In which Kiwi returns.

Well, aren't I just a terrible blogger?  It's been quite some time, hasn't it?

But now, I have a big stock pot of water, white beans, garlic, and sage simmering on the stove for a few hours.  The sun is out.  No work today.  I am totally content to do a little blogging!

The last time I wrote, I was preparing to leave for Catholic Kids' Camp, which, by the way, was wonderful!

The kids had fun, the 'adults' had fun; it was fun all 'round, really.  We had a medieval theme, which was really entertaining!  At the end of each camp, we had a big tournament with archery, pool-noodle jousting, swordplay, et cetera.  And then, we paraded a boar's head and had a huge feast at which we were not allowed to use any utensils.  As you can imagine, good times ensued.

Above is a photo I snapped of some of the counselors performing our skit, which I wrote [she said humbly], entitled "The Magnificent Adventures of Chester the Jester."  It was a five-part skit, actually, and each part introduced the theme for that part of the camp.  In the end, Chester even fought a dragon.  I think this was post-dragon battle, as he has his armor on.

Summing it up would be difficult, but it was absolutely wonderful!  I can't wait for camp next year.

From now on, it's my goal not to forget this poor little blog, and I hope to write at least once a week.  So, watch for that!  :)

For the Longest Time

So, it's been a while.  Quite a while.  Months, in fact.

Time has really been flying lately.

So, quick update:

1) I'm getting ready to leave for Camp this Sunday.  I'll be gone about two weeks, no internet or anything.  I'm really looking forward to it; our theme this year is 'medieval' and I get to wear pretty dresses and such.  Here's a photo from our recent skit rehearsal:

2) Z's band had a concert.  They've recently changed things up and their singer left, so Z and his friend Alan did more singing; their drummer also did some singing.

That's Z in the striped shirt.

They pulled this concert out of the air and had very little preparation time, but they really did great.

3) Nate is also musically talented.  He mostly plays the cello, but he's been working on the fiddle.  I've always wanted to learn the fiddle; maybe this summer once camp is done, I'll have time to work on that.

I don't have any photos of Ash, unfortunately; this is mostly due to the fact that she doesn't like me going around taking her photo throughout the day, whereas the boys either don't mind it or don't bother to tell me that they mind it.

That's all for now; it's time for me to leave for work.

Surprise!

Oh, hello there, Blog.  Did you think I forgot about you?

I promise, I've just been busy.

But now that I'm home with a respiratory infection, well, I have some time, at last, to update.

The medication I'm taking keeps making things slide out of focus.  I don't like it.

By the by, that photo was taken before the infection set in.  Nobody gets to see me today.  I look awful.

Respiratory infections will do that, you know.

This photo was also not taken today.

But hey, look!  My hair is getting longer!

But that's not the most important thing about this photo.

You see the girl in that photo?  That's me!

See her face?  See it!?

That's the face of a girl who has been shopping for plane tickets.

That's right!  She's coming soon, to a location near you.

So don't make any plans for August, or possibly very-late July.

:)

Seventy-six trombones...

Saturday night was Z's last performance for The Music Man.  We went for closing night - we had gone for opening night, too.  Ash actually went four times.  It was a great musical, really, but I don't know about going four times...

Z looked quite suave and debonaire in all of his costumes, and the mustache really added something special, if you ask me.  It was a lot of fun to see him all dressed up and well-groomed.  He really did a great job.  Also, as you can see, I am, in fact, the shortest of all of us kids.  I definitely got Grandma's genes, which I suppose shouldn't surprise me.  I'm named after her, after all.

The thing about seeing musicals is that the songs wind up stuck in my head for months.  I still have songs from Cinderella stuck in my head regularly.  It's ridiculous how often I catch myself humming show tunes.  So.  Ridiculous.

In less-nice news, yesterday I slipped and dislocated my knee.  It was so painful!  So I'm resting up.  When Momma asked what kind of 'comfort foods' I wanted to make myself feel better, I asked for sweet iced tea.  But apparently, such things are in pretty short supply in winter in Alaska.  So I got ice cream instead.  Gracious, am I ever ready for spring and summer.

Every morning the world is created.

In all fairness, I should really be getting dressed and ready for work right now.  But, bah!  I have other fish to fry, as they say.

I'm in the process of teaching Ashleigh and Nate to speak French, if only so I'll have someone else to speak with.  Ashleigh is actually taking it in school now, so her teacher is really impressed with her ability to count (I taught her that!), conjugate irregular verbs in the present tense (taught her that, too!) and her fairly wide vocabulary (which, I taught her).  So it's win-win.

Anyway, I'm thinking about purchasing this kit.  Ash might not use it because she hates all things 'scary', but I could definitely see Nate liking it, and it would be a nice review for me.  You can see the kit if you just simply click here.  "The Scariest Way to Learn French."  Too cute!

To buy books on my kindle, actually, I just click a few buttons on the kindle, and get the book in thirty seconds or so.  Frankly, I find that pretty handy.  It's nice not to have to wait two weeks for a book to come in the mail, and shipping to Alaska kills.  It really doesn't cost that much more to ship it here, but companies seem to think that it does, and charge you accordingly.  So that's actually the greatest reason that I enjoy my kindle.

A friend and I have been talking about a holiday centered around the color yellow.  Obviously, we would have to throw a party, too.  I'm trying to think of a creative name for it, but so far, we've just been calling it 'yellow day.'  Thoughts?  Suggestions, perhaps?  I just love the cheeriness of yellow.  We're going to have yellow balloons and flowers, yellow cakes and foods, et cetera.  And, naturally, I am going to wear yellow.  Some people can't stand themselves in yellow, and I can see that it doesn't go with some people's skin-tones or whatever.  But I think if people just find the right shade of yellow, it's fine.  You don't have to completely avoid the color!  Sheesh.

Okay, that's enough of that.

I just realized that there aren't any photos in this post, soooo...

This is not Juneau.  This is Spain, where my dear friend is currently living.  She took this picture, but I want someone talented to paint it for me, haha.  I love how bright everything looks.
Also, Spain is next to France.  And that is also a place that I really wish I could travel to.

Replies, Photos, and Links. Lots of them.

First, I give you the sequel to Little Women:

















Surprise - it's called Little Men!  :)
Wait... you aren't surprised?
Darn.

I would love to work in a book shop.  But we've discussed this.

It's Ash's birthday today.  Look at the cover of the card I made her this afternoon in photoshop using a beautiful Georgian painting:

I want a dress like that AND a swing like that, for my birthday.
I think you can probably click on that photo to see it bigger.
Also, obviously, I don't own the rights to that image.

I love the Georgian Era.
Have you seen The Duchess?

















I like historical fiction.
I love the look and aesthetic of period films like this.
I also spend a lot of time watching Little Women/Jane Austen films for that reason.
If I'm going to take the time to watch a film, it's probably going to be a period piece.

I have so many books.  People always give me grief about it.  In fact, for Christmas, I was given one of these babies:


















I'll admit, it's handy.  I always carry books in my purse, so if I bring my kindle along, I have more to choose from.  And my purse isn't as heavy.  And... I do love paper books, but really, when you get down to the nitty-gritty of it, reading is reading.  I get lost in the words, and that's all that matters.

Next, I'm still growing my hair out, and it's going relatively well.  But I did cut my bangs, so now I have bangs again.  If you want photographic evidence, I will refer you to this photo:

C.S. Lewis is one of my absolute favorites.  Free books are also one of my absolute favorites.
Win-win.

Having both knit and crochet, I believe crocheting is a lot easier.  I'm getting quite good at it, if I do say so myself.  Someday, I'll write a post just to show you all the things I've been crocheting.  Flowers, hats, scarves, and such.  I wish I could crochet some lacy, fancy gloves, like these:

Those are worn by the grown-up Amy in the 1994 film version of Little Women.  And I love them.  I've been keeping my eye out for a pattern similar, but so far, my searches have been fruitless.  So sad.  Someday...

If I had gloves like that, I would host some sort of fancy picnic.  Or afternoon tea.  Or something.  Anything where people would be required to wear gloves like that.

Those hair combs are awfully pretty, too.

I would like to get some good knitting resources and learn how to knit more at some point.  I just don't have a lot of free time, and I love crocheting.  So for now, I am content.  I can do the basics of knitting; I've made scarves and such before when I was younger.

Also, I got cute, Saint Valentine's day gifts from work today.  A little heart container with mints, and custom m&ms.  Adorable.  I love Saint Valentine's Day, actually.  I used to hate it, but now... Well, there's just something special about a day I can set aside to remind myself how much I care about those around me.  Plus, I'm all about lace and doilies and those sorts of things.  Once again, I didn't used to be. This is all fairly recent.

I like to combine black and pink, too.  Soft and feminine, but then more strong with the addition of the black.  I don't know.  It just appeals to me now.  I never used to be the pink type.

Anyway, that was a lot of photos/links.
Hope all's well!
Hope to hear from you soon.
Hope you're as hopeful as I am!  :)

It's Been too Long, Indeed. (In Answer to Your Last Blog)

First of all (well actually 'first of all' is that I hope the blog lets me post this time. So I guess it would be second of all...), I am in need of a job. Very badly. I've been saying I'm going to start looking since summer and I still haven't started. But I'm going to. Soon. I really need the money. I'm hoping to find a small book store that's hiring, but I really doubt I'll find anything like that. Other than that, I have no clue where I should apply. I'm very picky. I absolutely refuse to work in fast food. That's a definite no. And I'd rather do something away from the public eye. I work better that way. So maybe in a hotel cleaning rooms or something. I'm not sure. But I'm going to start looking within a week or two.

I'm thinking your scarf is going to turn out beautifully. I love that pattern. Aunt Becky got me a scarf (well three scarfs, but I like this one the best) that's blue and crocheted. I think you'd like it. If I ever get my camera to work I'll have to take a picture of it for you.

I'm really starting to think I should teach myself how to knit or chrochet......or SOMETHING! I don't really know how to do anything like that. I've always been much more of a let's-read-about-it-to-get-the-general-idea-instead-of-just-learning-how-to-do-it-in-the-first-place type of person. But I'm starting to think that I really should start up a hobby. Well, besides just reading for hours. Also, you'll definitely have to send a picture of your garland. I'm curious to see what it will look like.

I've been reading a lot lately, too. Maybe not as fast as I'd like to, but still reading. I seem to have a problem. I buy the books faster than I can ever read them. So I have two shelves full mostly of books I haven't cracked open yet. Which remids me of another problem. I refuse to stop buying books, which has led me to run completely out of shelf space. Now books are just piling up in random places around my room! I've been seriously considering packing up some of my decorations just to make more room.

Recently, since I got some extra money for Christmas, I've bought Emma, Jane Eyre, Romeo and Juliet, The Hobbit, Mansfeild Park, The Canterbury Tales and Little Women, amongst many others that aren't classic. And I had no idea that Little Women had a sequel. Where have I been? What is it called? I'll have to look for it.

And speaking of books, guess what my neighbor just gave me?! I freaked out! She had all the Harry Potter books up until the fith one in really nice hardback copies just laying around and she gave them to me! I was like 'are you SURE?' and she said 'of course. we don't really read all that much so you can just have them'. It was so nice of her. But she didn't stop there. She also has a book with all the C.S. Lewis books in it that she said I could have when they found it! All I can say is YAY!

Also, I really look forward to reading your fairy tales...well, if you feel like sending them all when you're done. ^_^ And believe it or not, Sweet Porridge is one of the only Grimm's Brother's fairy tales I've read! Other than the obvious ones. So I'm especially excited about the one you based on it.

On a final note, I apologize for the lack of italics. It appears that the blog is still angry with me and doesnt' want me to use proper grammar...and such....so I'm hoping for the best and that it will let me post! Otherwise I'll jusst send you a facebook message like last time. Ta ta!