The sun, trying to peek through the clouds- this week, the trend has been for it to be really hot all day with a storm in the afternoon, and after the storm it is even HOTTER and more humid, usually just in time for afternoon carpool. UGH.

But, the first week is going decently well- I have felt very zen-like- like, I know exactly what I want to do, and I feel really confident in my abilities. I love that!! Plus, my smart board is REALLY FUN!!!

The two stickers I gave out today- we did a story map together on the board, and the kids just needed to copy it down, and put their name on the top. If they wrote their name? Happy Face! Otherwise- NO NAME?? :D

It is hard work training these kids to do things the right way!

As we were driving down from Chicago, my dad informed me that my front tires were VERY bald, so last week I had to go get two new front tires, plus getting my car re-aligned. BLEGH. I just hate spending all that money at once!!! (Especially since I really can't afford it, but I also can't afford to have a tire blow out on me. Sigh.)

The second pic is my printer/scanner- I've had it for almost 3 years now, but I have the feeling I am going to be using it almost every day of this school year- one of the side effects of getting my Smart Board is that all of my transparencies? USELESS. So, lots of scanning so we can use them.

First day of school went well, I really can't complain yet- the kids are going to be a bit lower, academically, than the last few years, but we'll see. AND I didn't have to take ANY painkillers OR Advil today....HOORAY!!!

We got back to Louisiana on Wednesday, my dad driving for 11 out of the 14 hours (YAY Dad!!!) On Thursday we dropped off some things at school, then came back to my apartment to build my new bookcase that I got for $35 at IKEA- I really needed it, especially since I brought back 2 more boxes (of mostly books) from IL. This is my new favorite shelf- ALL of my Beatles books, all in one place! :D

Dad golfed on Friday, so I spent a few hours in my classroom- but only a few, because the A/C wasn't working and it was about 90 degrees in there!! My sister had arrived late Thursday night, so then I met up with her and other friends for lunch, and then we just sort of hung out all afternoon.

All well and good, right? Yes, at least until Saturday morning when I woke up with my face hurting again :P

( Saturday and Sunday- not fun. )

( Monday- EVEN LESS FUN )

( So, what now? )

That is all I know right now, but any prayers, good thoughts, and good karma sent my way would be helpful!

*sigh*
So, I know I have been a failure at my picture project this month, but at least I've had an excuse for the last week or so- gland swollen again, etc. etc. etc. But, (other than that) it's been an interesting few weeks....

July 23:

( RWAR )

July 24:

( Beep Beep! )

I spent Saturday, Sunday, and Monday pretty much in bed, sleeping as much as possible and trying to let the antibiotics get some of the swelling down to where I could open my mouth (I was on basically a liquid diet for about 3 days because I couldn't open my mouth or chew. Ick!) I'm still taking lots of Tylenol, but am not feeling like death anymore, so that's good.

July 29:

( Family Fun )

Which brings us to today!

July 31:

( New Purse! )

So, yeah, it's been a crazy week! Only a few more days left in Chicago- my dad is driving back to Louisiana with me, and we're leaving on either Wednesday or Thursday, and then it is time to get ready for school to start!!! EEEEK!!!!

ok, the past week has been crazy and about 80% crap, but I shall post on that later.

THE INSANITY:

There have been, of course, a LOT of pictures of David Tennant at Comic-Con.  So, I was looking at this one, here.

Then, I remembered that akarui_sekai  said that she had been in the 2nd row for that panel.  So, I look closer. 

AND THERE SHE IS.  

akarui_sekai  is on the far left, just above the girl in the KISS makeup- green shirt, with her arms in the air.  Beside her, with the camera, is brianrubin .

I really would have been useless at Comic-Con this weekend (stupid gland flaring up again) but ZOMG AM I JEALOUS!!!

Of course, she also sat about 20 feet away from David at a restaurant the night before, but if I think too hard on that I might just have to kill her LOL.

I spent the majority of my weekend in (or getting to and from) Indiana, visiting friends from college! I haven't seen a few of them in 3 years, and some of them not since we graduated (7 years ago!!)

So, we had a get-together at Amy's house, and we pretty much just talked and ate and watched the babies play :) It was great to see everyone!!

Oh, and the random bonus pic I got on my way home: wind farm!

A lovely, lovely afternoon spent with akutenshi7, putting together wedding 'Save the Date' cards that I helped design! I think they turned out rather nicely :)

Also, today I have discovered the wonder that is peanut butter frosting. I think this is possibly my new favorite food :D

* Post 12 pictures you currently have on your hard drive that you think are self-expressive.
* NO CAPTIONS! It must be like we're speaking with images and we have to interpret your visual language just like we have to interpret your words.
* They must ALREADY be on your hard drive - no googling or flickr!
* You do NOT have to answer any questions about any of your pictures if you don't want to. You can make them as mysterious as you like. Or you can explain them away as much as you like.



( A picture is worth a thousand words... )

Yes, I know I have been a failure at pictures this week- honestly, I didn't do much at all for the first part of the week, then the second part of the week suddenly got REALLY busy (but fun!)

The top pic is from "J-Con", our mini-con of gaming and awesomeness. This stack of dice was SOLID- even attempting to shake the table didn't bust it!

Today we got last-minute Cubs tickets- baseball is my favorite sport, and I NEVER pass up a chance to go to Wrigley Field and see the Cubbies (though it did mean missing a day of gaming :P ) The stupid Cardinals won, but I got some more cool pictures

The past week has been long and tiring, but also lots of fun! Here is a day-by-day breakdown including pics of the day, but you have been warned: It is LONG!!!

( Monday, June 29 )

( Tuesday, June 30 )

( Wednesday, July 1 )

( Thursday, July 2 )

( Friday, July 3 )

( Saturday, July 4 )

( Sunday, July 5 )

All in all, it was a fun trip with lots of silliness and good memories. More cosplay pics can be found here, and more non-cosplay (trip pics) can be found here.

Oh, and..... QUOTES!!

"I'm so happy about how that looks!" "No, that's just the paint fumes."
"Look at what I drew! And after a half liter of shōchū, too!!"
"You could just suck my pants." (said completely deadpan)
"Mob him a little bit!"
"You know why Los Angeles is so confusing? It is built on a Z-axis as well as the usual X and Y"
"This hotel is made of circles and stairs and FAIL!"
"Shut up, President Cylon!!"
"Bunnies are not purple. This is wrong."

Yesterday was pretty busy, yet nothing was really picture-worthy, so we have two today! My giant book (my cosplay prop) is done!! I printed out the Odin Sphere logo and traced it onto the fabric, then went in and sketched the letters before filling them in with the gold paint marker. I think they turned out really well, especially for doing it freehand!

Then I got my white fabric and spray adhesive, and glued it all to the styrofoam. Even my mom said it looks like a book! Yay!!

This is my friend's cat Portia, who spent nearly an hour hiding out under this box. It was a good hiding spot from the baby, who thinks of Portia as a big, moving stuffed animal, and likes to pull her tail :)

I have spent SO much time in and around this river, but I think it is one of the places I will never ever be tired of.

Picked Mom up at the airport this morning (though her flight was a bit late getting in)- we had poboys for lunch, then hung out at the house. Mom went in the river for a bit, then we went over to our neighbors' house and caught up with them for a while. My allergies were awful (my uncle was there doing yard work, and brought his dog, who sheds terribly), so that wasn't much fun, but oh well. Mom watched golf, I played games on my DS. We ran into town to get me eye drops and to pick up dinner, which we ate back at the house. After dinner I said goodnight to Mom and came back to my own house :)

Tomorrow: more driving! Although Mom might be borrowing a friend's car for the week, which would be VERY helpful :)

The box with all of my sewing bobbins :)

Here is what I have been working on for the past week- my dress to play Alice, the little girl who reads the 'Odin Sphere' books in the game. While it is a LOT less complicated than akarui_sekai, akutenshi7, shy_violette, xtp5, and tokoz's costumes, I'm still pretty proud of the fact that I made this completely on my own in less than a week!!

Mom is flying in tomorrow morning, which means I am in for 9 days of being her chauffeur (more or less) but at least my big project is done! Now I just have to make the giant book I'm going to carry around at AX all day :)

Now you see it:


Now you don't!:


My dress is about.... 87% done. I need to figure out the collar and shorten the sleeves, and then I will be finished!! I was really happy with what I got done today- two rather hard things, and they both turned out well!

All this nice gathering? Had to be undone, because I am dumb. GRRR. At least it's a nice picture of the pretty color of my fabric!

Now that the scrapbook project is done, I now get to start sewing! We've done cosplay at Anime Expo for the last few years, and (much like last year, actually) I am waaaaaay behind on my costume. Today I managed to get all the pieces cut out, bodice pieces sewn together, and made sleeves. Hooray!

I have lived without my ipod for two months, which has been not all that much fun. Courtney, however, mentioned that Rick (her husband) has fixed several ipods/blackberries/etc., should he take a look at it? YES!!

So, I now have a fully-functioning ipod. HOORAY!!!

The day was already going well before that, though, because I went out to lunch (sushi!) with my friend Erin, and then we went to see "UP", which was both very cute and kind of sad- much sadder than any other Pixar movie I can think of, but happy and funny by the end.