Novels...

Okay, so I'm going for NaNoWriMo. I've really been inspired to do it over the past week or two. I don't mean to be negative, but I'm pretty sure I won't finish it. I've got a ton of homework and projects, including a research paper and PSY presentation due this month. I don't even have spare time for other, more important things. But it's worth a try, right? It might be kind of fun. It starts Sunday. I have no plot, no characters, anything. Not a good way to start...=)

Plastic pumpkins and clean cars...

In one of my classes Monday, we had to make a teacher-made material to use in the classes we intern in. A teacher-made material? Basically something that can be used a toy that's made out of craft/household items. My mind was blank. I ended up getting some orange Halloween goody bags, drawing faces on them, and stuffing them with newspaper. They were supposed to be pumpkins. How did the kids react? All of them tried to eat them, or at least chewed on the top. One little boy (he used to be my favorite) threw his in the dirty diaper bin. Fine, then, if that's how you feel about it.

Chiffon fabric is evil. I'm not even joking. Today has been a long, busy day, and I was exhausted when I got home. I wanted to make my chiffon neck scarf for my costume. It should have been simple- a 18" square. Ha. I got frustrated just from trying to cut it. Maybe I'll try again tomorrow.

I had to drive Mom's car to school today, because they were going to try to get the tire fixed. So I get home, and the first thing I do is look at my tire. I notice that the wheel is very shiny and clean (they're usually disgusting-I haven't washed my car in probably 6 months), which is suspicious. Then I notice that the car itself is very shiny...you can actually see a reflection on it. I'm thinking, "No, they didn't." I had to touch the car to realize that Mom and Dad had washed it! After they took the Beetle Bug to get the tire fixed, they gave it the first bath it's had in months. My parents are so sneaky. In a good way, this time. =)

Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)

Flat tires and Linus...

I had a flat tire today, for the first time ever. In the rain, of course. And not the gentle sprinkle that was falling when I left school. Pouring rain that soaked through my brown flats. Thank goodness Mom was with me, because alone I would have freaked out and never thought to call AAA for roadside assistance. The Beetle Bug has been giving me many adventures lately.

Cream filled oatmeal cookies are wonderful. They're also so huge that they'll about give you a stomache unless you pace yourself. I bet they have a whole day's worth of calories. I'm a health nut, could you tell?

"It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!" is coming on ABC at 8:00 tonight! Everyone watch it. It's simply adorable and has the "Linus and Lucy" song, which is probably playing on this blog right now. Good grief, it's a Halloween tradition! (I was tempted to add "you blockhead" to the end of that sentence, but I decided it wouldn't be very nice.)

Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)

Katherine Hepburn and poodle skirts...

I watched the old movie "Adam's Rib" the other night, starring Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn, and it was pretty good. I usually can't stand Katherine Hepburn. I'm sorry, but I always thought she was terribly overated. She always seems to play arrogant, selfish, feminist types. I do love her in "The African Queen," but that was the only one until I started seeing her films with Spencer Tracy. They are an amazing couple! I am in awe of their chemistry. There is no doubt that they were a real-life couple. When they're angry and spitting fire at each other, it's real. When they're in love and sending witty banter back and forth, it's real. You would never think that they would fit together, but they do. Sort of like Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Bogey was a grumpy, unusual man who somehow became a leading man (even though the only time he looked remotely handsome was when he was really young), and Bacall was this young beautiful starlette. But they fit perfectly. It's really surprising, but completely believable. My favorite Tracy/Hepburn is still "Woman of the Year," though.

My poodle skirt outfit is nearly complete! I think it looks pretty cute. All I have left to do is sew on a hook and eye and get some sheer fabric for a matching neck scarf.

My cousin is at the hospital, about to have her first baby, a little girl, probably at any time now. Everybody please pray for her, that she won't have any serious complications, and that Mom and baby will be healthy!

Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)

Twilight and NaNoWriMo...

New blog layout! It's cute, but I'm still not absolutely sure if it's staying or not.

I can never really understand popular culture (unless you're talking about in the 40's or 50's, of course). I'm just so old-fashioned that I cannot relate to what's "cool" now, not even one little bit. The whole cell phone obsession? I don't even like to talk on the house phone, so why on earth do I want someone to be able to reach me 24/7? I have a Tracphone to call Mom when I get to school and when I leave. I've never sent a text message in my life, and I don't really intend to. I'm a dork. I wish we still had phones where you had to tell the operator who you wanted to speak to. =) And the whole vampire/"Twilight" craze. I went in B. Dalton the other day, and almost of all of the books in the teen section were vampire related. Bath and Body has come out with a new fragrance, which smells so good, and I just got a bottle of the lotion. But guess what it's called? "Twilight Woods." The back of the bottle says, "...Twilight Woods, a hypnotic fragrance that is inspired by a romantic walk in enchanted woods." Coincidence? The whole thing sounds like a plot to draw in "Twilight" fans, if you ask me. I half expected it to use the word "sparkling." Maybe I'm just paranoid, but it's everywhere. Not that I think vampire stories are bad, although personally I do find it a little creepy. I probably would have read the series. I read an overview of the books on Plugged In about how Bella is so obsessed with Edward that her soul doesn't even matter, and that's what made me decide not to read them or see the movies. I just think that sounds like a dangerous mindset.

I've been craving some new books here lately. I'm not sure why...I don't even have much time for reading anymore, which is very sad. But every time we go in a store that sells books, I anxiously look for something that looks interesting. Something new. Don't remind me that I've got books in my bookcase that I've never read.

I've run across the NaNoWriMo thing several times over the past few days, and it sounds so interesting. It's a big challenge where you try to write a 50,000 word novel in only 30 days- the month of November (which happens to be National Novel Writing Month, hence the acronym). It sounds like a lot of fun, even if you're just writing nonsense. And how cool would it be to say you wrote a novel? =) I would love to try it, but with school, I just don't think I can. I'm still considering it, though.

Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)

Spools of thread and wild cats...

I just helped a malnourished wild cat.

Well, maybe not, but maybe so. When we got home from church, a black cat ran across the yard. It just sat on the edge of the woods, watching us. Mom came on inside while I got down and started talking to the poor thing. Using my amazing kitty-cat voice, I lured it out of the woods. It wasn't exactly a wild cat, since it was rubbing its head against stuff like Jack does when I talk to him. Then it came up and started rubbing against me, all pitiful and loving. It was so sweet, but the whole time I'm imagining it jumping up, biting me, and giving me rabies or something (with the day I had today, that would have been completely unsurprising). Of course, Mom had to give me some food so we could feed it. After it had finished eating, a jet went overhead and it ran back into the woods. Poor kitty.

Kitty-aid incident aside, today was one of those days where you want to climb back in bed and start all over. I was 10 minutes late this morning leaving for school. When I got not even a mile down the road, I realized that the check engine light was on in my car. So I turn turn around and come back, freaking out because if I come to every class on time (among other things) in College Success Skills, then I don't have to take the final exam, and I didn't want to take that exam. I had to drive Mom's car to school, which is so different from my tiny car that I felt like I was driving a bus. I got to school just before 8:00 and then remember that class starts 10 minutes late today because the teacher had to drop his grandkids off at school. Okay, so I just got all stressed out for nothing. After my two classes, I'm getting ready to go have lunch with my grandparents and spend a few hours at their house. Mom calls me and says that they can't even crank my car because I have the major key and because I locked it with my special door locker key, the spare keys won't crank it. They just make the alarm system go off. So I had to go home instead of to my grandparents'. Home for two hours, then back for my internship. I stopped by Hobby Lobby on the way home to get some felt for the poodle on my poodle skirt, and I spent 30 minutes waiting at the counter for someone to come cut my fabric. I could have cut it and wrote it down and nobody would have known. There are always several people working in the sewing area and many more walking around the store. I rang the service bell two or three times, went around looking for someone, and finally went to another department and asked if they could get me some help. Nothing. I stood at the cutting table looking like a dork. Then this other lady shopping comes up and rings the bell, saying, "Someone will come." Just like magic, here comes someone around the corner. So where was the magic bell-ringer 25 minutes ago? I got home and tried to work on my poodle skirt some. I knocked my spool-holder thing off the table, and all of my thread spools and bobbins scattered on the floor. I have three shades of brown thread that are almost exactly the same, and I'll never figure out which bobbin goes with which spool. On the way back to school, I glanced down at my arm to see a huge grandaddy longlegs spider sitting there. I tried not to crash my mom's car as I knocked it into the floorboard. Do you know how hard it is to drive (drive in a focused, safe manner) for almost an half hour knowing that there's a spider that could be crawling on your feet or up your leg at any moment?

So that was my day. In all fairness, it wasn't all bad, and all of that was just trivial stuff, anyway. I helped a kitty cat. My car probably doesn't have anything wrong except a random alarm system and low oil. I had a wonderful time at my internship, playing with some of the sweetest, funniest kids ever. Maybe it wasn't so bad after all.

Michael Buble and marker stains...

It made my day when I heard Michael Buble's new song, "Haven't Met You Yet." It's such a cute song, and I love the video, too (Michael Buble singing in Converses, a marching band and people dancing in a grocery store! Need I say more?). I have sort of a crush on Michael Buble. He seems charming and his smile is so contagious. His voice is so unique and I love the way he portrays big band songs. Sometimes, like "I've Got the World on a String," his style sounds so much like Frank Sinatra's. Then other times, it's really modern. This new song is more modern, but it still has a bouncy, swing sound. It's lovely!

Yesterday I had marker stains on my hands for the first time in years and years. I had to do a daily schedule for a classroom with pictures, which involved printing pictures off the computer and coloring them. It's amusing that I'm in college, "higher education," now, and I'm doing kid things that I haven't done in years, like play with blocks and color with markers. It's fun, though. Early childhood development and working with kids is almost like playing Peter Pan in a way. You don't have to act serious and grown-up all the time.

I got to start on my poodle skirt for Halloween today! Well, cutting out the pattern is all so far. But that's got to be done, so at least it's a start. Maybe Thursday I'll get to start cutting into that baby blue felt. =)

Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)

Papers and records...

I've spent all (well, about 90%) of my weekend doing homework. I keep telling myself, "This is what you get for procrastinating!" I did get to sew Friday, around my internship, because I had two orders to fill. I haven't even been able to start on my poodle skirt yet. Yesterday I did homework all day until the Fall Festival at church in the afternoon. I went up there and helped for a few hours (blowing up balloons on a terribly windy day is not an easy task), then came back to do more homework. Good grief, as Charlie Brown would say. At least my pumpkin candle and swing music (Mom found me this amazing swing record set-six records and over 70 songs with all sorts of big band music!) on the record player make things a little more bearable. Today I finished my English paper, but still have more to do. It was a summary and analysis of an article. And the article was about the Jane Austen craze that was everywhere a few years ago and is still lingering today. So it got me wishing for something Austenish.

I would give anything for a few hours with "Persuasion" or the BBC "Pride and Prejudice" (but when I'll be able to fit in a 6 hour movie again is beyond me), or even my biography book of Austen that I'm reading (I've given up on LOTR for now). That, along with a bowl of Snicker's ice cream, is about the most lovely thing I can imagine right now.

Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)

Mayberry and Goober hats...

Today was a much-anticipated day off from school. It was a teacher/faculty day for the professors to figure out our midterm grades (what? midterm already?), so my family went on a little day trip. We went to Mt. Airy, North Carolina, the hometown of Andy Griffith and inspiration for Mayberry! And it was so much fun. I've always loved "The Andy Griffith Show," it's second only to "I Love Lucy." Mt. Airy was so charming...not quite so wonderful as Mayberry, but I guess that's impossible. Anyway, this post is so stuffed with pictures that it might explode.

The weather was so beautiful. It started out foggy and cool, but turned out sunny and nice.

We visited Floyd's barber shop, which was very cute. The older gentleman who cuts hair actually favors Floyd in some way. He was very friendly and funny. When I had my back turned looking at the walls (which are absolutely covered in photos of his customers, from local kids and adults to Oprah and Andy Griffith himself), he came up behind me with his scissors and jokingly said, "How much did you say you wanted off?" He said not to let anyone cut my hair. But his customer offered to pay for Cody's haircut when Cody took off his hat (Cody has the most amazing hair).

Finally, proof that ice cream is a health food. I've always believed it, but now the whole world can know.

This is the inside of the Snappy Lunch, where we had our lunch. It's really popular with locals, us tourists (including the 2 or 3 tour buses that came when we were there), and everyone else, so it was packed. It's a tiny little hole in the wall, but the food was really good. Dad had the famous porkchop sandwich. Andy Griffith used to eat at the Snappy Lunch when he was young because the school didn't have a cafeteria. It's mentioned in an episode of the show.

I love this statue of Andy and Opie. It's very sweet. The nearby museum with tons of memorabilia was closed for construction, which was disappointing.

Probably my favorite part of the whole day was the recreation of the jail. It was so realistic, almost exactly like the one in the show. The details were amazing.

There were two cells, and a perfect sheriff's desk and corner. The sheriff sign was reversible, exactly like it was supposed to be. There was a typewriter, a Bible, history and law books, a radio, a fan, a file cabinet, and a record player, among other things.

Wally's service station and the squad car!

Otis was wandering the streets while we were there. All he wants is someone to play checkers with.

"Did you hear about the fight in Opie's Candy Store?" he asked us. We said no, and he replied, "I heard two suckers got licked."

This house was famous for something, I think. We didn't go in, but the gaezbo (sp?) was amazing. It was like woven and carved, not solid. It was beautiful.

This was Andy Griffith's homeplace for many years. It's owned by the local Mariott and you can rent it out for the weekend!

This is the world’s largest open-face granite quarry. It was pretty amazing...the granite supposedly is 9,000 feet deep, and it can be seen from space. This is just part of it and see the truck for an idea of the size.

So, we had a great day in Mt. Airy. I only wish we could have stayed longer. For someone who loves old things, like me, it was even better. The stores are full of Andy Griffith, Lucy, James Dean, Elvis, and other old memorabilia, from t-shirts to tin signs to pictures. We even went in two little fabric stores. But the best part was getting to see that there are so many other people who love "The Andy Griffith Show," too.

Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)

Gilmore Girls and life quotes...

The other day in Harris Teeter, I saw a lady who looked exactly like Lorelai Gilmore (Lauren Graham...is that her name?). Seriously. I had to do a double take, but I don't think that actress has a little boy like this lady did. But it made me have a strong urge to rush home and watch "Gilmore Girls." I own most of the series on DVD and have watched it through at least once (except the last season). In some ways I absolutely love it, but I'm uncomfortable with all of the language and support for things I don't believe in that are in the show. So I'm torn about watching it.

Life is funny. Really, I've been immensely enjoying life here lately. I'm stressed out about school work and things like that, but things have happened that just make me want to laugh. The other night we were moving chickens and sheep at dark (don't ask...we have to move the fences and we can't do it until the chickens mosey their way up into the house to roost. Have you ever moved fences at dark with sheep trying to escape and chickens trying to balance on their roosts as the tractor pulls their house? Didn't think so). I was trying to get to the Workhorse to drive it so Mom and Dad would have some light. I was stumbling over bumpy ground in big rubber boots, and then woosh, it was like slow motion. My foot got tangled in the fence that was laying on the ground. It was a beautiful wipe-out. I think I landed on my back but somehow ended up with a sore shoulder and mud all over my knees (I know...I'm just good like that). Anyway, I just sat there on the ground tangled in fence and laughed. That's just one small example...life has been funny lately. Everything from reality TV people to popularity to the importance of football and horseshoes to guys my age to little kids has been hilarious and really made me think.

At the child care center the other day, we had one of the older boys in our class. His grandma works there in our class, and he came in to see her. She said, "You've got your shirt on backwards! The tag is supposed to go in the back." He looked down and said, "But I like it to be this way." I was like, wow, the things you can learn from a 4-year-old. The older we get, we get so paranoid about how we look and obsessed with fitting in and worrying what others think of us. But when you're four, you'll wear your shirt backwards because you like it that way. Jesus did say we could learn a lot from children.

I am loving the new Relient K CD. It's slightly unusual, which is the norm for that band, but I mean it's different from all their other music. In a good way. I'm still learning all the songs and deciding on favorites. I don't have a least favorite. I do love "Sahara," which is more rock-ish than any of the other songs, and has a few lines sung by singers from other rock bands (Underoath, for one), and that's my favorite part of the song.

Me and Mom had a miracle the other day. I had pretty much given up on the thought of a train case unless I ordered one online for Christmas. Then the other day, we were on a routine stop at a thrift store. Mom got distracted by the records (which is what I usually do), but since there didn't seem to be anything new, I went on down to the luggage. And sitting there, on top of piles of suitcases, what do you think I saw? A blue Samsonite train case. In good shape, with no tray, but a beautiful mirror inside. The silver pieces on the handle and closures aren't rusty at all, and the inside is clean. The top of the outside had what looked like dust all over it, but when my grandma tried to clean it, it wouldn't come off. It might be the paint fading, but as I'm not too crazy about the color anyway, I could paint it. Just when I was getting ready to give up, we found one. For $2 at my *least* favorite thrift store. I was so happy. I had hoped to have a picture to share with this post, but the sun has set and my picture-taking spot is dark right now. Not to mention occupied by a large orange-and-white cat.

Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)

Apples and oranges...

My only class today was canceled, which was sort of nice (but my teacher is sick, which isn't nice). Also, my test that was supposed to be this week got postponed until Monday. That's very good! =) And when I got home, I had time to work on some sewing, which was the best part. Really, it was all cutting out fabric, and not any sewing, but that means I can go straight into sewing tomorrow. I've got two large wallets and two small ones to make for someone (I spent Friday and Saturday making a tote bag, a wallet, and a coin purse for someone). I've also got fabric for two new purses for me. Me and Mom went to Joann's the other day, and I got some lovely stuff. I got some cute fabric for a Simplicity bag pattern, a huge bag with pleats and adorable buttons. But the best was some beautiful printed corduroy I got. It's a dark chocolate brown color, with bright pink cherries, pears, obnoxious oranges (which is the color of the lining), apples, and all sorts of flowers. It's called a "fruity floral," and it's so weird, but I absolutely love it. As of this moment, it's my favorite fabric. I was scared to cut it, because I only have a yard. I'm making a tote bag, but with instructions I've never used before. So I stood there holding my rotary cutter for 20 minutes, afraid to touch it because I didn't want to ruin it. My dad laughed at me and said, "It's just fabric!" He obviously doesn't understand the bond between a girl and her fabric. Anyway, I'm really nervous and a little excited to see how it turns out. It will hopefully be very fall-looking.

The new Relient K CD, "Forget and Not Slow Down," is coming out tomorrow! I'm so excited. The previews sound great. Relient K is my favorite band. I love Matt Thiessen's unique voice, and his lyrics are incredibly witty and smart and real. The lyrics are sometimes so exactly how I feel that I could have written them, if I had any songwriting talents at all. And of course, the music's not so bad, either. =)

Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)

Through Oz on tiptoe...

Over a week ago (I can't believe it's been a week!), me and Mom got to go see "The Wizard of Oz" at the theater. It was the 70th anniversary, and it was in high-definition at theaters for one night. It was amazing! I've always liked "The Wizard of Oz," and I even have it on DVD. But I couldn't resist going to see such a classic movie on the big screen. And it was so good, way better than I remembered it being. I guess the rest of the people at the theater sort of added to the atmosphere...there were all ages, from older people who had probably seen the movie a dozen times, to little kids who probably had never seen it before. One little girl was decked out in Dorothy, red slippers and all (I tried, too, in vain...Iron-on transfer paper hates me, and cute red shoes are impossible to find). Anyway, I had such an awesome time. And it was the first time Mom had seen the movie all the way through!

I also watched two classic movies over the past week or two that I had never seen. "Jane Eyre" and "Little Women." The first one was good, but slightly disappointing. So much was left out, and it was so short! But I did love Orson Welles and Joan Fontaine. And Margaret O'Brien. And I loved "Little Women"! At first I wasn't so sure. But it was very lovely, and made me want to read the book again. The casting was perfect...everyone was just as I had imagined them. I just wish it had been longer, too. But it was a beautiful movie.

How is it that all of my favorite bands release new CD's at the same time? Skillet, Hawk Nelson, BarlowGirl, Relient K, and Switchfoot...all within about 2 months of each other. I spent my first month of school listening to Skillet's "Awake" in my car. And this week HN's "Live Life Loud" and BarlowGirl's "Love & War" haven't left my CD player. They're both really, really good. But what am I most excited about? This coming Tuesday...RK's new CD! "Forget and Not Slow Down," I think it's called. I can't wait.

School has been going good, I guess, but it's also the reason why it's been forever since I got to blog. Or sew. Or read more than a few pages of "The Lord of the Rings" at a time. I've been very tempted to give up FOTR and stick with lighter books until I have a break. Today I had to go early to the daycare and do an observation checklist for an assignment. The kids are hilarious. I'm with the youngest class, all under 2 years old, so I don't get to see much of the older kids. So this morning me and another girl had to go outside with them and try to get them to do the things on our list. What kinds of things? Hopping on one foot, walking on tiptoe, catching balls, things like that. Of course, you have to act like it's a really fun game to get the kids to go along. I hope nobody saw me hopping around on the playground. One little girl was very cooperative. She followed us around, copying us even when we were finished observing her. She would say, "I can do that!" and proceed to balance on one foot or jump around. At one point she wandered off from us, and we moved on to some other kids. Then she came over and said, in her sweet little 3 year old voice, "Why did you leave me over there?" (so, of course, it was more like, "Why did you weave me over dere?"). It was adorable. When we were getting ready to go inside, I got down and thanked her for helping us and for doing such a good job, and she hugged me, and my heart melted to mush. I'm already attached to the kids in my class. Especially one little boy, who greets me with a huge smile. He always wants to hold my hand, crawl into my lap, or play cars with me. And how can I resist?

Until next time,
Kristin (missvintagegirl)