I can't ride my bike with no handle bars, no handle bars, no handle bars

I really can't.

I have the balance of a...something that has no balance. Really.

I have been struggling finding something to do that is active and fun in the evenings that 1) Does not tear the shit out of my knees like running and 2) does not want to literally kill me like rollerblading. I took a NASTY spill (3 times!) the last time I went rollerblading and I was pretty much done. I now have a nice gross patch of skin on my arm that may never be the same. It's all healed up but still, I would rather not. I also had the biggest bruise on my bum ever and it took two months to go away. I felt dead sexy with those two things, let me assure you.

So, after months of pining for a bike. Make that years (I haven't had a bike since I was 10, my mom didn't want me to ride on our dirt road where I lived in MI and riding back and forth on our driveway had little appeal), I was finally able to get one. A REALLY NICE one.

Thanks to my folks. Oh goodness, thank you to my folks. They came to visit (the leave on Monday, much sadness) and they really outdid themselves with the gift giving. I won't go over exactly what they gave but it did help out immensely and then my om took Evan and I shopping for some more things. Evan got clothes that he DESPERATELY needed. Seriously, the man hasn't gone shopping for at least two years. We got some major good deals at Macy's too. We went yesterday and avoided the Black Friday crowd. According to receipt Evan got 500 bucks of clothing for only $200. These were some nice things too, Calvin Klein and whatnot. One shirt was $55 and it rang up for $8.99 and then my mom had a coupon too! I need clothes but I am working on my body so I opted for asking my mom and dad for a bike.

We had looked online and found a really nice and cheap Schwinn cruiser at Sports Authority so we popped over and they don't carry Schwinns in the store, online special only. Screw them. So there was an actual bike store in the next mall strip so we popped over there and I saw it. This beautiful streamlined, pink and grey, complete with matching basket in the front cruiser. I was in love at first sight. My mom said okay and she bought it for me. I could have cried. So we loaded into Evan's car and drove back to my brother's to drop off my mom so my dad could take her. I made Evan get my bike out so my dad could really see it (so he knew exactly what he bought me). I rode around the block before we put it back in.

Apparently while I was riding with my goofy-ass grin of sheer delight my dad said to Evan that he doesn't know why he buys anyone any gift if they don't love it as much as I love that bike.

So we bid goodbye and many thank you's to my parents and came home. Where Evan strapped on his roller blades, I got my bike, we grabbed the dog and we went to the dog park. It was awesome fantastic fun and I would like to ride my bike everywhere now.

Thanks Mom and Dad.

I aen't ded

I'm not I swear.

My job has had MASSIVE amounts of drama. I for one do not like the drama and like to keep drama away from my life, so it is upsetting to me that my life at my job has become somewhat drama-filled.

So anyhoo lots of other things have been going on as well. Evan got rid of our beloved fish tank (after several years of fish, he was just sick of taking care of them) We sold half the fish to this one crazy couple and then this sweet guy came and bought our tank and the rest of our fish, including my beloved Krab. This guy was so sweet about everything and he even gave us his number and if we are ever in his neighborhood we can come and see the fishies. So, that is cool.

So after getting rid of the tank we redid the layout of the living room it is sooo much more spacious and relaxing to be in. There is even a spot for Gala's stuff without it seeming crowded. I really like it in here now. Evan and I didn't realize how squished in it was. The only thing we are missing are side tables for the couch and my parents are bringing us two that they refurbished (they painted them red!) which will soo go with the living room. So exciting stuff. Since the living room is so nice and sparse though it has started a getting rd of stuff movement in me. We've been letting stuff pile up for awhile so we took a bunch of stuff to goodwill and I have some things leftover from the Bookman's run that need to go to the library. I also have this giant book shelf thing in the office that has just become a depositary for everything so I am packing some stuff away, binning other things, and pitching the rest. Then off to Craigslist the shelf goes. Parts of the apartment just have gotten too cluttery.

Other news is that we are looking for a house, we actually looked at several in Tempe and they were all holes. Expensive holes. So, we opted to look in Mesa and dear god....I am in love with about a billion of these houses. Evan and I went through the same list on different computers and then we put our lists into a program that sorted everything and we got rid of anything that did not repeat. So I had selected about 50 houses and Evan had selected about 40 and we ended up with 27 houses that we agreed to look at. Some of those will probably be out of the market and we'll be left with even less. It will be interesting.

I am growing up in so many ways and I think I may actually may be getting happy. Once the drama is done and the paperwork is faxed in.

Parental Issues

The one big thing about moving across the country that really really sucks is being this far from my parents. I am 3,000 miles away from them and probably will stay at least that for the rest of my life.

So when my parents are having health issues it kills me that I can't instantaneously teleport there and take care of them.

A few weeks ago my dad had to go to the doctor because he just couldn't walk, he was hobbling like an old man and had to hold on to things just to get around. Well, he had gout and plantar facitis so he had to start taking even more meds (he has had a kidney transplant years ago and eats a million pills a day it seems) and get this boot thing to wear to bed to keep his foot stationary.

My mom has had knee problems for forever now it seems. A while back she ended up tripping on a curb and into a store door (not as comical as one would think) and then she had tore a few things in one knee from that. Now her other knee was hurting so bad that she was just about in tears on a daily basis, so they finally did a stupid MRI and they found that my mom has no cushioning left in her knee. None. It is just bone on bone. She also has a heel spur and plantar facitis in her other leg because she has been walking weird since her knee hurts. She has another doctors appointment soon to discuss her "options" for her knee.

I have no idea what they will option her to do but I have come to this conclusion for my parents...

THEY ARE FALLING APART AT THE SEAMS.

My mom keeps lamenting about not enjoying her retirement now and keeps telling me that I better take care of myself. Which I am now. I could see myself going down that path and I am definitely not going to now.

I feel really bad for my parents. They also had to cancel their trip down here during my fall break. Not that my mom could have walked up the stairs to my apartment. There is no way.

So it will probably be December before they meet Evan and for that I am really sad. Who knows, they might not meet my "boyfriend" they could eventually meet my "fiance" I have no idea, but December is a really long ways away.

Le sigh.

T-Shirt Altering

Over the summer I found a book that was all about altering t-shirts into even cooler shirts or other misc. things. Well, the book was kind of pricey so I didn't buy it at the time. A few weeks later I kept thinking about this book so I said screw it, and went to go buy it at Barnes and Noble, well they ended up having two different ones and I bought both of them. I have been having major fun since then. I've made a bag, a wrap shirt, a halter top, a tunic, a sweater, a vest, a toddler dress, a mohawk hat, a rag doll, changed two shirts around, and a still-in progress scarf. I've also taught a friend how to make the bag I made and I went and helped a freshman team of volley ball players mess with their team shirts. I have also been asked to do some classes with teachers after school and to have a t-shirt party at my apartment. Student Council at one of my schools asked if I could teach them to mess with their shirts and the librarian gave me two shirts of hers to change around. One I finished, and I am still working on the other.

These books have pretty much changed a lot in my life and is forcing me a bit to become more social which is a good thing. Many of the friends I made last year are no longer around and I miss hanging out with people. So these books are providing me with the opportunity.

I really am trying. So we'll see.

On other news, did everyone know about the American Kamen Rider that is apparently on Saturday mornings? It's called Kamen Rider Dragon Rider and I just saw a commercial for it. It's totally like Power Rangers but it seems more for the tween crowd. It's all serious and dark.

Also I am hungry. I need breakfast!

A Day in the Life

Why is chartreuse not red?

It's a blasted pukey green color and yet the word is so pretty it needs to be red.

Any ways, I've been doing a lot of reading and exercising lately. I've got a few books going on the should help with the teaching woes (woes of which there are many, but I do not feel like bitching about, this blog is not about bitching) and a few about weight loss and dieting.

This weight loss and dieting thing is really interesting to me. I bought one book on raising a child to not have self-image woes. (Not preggers, no worries) but I wanted to see what they said, what I could learn from it, and how to avoid perhaps doing to my future child or children what was done to me. I feel as if I have a better grasp on that. I also bought a book about a diet blogger, Dietgirl, she is a sassy Australian lass who was at one point 350 lbs. The whittled herself down to 175 by the end of the book. The whole thing was all the ups and downs (literally) she had in her battle of the bulge and she won. It took her six years but she really did it.

This speaks to me because I am on that path as well. I was never so big or even classified as obese, but I had been in the overweight category for a bit and was right sick of it. So with Evan supporting me I have kicked a lot of flabbiness to the curb. By no means am I done, but I have tried on all of my clothes again and had to put a bunch of clothes into the too big pile. t was quite ridiculous. I few more pants got freed from the bin (my stash of smaller clothes from yesteryear that I was too ashamed to throw out) and I actually went to Goodwill today and bought a couple pairs of shorts and a new pair of khakis. The khakis I had made me look huge because they were all baggy. From this shopping trip I believe I'm officially down a size, but women's sizes are all messed up and I tried on 5 different things all in the same size and a few were baggy, some were too tight, and others just right. But technically, I'm down two sizes. I never bought anything of the highest size (never wanted to admit it) but I was definitely two sizes bigger.

As happy as I am that I am getting healthy and looking, quite frankly, fantabulous, I have these spurts of awkwardness. I don't know how to look in a lot of these clothes. I feel somewhat uncomfortable in my new skin because I am not used to being healthy and fit. Evan's sister apparently called me tiny over the phone the other day. TINY. Folks, I would have never ever used this word to describe myself. EVER. If I am "tiny" now just think in the next ten more pounds I want to lose, and then the last ten after that? I might be invisible!

Also, never ever get sized at Victoria's Secret. That blood store had me wearing the wrong undergarments for the past few years. I highly suggest Soma as they have the comfiest stuff in the universe.

Evan and I went on a lovely hike on Saturday at the Tonto National Forest and I will hopefully put up just a few of my favorite pictures from that hike. One of them being the one that is currently my new desktop backround on my computer. Yes, I am a nerd. I don't care.

Toodles for now, anyone who is reading!

Curriculum Night

I have two curriculum nights this week. One at each of the schools I teach at. So I get to hang out untl about 7 pm both nights at school. Wonderful fun.

I also stupidly scheduled my first observation with Tara for TOMORROW. I kind of know what I am doing but still am unsure. I kind of switched things around...but I think I will still do the notes for optical illusions and try and color theory/ optical illusion mini group quiz. Ill review with them how to do it today after the notes. Then If there is time after that quiz thing, I'll demo how to do the optical illusion project then let them start. I think this will work!

I took another step toward adulthood this past Saturday. Evan and I opened a joint checking account. Now we are in a committed relationship! We had been talking about how to split the bills and groceries and it just hasn't seemed like it had been working well so we came to the conclusion of doing this. We are in this for the long haul and it just seemed like a logical progression anyways. He is switching all of his bank stuff to mine. I am happy about that because if I had to switch it would be a major pain. All he has to do is go tell someone at work. I would have to drive to the district office, wait for the right person to come out and see me, fill out the paperwork, have the paperwork approved, and then I would be okay.

Ya, I don't really think so.

So, Evan and I also made ice cream yesterday..and by ice cream I mean a milkless and soyless cream-like dessert. We bought an Ice cream maker and substituted a lot of ingredients. It made a ton so it will last us awhile. It's not half bad but it is sooo not ice cream.

Well, busy days ahead. I hope this week goes uber fast. I have next Monday off...yay veterans!

Google Reader

Rss Feeds and Google Reader are the greatest inventions ever.
I check a lot of online stuff and everyday I was going to each site (sometimes more than once!) to check to see if it updated.

No more!

I subscribed to what I could and now I have a nice little Google Reader Gadget on my Igoogle account and it pops up little links whenever something is updated. It is FANTASTIC.

I am saving so much time by doing this. I need to figure out a few more things with it, but it's awesome and I highly suggest it!