I'm a Little Tea Pot

DIY On a School Night

Who says I can't get some DIYing in on a school night?? I guess I am on Thanksgiving break now, so that history paper will just have to wait!

My light switch cover is looking snazzy! This was a little project I've been waiting for a good time to do for a while, and I figured I might as well start tackling all of those little things I've been thinking about! Directions on here on Design*Sponge.

Now drink your hot chocolate and be gone! :) Have a great Thanksgiving!

Stay There!

Linley

I Remember When Milk Cost 30 Cents

This installment is for those of you who were not wondering, or maybe for my daughter of the future who will be asking for an allowance raise. Inflation will have caused a pack of gum to cost $10. I will be all "When I was your age I only got $100 a month to buy EVERYTHING." She will be all "Yeah, but milk at school was only 25 cents back then."
"NO WAY! That was in my big-brother's era! It was 45 cents by the time I was in high school! And Hannah Montana was not a Greek god; WHAT ARE THEY TEACHING YOU IN SCHOOL THESE DAYS?!"

found here

Here is the plain and simple money system at our house.

Each of my siblings and I get a check for $95 each month. We actually get $100, but the household government deducts $5 as payment for our cell phones. THIS IS REAL LIFE HERE. So from that it's up to us to tithe, save and spend on all of our "unnecessaries."

Necessaries include: Toiletries, shampoo, conditioner, razors, shower gel, food*, family activities, educational tools/fees
*food is necessary unless part of a trip or outing with friends, at which time we must pay

Unnecessaries include: clothes, underwear (all though I totally disagree on that one!), activities with friends, youth group trips, souvenirs, nail polish, electronics, and other general "wants"

I'm pretty sure I directly caused the installation of this system in my household. By my prime of jr. high-hood, at had discovered, much to my bargain-cruiser mother's dismay the glory of shopping for new clothes. As a kid, most of my clothes were hand-me-downs from neighbors or thrift stores. Then I became conscious of what I wore and found it to be easier to find what I wanted at a department store than in the jumbled up styles and fits of Goodwill.

Enter Scenario A:
Me: Can I get this shirt? And this one? And this skirt?
Mother who did not have this in the budget and also forsees "She got to get that, why can't I buy the rocket booster on the cereal box?! I NEVER GET ANYTHING!": Well... how much do they cost? Do you really need that? Are you sure that fits well enough? What would you wear that with? Didn't you just get a new skirt?

So the system of equality to all was born.

Brother: K, whatever. It's not like I buy a lot of stuff anyways. I just won't buy clothes. [So he saved and a year later bought himself a new computer. Brothers *insert eye roll*]
Little sister: Oooooh yay!!! $100!!! I'll be rich!! I can buy whatever I want! A puppy! [Mother: No, no puppy.]
Me: They're so pleased with this plan-- it's got to be a trick. They know they have the good end of the stick here. JIPPAGE! [Well, someone had to be the cynical preteen in the situation...]

And now, at the hardest time in recent history to find one, I begin to look for a job.

And that's all I have to say. Except, if I have a Scenario A, I guess I need at least a Scenario B.

Enter Scenario B: A blonde-haired, pink-eyed angelic child skips through a field of daffodils chanting the Hannah Montana theme song. The birds stop singing in cringe in horror. The girl is struck by lightning, ceasing song. Chipmunks applaud, and the world moves on.

From Thresca.

My NyQuil should kick in any minute now, so ni-night!

Linley

Leftover Note Cards

Lots of times when I find a quote I could possibly use for some project or other I write it down on note cards/ Post-Its/ steno books. I feel bad when a perfectly genius statement just sits there. So I give you some quotables.

One from my history book:

It was a grand scheme.
It was an
even
grander
failure.

If you don't go after what you want, you'll never have it. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you don't step forward, you're always in the same place.
--Nora Robers

'But why will he not dance again?" asked the Infanta, laughing.
"Because his heart is broken," answered the Chamberlain.
And the Infanta frowned, and her dainty rose-leaf lips curled in pretty disdain. "For the future, let those who come to play with me have no hearts," she cried, and she ran out into the garden.
--Oscar Wilde in the Birthday of the Infanta

We don't suffer from a shortage of metaphors, is what I mean. But you have to be careful which metaphore you choose, because it matters. If you choose the strings then you're imagining a world in which you can become irreplaceably broken. If you choose the grass you're saying that we are all infinitely interconnected, that we can use these root systems not only to understand one another but to become one another. The metaphors have implications. Do you know what I mean?
--John Green in Paper Towns

For lots of quotes every day, visit Quotebook.

And OH DEAR IT IS NOVEMBER 20. Just a little over a month until Christmas! Only a few weeks until my community college classes are done for the semester! This weekend starting after school today is totally full, but after that it should be a whole lot of not a whole lot for a while. :)

Love you!

Linley

Where the Wild Things Are

I do believe I've neglected to rave to you about Where the Wild Things Are. The book was one of those classic, staple books of my childhood. I would always get the animated kids movie out at the library.I'd been looking forward to this movie since I heard about it in April, and it did not disappoint. I love the way the makers did not seem to cater it to any particular people. It is a questionable movie for young kids. I can imagine unsuspecting parents bringing their kids to see it and ending up with horrified children. There are several cuss words. But it had no perfect Disney ending. So refreshing.
AND THE SOUNDTRACK. I don't think the movie would be half of what it was without the track by Karen O and the Kids.


Of course, if you like straight-forward, non-metaphoricalness such as my father, then you will not like this movie. In that case, go find some other blog. :)


So in summation: Where the Wild Things are is now my official second favorite movie (as in, it beat out Cars and is now vying for top place with Enchanted. That's tough to do.)

Forgotten Have I Not

I'm busy busy busy right now what with trying to collect 500 Thanskgiving meals, finish up semester group paper (=nightmare) and all these other high schoolerish activities. I have had time to take Sierra on a couple of long rides. We just start off down the road bareback and pick where ever we feel like it turn. Eventually we find our way home. The country has been so beautiful as seen in these pictures from our last ride (9.2 miles)!

I would like to remind you that this is the horse that had no "slow button" and couldn't figure out how to trot or gait nicely. We've got her gait so much better, and it's best on the road. I think it helps us both to be able to hear the rhythm of her hooves on the pavement. She is oh-so-reponsive all the time.

oh yes WE HAVE A REAL BARN NOW

See, it's been a work in progress for a year or two now, but finally, everything is almost finished. *insert happy barn dance*

I should really get to school. The truant officer is banging on my door *again*. ;P

Linley

Possible Art Paintings

Leaning towards the last. Cute.