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"

Life Lesson Monday

Lesson: Don't overlook the little things in life. You might find something that brightens your day.

I sat down at the table, passed out the foam plates, and began preparing my hamburger.
Hurriedly (I was hungry), I squirted some ketchup onto my burger.
Most of the time I don't even eat ketchup.
sploourt.
"Hey!" I thought, "That kinda looks like a happy face! And I didn't even do it on purpose! ... Hm. I'm too hungry to be noticing the shape of my ketchup splat. Whatever. More ketchup."
sploourt.
"HEY!" I thought, "Now there's a nose in my ketchup face! And I didn't even do it on purpose! I thought I was going to mess the face up and forget all about it. But now it looks even more like a face!"
So instead of ignoring it, I showed Laura. And Mama. And it was an awful cute accidental ketchup face.
Sadly, I don't have a picture. I wish I'd have been a little more patient and taken a picture to brighten up this blog post, but I was awfully hungry. :)

Anyways, here's what I like to think: God was sending me a little reminder to be happy, and I ignored it. So you know what he did? He put a nose on it, and made me notice it again.
And if you don't think God does little things like that, that's fine. But keep your eyes open, because I promise He does, and it will certainly brighten your day when you take the time to notice. :)

20 things about me...

These things are going around like the flu. Some people are doing ones that have 17 things, or 25 things, but since I got tagged for this one, I'm doing a nice even 20. :)

1. Sometimes I just look at people and say "Hi! How are you?" after I've already had a whole conversation with them. People who know me say "Hi" back, and proceed to answer the question. People who don't know me so well look at me like I'm insane. They may be right.

2. I like to joke about myself being unintelligent, but I don't really think I am.

3. My little Etsy business is going pretty well. Now if I can just figure out what to do about state sales tax, and that little spending habit...

4. For some reason I try put off hard work, but almost always enjoy the labor and feel really good about myself when I'm done.

5. I love the people at my post office. They're so friendly! It's good to see familiar faces there. :) And just this week, that nice post office man told me he likes my "army jacket .... wait? don't they call those things pea jackets nowadays or something?" ... LOL the other guy was like "no, those are different. Pea coats. I got my wife one for christmas."

6. I had my first experience hitting an animal in the road a couple weeks ago. There was a little birdie sitting in the road, and it wouldn't fly away... crunch. :( I actually wasn't too upset though. that surprised me.

7. I have a hard time saying only a little bit. It's all or nothing. Ergo this series of mini-stories.

8. Don't get me started with the whole " "wine" in the Bible was just grape juice" thing. It was totally for-real wine, and Jesus did drink some. (in the podcast today some girl had a question about whether someone's convictions about alcohol should be a dealbreaker in a relationship... that's why I thought of that. lol) (see? there I go with another mini-story!)

9. Been listening to copious amounts of Michael Buble and Frank Sinatra after getting some CDs for Christmas.

10. I act very strange sometimes. And sometimes I feel a tinge of amused pity for my future husband. lol

11. I try to do a weekly blog post entitled "Life Lesson Monday" but I frequently forget to do them until Tuesday or Wednesday.

12. I have chronically cold feet, and I'm seriously upset about it because it's so annoying.

13. Coffee is my best friend. Well, it's pretty far up on the list anyhow.

14. I love walking. Walky walky walk. I don't usually tire of just strolling around. Hiking is good, too. Let's plan a hiking trip.

15. I am SO PSYCHED about having season passes for Six Flags(!!!), and I think it's awesome that they'll be open weekends starting the last day of Feb. (you can do a bunch of walking at Six Flags ...)

16. Sometimes I stop and realize that I'm actually a very selfish person. It bothers me.

17. My favorite books are Mere Christianity, Mansfield Park, 1&2 Corinthians... and I guess there are more. I have a hard time picking favorites.

18. I express excitement with childish glee. I bounce up and down and clap my hands and say "YAY!" a lot. It's true.

19. Currently reading: Surprised By Joy, Becoming a Woman Who Pleases God (not enjoying it so far ... heh...), and Winnie The Pooh. Finished reading: Blue Like Jazz, Let Me Be a Woman, and Bear Stays Up For Christmas. Plan on re-reading:Mere Christianity, Get Married: what women can do to help it happen (girls, check it out :D),Do Hard Things, and Charlotte's Web.

20. I looove being in choir, and I need to get ready for bed now so that I won't be sleepy during church and choir practice tomorrow. **yawn**

Unsolicited Promotion

So, I just felt like blogging, and I figured I'd just dive right in. No specific topic -just Caitlinesque rambling for the next few minutes.

First of all, I would like to say that I had a little Boundless Show marathon today. I sat and crocheted pieces for fingerless gloves and listened to the podcast for about four hours. They were all episodes from spring last year. I've had like ...4 marathon days catching up on old episodes since I got my iPod. YAY!

Love, love, love Boundless. I subscribe to the webzine and the blog in Google Reader so I won't miss anything. I've spent hours sitting at the compy reading old articles. I'm a link addict. Putting a bunch of related links under or in an article is genius. Of course I have to click on them all ... Wikipedia kills me. lol

Yay for Boundless.org!

So. What else random was I going to say? I'm going to see Marley and Me with Tiffany tomorrow! Looks like it'll be cute. I have a children's book about Marley. I love it. So does my preschool class.

Since I'm in the mood for promoting things tonight, I shall say huzzah for PaperBack Swap! I used to be on swaptree, but it just wasn't working out so well. PaperBack Swap rocks. I've gotten rid of my mother's old cookbooks that she didn't want, and I've gotten some great finds in return. Hardback copies of some of my favorite childrens' titles, and Blue Like Jazz.

Speaking of books, I'm toying with the idea of a media review post. Or maybe a series of posts. I've read a couple books and seen a few movies lately, and thought it would be fun to speak my mind about them. Perhaps I shall.

I had an epiphany today.

You know all those silly little games that begin with a person putting their iPod on shuffle?

"Put your iPod on shuffle and use the song titles as the answers to these questions:" and

"Put your iPod on shuffle and list the beginning lines of the first 15 songs..."

Those things. Well, I can do those now. Because I have an iPod now. (THANK YOU to the bestest aunt EVAR. :P) Haha! Let the stupidity begin! ... anyways. I just thought of that, and I was amused at myself for thinking it, and you can probably expect to see one of those silly things pop up any day now. lol

I ate lots of junk food today. I've been eating a lot of junk lately. Especially chocolate.
I also went for a walk.
I had an excellent cup of Millstone's Swiss Chocolate Almond coffee, but that was yesterday. That's my favorite flavored coffee, in case any of you wanted to know.

Now I'm finished with all of this unsolicited promotion for other people, I'm going to watch the Twilight Zone with my family. :) I love Fridays.

OH! and I made my two-hundred-and-second Etsy sale today. And I've been keeping track of all sales and expenses in Excel. Go me!

I really am leaving now. :)
-Caitlin

Life Lesson Monday

Marshmallow lessons:

If the recipe says to use a stand mixer, they know what they're talking about. It might seem noble to be the stand mixer, but it gets really old once you've been standing for 10 minutes.

If you make homemade marshmallows, substituting yourself for a stand mixer, be prepared to stand there, mixing, for about half an hour. You will probably look like a jar of marshmallow creme exploded on you when you're done.

Try not to be too upset when your beautiful, tasty marshmallows turn back into sloppy sludge the next day.

Marshmallows are way more gratifying if you pronounce them "smarshmallows" or even "schmarshmallows."

A cup of cocoa and schmarshmallows is very comforting in the evening.

Blackened marshmallows will give you cancer. Or at least that's what I heard. lol

If you catch your marshmallows on fire, don't fling them around to put out the flame.

For reasons unbeknownst unto me, marshmallows toast better, and taste better, when you have the perfect roasting stick.

It's okay to eat 15 marshmallows in one sitting.

... Have you ever played chubby bunny? I just realized I haven't played that in a long time.

Neopolitan

Betty's got a new do - sort of.

You like?
I'm jealous of her neopolitan new look. I've always wanted a pink stripe.

lol

In other news, here's the newest addition to my shop.

So, that's all for now.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and stay tuned for more Caitlinesque randomness!

sneezing rants and sailor pants

I have been sneezing all day long. Well, since I got up at 11:15 anyways. It's driving me CRAZY! My eyes itch, my nose itches, my throat itches, then my eyes start watering... then comes the sneeze. It's insane. I took some sudafed. It's not helping much. Fortunately, I'm not running a fever anymore, and I'm not miserable. I was scared I was going to end up lying miserably in bed for a whole week like dear, poor Laura has. Hopefully I'll be all better pretty soon. I have things to do.

What with everyone's being sick, there's been a lot of lounging in front of the television, watching pre recorded stuff from the DVR starring our favorite actors. Gene Kelly and Frank Sinatra, anyone? ;-) Loves em. So, anyway, last night we watched Anchors Aweigh, which was pretty great, in my own humble opinion.

Also great were Kelly and Sinatra's nifty Navy uniforms. There's this imaginary dance scene with Gene Kelly and Jerry Mouse of Tom and Jerry fame, and during the whole sequence I'm sitting there thinking, "those are awesome pants. I want some pants like that!" I know. I'm weird.


It's doubtful I could pull it off (or afford most of what I found), but I did a little search for the modern equivalent anyhow.


Yep. White sailor pants are just pretty cool. However, I do have some wide legged cuffed navy pants that are pretty awesome too, so I'll be content with those. :)

Um. I guess this was really random, but I don't have anything better to do, so I think I'll take my leave, take a shower, and wear my navy pants to make me feel better.
Have a happy weekend!
Caitlin

Life Lesson Monday

If you want your day to continue being cheerful and relaxing, DON'T try to learn about sales taxes and business licenses and suchlike and so forth.

However, if you whine and complain about your incompetence and cluelessness on Facebook, your friends will probably comment, which will probably make you feel a little better. - until you start thinking too hard again. At which point, it's time to get your iPod, select "Michael Buble" under artists, and tell it to shuffle all the songs. Then what you'll need to do is close out every tab you had open (which would include this one, and this one, and this one.), and go look at random people's facebook pictures while you enjoy your tunes.

Inevitably, you will find that you must move on to other tasks, which will require closing facebook, and turning your iPod off. Then you will remember that you wasted hours trying to learn important business stuff, and all you really learnt was that you have a lot to learn and don't know how to go about doing it.

At which point, you will have to try to forget about it, resolve to not let it ruin the rest of your day, and go about doing more useful/enjoyable things.

Picnik

So, I edited the picture of my shoes from my last blog post.
It's a billion times cooler now, thanks to picnik.
Before:











After:

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!

Post Number 101 at Caitlinesque on Blogger

Guess what?


...wait for it...



...mhm...



It's 2009, people!!
2009!

Just making sure you got that.
Don't forget to get it right on your papers and checks and stuff.

You know why this year is going to be awesome?
First off, it began with coffee and hilarious, friendly sarcasm. That's a blast any day.
Secondly, because we have season passes to Six Flags. Did I mention that before? yeah, I did.
Thirdly, because... well... It just is.
Fourthly, because I'll be turning 20 eventually. Wait... that one doesn't make sense.
Fifthly, because my friends rock, and as long as they keep being my friends, 2009 can't be completely horrible.
Sixthly (say that a couple times fast), ... this list is pathetic.
But you know what?
God is on my side. And as long as I stay with him (cuz he sure ain't leavin' me - He said so :D ), 2009 can be good.
Maybe not all fun.
Maybe even really tough.
But good. And I'm excited to see where He takes me!

And you know what else?
I'm not making any resolutions. HA!
You know why?
Because I always break them. Shortly.
And there's no point making resolutions that I'm not going to keep, and then beating myself up about it.
So there.

I had a whole big list last year. Failed every one. I think I did improve on some of the things, I just didn't follow the list to the letter.

Are you making any? Do you usually keep them?

Forgive the scatterbrained-ness. :)

Have a happy 2009, folks!
Love, ME!

(Oh, and it's also going to be good because I have 4 new C.S. Lewis books to read. All bound in one hugemongous, lovely hardcover volume!)