7 Quick Takes Saturday

Jen at Conversion Diary has this format for Fridays, but I really like it. It's good when one has lots of different things to write about, but not a whole post worth of any one thing.

#1

This week marked the beginning of my year at St. Ambrose Academy. I'm in two classrooms, both middle school English. There are kids from grades 6-8 in both classes, because they are separated by their math ability (typical, putting math first). What a crazy experience to be back in grade school after all these years! I had a great time observing my two "CT"s and getting the feel for their different teaching styles. One is very regimented, and the other is more prone to let conversation go where it will. I'm not sure which one suits me better; I wrote before about how I have to have things planned out, but I'm usually one to follow my flights of fancy (to an obsessive degree...). A little bit of both, perhaps :-).

#2

I spent the last three days surrounded by lots of middle-aged and elderly ladies wearing capris and tennis shoes, and discussing the benefits of long arm over conventional sewing machines. That's right, I volunteered at Quilt Expo 2009. All in my plot to insert myself into the world of Wisconsin Public Television, which hosted the event. I would have been much more interested if other crafting things were given some attention, but alas, there were no cross-stitch booths to be found. Don't get me wrong, the quilts on exhibition were amazing, and it's a great hobby to have. I just can't sense any desire to do it. I like garment and craft sewing right now. I DID come home with the cutest little bunch of raw wool dyed purple that you ever did see. He's so cuuuuuute. I'll try to felt some wool "rocks" sometime soon.

#3

I got a 3 CD set from the library, Songs from the Street: 35 Years of Music from Sesame Street. And have been listening to it. A lot. In the car. With the windows down. With no children in the backseat. Why do I take such delight in things made for children??? Lots of memories flooding back, and I positively danced (!) when I heard these songs again:
Sing (A Song)
Ladybug's Picnic
Doin' the Pigeon
The Batty Bat
Somebody Come and Play
And especially this little gem:

#4

That's it! The gaining of weight must stop! I can't fit into any of my pants! (In truth, it's been a long time of cleverly avoiding certain articles of clothing, a few months now) Zumba starts this week, and I'm committed, man. I just ordered a bridesmaids dress that is a size smaller than my waist measurements (which is my normal size), and come hell or high water, I will fit into that dress by the end of December!!!

#5

Which brings me to something I can never get over: priorities. In order to lose weight, I must make exercise and eating right a priority. Both take time out of the day (in order to eat right, one must spend more time with one's food), so I have to weigh it - no pun intended - with all the other things to do in a day, nay, a week. I want to read in order to keep my mind stimulated and learn new things, especially about babies and kids; I want to keep chugging away on sewing projects, which have lain unnoticed for the last two months; I want to start writing more, here and on my own; I want to keep volunteering and helping people out; I want/have to keep earning money; and, oh yeah, it'd be nice to see another sentient being every once in a while. How do people do this without going crazy?!

It's posts like this that, after I write them, I say to myself, "Boo hoo, your life is so hard, you big baby. Pull up the big girl panties and deal."

#6

I just started reading The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day. It's her autobiography, but she begins with a fantastic discussion of confession:

"Going to confession is hard - hard when you have sins to confess, hard when you haven't, and you rack your brain for even the beginnings of sins against charity, chastity, sins of detraction, sloth or gluttony. You do not want to make too much of your constant imperfections and venial sins, but you want to drag them out to the light of day as the first step in getting rid of them. The just man falls seven times daily."

LOVE IT.

#7

Ok, I lied. This last one will actually become a full post soon, because I have more than enough to say when reviewing books and movies. I just finished Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (I wouldn't recommend it, actually), just saw Julie & Julia (go see it!), and just watched the second episode of Glee! (ambivalent). The next post will be a review of all three sips of entertainment. Drinking it all in! That's what a Thirsty Daughter does.