Written during British Lit on Tuesday

Sometimes when I'm in class and not wanting to really pay attention, I get really frustrated that I've left two essays* that I've already started at home. I've got more to say about each of them and would love to feel a bit productive if I'm going to tune out my teacher, but I also don't want to change the point that I'm making by joining two separately written pieces. I've done that before and it's a very ineffective way to attempt to prove a point. Some would take the leaving of the other drafts at home as a bit of a sign to actually pay attention in class, but not I! I see this as a challenge to distract myself by discussing the lack of things to distract me. I feel like I should receive some sort of an award or at least acknowledgement of this accomplishment.

Not quite yet though! I'm only 30 minutes into class and we're discussing poems that I actually enjoy. You never know, I might just cave and participate!

Okay, that was a little misleading. I've actually already participated, much like I normally do when writing during class.

I'm not sure why, but having something else to focus on during class sometimes allows me to pay attention better than attempting to force myself to pay attention. It probably has to do with the role of television in my life.** I've done so much homework and socializing while watching TV that I'm used to trying to focus on two forms of stimulation at the same time.

This is something I've been more aware of lately because I often feel as though I'm not really taking in either source while trying to focus on both. In an attempt to curb that problem I've cut down on some of the shows that I watch and try to do more listening to music while working on homework. The music is another form of stimulation, but slightly lesser with the lack of the visual. Sometimes I go as far as to put on something instrumental and eliminate the intellectual distraction of the lyrics.

Cutting back on the shows I follow has done a lot of good though. With only a handful to watch each week and all of them being online I'm able to set aside time to watch without doing much else. My infatuation with social media gets in the way of that sometime, but I'm getting a little better with keeping that compulsion at bay as well. One day I'll be better with all of it and maybe be more efficient in all aspects!

I think that this has quite adequately twisted and turned all over the place in the hour that I've been writing. Maybe I'll look like I'm paying attention for the next 12 minutes!

*I say essays because it sounds a bit more intellectual than blogs.
**Here I go getting all insightful and intelligent again.

What a day.

Sorry I don't have a relevant picture, but I love this one by Nicole Hill Gerulat.

Today was a bad day. I let little things get to me after calling in sick to work and I just kind of wallowed in the bad day for a little while. I asked for strength though and was able to make it through.

Then I got to talk about some things that I've been wondering about with a good friend.

I'm getting to bed later than I thought I would, but I think I'll sleep pretty well and be able to get up at a reasonable hour tomorrow and take care of some things that I'd like to get done.

Tonight is much better than I expected it to be and I'm looking forward to tomorrow being even better!

Sick Sucks

After going to bed earlier than I would have liked last night (though not earlier than necessary considering the time I did NOT spend lying awake in bed) I ended up calling in sick to work because I feel a little bit like I'm dying.

I have a test today, so I can't just sleep through everything, which sucks because that's really all that I'd like to do.

I'm in way too much of a pity party mood to continue with this, maybe after my classes I'll update with something better.

Smoothies at 5:30AM?

Because I had a packed day today, I just got home about half an hour ago, and I will be AT work in less than 7 hours. This means that I have no time to type the entry I wrote during my English class today and you will get a much more awesome entry tomorrow!

Monday

I'm really not enjoying these early morning shifts, but I'm getting through them.

There is a new Jamba location going in on campus this summer, so I'm definitely hoping to transfer there and have a less stressful Fall semester while completely paying off my credit cards. Sure, I'll have a bit more student loans because of this, but those have a purpose, right?

I went to collect my paycheck from The Fund today. I haven't worked there for over a month already! I was pretty sure that I worked there for 3 shifts, but I only see 2 on my check. Oh well, guess it'll take me a little bit longer to pay my credit card off. It's really only a matter of about $20, but every $20 is that much closer to the end of it, right?

I will be trapped no more!

On the note of credit card debt, since I've mentioned it twice already, I'm currently at $2,038.01 in debt. At the beginning of this month it was more than $2,600. I've already got another payment set up and I'm pretty sure that I will be done paying it off before the summer is over. I will be updating on my status, I'm more than excited to start over without all of this stuff. If I continue with my eyes open as they are I should be in a nice position to do anything I'd like involving credit by the time I'm really out of school. That may or may not include purchasing a home.

As of 9:48PM Monday night, I have no idea whether or not I work on Wednesday morning. It's a bit frustrating that because the computer is down my manager waited until today to take the schedule home and do it by hand. It's how it is though, so I'll just have to track him down tomorrow to figure it out.

This post is far too boring to continue. It's now time for bed so that I might be more entertaining tomorrow!

Crud

I didn't technically get an update in on April 25th. Oh well.

I've worn my new outfit twice this week. I definitely feel like a librarian or a secretary in it.

That's a very positive thing.

Has no food

I'm currently on campus because I had to turn in an assignment at 5 and decided to sit down in the wonderful sun with my laptop after doing so. A squirrel just came up to me as though expecting me to offer some sort of treat. Even if I had one I would not do so. I was on the phone leaving a message at the time, but I seriously could have swooped my hand down and picked the little guy up before he could run away if I'd had any desire to risk rabies.

For the record, I don't.

Blown away!

Remember these invitations that inspire me to make more time for creativity? I didn't even think about what sort of party would actually result from those invitations, but whoa does it look amazing!

Caroline totally blew me away with what she came up with. Look at me saying that as though I know her and actually got to be there! I'm seeing as much of these as you are. While the level of awesome reached here totally intimidates me, I'm determined to continue to use that for motivation.



This woman is extremely talented. I hope that once my time is less saturated with end of semester things I will be able to focus my energy to create something half as amazing. Check out her full blog for the other things that she does like her awesome jewelry and great taste in kitchen decor!

Loving those grants!

One of the best parts of this new exploring I'm doing, is that I need more dresses and skirts. I went out last night to find said new garments. With the intention of spending $100 and purchasing this awesome shirt dress, I took myself to the mall.

On my way there I passed by a shopping center with a Ross and a Marshall's, so I decided to go check out what they had. 11 dresses later, I had a bit of a self-esteem boost by fitting into the smallest of things I tried on, but I was also a little bummed that nothing really worked.

NY and Company didn't have the awesome shirt dresses anymore, so I tried on some other things. Much of it was awesome, but I have only one place to wear that style right now, and I wasn't up to investing that money for just a few great pieces that I'll wear at most once a week.

I started becoming disappointed, how is it possible that a girl can go into the mall wanting to spend $100, have things fit, and still be empty handed?

Then I went to Forever 21. I'm not a big fan of that store, but it is very possible to find good items when looking correctly. Just when I was about to give up, I turned around and found this amazing thing!



I also found a cute cardigan, but the color isn't online. This is the right sweater, but I got it in red.



I was feeling pretty good then, knowing that I had a couple of button ups at home that would make this into a great outfit. Even so, I decided to head down to Express to see what they had.

What did they have you ask? They had a buy one get one 1/2 off sale. I went for it.





Oh, and that yellow belt? Yeah, I got it in green.

I ended up spending more than my goal, and I'm totally glad that I did. I never do that kind of thing for myself, and this is definitely a good reason to do so!

My bed time has now passed, so this is going to come to an abrupt end rather than a clever one.

Things...

I don't like...

26 bug bites at one time, assuming I didn't miss any.
Taking a shower, and then taking the recycling out, only to walk through a spider web.
60 degrees at 5 in the morning.
95 degrees in April.
My eyes being weird and not allowing me to wear contacts.
Gaining a bit of weight back again.

I do like...

Learning more about who I am.
Finding out that the bite reactions are normal.
Rocking the glasses for a few days.
Going shopping for new dresses because I can!
Taking more responsibility for things I'm doing.
Getting over disappointments and taking the future for what it could be.
The future.

Miss California

While I don't agree with her stance, and yes she could have used a better term than "opposite marriage," she stood up for what she believes and didn't cave even though it sounded like the audience wanted her too be all for marriage equality. The fight is for the freedom of choice, and her freedom must be respected as well. I think she did a pretty good job of being concise and relatively respectful.

The way she spoke also shows that she isn't really an idiot, so rather than attacking, conversing and discussing would be a wise choice.

Not a fan of bug bites.

I can't even come close to counting the number of bug bites I've got right now. I woke up with 4 yesterday and noticed several more through out the day (Katie can verify that) as they started to itch. They were so bad over night that I woke up from being so itchy.

This morning was pretty much the same, but last night I could hear a mosquito buzzing around my head sometimes, so I'm a little more confident in what the source of the 10 or so new bites is.

A couple of the bites are having some odd reactions. One has a raise, irregularly shaped thing happening, and another has some weird coloring. The raised one seems to be going down again, and I'm thinking that the odd colors are more from some over-zealous scratching in class.

Somehow, I ended up with a bite in each eyebrow.

Splitting

I've decided that I'm going to create a new blog. One which I will update less frequently, but with a bit more substance to the entries. I haven't decided just what I'm going to call it yet, I had a few names that I really wanted the other day all seem to be taken, but as I'm looking for them now to link them here and show you, I seem to be creating new names because they are all showing as available.

So you tell me;

Purely Wondering
Pure Wonderings
Pure Wondering
Pondering Katherine
Reviving Katherine

Or something else you can think of?

I took a look at my history, Purely Random, Pure Rambling and some other similar ones were the taken ones. It seems I've found a little more focus in what I'd like to present in this blog during the past few days, as Random and Wondering can be related, but do not fully represent the same connotation in my mind.

I still plan on updating this blog daily. I've just come to realize that sometimes I hold back some of my favorite parts about my fun posts because I'm thinking about something a little heavier that I'd like to discuss, but I don't feel this is the right venue. In creating this new venue I hope to lessen the amount of holding back I do!

Big day tomorrow, something I'll post about on the new blog when I've got it figured out!

Boo to work

I'm not really feeling this whole work thing at the moment. Probably because I overslept and didn't get some of the things done that I wanted to this morning, also because so many people on Facebook are celebrating that it's Friday, and that means more work for me!

On the positive side, work may go by pretty quickly considering the near 80 degree weather we're supposed to have today and the customers that should come with it. Let's hope that rushes make the day feel shorter and not longer!

For those of you who haven't already, please take a look at my previous entries about the Sacramento Race for the Cure. If you're in town please sign up and join our team, if not we'd love to have your support through fundraising!

And we have a team!

Yay for the response to the Facebook event! There are a few specific people I was really hoping to have seen out there and walked with who have already replied, "Not Attending," but there are several I'm totally stoked to see on board as well!

Please join our team and talk to your friends about donating! I've got the goal set pretty low right now, so give me a reason to bump it up!

Race for the Cure!

This took me longer than I'd like, but here is the information, I hope there are lots of you who can come participate!

The 2009 Komen Sacramento Race for the Cure



My sister-in-law and I are hoping to get a team together. Most of that team seems interested in walking at this point, though I have to admit that I'd like to see if I can't run for at least one of the three miles. It is a 5K, which is about 3.1 miles, and the time I participated before it was a bit of a celebration the whole way.

It's rather early in the morning, the parking lot opens at 6:00AM and the race starts about 8:05AM, but what a reason to get up, right?

Registration fees are as follows:
Adult -- Non-Timed, 5K or 1-mile = $35 

Adult Chip-Timed, 5K = $40

Child (6-12) Non-Timed, 5K or 1-mile = $15

Child (6-12) Chip-Timed, 5K or 1 mile = $20

Child (5 & under) = No Fee (Must complete Registration Form to participate. No t-shirt provided)

Sleep In for the Cure® = $40 
(includes postage for mailing t-shirt and "I'm Sleeping in for the Cure" doorknob hanger.)

Race Day registration is an additional $5 for adults and children

There is online registration, but I guess Sandy and I should start a team before telling everyone exactly how to register. The deadline for online team registration is April 24th, so Sandy and I will take care of that tonight and I will update about it again.

If you are interested please leave a comment here or email me and I'll make sure to get you the information. purekatherine@gmail.com

More time for creativity please!

I've recently gathered quite a few blogs that I'm really enjoying reading for the creativity represented in them alone. One of the best parts of these blogs is that I often find new ones simply by reading the ones that I already follow. I found the following today, and while under some circumstances I think that things like this could be a little over the top for a 2-year-old's birthday party, if one has the time to do this sort of stuff, I say go for it. I can't even imagine the amazing parties that z man (Zach?) will have as he grows up. That's one creative mother. Way to go!

I found that great post through A Little Sussy. A great blog by a great photographer who takes pictures like the one below, which she happens to have made the subjects of! (Sorry for not showing that I'm an English major with that last sentence.)



That would also be the blog through which I found this awesome little book I've already told you about.

There are far too many awesome blogs for me to show you something from each of them, but in the next few days I hope to start compiling a list of them in the side bar, so you can check them out there! At one point I would have been extremely envious of these women for not only their creativity, but also the time in which to pursue it, but today I have decided instead to turn it into fuel! I'm not sure how, but I am determined to find the time to make my own projects when I would like. Maybe my sister-in-law and I can start with stuff for my brother's birthday! He wants a cookie cake, I think she and I can manage that without turning to Mrs. Field's!

Lots of talk about money.

Last week I got a big surprise in my bank account. Since finding Mint, I haven't been using my Golden1 credit union account much because I can't keep track of on there and I like the idea of understanding my spending better. Because of that I haven't been checking my balance very often, why would I if it hasn't changed? I got an email through Sac State's online interface (or whatever) saying that my eRefund had been sent. I didn't really know why that would be, so I checked my account, and there was a deposit of $1,524 from Sac State!

This was a huge surprise, and I was blown away. If that had come through a week earlier I probably would have been a little bit stupid and quit my job out of spite following a couple of difficult days at the beginning. Luckily though, I found it on a day that I had a lot of fun at work and then I had a day off, so my mind was more on what "extra" I could do with the money and not on how it could cover living expenses.

I quickly made plans to pay off about a third of my credit card debt with a large chunk of this money and get a good start on a real savings account with the rest. With all of this going through my head and knowing that I didn't have to work the next day I stayed up later than I would have and did a little research.

I found the email that I'd gotten a week before about my financial aid being revised, and I tracked down where it said that I would be getting this grant. I also found something else in that research. The first $1,524 was for the Spring 2009 semester, but I was also supposed to be getting the same amount for Fall 2008. I found this along with a second email notifying me that my eRefund had been sent.

That's right, on Thursday night I had a new $1,524 in my account, and I found out that another $1,524 was headed my way.

I thought of quitting my job right away. With 3 grand I could easily get through a couple more months without having to think about money for a second. Fortunately for me though, I've just witnessed a friend having less luck than he deserves when it comes to money issues and I realized that working and continuing to earn an income is a very good idea while working toward other goals.

I had a lot of fun looking up where I wanted to start a high yield savings account that night. I found a great direct online savings bank with the following mission:

"ShoreBank invests in people and their communities to create economic equity and a healthy environment."

Um, if you happen to be reading this and you don't know me, that could kind of be my own personal mission statement. (If you do know me, I hope that you already knew that.) I'm really looking forward to setting up payments to credit cards and transfers to a new savings account in the next few days. I'm also looking forward to knowing that even paying off so much and setting up savings I still have a couple months of bills that I don't have to think about.

Sorry for the text heavy entries lately. Here's a little something from one of my favorite webcomics.

**I forgot to add, while I am glad that I was able to learn from my friend's actions, I genuinely hope that things turn out for the best for him very soon!

Sugar in the blood.

Yesterday I had way too much sugar. Driving home from Easter dinner I could feel my blood pumping. It was a lot like last Wednesday when I'd pumped myself full of caffeine to stay awake through class and then couldn't sleep.

I'm pretty sure that I've had just as much sugar today, but I've also been awake and active since 5:00AM compared to yesterday's lack of physical activity.

There will be something more substantial when I get home, for now I must go read before class!

So Tired!

It is 8:25PM and I am about to get ready for bed.

I am very tired from a very full weekend, and I have a big day tomorrow.

Work from 5:15AM to Noon.

Shower and gathering of school stuff until 12:45PM when Liz will pick me up.

Class 1:30PM-7:15PM.

Home around 7:45PM, and then SLEEP!

I've got a decent amount of reading that I need to do before class on Tuesday, not really sure when that will happen, hopefully some on my breaks at work, and then maybe during the one class that is in conferences tomorrow, though I'd hoped to be taking a nap at that point. Maybe we'll be slow at work and they can send me home early!

Just a note about today, since it's all I can really handle. Got off of work early and was able to go visit family, which was really good! I think a few of my cousins are going to join my sister-in-law and I in the Race for the Cure. I really hope that we can get a huge group together. Kristin is going to participate in a triathlon the weekend before, so she and I might actually skip ahead of those who are just wanting to walk. My brother suggested skipping the length, and if we could, I would LOVE to do that!

Glad for work.

On my way out for Second Saturday this evening I passed two churches. One just letting out of service, and one about to start. I was very close to texting Laura that I took a detour and attend service instead. I'd really like to attend some sort of service tomorrow, but at the same time I'm a bit intimidated to do so. I'm working at 7:15, so I don't really have the option, which is a good thing I guess because I like having the regular income as well.

I found a couple of artists tonight that I really like. I'm going to try to get to Second Saturday's Art Walk each month now, and hopefully with working I'll be able to actually purchase some of the work before long. I've given my mom a couple of pieces that she really enjoys, and I now have a goal of finding something for each room in her home. I think I really know what she likes, and there are certain things that just strike me as her when I see them. A couple of them tonight!



The two pieces I've included here are my favorites from the night. The ones I really like for my mom are by the same artist, but I can't find the specific ones on her site.

I need to get to bed, hopefully I'll be let off shift early tomorrow and I can go see family!

Happy Easter all, it really is an amazing day!

Now I've.... Had...

An awesome night!

I almost didn't end up going out to Midtown Stomp, but after getting a phone call from Rose and Nathan and telling them I didn't think it would happen I decided to get off of my rear and do something.

Sleep would have felt amazing, as would the homework I had considered doing, but I can sleep any time, right?

Looking forward to going back again next week, live band then!

Trying to update daily means that sometimes it's as simple as this.

Went shopping today, somehow I'm now a size 6!!!!!!!!! Seriously in doubt about that. Totally exhausted now (went to lie down more than an hour ago while watching a video on the laptop and I'm still laying down as I'm typing) but determined to get up and get to swing dancing 5 blocks away.

Wow, again?

The Simpsons will be the newest stamps in just over a month. I'm not actually a Simpsons fan, but it's noteworthy anyway I guess.

Along with those new stamps, it seems that postage prices are going up again. I just bought a whole bunch of 5¢ stamps, and in 32 days I'll need some more 2¢ ones to use up the awesome 37¢ ones I've been trying to use up! I've got at least 5 left to use, so I guess I should get on top of that. One a week should do it.

On the plus side, the ones that I have to use after the 37s are 39s, so I won't have to waste any money by having an extra cent of postage on the next batch. Yes, I am concerned with increments of one penny waste sometimes. Maybe I should show it in places other than postage...

Related: Anyone know just why postage prices keep going up?

Sorry Mallory...

You know that I'm a little too in love with Macs when I'm sitting in the computer lab at school and get off of a PC that I'm currently working on because I see someone get off of one of the Macs.

To be fair though, they have a much better workspace so I'm more comfortable with the extra space as well as the better keyboard and shortcuts that make sense.

I was up to go to work at 4:30 this morning. Not really. I had to be to work at 5:15, which means I was up at 4:55. I then worked for 4 and a half hours, which I kind of enjoyed, before getting home at 10. Just enough time to take a shower before editing two papers and leaving for school at 12:45! I didn't get as much editing done as I'd wanted to, so I'm now in the computer lab at school (on the much preferred Mac) finishing that work now. I'll be out of my last class at 7:15 and back home around 7:45.

Anyone else want to sign up for this schedule?

I'm amazed that I can keep up with it. I do have to admit that I opted for Dr Pepper today instead of water because I knew I would need the caffeine, and I made Liz drive today to make sure we didn't die if I ended up falling asleep driving home. This makes it a lot easier to sign up for classes next semester, since I know that I can totally handle it!

Work doesn't always suck!

Today at work it wasn't as bad as it had been. Maybe it's because I'm getting the hang of things, maybe it's because it was super rainy and there wasn't anything to do, maybe it was because I'm now determined to get through it. Whatever the reason, I didn't mind being there today, and got to know some of the closers a bit better.

There was a crazy woman who came in needing someone to talk to about nothing and everything. That was interesting. Since I have no amusing anecdotes about it, you can tell just how interesting the topics actually were.

I have to be back there in 6 and a half hours, so now it's bed time. Full day tomorrow, maybe I'll scare you with all I have on my plate in the millisecond I have free.

The Andrews Sisters

I'd gotten a little worried that I was right about the daisies being over-crowded in the pot I had them in the other day when I went to water them and I noticed that the magenta ones were a little droopy and their stems weren't as strong as the other two.

I took a look at their placement, and decided that maybe they were getting a little too much direct sunlight. That part of the porch really gets the sunlight all afternoon, and that may not be so necessary. So I switched them to the other side of the porch that still gets lots of sunlight, but gets some nice indirect light for a lot of the day as well.

That seems to be all that it needed, because just the next day those ladies were standing up straight and their stems were as strong as ever. I'm a very proud mother.

Ikea Survey

I just took this Ikea survey for a chance to win a $100 gift card. I was told at the beginning that it would take about 10 minutes to complete.

I finished in 8.

I definitely feel accomplished.

It's taken me 3 minutes to post this though, does that mean it's a wash?

Ch-Ch-Changes

Lots of things happening over here, yet nothing that feels so much like I'm actually doing anything and making progress. Not getting that feeling of accomplishment is rather frustrating to me, so I decided to make a sort of checklist of things that I can do daily to see the check marks and the progress that I'm making.

Here's a sampling or what I've got...

SUNDAY CHECKLIST

☐ 20 Minutes of Physical Activity.
☑ Prepare Lunch for Tomorrow.
☐ Get to bed before Midnight.
☑ Drink Half a Jug of Water.
☑ Eat Breakfast.
☑ 15 minutes Cleaning.
☑ Water Plants.
☐ Write a Blog.
☑ Brush Teeth AM.
☑ Do Homework.
☑ Put lotion on.
☐ Brush Teeth PM.

Other than the 20 minutes of Physical Activity, I will be able to check each of those off tonight! Not too bad for my first day, huh? There are a few things that I took off of this list because they are for me, but I have those checked off as well. I have to admit, I'm impressed.

Anything you think I need to add?

I've got another blog.

I bet you didn't know that I've got a review blog!

Ravishing Review is me, Mallory and Lexi. Though when we get good stuff from other people we include that as well. We're not professionals, and we are human. Oh, and we have excellent taste in movies that aren't always understood as they should be by wide audiences.

Edit: I should probably include that these are movie reviews, and the latest is Sunshine Cleaning. We welcome comments and discussion as long as it is respectful, I'd say we even encourage it!

Some movies you should see!

In theatres now.

Sunshine Cleaning



I thought that I might have built this up too much in my mind before seeing it, and it proved to not be the case at all. The parts that impacted me were not at all the parts that I'd anticipated would from the preview.

On Hulu now!

Crawford



I've read some things about how skewed this is by only showing the town after Bush moved, but I think it's an interesting story none the less. One aspect of it actually makes me want to teach in a situation that the featured teacher is in.

Before the Music Dies



Fascinating look at the record industry. I'd originally typed "music industry," but then I remembered something that one of the guys in the movie said and corrected myself. This is now 4 years old, and I think that things have changed a little bit more in favor of the artist since then, but I don't really know enough about it to commit to a definite position. There are some points that I would have liked to hear some more about, maybe I'll write up a whole post about it one day.

Below is a clip from the movie that explains just why I would like to teach.

Anyone else love ModCloth?

I'm pretty sure that I don't really have the correct curves for the cut of these suits, but I'm a little in love with them anyway. One day I'll get to try something like this on and see just what it really looks like!

New Favorite!

While my thighs have a little more "cushion" and "give" to them than the model, I'm totally in love with my thigh high socks from American Apparel. I have white with magenta stripes. I've got them on with a dress right now, and they're about perfect. I'm sure the staying up part won't last, but they have so far which is good!

I don't see needing them much in the coming months, what with spring already here and all, but if there's ever a really good sale on them I might get some for the fall and winter!

Also, with this new eating smaller meals more often thing, I seem to be losing weight, so maybe my thighs will end up like the model's by the time I'm wearing these regularly!

There's a road leading somewhere paved with them...

I really intended to write today, something awesome and mind blowing.

Then I got up at 4:30 to be to work by 5:15. After my 8 hour shift I had an awesome Kati and Jeff day including Prum Brossom and Sunshine Cleaning. Go see it so we can talk about it, I'm going to see it again pretty soon!