bam

Feeling sorry for yourself, and your present condition, is not only a waste of energy but the worst habit you could possibly have.

--Dale Carnegie

Chilly Saturday

It's not a payday weekend. And Isaac and I found ourselves pretty bored with nothing to do. It's easy to think of free/cheap stuff to do when it's nice out, but it's definitely more of a challenge to keep from going stir-crazy when the temperatures begin to drop. So I got out the bike rack, bundled us up and headed back to our old stomping grounds to do the bike trail. Now that Isaac is a whiz at the two wheeler, I thought it would be fun to take him to an endless paved trail where he wouldn't have to worry about watching for cars. Once we got there I realized it was actually quite a bit colder than I had thought. Isaac was a good sport though and off we went.

Doing pretty well on his two-wheeler.

We took a break on the swings.

Taking a picture of yourself on your cellphone while riding a bicycle is not as easy at you would think.

I sure miss my old neighborhood where we had a variety of bike trails available at our fingertips.

Poor kid had to really keep his little legs pumping to try to keep up. It's hard on a one speed bicycle.

Obligatory Halloween Blog Post

Here's my handsome Buzz Lightyear. My mom bought him a really nice Iron Man costume back in, like, early September, but when Halloween finally rolled around his insisted on wearing this old outgrown Buzz Lightyear costume we had in the toy closet (sorry Mom). It worked though. We stopped by several of my coworkers houses and did about 1/2 of my neighborhood. I left a bowl of candy out on the porch and when I came home it was totally empty. My neighbor said she had 118 kids come by her house. Last year it was pouring rain and we only had a few kids, so I didn't know what to expect. New hair color Highlighting my hair was getting expensive, and boring. I decided to go for a darker do that will hopefully be less maintanence. It's not all the way as dark as my natural color (which is super dark brown and really drab) but it's a step in the right direction.

Started with this one, then realized *DUH* I should take my sunglasses off my head.

Overall much darker but still some sort of lighter coppery highlights to break it up. I'm happy with it, which I feel like never happens when I go darker. I'm also incapable of taking a picture of myself where I am making a normal facial expression. Random Productivity

Today Isaac's school district had an inservice day because they use some of the elementary buildings for polling. I took a sick day and we had a lovely day together. We packed away all of the Halloween things (including some clearance stuff I found at Target for next year that is SUPERCUTE), voted, did some errands that have been hanging around on my to-do list forever, talked to my aunt on the phone, got my flu shot, squeezed in a game of bowling (we had a coupon for a free game and as usual Isaac totally beat me), raked swept the kitchen floor , baked some cupcakes and Zumba'd. I even squeezed in some time for some crafting, which felt very overdue.

I finally finished this little pillow:

I started it about a month ago and I was worried it would be winter by the time I finished it. I just followed this tutorial pretty much exactly. Next time I think I would use a lighter thread and probably a zig-zag stitch but I am happy with how it turned out.

I can't think of much else to write about. Happy November everyone!

"irregardless"

The behavior consultant I work with uses that word all the time and it makes my skin crawl. According to Wikipedia: Irregardless is an informal term commonly used in place of regardless or irrespective, which has caused controversy since it first appeared in the early twentieth century. Most dictionaries list it as "nonstandard" or "incorrect". The pre-fix "ir" is a negative like "irrational" or "irresponsible". Therefore "irregardless" would be a double negative and make no sense. GAH.

Happy Halloween everyone.

wiww

I decided to participate this week in the Pleated Poppy's quest to get out of sweats and actually get dressed. My outfit documentation has been hit or miss. Here are some recent ones I remembered to take. My camera is on the fritz again, so these are from the cellphone. Also, I feel the need to disclaim that I don't think my outfits or style are particularly interesting or worth emulating. But it has inspired me to spend more than 3 minutes getting ready to go out, rather than reaching for the tried and true yoga pants and v-neck solid color t-shirts.

Saturday/Errands

Jeans: New York and Company

Shirt: Express (but I got it at TJMAXX)

Sunday/Church

I love, love, love this dress. It's like wearing a bathrobe. So comfy.

Dress: H and M

Tank: Old Navy

Boots: No idea. Maybe Burlington Coat Factory but really not sure.

Work/After Work Birthday Happy Hour for a coworker

As close to jeans as I can get at work. Navy cords - Old Navy Belt - Old Navy

Tank - GAP Cardigan - Loft

I love how wide leg these pants are:

But then I was wondering if wide legs or flares are now, like, a hallmark of mom pants or something. They were in when I was in highschool, but that was a long time ago. Maybe I look super out of touch in my flare leg jeans.... I am not about to buy skinny jeans though. That is a trend I just can't get on board with... Thoughts?

Work

Close up of the boots (and cat)

Jacket - Target (hand me down from my pal Meagan)

Tank Top - H and M Cargo Skirt - Old Navy

Boots - Famous Footwear

Work

Brown T-shirt - Old Navy

Shoes/Turquoise Necklace - Target

T-Shirt Material Jacket/Navy Trousers - New York and Company

DER TOM

The inventive spelling stage is my favorite part of writing: when it is finally starting to come together with the coordination to form letters, the ability to hear letter sounds and know the symbol that represents them, etc. I found this envelope and the card on top of the stack of cards I had addressed last night. He did all of the writing by himself. It's so sweet I had to document it.

FROM ISAAC TO TOM (my younger brother)

DEAR TOM, I HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD HALLOWEEN I love it.