Crochet Update

It's been a good week, Etsy-wise. And otherwise, actually. But since I can't think of anything to say about the otherwise part, this post shall focus on Etsy happenings.

Sales are up this week! woot!

I didn't think the green vest I love so very much would ever sell, but I was wrong.

Chaucee
at TaylorHouse Designs ordered some custom gloves in navy with mustard trim. They turned out really cute!

One order this week was placed by a name I recognized. Hooray for return customers!! She ordered some blue slippers and black gloves. Turns out, she placed a custom order before, and I never got back with her about it. That's embarrassing. But she still came back! Yay!



In other crochet news, you finally get to see the "fantastically pretty hat" I mentioned in a previous post.


You don't have to think it's awesome, but I'm still thrilled with it.
Since I made it up as I went, I don't have a pattern. Sad! I guess I should try to decode it sometime. However, making it up as I go is fun sometimes, so I did it again.

People keep asking if I've found a new job now that we've moved. I haven't. Just so happens, I haven't been looking. Honestly, I don't plan to. Not yet, anyways. My plan for now is to really focus on my Etsy shop. Make new things, list more frequently, ...I dunno. Try to make my presence a little more known. And I'm looking forward to it. Pouring more concentrated effort into making my little shop work will be fun!

As for this very present moment, I think I need to see if there's any chocolate ice cream left. All of a sudden I feel like rambling, and this post is long enough already. =D

Have a happy week!
Caitlin

Happy Bullets

• We're moving this weekend!
• I own three boxes packed full of books!
• I get to keep my job!
• Today was the first day of school!
• I just now found the new, cool earrings I thought I'd lost!
• Yesterday I finished a fantastically pretty hat.
• I wore my pretty hat to work today, and I looove it.
• My French press and I are getting reacquainted.
• The hairs on my head are now long enough to wear up in a clip!
• God is so good. All the time.

What are you happy about this week?

I found a funny picture of my Vincent the other day. (It looks like he's screaming or yawning, but he was probably just bringing up some food from his crop... how boring. lol) Having a bird around was lots of fun, and I definitely want another one.

The thought entered my head that perhaps I should just get a normal little parakeet, but I dismissed the notion almost immediately. After having a parrotlet, a budgie would be so blah. :P Not that I don't like them - as a matter of fact, I was thinking of getting one a couple months ago, but I knew it would make Vincent mad. lol

So, we shall see what happens on the bird front. I'm sure I want another parrotlet (the turquoise ones are so pretty!!), but I don't know when I'll be able to get one. For one thing, I'm trying to save money and I want a new pair of eyeglases. For another, there aren't really any local breeders. But you know I'll keep you updated, whatever happens.


In the meantime, you can enjoy kitten pictures. ;-)


This is a nice flattering shot of them. Spectre's sisters are having allergy problems or something, so their little eyes don't look too swell. Poor dears.


They're only like 5 weeks old, but they've gotten really adventurous. I came bounding up the porch steps the other day and nearly tromped on them! Usually they stay close to the shed they live under, but apparently they're exploring further territory now. After I took this picture, their mom wandered off while they took a little nap.



Crocheting has been sort of a drag since I finished my earflap hat... I want to make something new and cool, but I'm never satisfied with my ideas once I start working on them! However, I did make this pretty wool beret this week. I crocheted as I watched X-Men.



The beret was finished before the movie wasn't over, so I started on these little wristies. Then I finished them during an episode of Star Trek.


So, now you know.




This week at work we're getting everything all set up. Yesterday I washed toys. Today I decorated our bulletin board and door. Yay! Tuesday is Open House and the first day of school is Wednesday. I'm so excited!



Hope you're having a good week, too. :)
Caitlin

I'm still busy!

While absence of blog updates may lead you to the conclusion that I've not been up to much,
let me assure you that the truth is quite the opposite. I may not have been blogging, but I have certainly been busy. One thing with which I've been occupied is crocheting, of course.
Let me show ya:

Khaki and Brown Cabby.

Earthy Hippie Hat.

Blue V-Stitch Beret.

Happy Woolen Bird Friend.

These last two I conjured up last night. Blue hat was created while I was watching Kronk's New Groove, and Birdy during Pirate of the Caribbean.
All freehanded, as usual - straight from my little noggin.
Yay!

Wait, well, I did use a pattern for the cabby, but I'm the one who wrote the pattern,
so it doesn't really count as using a pattern. :P

In other news, I went to Savannah and had a lovely time. I've decided that I would like to live there for a summer and ride my bike around everywhere, frequenting coffee shops and parks with books and such. How very picturesque it would be.
As if.
haha.

So, anyways... what's new with you?

Caitlin

P.S. SCHOOL'S ALMOST OVER!
I love my job, but I'm glad next week is the end. ;-)

Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!
It has been a regular old uneventful Saturday here, but I thought I should at least write a special blog post for the occasion. And not only did I think it, but I remembered to do it!

I must say, I haven't had much cause to wish for a valentine of my own this February.

I shall tell you why.

These 8 oh-so-deceptively cute boys all brought me chocolate.
YAY!
And I was practically killed with hugs and kisses out on the playground Thursday.
It had been a tough morning. I needed it.
I've been recovering by eating fudge ever since.

And that is why Miss Caitlin wasn't in Dreadful Need of a boyfriend for Valentine's Day.

All this is not to say that I don't need any guys in my life.
The little ones are great, but I'm awfully thankful for the bigger ones, too.
Firstly, I'm thankful to my Daddy for providing for me, and bringing me up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." And to my brothers for... helping me practice being patient and kind over and over. ... I'm still working on that one. **scowl at self** But really, Nicholas and Joey and Ben do surprise me with their thoughtfulness sometimes.

And now, if you don't mind, I shall list some of the other guys to which I am grateful.
Some of you guys I don't actually talk to (ha!), and some of you I haven't known long, but I'm still thankful for you, and you shall see why:

Stu - Thanks for the ice cream. And the other fun random times.
Danny - Thanks for listening to my frustrated rants and offering help and pizza stories.
Keith -Thanks for the many emails. I never know quite what to expect from you.
Paul -Thanks for the peppermints and yahoo emoticon wars from ages ago.
John - Thanks for the Zac Efron stories and being so fun to hang out with.
Joe -Thanks for the gum-wrapper flowers and the deadly sarcasm.
Grayson - Thanks for deciding what I should eat at Taco Bell. And for being a great guy.
Matt - Thanks for the many rides, and the breakfast on Sundays that nobody eats.
Janson - Thanks for doing Youth Choir and for being encouraging.
Jeremy - Thanks for the many times you've offered to pray for us. I appreciate that.
Ryan - Thanks for being you? Some people are just fun to be around.
Zack - Thanks for the stimulating conversations.
Isaac - Thanks for the jokes about calico hair, and whatever else we talked of back then.
Daniel - Thanks for the random humor. You're kind of a celebrity around here.

And there you have it folks!
Wasn't that nice...

I watched Fireproof again last night. It reminded me that lessons about love aren't just for married people. God loved us sacrificially, and we are supposed to show His love to everyone. Even when they don't deserve it. Even when they don't notice.
And it's hard.

"I will love you like God because of God, mighted by the power of God. I will stop expecting your love, demanding your love, trading for your love, gaming for your love. I will simply love. I am giving myself to you, and tomorrow I will do it again. I suppose the clock itself will wear thin its time before I am ended at this altar of dying and dying again.

God risked Himself on me. I will risk myself on you. And together, we will learn to love, and perhaps then, and only then, understand this gravity that drew Him unto us."

-Donald Miller (Blue Like Jazz)

What a beautiful picture of learning to love.

Speaking of Fireproof, I should like to bring your attention to a super-awesome song
from that movie. While I'm Waiting - John Waller.
For the sake of the length of this post, I'm not going to post the lyrics here. The link above has the video from the movie, plus lyrics. Click the link! It's worth it.

I purchased that song on iTunes today.
It's sort of what the theme of my life is and has been for the past two years or so.
Waiting on the Lord, and trying to live for Him as I wait.
Wait for problems to be worked out.
Wait for plans to be revealed.
Wait for people to change. (myself included)
Wait for Prince Chaaaarmiiiing....
(hey, it's Valentine's Day. Cut me some slack)
Waiting eagerly but not impatiently.

So, there's my little compilation of thoughts for the day! It was longer than I thought it would be.
Hey! I realized I still haven't listened to this week's episode of the Boundless Show! And it's bound to be great since it's about the Valentine's Day.
I think I shall leave you now.
I hope you have some chocolate to bring you solace in my absense.
lol
Love y'all!!

Caitlin

Happy thoughts on a Friday Night

So, I just finished watching Bridge to Terabithia.
I actually multitasked and sorted some meat off a lovely pork roast part of the time I was watching. And I won't be surprised if I were to start feeling horrible shortly from consuming so much of what I was sorting... mmm.

Uh, what I meant to say was that I like that movie. Even though it makes me cry.
whatever.
:D

I decided to do a little post while I wrestle with my iTunes to get today's Boundless Show episode onto my iPod. I think it's finally working.
The last two episodes were very serious, so I hope this one has some humor.
Not that I have a problem with seriousness, mind you. If you want to know what's funny, check out the Dec. 24th episode. The discussion about Christmas Favorites is good.

And I thought I'd leave you with this tidbit of info: There's a new kid in my class!!
I don't know if I said that on the blog already or not. If I did, apologies.
But he's cute, and fits in perfectly.
And I'm supposed to get another addition soon. That makes 8.
It's CRAZY.
But I love it.
Funny, I usually come home and take a nap, complaining how hard the day was, but I wouldn't want to quite. I love it.

My blog has been looking so barren lately. It's time for some pictures!
From preschool, nonetheless!


A little redundant, yes. Tis a popular pose. lol
To the left is Mr. New Kid.
:D

The little paper penguins looked so very cute peeping out of the bags in their little cubbies!

And last but not least is my favorite picture of all the ones I took that day.
Me and Tom!
With extra cool added specialness from the brilliant wonder-worker of a photo editor - picnik.

Tomorrow I shall go ice skating with my brother and some friends. Then we shall come home for the very same brother's birthday party. It shall be a pleasant day.
For now, however, I'm going to stir some honey into my chamomile tea and listen to my podcast.
Good night.

-Miss "Caitin"

Happy January 3rd!

So, my friends, January is moving right along. Have you begun tackling your list of resolutions? How's it coming?

I have congratulated myself on taking baby steps for two of my unofficial resolutions:
Spending less money, and journaling more.
Last night, I wrote five pages in my journal. Goodness knows I probably could have written ten, it's been so long since I've written! But it was getting late, and my hand started aching, and I still wanted to read a couple chapters of Surprised by Joy.

Today, I went to starbucks with a dear friend from my Sunday school class, and bought a cappuccino instead of a macchiato (my fave!) because it was a little cheaper. Of course, I promptyly regretted it, because I really wanted the macchiato. lol But hey. If I'd gotten the macchiato, I probably would have had to start counting change, and when I do that I inevitably drop some, or miscount, which is embarrassing, so... yeah.

After Starbucks (where I diligently worked a few rows of a scarfling) I took my amazing yellow shoes ( have I told you about those? I got them at Etsy) to have the heel repaired at this very humble looking shoe repair shop. Indeed, it was so ... humble... looking that I was a little scared to leave my shoes in the hands of these strangers. But as the interesting man behind the counter informed me that business was booming, and as I beheld the many, many shoes stacked neatly around the workshop, I thought to myself "Well, if they have this much business they must be reputable. Otherwise, there wouldn't be this many shoes in their care." They're supposed to call me when my shoes are done.

The coming week promises fun - and tiredness by the time I reach the end.
Monday ... well, I guess nothing's planned for Monday.
Tuesday work at preschool starts back. Tuesday evening is **drumroll** girls' movie night!! YAY!! Thank you, dear Looneys for being such wonderful, marvelous, awful nice hosts. (**cough**movie reference**cough**)
Wednesday - church.
Thursday - work.
Friday - another movie night at the Looneys'! This time lots of people, not just girls. lol

So, as you can see, the holidays are over, and the schedule is packed.

I don't think there was a point to this blog post. I just felt like rambling.
Enjoy your tomorrow!

Christmas cheer, anyone?

Yay for Christmas! I'm so excited. It's almost here!!!
I've felt rather Christmasy for most of December. That's been lots of fun, especially with all the fun things I've been doing. Like our non-skating skating trip. That was a blast.
A couple of us broke off from the group and tooks some pictures with the gigantic tree in Atlanta.

I almost had a whole paragraph here about different stuff from that night, but it wasn't turning out like I wanted it to, so I cut it. I'll move on.

My business cards came, but not until after the Christmas rush of packages had been sent off. But it was so exciting to finally get them that it didn't much matter they were later than I hoped for.
I got a nifty little key ring holder so's I'll always have some with me. There are 43 different pics. Which means this photo only shows some of the awesomeness. ;-)

Back to more Christmasy things though: shopping! I've done way more shopping lately than I have in... likely ever. I think I spent around 65 dollars in Claire's alone in the past month or so. Blast all those sales and discounts! :D But most of it was Christmas presents. And, I say, I believe I'm quite done spending for some time now. Lack of funds aside, I think I've actually had enough shopping this month. Time to be saving. ... heh. Anyways, here's a pic from one of our shopping excursions.Do we look alike to you? I'm not seeing any resemblance. I think Alicia and I look more like sisters than my own sister and me.


Also fun was the church's roller skating fellowship. Not very eventful, but fun. I fell twice.
It was because I couldn't figure out how to stop, or how to get around the wall of people that was suddenly in front of me. I don't have any pictures from that, which is probably good. :D

Then there's choir practice, which I enjoy, as usual. The Christmas stuff is fun, but all of a sudden I feel like I don't know how to sing any of this stuff we've been working so hard on for weeks. I was oddly clueless during Thursday's practice for lots of stuff that I thought I had memorized. Bleh. BUT! There is hope! We have practice again tomorrow, and we're bound to start off on a good note - how can you not when coffee and donuts are provided? Exactly. (I don't want to hear anything from you coffee haters. **cough**Becca**cough**)

We had our little Christmas party at preschool Thursday morning. We made little christmas ornaments and picture frames for the mommies and daddies, and then had a super-extravagant snack with lots of apple slices and cheese puffs. I forgot to take the camera, of course. I was gonna show you pics, but they'll have to wait til another day - I ran out of time!

AND! My wonderful aunt and uncle and cousins are coming up for Christmas! How sweet is that!

To top everything off, the excitement won't end at Christmas. My dearest friends in the Whole Wide World are planning a New Year's Eve bash that I've been looking forward to since last year.

What are you doing this Christmas season? Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, I hope you're enjoying it as much as I am. :) Even if your Christmas season isn't full of optimistic sparkles, warm fuzzies, and christmas cheer in general, may God give you the eyes to see all the blessings around you. We have so much to be thankful for!!
Love,
Me

Life Lesson Monday

This one is in a little different format from the others, mostly because I can't think of anything story length. :)

Lessons Learned in Recent Days

From my S.S. class Christmas ice skating outing:

• Pointy heeled shoes leave funny little holes behind you when you walk in the grass. (aerating?)
• If you eat at the Olive Garden with a bunch of your friends, everyone had better be prepared to share. (hey, um... can I taste that?)
• Don't wear high heeled boots to choir practice if the leader is going to make you stand the whole time. (not that I knew ahead)
• Counting and talking simultaneously results in errors. (if you're crocheting, you'll probably end up having to pull out a couple rounds.)
• Provided with the right sort of company, you can still have fun if your ice skating party doesn't include ice skating. (and especially if it includes starbucks)

And one from preschool:

• Even cute dinosaurs can become scary in the hands of small children. (mostly 2 year old boys)

So. That was the best I could come up with for now. **sigh**

It's better than nothing, right? :D At least you know I've been having fun!

Updating

I feel terrible for not actually doing much life updating lately. You wouldn't believe how neglected my real journal is. I haven't even opened it in the past month because I don't want to see when the last entry is dated. Helpful, huh?

But I thought while I'm on checking Etsy stuff before I go to bed, I'd let you all know that I haven't died of that stupid cold yet. It still hasn't gone away. It's making me grumpy and uber tired. Yet I keep doing stuff. I went caroling yesterday. With a screechy voice. lol. But I hate to miss all the Christmas fun because I have a cold!! Of course, I think with all this activity and little rest, I'm prolonging it... ah well.

Here's a random picture for a little visual interest. I just dicovered Picnik.

An apology is in order for the neglect of Life Lesson Mondays. This sounds like a lame excuse, but I can't think of any good life lessons. I keep wishing something mildly bad and laughably funny would happen to me. No such luck. And the recesses of my memory aren't serving me well lately, either. I want to continue the series, but if there are no Life Lessons, there can't be a Life Lesson Monday. Unless I sway from my theme of obvious-yet-hilarious, or whatever.

In other news, I followed my better judgement over my heart and did NOT buy one of the adorable budgies on sale at PetSmart. (Vincent would have been SO mad.) My mother, on the other hand, gave into abouding cuteness and purchased the sweetest little red guinea pig. His name is Gimli. Thanks to me. **bows elegantly** We were tossing around names, and Abby went into Lord of the Rings characters. I told her if we were picking a name from LotR, Gimli would be the best guinea pig name. And it kinda fits his smallness and redness. Awesome.

Shopping for my preschoolers was fun. I raided the dollar store. I'm so glad they're all boys. I got dinosaurs, candy, and sugar donuts for everyone.Woo Hoo! And I got a collection of dinosaurs for my classroom. There are two in there now, but they're mean, ugly dinosaurs. I got cute ones. lol I'll have to show you some time. Remind me.

Random Bullets:

• We had a gingerbread house decorating party on Monday. It went really well.


• I went to the orthodontist today, and the Dr. said everything was going perfect, and I don't have to have any teefs pulled!


• Then I went to starbucks and when I ordered, I said my name was Caiti (I always say Caitlin...), and asked for carmel (I always say caramel). Just because I wanted to do something different.


• My eyes are bothering me right now.


• Two of my left contact lenses have ripped for no reason, and so now I don't have the same number of left ones as right one left. **Grumpy face**


• I still need to buy christmas presents for my brothers.


• Etsy is driving me crazy. I love crocheting, and I love making money, but I am so ready for a break. I can't keep up!



• I got a compliment on my Etsy banner today, and was asked if I ever considered going into graphics design.
  


• I can't wait for my business cards to come!! I'm so disappointed every day when I check the mail and there is no little box for me. :(


• Dinner and skating Saturday with my SS class is going to be so much fun!

There. I'd say that's a pretty good off-the-cuff blog post. At least now you know what's going on. :)

~Me

A New Post

I would love to have some pumpkin pie. Or maybe a pumpkin spice latte. Let's go to starbucks.

...Well, since that doesn't seem to be working out, I'll just sit here at the computer and tell you what's been going on lately!

Mrs. Dawn is now installed as my permanent helper, instead of floating between all three classes.
The reason for this? My class has grown from 5 little monkeys to 6. The 6th is certainly a cutie.
So, this is CJ. A little apprehensive at first. Who wouldn't be? He's the smallest and youngest, and, well, to be honest, some of the other guys come across pretty strong. But he's doing really well. His favorite part of the day is snacktime (I'm with him on that one). He really opens up, given enough teddy grahams.


Owen, Jesse, and Jake were just hanging out on the playground the other day... not doing much of anything. (which was AMAZING) Mrs. Dawn said we should teach them to sit there like that and do "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil." Perhaps I should attempt it sometime. It'd make one amazing picture.
"rawr! I'm'onna eat your camra!"Mrs. Nancy told me today that I might have another addition to my class soon. We don't know for sure, though. Guess what? Another boy. I'd say I'm getting my fair share of practice. :D

Speaking of practice, I had an opportunity to practice losing at mini golf on Saturday. A couple of us went to Stone Mountain with some of Abby's friends from church for her birthday. It was a fun little trip. We rode the skylift, played mini golf, watched a 4 -D movie thing, a parade, and the Christmas laser show. It was nice and holiday-y. Great adjective, that.
Ha! Pictures of me with my siblings! Yay!


And the kids all had a blast on the best playground EVER while I ran around snapping pictures of them. Seriously. That is the best playground. Hang the rest of the park, give me a picnic at the playground! I couldn't play on that one, because I would have gotten lots of weird looks, but nothing kept me from climbing up the little plastic rock wall, and sliding down the other side at preschool today. Not even my dress, or my new boots. Which I did wear, thankyouverymuch. How could I resist "do it wif me, Miss Caitin!" ?! Exactly.

And I really thought there was something else I was going to say, but now I don't remember what it was. I've worked on this post on and off for the past couple hours. That method doesn't work well for me. Totally derails my train of thought.

So, have a happy day, and I'll be in touch again soon. ;-)
Caitlin

How about an update?

Okay, so maybe it's not that cool to you, but just check out all this praise! I've been featured on a super blog again, and ... well, there's just nothing quite like 100+ comments praising your work. Really.

And I get all that just for sending a cute hat to somebody! And then sending some slippers to one lucky person.

Of course, praise doesn't do much good unless I'm making sales, too. Which I am. Record breaking. Not earth-shattering, thankfully.

Breaking a small personal record is quite exciting enough for now, thanks.

I'm thinking about trying to take a break from custom orders for a little while, and build up some inventory. I don't know if that would slow sales too much, or help out in the long run. It would certainly ease a little stress for a while. You know, to have some time to just chill and create whatever I please. (I still have a huge stash of wool that I haven't done a thing with.) Not that I'm complaining about making 6 pairs of yellow slippers in a few days time. lol.

Enough Etsy ramble.

In case you're wondering, I still love my job at preschool.

I am very thankful that I didn't get what I wanted to begin with.
I wanted 4 days, and I got 2.
I was disappointed, but now I see that it's exactly what I needed. 2 days leaves me with enough time to work on etsy, and ... well, do whatever it is that I do.
And somehow, even those 2 little mornings are tiring. :P But see this cuteness? The frustration of flying wood chips, biting children, and smashed up goldfish is nothing in comparison.
...
Or comparatively insignificant, anyhow. ha!

Lest I sound too saintly here, I admit I got pretty fed up today. But the "bye bye, Miss Caitin! See you latah!" at noon really makes things a lot better.

A random thought :
I wonder if any of those parents ever walk in and see me, thinking, "That's the teacher? Why have they got a child watching my kids?!"


Well, there's been more going on, but that's all for now. :)
Hopefully I'll be back soon.
<3
Caiti

At Barbara's House

"Hello! I'm at Barbara's house! ... in a petticoat! ...
**giggles** ... hey, what is a petticoat?"

I hear the strangest bits of conversation around here sometimes. Above was issued by my 8 year old sister Emmie.

I am tired. And have lots to do. And am getting little of it done. Dear Etsy customers, forgive me. Life is gaining on me. I'm working on your stuffs, I promise, I am.

Guess what?
I made cute slippers a while back. (during a break from custom orders) Pixie slippers. Or at least, I like to call them pixie slippers. I made them rather biggish. Maybe someone out there with biggish feet will like them. I like them.

And then I decided to try my hand at a scarflette with the
remaining green yarn. It, too, turned out satisfactory, though also a little on the big side. Next time I'll make it a couple inches shorter.

M.S. (mid-script) I made my 100th Etsy sale today.

And I'm getting close to the end of To Kill a Mockingbird. 'S'good.
I could really use a cup of coffee and a brownie or something.

Tomorrow's going to be crazy busy, too.
Maybe Friday will be a little more low-key. I could use a little low-key after today.
I could also use some sleep.

Did you know I like my friends? I do. They're nice.
So is rest.
Good night. :)