Preludes And Nocturnes

One - is there any way to close new comments and just have you all who are approved leave comments from now on?  My spam is getting a little more than I want to have to deal with in terms of going in and marking it all as spam and deleting it.

Two - this month I sold to TWO non-friends via etsy.  This is pretty cool.  Add to that Angel and Marissa (friends) buying from me and I actually am almost out of stock.  So I’m trying to finish up some major prep today and then I want to make cards all weekend long.

ALL WEEKEND LONG!

Woo9

That woot was interruped by Rupert jumping on the keyboard….

Jim and I watched 300 last night.

My review: meh.

The plot was obvious, the twists were obvious, the graphics were cool, the hating of Other was startling, and the dialogue started to make me get bored. But it was a fun enough rental. And was probably rather cool on-screen.

My favorite discussion following the film:

Me: Okay, so the Persians seem like they’d totally have better parties. And, um, they were kinda gay. Like really gay.

Jim: Yeah, something was going on where all the enemy looked like it came from the West Village… and all the Spartan, well, *pause* were also from the West Village come to think of it.

Me: Wow, this was totally the story of the Queens vs. the Bears!

I don’t think all the Dudes out there sing the praises of 300 would really have any idea the film was so very very queer

Oh how Chuck loves his kitten…

He cleans the kitten.

Snuggles the kitten

Watches sunsets with the kitten

And gazes lovingly at the kitten

Okay, I just need to finish up the final exam for my class and they will write it on Tuesday.  Today was our last class and overall I think this ended up being a really great group and I think we all had a good time reading some books, talking about narratives, and as I say “making our brains grow just a little.”

I’m freaked about getting all my prep done for the upcoming term.  Jim has just gotten two classes of his own and a third that includes travel six times over the semester.  I hope we can see each other here and there between the marking and prepping and travel and whatnot.

On the creative side, I’m loving making these cards for Angela and will try to post pics sometime this weekend.  I’ll have them done and ready to send (hopefully) by Monday - depending on how the final details go on the exam.  We also hope to get to the beach a few more times this weekend as it has been warm and we’ve enjoyed just popping over for a dip after dinner.

Kitties are good.  They snuggle and make us take millions of pictures of them.

I might start volunteering again at Planned Parenthood.  I used to hand out pills and do reception.  I liked it, and I like the people.

Nighty night!

But I’m not complaining.  Well, I’m not complaining right now.  There is lots of fun stuff, and all in all I’m feeling a bit better about things.  Some of you have been made aware of my not happiness about our place (noisy neighbours with bass that shakes our living room), and some random difficulties regarding moving and teaching all stacked onto each other.

So I’ll chat about what all is good right now.   Firstly, I really like my class.  I think they’ve come together well and many have started speaking up and entering into discussions.  This makes me happy and feel like a good teacher.  We have one week left and then the final exam the following Tueaday.  I’ll have a huge amount of marking for a few days, but then I’m getting some “free time” before the next semester starts on Sept 4th.

Secondly, I’m doing an overload for September.  Not three classes, but four.  This is kinda crazy, but I get a TA so that is going to help.  I’m going to use the above mentioned “free time” to attempt to prep as much as possible for the upcoming semester.  It will be insane.  I’m insane.  We get more money, though, and I have a dream of paying off my student loans and/or adding to our hopes for a down payment for a house.

Thirdly, I just sold an item in my etsy shop to someone I didn’t already know.  This is the first time for this to happen.  I am a very happy girl.  I have been putting more energy into etsy this last little bit and I had hoped it would pay off in terms of my first non-friend sale.  Now, I am not dissing my friend/family/coworker sales - they have been and will continue to be my main thang with my cards, me thinks. But it is validating to know that someone else would just see my stuff out of the blue and buy something.  Do you know what I mean?

Fourthly, related to etsy and cards is the fact that Angela has ordered cards from me and this coupled with mom ordering some cards from me really kick started me back into the crafting.  I’m being a bit smarter about it all, and I’ve started making more multiples on a theme once I get it blocked out and looking good.  I cannot sustain a system where I spend each night making up one card and one card only.  I want to make an entry on etsy that is “choose your own sentiment” with the basic cards ready - and the option for someone to pick the saying to be stamped on teh front (thank you, i miss you, best wishes, thinking of you, etc) and any combo thereof.  I also want to make a listing that is “pick any three 4×4 cards to mix and match” or “pick any three minis” etc. I’ve also started destashing a bit.

I just now hope that with the upcoming crazy schedule I’ll have time to keep devoting to all my new ideas about my cards and what I want to do.  So a lot of my time is either prepping, marking, or crafting.  All of which I like, but it makes me sad that the crafting is the first thing to drop off when I get really busy (ah, if only it paid like the teaching does…).

And finally, the kitty is feeling better.  Not 100%, but doing better.  And he and Chuck are snuggling more now - they’re both on the kitty bed right now and Chuck is cleaning Rupert.  You can still vote for them on lolcats - and check back as you can vote again after a day or two passes.  I’m just sayin.

I think this is the main stuff that is pretty nifty.  So yeah, hope everyone is doing well!

Er, you all wanna go vote for our cats?  They need some five stars, please

http://www.lolcats.com/view/9451/

 Oh Hai, I wuz sleepin.

Unimpressed cat is unimpressed.

I can send my own email!

Here you can see that he opened another window on Jim’s computer…

Just now, kitten help me read the paper by ensuring I really wanted to read that section - running across the dinning room table (big no-no) and attacking the paper as I read it. Then ripping sections of the paper from my hands, dragging them to the floor, and demolishing those areas not approprioo for me to read.

Also helps mark papers, do laundry, and load the dishwasher. That last one included climbing into the dishwasher - I’m guessing to supervise the rinse cycle.

But I’m certainly glad for all the help. Kitten has been rather sick and took a turn for the worse Tuesday night. He wasn’t able to breathe through his nose so he’d try to sleep and wake up making little gasping noises. We took him into the bathroom and ran the shower, looked up everything online, had already been to the vet (and he was on anitbiotics for a week), and he had been getting better. But then he got worse and I was not a happy camper.

Past couple of days have been rough for all of us, but little by little he seems to be feeling better. He is still amazingly stuffed up and gets gunky eyes and nose - we can hear him breathing in the other room.  We call him weezy.  But yes, we are starting to be a little hopeful he’ll rally again and get feeling betta.

Case in point, he just attacked my finger while I was typing this - and then activated the mouse and highlighted text for deletion.

HELPFUL!

(and to mouse)

Mom got me a birthday present - CRAFTY STUFF!!  We went to this great little shop and mom bought me this beautiful 12×12 paper in a variety of styles.  I have it on the newly set up office table with the new rug, new space, newly set up roomy without boxes all over it.  Yes, we got the office done (pretty much) this past weekend.  So tomorrow if I get my marking done, I get mebe some craft time.

To see, go here and scroll down to “Old World Stack” and “Far East Stack”.  And then drool.

I dream of my craft time.  I will sit and map out how I’ll spend my craft time.  Is so so good - that crafty time.

Thanks mom!