of some phrase that never in my wildest dreams could I ever imagine myself saying. I want to chronicle these lines and thought this was the perfect venue.

Here's to hoping that it gets me to blog more often. I do miss it.

Strange thing I had to say today: "Yes, your razor can be bean-powered if you want it to be."

With that, I'm off to work on a job application.

Job Hunt

It's no hidden fact that I'm job searching and have been since August. Still hunting. Still looking. But, this blog isn't supposed to be me griping about not being able to find a job. Rather, it's to share this hilarious comic.



It's so true.

Seven Random Things

Okay. So, Doreen just tagged me to blog seven random things about me. I've been blogging since early in college and have never been tagged to do anything specific. I've always just rambled. And rambled. And rambled some more. I guess that I've been blogging random things about me for a long time. Haha.

Well, now here are seven more.

1) I have crafting ADD. I want to learn it all. So, I start teaching myself one method, craft, technique, or project. I accomplish one, two, three or more projects. And then, some new skill grabs at my attention, and I have to learn it. Don't get me wrong. I love all the things I've learned. And, I always come back to them. I just have several (and I mean several) unfinished projects lying around.

2) Diet Coke should run thru my veins. And, maybe it already does, given how much I drink it. A cold Diet Coke just makes me feel better when I'm sad. It's a great drink to have when celebrating. It's...just...wonderful.

3) I love gerbera daisies. They are simply happy flowers. They are full of color--bright, full, and bold. They are sassy and speak volumes. In fact, I think they scream fun-loving.

4) I don't like sleeping with the sheets tucked into the end of the bed. Growing up, when Dad would tuck me into bed, he always said, "Lift up your feet" before swiping his arm underneath them, bringing the blankets under my feet. That's how I like to sleep.

5) The first thing I do when I get into a hotel room is check for bed bugs. Never fail. Any hotel room. Any city. And number of stars. Down on my hands and knees, looking for those suckers. (Literally, they are blood suckers.) And when I get back from the trip, I leave my bag in my car in the hot sun for two to three days just in case a stray bug decided it wanted to come find a new home. Instead, it finds...a more eternal home.

6) I can watch Love Actually any time of year at any time of day. In fact, I have. It's my go-to movie.

7) I am in love with this ring. When I go to Vegas, I always make a quick stop in the Dior shop in the Bellagio to visit it. When I was last there, I learned that they were making a special edition of this ring in rose gold (my favorite). And when I was looking for an image to post, I found its cousin, a ring featuring a morganite stone wrapped with the rose gold "oui." It's SO cute!

I don't know who I'm going to tag to write about themselves. I'm not too sure who reads this blog. So, I'll send it out into cyberspace. If you decide to write about your seven random things, let me know, and I'll link to it here.

Laila is going to be beside herself as she adjusts to BeBe now having her own little doggy staircase. Now, BeBe can climb up to the sofa--Laila's haven from BeBe--all on her own. Photos and whatnot to come, but this comic just reminded me of Laila. I don't think she means to blow snot on me. She just kinda...does.

Adventures in domesticity - Sewing a roll-up makeup brush case

So, like I mentioned previously, I've been sewing. I think what has really spurred the interest is that I now have the space for my machine to be out all the time, rather than tucked away in a closet in my tiny one-bedroom apartment. Seeing it every day makes me feel guilty for tucking away all my scraps in drawers, shelves, boxes...wherever I can get them to fit.

Back in college when I started wearing makeup for reals, I had three--maybe four--makeup brushes. One for eyeshadow, one for blush, one for powder... Okay, only three. Now, my little pencil case-turned-makeup-brush-case can't hold the burgeoning collection. Blush! Foundation! Eyeliner! Lip liner! Contouring! Shadowing! I was keeping my brushes in an old Bare Essentials box, and their poor little bristles were just getting bumped and smashed and treated terribly. Plus, the box was huge and made storage a real issue. So, with some scrap linen and cotton fabrics, I fashioned this roll-up brush holder. It's not perfect, as I refused to measure ahead of time and just went crazy with my scissors. Still, it gets the job done and is so fun to unroll each morning. Plus, all my brushes are lined up, and it is easy to find exactly the brush I want. This should definitely make putting on my kitty face tomorrow night to hand out candy to the kids very easy. (And, sorry for these yellow photos. The bathroom lighting is terrible.)

As for the croquembouche progress, the BF is having major issues with my making my own birthday cake. He thinks there is something sad about it. But, I love learning a new skill on my birthday. Or, at least promising to learn a new skill during that upcoming year. This little tradition is how I started knitting, printmaking, (almost) guitar playing, and now, hopefully, baking. So, the compromise we've reached is that I can make the cake so long as I make it with him. I think it's a good compromise as we get to spend fun time together.

Shhh...don't tell him. I'm going to practice making cream puffs tonight.

Adventures in Domesticity - Croquembouche

Having loads of time on my hands, which could clearly be better spent desperately searching for a job or unpacking the ridiculous number of boxes still left in my room--I've lately been embarking on casual journeys into domesticity. Sewing, knitting, cooking--no household activity is safe. Even cleaning (the kitchen pantry cupboards and the hall coat closet so far) is on the list of possible daytime destinations.

Now, with a milestone birthday quickly (too quickly?) approaching, I've been trying to figure out what to have as my birthday cake. Three-tiered white cake with custard filling, butter cream frosting, and animal print designs? Too much like my sister's birthday cake this year. (No one wants to be a biter--let alone a birthday cake biter.) Birthday pie? Been there, done that, last year. Cupcakes? Too cutesy. Some cake made out of a mold bought at Michael's? Every birthday cake I had as a child just doesn't seem to cut it for the quarter-century. I was just about to settle for little petit four cakes when came across this post by Mary over at Confessions of a Craft Addict.

Croquembouche! Of course! Who doesn't want to eat little cream puffs filled with pastry creme of all flavors and coated with loads and loads of sugary threads?

So tonight was the first dabble into baking profiteroles. I used Ina Garten's profiterole recipe. It really is a pretty simple recipe, and I'm proud of my first attempt at making pate a choux. The bottoms of the puffs were a little too brown but still made that hollow sound when tapped. The insides were undercooked, so I don't know how they made that hollow sound, but they did.

Lessons learned? First, I need to use a bigger piping tip. The puffs have the curly appearance of pastry poop because I had to make these tiny spirals on top of tiny spirals in order to get the size of dough dollop the recipe called for. I tried smoothing out the dough with my finger, but you can still clearly see the spirals when the profiteroles puffed up in the oven. I'm hoping that a bigger tip will also help give them more a more even size. Second, use convection setting on the oven. Some internet research tells me that the air will help puff the pastry and give it a light and airy inside. Third, cook the flour a little longer because it could still be tasted in the final puff. 'Course, that could be the undercooked dough talking.

Only eight days and counting (shit!) until the b-day. I've got to make quick progress on my profiterole skills in order to make my "crunch in the mouth" tower. An early start tomorrow should lead to at least a couple of attempts. And, maybe I'll manage to squeeze in a couple of job applications as well. Eh. Here's to hoping.