Project 365 March week 3

A few pictures from this week revolve around some of the same events. Remember, I fell of the picture taking wagon and I feel the need to catch up! I The first three pictures are from school. Shoo Rayner, an author based in the UK, visited our school. He wrote the "Ricky Rocket" series.

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My students and some others listening attentively to Mr. Rayner. He was very riveting and captivating in his story telling.

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Shoo Rayner... how'd he get the name Shoo? Read about it here.

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Getting ready to see our visitor. We made "Ricky Rocket" masks. Those eye holes were a pain in the neck to cut out without a cutting mat.

The next few photos came from a two-day event. Fr. Stan Fortuna came to our island to spread the word of God and share his love of music and song.
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Peaches and me waiting for the show to begin on Wednesday.

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From Tuesday's dinner. Fr. Stan was enamored by the orchid lei.

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We had a mini zoo at school. This was the ONLY animal I could stand to be around.

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A tired teacher snoozing during lunch...

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Sunday family lunch. We're getting to the point where we need more tables to accommodate the growing family. Good thing the boys have this little picnic table. The little ones had a place to sit.

A whole bunch of layouts

Double post Sunday!! I just realized that I haven't shared the latest layouts I've done in the last two months. I've posted them at the different places, but not here.

A few layouts using Studio Calico Kits--January, February and March and based on sketches by Shawn Lahr for The Scrapping Spot:


















Documenting each month...a condensed version of Project 365 using Studio Calico kits:

I've fallen off the wagon...

I've fallen off the wagon...in more ways than one. I left my DSLR camera at home this entire past week. I just didn't feel like lugging it around. My little P&S is still broken. I don't think it's worth getting looked at or fixed. So my quest to take a picture a day has tumbled far off the wagon. I've thought about taking "catch up" pictures, but frankly that would be tough.

There's no way I would want to take a picture of the scale read out at the gym. Another sign I've fallen off the wagon. I still go ever faithfully to the gym. But, it's the eating part that has thrown me off. I feel like I've been sucked into a cyclone and I can't seem to find the way out. Years ago, when I started my quest to get healthy, it was a big decision. I wanted it. I STILL want it, but lately it's been so much easier to open mouth, insert food. A true sign of stress, for me at least. So, no more "treats". No more "just a little bit". After Tuesday's dinner and concert, that's it. I'm going to turn all samurai warrior on myself.

I came home one night to peace and quiet. A rarity in my house. Mom and Auntie Binkie are ALWAYS home, watching TV or listening to music or...heck, let me be honest just BEING there. I couldn't take a picture of the quiet. I didn't want a picture of the empty couch or the silent TV...some things just don't need to be memorialized in pixels.

Then there's the fact that I've been tired and stressed out lately. Nothing about that do I want to take pictures of. It IS high time for a change at work... time to move to another grade, try out a different age group.

The silver lining to all this pessimism... a quick glance at my mandara spa gift certificate told me to USE it before tomorrow. Thanks to Jake and Luke's christmas present, I had a 50-minute shiatsu massage. Heaven on earth.....

The pictures I did take:
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Sunday: Julian and Frank at their EMBA graduation ceremony. I was their photographer.

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Saturday: the front walkway of our school. On any given weekday, that front of our school is full of kids and a line of cars.

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Saturday: the school parking lot devoid of cars. The SPED buses and vans take up prime space in the lot. Don't know why our parking lot became the bus lot.

I'm sure I'll catch up with my pictures later on in the year.

Project 365 March week 2

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On the memory card...
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Friday, March 13
Friday the thirteenth second month in a row. Nothing out of the ordinary except that the cable is out so NO TV and NO internet. GRRR. I wanted to make “Hungry Girl’s” crab cakes, but no crab meat in the house. Decided to throw some stuff together with what I had on hand. It was delicious!

a can of salmon, drained (don’t discard the liquid)
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1 tsp. capers
a few shakes of garlic salt and parsley flakes
1 egg, beaten
3-4 tsp. mayonnaise
1 squirt of honey mustard

Dump everything in a bowl and stir together. I used some of the liquid from the can to moisten the mixture a bit. Heated a frying pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil on medium. Shaped 4 patties and pan fried each side for 10 minutes or so on low. Delicious!

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Celebratory shopping! Got the news that Rosita and I WILL be moving up to 5th grade next year. Our spots have been reserved. We get to move down to the “valley” and into the newer buildings on campus. I’m trading snot and biting for attitude and hormones (love that latter stuff...thanks Marcie!). SOOOO, in honor of a great day, I bought my seventh pair of crocs. Yes, my seventh. I took this picture of a pair of crocs sporting a bunch of jibbitz on display. There's a Guam one in the middle.

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I pass this intersection twice a day during the work week. Sometimes I see my cousin Randy wandering around...so sad to not have a place to live and a dysfunctional family to boot.

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Those ominous clouds. One minute it can be bright and sunny and the next down right gloomy.

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The drive-thru at Frist Hawaiian Bank. I haven’t stepped foot INSIDE that bank for a few months. Funny thing is...I like sitting in line with the air conditioner blasting. Even better if my iTouch is in the car. I can play sudoku, listen to music or watch a teeny part of a movie.

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Celebrating Mom’s birthday a day early. We had lunch at Auntie Marie’s house...fried chicken, pork roast, red rice, green salad and some eggplant (kinda like babba ganoush). A little bit of rest time for the kidlets (and time for me to frost the giant cupcake). We invited Kassi over for cake and ice cream. The “U” fam came EARLY...for once. Mark fixed the hinge on the screen door and changed the battery on the smoke detector. The kidlets got to play. The adults got to gossip. The “men” got to watch the boys running around outside. Then I tried to get a group shot of all the kids. Did. Not. Work. The itty bitty ones just didn’t want to give me the time of day. Brats.

Project 365 March week 1

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Looking a little like Eddie Munster here. Spur of the moment decision to get my hair professionally colored while my mom got her hair cut. Mocha. Goes with my caffeine addiction.

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5:01pm...the time I left work today. Sigh. We almost didn't get paid. GPSS had to wait for the Dept. of Administration to transfer $1.4 million into the GPSS payroll account. Fun. I missed another workout.

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Sigh...the gas prices are climbing again. It was too good to be true that gas stayed at $2.69 for almost a month.

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Guess who missed yet another workout at the gym on a Wednesday!?!? YUP, me. But, missing the workout was so worth it. We saw Kassi running around outside her grandparents' house with her mommy running after her. Kassi said, "Cheese" for the very first time! I must be a baby whisperer...she never did that for her mommy!

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I've always wondered what I looked like sleeping. I was truly close to snoring at this point. Gotta love Photo Booth on the mac!

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Little toes. Little feet. Next to...big toes. Big feet.

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The Mama-san. She's almost 61....
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I love new clothes. The new clothes smell...not so much. This box of clothing goodness took a month to ship from Old Navy...darned standard shipping. Didn't know it meant parcel post. Wasn't like that before. Live and learn. And then pay more.

i feel so lost......

Several months ago I bought all seven seasons of "The Gilmore girls" from amazon. Yes. All seven seasons purchased in one fell swoop. It was a stellar moment the day I came home from work and found a box from amazon sitting on the dining table. Whatever frustrations I had from the day washed away seeing that box. Although I was giddy with anticipation of sitting down and watching my long-lost "friends", it took me a while to actually open the first season. Why? The sooner I opened it, the sooner I would get to finishing it. Did not want that to happen. And, now it has.

I have spent weeks on end watching every single episode of "The Gilmore girls". Those DVDs have been my saving grace on bad days, insomnia riddled nights and momentary battles with kiddie cooties. I actually finished watching the tear-filled last episode of the series a few nights ago and I have been bereft since then. I want to know if Lorelai and Luke FINALLY got married. I was happy that Lorelai and Christopher got their chance at being together, but Lorelai and Luke were just meant to be. I want to know if Rory ever hooked up with Logan again because of all the boys Rory dated, Logan just seemed right for her. I just want to know all about my friends in Stars Hollow. How deranged do I seem?!?!? No, don't answer that. "The Gilmore girls" was just some good wholesome fun that made TV watching something to be proud of (at least for me). Sigh.

Now what will I do when my mind is racing a mile a second at midnight!!?!? Maybe another foray into the episode watching is in order..... if only I didn't let Toria borrow season one.

Project 365 February week 4

59 is on the SD card...gonna have to wait!

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Staff Development Day. Seriously, I prefer being frustrated with my students to sitting on the uncomfortable cafeteria benches all day. The most exciting parts... the intros at the beginning of the day. We were all given an index card. Wrote our name and 5 things about ourselves...they could be all true, all false or a combination of the two. I won't tell you what my 5 things were... some of the truths were a bit unbelievable and I'd rather keep my rep as an "angel". Thank. The second exciting part... going to Lonestar Steakhouse with a few co-workers and having the Pecos Peach drink. YUM! The company was great; the drink was a bonus!

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I loved opening up this note at the end of the day. It made my entire week! I got a few other notes, but this one lifted my spirits.

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All the good Catholics know today was Ash Wednesday. It was the first mass I attended with our new parish priest, Fr. Joe. I was fortunate to have spent 11 days in Sydney with Fr. Joe. Seeing him before mass was like welcoming an old friend!

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I won this from Create My Keepsakekit from Willow Traders. Happy mail!

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I see the "STOP" sign and I know I'm a minute from being home. That's Auntie Patty's house in the background.

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Had $10 worth of coupons from KFC that had to be used by Friday. Decided that I didn't need to slave away in the kitchen, so lunch came from KFC.