Thursday night your stockings needed mending...

It feels like a while since I have had a real everyday kinda post. There isn't too much to say. Life keeps plugging along. For the most part, everything is going well, which is a relief, but doesn't make for exciting blog material. Sunday I drove all the way out to the Northeast to hear Elder Cristofferson, a member of the 12, who was doing a special young single adult fireside (which was suspiciously filled with old people, and tons of kids, but whatever). One part of his address which stuck out to me was he spoke about how President Monson has always been an apostle of compassion and how we should in our own ways become apostles of compassion. He said "Don't worry that you can't do it all for everyone, don't hold back on what you can do, do what you can and that is enough." (Except probably not in a run-on sentence like that, but that is what I had in my notes). That remark pierced me because I have been thinking about that kind of stuff so much lately. He also gave a special blessing on the saints in this area which included (among other things) a greater capacity to do good, and a blessing that we would always have food on the table whatever may come, with enough for our needs and some to share to help others. I found both of those promises to be very comforting. Isaac declared the other morning that "I just love kindergarten!". His teacher is very creative and nice and she seems like a singer! Isaac will often burst into an adorable song that he has picked up there. He seems to be doing a little better socially in kindergarten than he did in pre-K. We have conferences just before Thanksgiving break, and I am really looking forward to it. He is starting to recognize sight words and try to sound out and spell words which is so exciting. I was a pretty reserved child and reading was a huge part of my childhood. I hope Isaac loves reading as much as I do. It's almost my birthday. I will 29 years old, which is pretty crazy. As per usual, I will work a 12 plus hour day on my birthday due to parent conferences. Boooo. We are also doing a family dinner and hopefully I will get to do fun stuff with friends too. We'll see. It's my last year in my 20s, so I feel like I should really do it up, although I keep hearing 30 is the new 20. I guess we will see. We both had dentist appointments today. Isaac did very well and had no cavities. The dentist did remark that he has the largest set of baby teeth she has ever seen. The other dentist in the practice (who is actually her husband) said the same thing last time around. Isaac inherited all my super weird physical traits, like freakishly colossal cuspids. It was super cute too when dentist asked his name he said "Isaac: I-S-A-A-C". It's sad that at five he already understands that most people have no clue how to spell his name and that he better just get it out of the way and give people the correct spelling right off the bat. Anyways, my dental prognosis was not so good. The tooth that has been killing me since June was officially declared an absessed tooth worthy of a root canal by a specialist. So I'm totally looking forward to that -- NOT. Anyways, I don't have much more to say. Hope things are well for you. If you are reading this, leave a comment. What's new where you are?

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