First Day of Work, Classroom stuff, and the End of My Sanity

Well its over.  My stint of life where I do odd jobs just to make a little cash has officially come to an end today.  Its a win and loss at the same time.  Bittersweet.  I got up super early and got dressed in some comfortable "work" clothes because this week is dedicated to meetings, classroom decoration, and lesson planning, and I did NOT want to be in business clothes for that.  Not one wants to stand on chairs to put up posters with slacks on.  So I wore Some blue shorty slacks (no idea what you call me them in real life lol), and grey shirt, and you can't go wrong with converses. My hair was cute before I walked outside and the humidity said "Girl Stop". 

To be honest, I could have just worn some yoga pants and a T-shirt.  No one was too pressed about what they were wearing.  I did get a chance to meet my team and some of the other teachers in the school and everyone was so welcoming.  Other than a few things about the schedule (like no bells, no break between classes for kids, and a 30 minute lunch- which all kind of stinks) I am really looking forward to the school year.  What was amazing was the fact that I didn't even touch the breakfast spread. Not even a lick of a cinnamon roll or a bite of the chicken biscuits from Chick-Fil-A.  Talk about dedication.

And this new (and very official- yes, yes, quite right, tally ho) T-shirt was waiting for me at the table.  We are supposed to wear them to the open house on Wednesday.  Which jeans should I wear? No idea.  

Final thoughts are that this school year is going to be interesting.  Getting back into the swing of things and finding myself, if you will, and my style in the classroom at this point in my life will be something I am looking forward to.  I am trying to overcome the feeling of "why on earth did I ever want to work", and its working, because I NEVER wanted to WORK, I wanted money.  Which I am now in a position to make. 

Now if only I could figure out how I'm going to potty with no time in between classes... you know how much water I drink!

Brownie- My Midori Travelers Journal

Meet Brownie...

My beautiful midori travelers style journal...but on crack!

Yep.  Its super big fat ain't it?  I know that's what she said.  This is my second go at the midori style of journaling and I absolutely love it. I can't say that I will never go back to that regular old one book style, but it will be hard to break me away.  I am a part of a few groups on facebook that are all about midoris and this baby was hand crafted by a gentleman by the name of Yochanan Israel who is also in the group.  He is a leather God among mere men!

Almost immediately after I received my real Midori in the mail, I knew it was absolutely too small for me.  I have a big brain, and a lot to write .   So here are a few pics I took this morning and some details about Brownie.

The cover is made out of the softest leather ever.  This is a Quadfold in Extra Large.  It folds out and opens on both sides making it easier to fit more inserts inside.  I have 4 on the left and 2 on the right, along with a plastic zip folder and a folder that I hand made.  The book with the blue cover on the bottom right corner is  where I do my brain dump.  Lots of notes and randomness.

The second book on the left side of Brownie is where I keep my bullet journal.  The bullet journal system is a nice clean method of keeping track of my daily to do lists.  I looooove it!  This picture shows the cover and the inside. I bought this little notebook from Goulet Pen Company.  Its a banditapple brand notebook.

Now it gets confusing.

Top left- The cover of my weight loss journal.  Where I house my struggles/wins/measurements and other crap that no one wants to see lol. ( Not that book anyway.)  I took the paper out of a cheap notebook I bought from Walmart and never used. I cut it down to size and covered it with scrapbook paper then rounded the corners (I round all my corners) with my crop-a -dile.

Top right- My zip folder holding my stickies (all the cute ones from China!) and my paper clips.

Bottom left- Super cute Piccadilly notebook I bought from Books a million.  I love the set (the other one is a dark woman with flowers for hair.  I'm saving that one for something special.)  I'm going to use this book for my commonplace book series.  A Commonplace book is a central resource of depository for ideas, quotes, anecdotes, observations, and information you come across during your life.  All the best brains of now and then kept one...so I shall and I must.  Because I am a best brain!

Bottom right- my actual journal.  This is where I put my feelings. Yep, because sometimes we need to we just need to put those things on paper too.  All the icky feels!

And finally, these are the pictures of my own creation; the butterfly folder. I crafted it out of a piece of scrapbook paper and some heavy duty tape.  My next purchase will be a leather folder that I found on Etsy.  The bottom is a photo of my writing journal.  I read a lot of articles about how to write- plot outlines, twists, character development, ect.  My novel is a work in progress and I want to make sure I know what I'm doing during the process.  I actually love this little Cahier from Moleskine because I prefer to write on square pages.

So there is my Brownie Baby.  I love her.  She holds all of my hopes, dreams, and wishes.  I honestly perfer the multi journal method to the standard one book method.  I'm tend to nitpick so having my thoughts separated yet all in one place - that is the ultimate heaven for me.  

What is your journalling method/book of choice? 

Z A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald Review

While walking through the airport on my way to see my family after 2 whole years, I waded through the bookstores in the airport.  No, I didn't have a lot of extra time, I just have to do that.  When there is a book store I must go in.  MUST. SEE. BOOKS.  And while I was perusing, I stumbled across this book.

The first thing to catch my attention was the tattered pages.  Instead of the straight cut pages that most books have, this one looked as if it could have been individually torn.  LOOOOOVED IT!!!  I was like "Now you didn't have to go and tear those pages up for me" with a smirk...to absolutely no one.  Weirdo alert.  Anyway, I was impressed and it just felt so good in my hands.  What can I say, I had a good feeling about it.  I'd always had a little interest in Zelda, and once I saw "Midnight in Paris", I became even more curious.  Unfortunately I didn't find her biography too interesting, but this was different.

Yummy, my favorite, Historical Fiction.

I hadn't been planning on spending any money because I had plenty of books on the Ipad, but once I found out they had a military discount, I couldnt resist.  It came on the plane with mama and I put a pretty good dent in it.

     I enjoyed this book quite a bit more than I thought I would.  It was one of those rare airport finds that permeated through the very fabric of my soul.  It was hard for me to separate fact and fiction at times, but I'd like to think that the author did her research about times, places, and happenings.  The big fiction aspect comes from the authors details of thoughts and feelings of characters; my favorite part. 

I felt like she had a very adequate description of what women were going through during those times.  Especially women who were aspiring to rise above what their sex dictated they do or become.  I enjoyed the inner dialogue (and the back to back conversations for that matter).  My overall enjoyment of the novel was shadowed by my sadness concerning her situation.  I found myself drawn to her desire to be truly great at something.  I too am a Jacqueline of all Trades and it sometimes seems that I am a master of none.  I hope I'm not destined tobe one of those people who never really find their passion.  But I can only imagine how truly debilitating it was for women, especially intelligent women with something to offer the world other than baby production.  That almost seems to still be the case. 

Nonetheless, The story in itself is full of witty interactions and famous names that had me giddy like school girl.  I was telling my husband that writers of the day were like the real life rockstars back then.  I wish that were the case now.  Literary genius goes right over the heads of the imbeciles.  Sad but true. 

My last thoughts -I enjoyed the read and it was well worth the 12.59 that I paid at the book store.  If the Fitzgeralds and the writers from the golden age(well, one of the ages of writers that could be considered golden) tickle your fancy, you will love it.  

Do you have a favorite writer from the golden age?

Life in Valdosta This Week

I've had a pretty awesome few weeks. My friends came to visit and its been years since I've seen most of them.  My 4th of July get together was pretty much the best thing ever.  We spent days drinking, laughing, and talking crap to each other.  Fabulous time.  Waking up to everyone sprawled out in their respective places, letting the hangovers just roll off them... it wasn't a thing a beauty.

Let's just say it took me days to come down from the crazy.  Notice that there aren't any pictures.... there's a reason for that. Hahahahaha.  What happens in Valdosta- and all that jazz


In other news, I just received my new midori notebook.  I'm planning on doing a full review eventually.  But this should kind of sum up the awesomeness.

And lastly, here is a quick look at what I've been eating for the past few days. Quite yum in the tum.

As you can see, a lot of salads and such.  But check out my new favorite bowl.  Its super adorable and holds everything I need in the world.  And just $1.00 from Publix (and you know how I feel about Publix!)  I think I will eat every single thing out of this bowl for the rest of my life.  Its the simple things in life that can make a girl happy.

Tata for now.