Hodgepodge

It's time for Wednesday Hodgepodge. Check out Joyce's blog to see what other people answered.

 

1. I've read several posts and status updates recently describing end of year school field trips. Do you remember taking school field trips as a kid? Where did you go and do you recall a favorite? For any parents responding today, have you ever chaperoned a school field trip, and if so where?  I don't recall very many field trips. I do remember one where we did team exercises, but nothing near as fun as I hear kids doing nowadays. I would love to go to the zoo for a field trip;

2. What's something you're tired of seeing online? I don't know what I'm tired of seeing, there's not a lot of things I see across blogs and facebook, which is where I spend most of my time. I tell you I'm tired of looking for an apartment and job websites. Unfortunately, I'll be looking at them for awhile.

3. June is the month for roses. Which of the following expressions would you say has most recently applied to your life-'everything's coming up roses', 'there's no rose without a thorn', 'came out smelling like a rose', or 'wearing rose-colored glasses'?  Honestly, I'm not really sure, I'm not in the best of moods lately. I was last week and then I was let down on Saturday and that put me back quite a few steps, and now I have no idea what I'm going to do. I wish I could wear rose-colored glasses and see all the good in things right now, but I'm having a hard time.

4. When grilling outdoors do you prefer gas or charcoal? Who does the grilling at your house? What's the last thing you ate that was cooked on a grill? We don't grill. The only time I get grilled food is when we go to my aunt and uncle's for the 4th of July, it's usually hot dogs and hamburgers.

5. Are you afraid of the dark? I love the dark, unless I just watched a creepy movie about haunted old houses. I live in an old house and even though I know there's nothing happening, after watching one of those movies (you'd think I'd learn), I usually lie awake staring into the darkness wishing it were morning.

6. Share a favorite song with a number in it's title. Four Women by Nina Simone. I heard it at the end of the movie For Colored Girls, and it just hit something. It's about four different black women and their lives. I don't know how to embed videos, but here's a link to a YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRmzQ39sXTQ It's not a great video, it just has the lyrics scrolling across the screen, but I couldn't really find one I wanted.

7. "Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."(C.G. Jung). Do you agree? Why or why not? I can see that. I think things that other people do/are that irritate us is either something we don't have, or something we don't like about ourselves and instead of looking in at ourselves, we place the blame on someone else.

8. Insert your own random thought here.

 That's my random thought. The house was put on the market on May 23rd and the offer was accepted on the 29th.

I've known for awhile that I'd need to find a new place to live and I've been looking, I've also known I'll need another job to afford one. I don't have either, I'm still looking. A co-worker said she'd be my roommate and then decided she didn't have enough money to do that. I was so excited when she told me she'd be my roommate, we looked at a few apartments last week and then she gets her paycheck and decides she doesn't have the money. That was a huge let-down. I have about 2 months, I think I'll be on the street.
I have other co-workers who have to move and I ask if we could be roommates and they say, they don't want to live with other people. I just feel like no one cares.

If you're interested in a piece of artwork from me, go here.
Another random thought. My birthday is in less than a month and I'd love to have a card shower. Anyone wanna help me out?

Still Looking

I'm hating my life right now. Last week, a co-worker said she'd be my roommate, we looked at a couple places, found one that was promising, she said she had to wait until the end of the month before she could lay down any money for a deposit. End of the month comes, and she says she can't afford her half, now I'm back to square one.
I've decided I'm not spending any money on things I don't need. That means I won't be buying pop, I won't be buying any sweets, I won't be going to garage sales, I won't be buying clothes, I won't be eating out at all, I won't be able to do anything fun, and I probably still won't be able to afford an apartment by myself.
The house is Sale Pending. It went on the market on May 23rd, the second showing was the Tuesday after, and they took those people's offer.
It just feels like I get a little ahead, and then something sets me back. I was so excited about one of the apartments last week, and once my friend got paid, we could go apply and give them the deposit, and then she says she can't do it.
Some of my friends are also moving this year, so I asked them if we could be roommates, but they don't want to live with someone else, even if it means saving money for both of us.
I'm so tired of trying to do things/doing things and then getting nowhere.
Is it against the rules if I ask people to pray I find an apartment soon? Or at least ask for good thoughts?

Hodgepodge time

Apparently it's Wednesday, it doesn't feel like Wednesday. But, since it is, it's time for Hodgepodge. Head on over to Joyce's blog to see what other people have said.

1. What news story are you following right now? I don't follow the news, it's always depressing. I am following the progress on the new library. We have paint, last week we got a tour, and it's so neat to be able to see everything instead of just trying to visualize.

2. What's the last thing you wanted but didn't get? That would be the salaried job I applied for at the library. I thought I was going to get it, when they told me I didn't, it floored me. Then my job changed, so even though I'm hoping to stay at the library, I'm looking for another job.

3. May 28th is National Hamburger Day...when did you last have a hamburger? Other than your own kitchen or BBQ grill, where is your favorite place to go for a hamburger? And for all you non-meat eaters out there...when you're invited to a cookout what is the one side dish you hope is on the menu? I had a frozen one the other day, but I microwaved it too long and melted the cheese right off of it, it wasn't very good without cheese. Before that, it was at Dairy Queen, and while I liked it at the time, it didn't sit very well in my stomach. The last time I was craving a hamburger, I had a home cooked one, one from Hickory Park (a local place), and one from Burger King (this one was actually reheated the day after purchase), and I found the Burger King one to be the most satisfying, I'm not sure why.

 4. How have your priorities changed over time? With having to move after being in my current living space for a long time, I've decided I don't need so much stuff. I'm trying to cut down on what I buy. I feel with my job situation and my living situation, I've needed to figure a lot out lately, and I'm not entirely sure where I'm going.

5. What's a favorite memory with your grandparents? Okoboji. The timeshare we have up there is actually my dad's parents, we were always the ones that used it, so we got it when they passed away. We all went up there when I was very small, and not that I remember a lot because I was 3 or 4, but I have pictures.

6. On a scale of 1-10 (with 10 being fantastic!), how good are you at multitasking? Share an example. I'm pretty good, it's something I use a lot in my life and job, so I have to be good at it.

7. How would you summarize your highs and lows for the month of May? This year, I have a lot more lows than highs. The job thing mentioned above. The fact that I've had the living situation shoved in my face. I've known since last September, but it became really real this month, last Friday, they put the sign in the front yard, and the next day we had a showing. But, I also found someone that wants to be my roommate, and though we haven't found an apartment yet (we are looking at 3 this morning), we've given each other a verbal agreement to do it, to help with our own finances. I'm going to something fun on Saturday with this person. Personally, I'm ready for the whole summer to be over and to be settled in a new/additional job and new place. I would love to just skip the unsure and looking part.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. There is so much on my mind right now. Normally, I'm a pretty messy person, but we had to deep clean the apartment to get it nice for showing, and I have to say, I like it clean. I never really cared how things looked because I was the only one living here. But, I like being able to walk through my apartment in the dark and not have to worry about tripping over things. I love that I have so much more space in my craft closet. I like the extra space in the living room. Just don't tell my mom, I'm liking the cleanliness. 

Garage sale finds and stuff

Looks like I haven't posted my finds in awhile. Also, this post has quite a few pictures in it. So, last weekend I spent less than $5 all weekend. Friday, I picked up a cute Asian tin, a green scarf, and some vintage trim. I figured the tin would work for a swap, the scarf and trim for art projects, I actually used some of the trim for a blue swap already.

 Saturday, I saw this beautiful carnival glass bowl, here's the top:

 and the bottom, for 50 cents, but I didn't need it, and I'm downsizing, but how gorgeous is it?

 I bought some books (I'm not allowed to buy books anymore), F in Exams, we have another book by this author at the library, I figured after I read it, I would donate it and see if we couldn't get it in the collection. Cut it, Paste it, Sew it, was soo cute inside. Fun food, because I have a hard time walking away from cooking books, and Working with Difficult People, because that's life.

 I also picked up this gorgeous needlepoint, I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to do with it, but it was so pretty.

 Tuesday, we had a hailstorm and torrential downpour. I ran outside and collected a hail stone:

 That was about the biggest they got, most of them were the size of marbles, but they didn't melt at all during that storm. About 10-15 minutes later we got the torrential rain, it rained so hard, some streets got flooded. I heard a few of them took quite awhile to drain.

While I was sorting and cleaning, I found this paper mache rabbit I bought at a sale a couple years ago. I covered it in dictionary paper, and haven't been able to get rid of it. It's probably going into a garage sale.

We had to have the house nicely cleaned because they were going to take pictures on Wednesday in order to list the house.
 Wednesday, I decided to take a little break from life, while they were taking pictures and went shopping. I didn't spend too much, I had to spend the last $11 left on a gift card I got two Christmases ago. I also found a couple $1 shirts at Walmart, and Burlesque. The library used to have a copy and then it disappeared from the system, last time I wanted to watch it, they had to order it from another library, I figured this way, I wasn't going to be a burden next time I wanted to watch it.

 Thursday night, I made myself some yummy looking nachos.

Yesterday, I found some pretty cool things, the coolest was free.
The first sale, I bought a Coke and went next door. While I was there buying the owls and purple bag, I decided I needed the multi-colored purse. I originally bought it for a friend, but I've been looking for a smaller bag lately, and I think I'm gonna keep it. I'm still collecting owls, basically I paid 10 cents for that little tiny pewter one. I figured I could use the purple bag in a swap.

 The background piece was my best find. As I was walking to another sale, I stumbled over a table in someone's yard that said "Free, just leave the table", so I picked up the owl and moose. On the ground was a box of linens, when I saw the pillowcase, I had to have it.

 Here's a close-up, it looks like someone sewed a bunch of vintage lace together to create it, I LOVE it. I did take off the blue velvet bow. I'd love to take off the frilly outside and back it with something to create a wallhanging, but I know that won't happen.

 I bought this box of Christmas ornaments for $1 at another sale, basically I wanted the cross stitch piece and the cute little gnomes

 I also like the snowman and whatever kind of bird is in the lower right hand corner.

 The last sale, I found two cute plates and a matching bowl in a free box. I think I should have left the bowl behind, maybe it will make it's way into my garage sales. I thought the book was extra cute, and the cookie cutters are Pillsbury Doughboys, they're for my aunt

 I also picked up a barrette for art purposes, a cute turtle necklace, a fabric flower and a cute bear.

There are soo many things I keep talking myself out of buying. I didn't buy anything at garage sales today. I found a few DVDs but I'm not buying anymore of those (I have 170 already). I'm not allowed to look at fabric, or craft supplies or many decorative items. It's kinda depressing, but I make myself go to get some exercise, plus if I didn't go, I wouldn't have found that cool pillowcase.
 Last night, they put the for sale sign in the front yard and the listing went up at 10PM. Today we had a showing. Now that it's really real, it's kinda depressing.

Wednesday Hodgepodge

It's Hodgepodge time, check out Joyce's blog for other people's answers.

1. Under what circumstances do you do your best thinking? It depends on what I'm thinking about. I'm really good about waiting until the last minute to do things. When I have time constraints, I seem to do the best. I was really good with this and writing papers in college. I've told people I can't do that anymore, but today, I realize I do it quite a bit.

2. Are you a risk taker? What's one big risk you've taken? I'm not. I'm a big planner, I like to plan. At this point in my life, I need to take a risk and figure out what I'm doing with my life. And I have no idea.

3. Some of the most common phobias according to the National Institute for Mental Health are-fear of spiders (arachnaphobia), snakes (ophidiophobia), heights (acrophobia), fear of spaces from which escape is difficult (agoraphobia), fear of thunder and lightening (astrophobia), fear of dogs (cynophobia), injections (trypanophobia), social situations, flying (pteromerhanophobia) and fear of germs and dirt (mysophobia). True phobias affect only about 10% of adults, but of those listed which would you rate as your greatest fear? Fear of the unknown. If I don't know what's going to happen, I get really freaked out, kinda goes with number 2, that's why I don't want to stray from where I am now, though I kinda feel I need to strike out on my own.

4. Are you settled or do you feel the need to move somewhere new? I am very settled, unfortunately, the house my apartment is attached to is being listed on the market, tomorrow in fact, and I have to move. I don't like change.

5. What is something you find annoying when dining in a restaurant? Noisy people. I go to restaurants to have nice, quiet conversations and a nice dinner, when people are noisy, it kinda feels like I'm at work. I get enough noise there, I don't need more.

6. Daffodil yellow, sunset orange, spring green, or sky blue...your favorite color this time of year? I don't really have a favorite. I love daffodil yellow, when the daffodils pop up, I know it's spring. Though I'm not as excited about dandelion yellow, I like them too, but sometimes there's just too many. Sunset orange is just a gorgeous way to end the day, I actually like sunset pink better and over water, that's a great sunset.

 Spring green, is the grass, lots of lush green grass always signifies warmer weather, and with it seems to come freshly mown grass smell, one of my favorite smells.

And sky blue, is such a nice thing to see, especially after sky grey we had yesterday complete with torrential downpour and hail.

7. If you were going to take a holiday all by yourself, where would you go? I don't have a specific place, I like going places with people, it's way more fun to share the experience. But, if we're talking just a nice peaceful vacation, Okoboji, that's the place to relax and get away from the world for awhile.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. As mentioned above, I have to move. Today, they're taking pictures in order to list the house tomorrow. I'm not ready for pictures (I should probably be organizing/cleaning instead of this, but I need a break). I've been so stressed about this upcoming move, finding an apartment I can afford, my job and so many other things in my life for awhile now. Anyone have any good suggestions to de stress? I'd really appreciate them. 

Favorite Color Swap

It's time to reveal what I got in The Favorite Color Swap.

I was paired up with Tracee of A Taste of My Mind. I told her my favorite color was purple. I actually don't have a single favorite color, but I thought I'd try to incorporate some purple into my decor. Here's what she got me:

A purple towel, purple candles, a purple spatula, a purple hedgehog lip gloss, lavender scented soap, and some pretty purple flower napkin rings.

To see what other people got, click on the button below:

Wednesday Hodgepodge

It's Hodgepodge time. Go on over to Joyce's blog to see other people's answers.

1. It's still May, right? When were you last in the middle of something that might be described as mayhem? My life feels like mayhem right now. I'm looking for a new job, looking for a new apartment, cleaning my current apartment, sorting and getting rid of things in my apartment. Sometimes, I feel like just taking time for myself is just wrong.

2. When did you last feel dismayed? Last week. My job was reorganized and I'm not pleased with the outcome. That's all I'll say about that.

3. What's a food combination you like, but other people may find strange? Rice and ice cream. My ex introduced me to it years ago and I thought it wouldn't be good, but now every time I have Chinese food, I feel the need to grab some vanilla ice cream and mix it with my rice.

4. "It is never too late to be what you might have been." Do you think that's true? Why or why not? I like the idea.

5. US News and World Report listed the best historic destinations in the US as follows-Washington D.C, Philadelphia PA, Williamsburg VA, Charleston SC, Boston MA, Richmnd VA, Savannah, GA, Santa Fe NM, Yellowstone, San Antonio TX, San Francisco CA, New Orleans LA, and Charlottesville VA.  Of those listed how many have you seen in person? Which two sites on the list would you most like to see in person? I've been to Washington, D.C., and New Orleans, LA. I will be going to Charleston, SC for Christmas.
I think it would be fun to see Philadelphia, PA and Savannah, GA. I'd love to see Liberty Hall, and all those cool sites you see in National Treasure, and I'd love to see the houses in Savannah.

 6. May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. If you had to participate in a single fitness activity for the next half hour, which activity would you choose? I like walking.

7. What did you like best about the city, town, or neighborhood where you grew up? I like that everything is within walking distance.

8.  Insert your own random thought here. I'm still cleaning and sorting. Sunday, I was going to make a graduation card for a friend, but then figured since I was in my craft closet, I should pull out supplies for a couple swaps I'm in and then I decided I should start sorting and cleaning in there, and then I got tired of sitting on the floor. I worked on it again yesterday. Tonight, we have family coming to move stuff, so I have to have it done before I go to work today. I'm not entirely sure that's possible.

I posted a Pay it Forward post a few days ago, and no one has signed up. Would anyone like to receive some art made by me? If so, go here and comment.

Pay it forward

Last year I commented on someone's blog on one of these and I never got anything. I also posted it on my art blog and didn't get any sign ups, so I'm trying it again this year.

I commented on Ma Vie Trouvee's post about this, and so I have to do the same thing on my blog. Maybe I'll get people commenting this year.

 

Pay It Forward Art-making Project for 2014

I'm participating in this art share project - do you want to join me?

What I will do:   Make a small work of art for the first five people who comment on this post and say "YES, I want in!"  It might be a fabric piece, paper piece or something mixed. 

What you will do:  Swap a piece of art with me, post the rules on your blog or any other social media AND make something for the first five who comment on YOUR post...you in return will get 5 pieces of original art.  Really it is 4, as I count as one of your swaps.  How fun is this?

The rules are simple:

– It has to be your work, made by you, and the recipient must receive it before 2014 ends.

 

- Copy & Paste this as your latest entry on your favorite social website

– It can be anything art-based: a drawing/illustration, a photograph, digital, jewelry, a knitted item, cross-stitch, paper maché – or anything in-between.


- It doesn't matter if you aren't an artist...the sky's the limit...

Okay - who is in??

My week

I was so glad it was Friday yesterday, I've been waiting for the end of the week since Monday night, which was really crappy.

So, Monday, I found out I didn't get a salaried job I applied for. I'm not sure why. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I know I can't live off the library as my main job anymore, it's not economically feasible for me.

But, I really couldn't take much time for myself. I had to have my apartment cleaned by Tuesday at 2. My mom had told me I had three weeks of cleaning to do. I know you guys don't know what my apartment looked like before, but here are some nice clean pictures for you. They're a little out of order.

This is looking into the living room from the doorway. Normally, there is a stack of books behind the chair, a box of mail stuff on the floor by the magazine rack, a box behind the desk chair, and some kind of food stuff next to the couch.

This is looking toward the living room from the top of the stairs. My apartment is on the third floor of a Victorian house, so that's two flights of stairs, one very windy when I get home from a long day. My craft closet would be to the left of the photo, most of the time, my craft supplies cover the hallway because I don't have much room for them.

I've turned to the left from the picture above. I'm now looking east to my bedroom, you can see my craft closet door on the left.

And here we are in my bedroom, to the left is my bathroom. To the right is one of my dressers. Normally, I have a lot of stuff on the floor. The bed is generally not made. That pink chair is usually filled with stuffed animals.

Here I've turned to the right of the photo above. Usually, I have a large laundry basket on the floor next to the chair, there's clothes hanging from the rack in the corner.

Like I said the pictures are out of order. You can see my stairs to the right. The place we're looking at is usually covered in boxes, coats, shoes and my purse. My kitchen counter is usually covered in dishes waiting to be washed.

And here were are looking into my kitchen. The table is usually covered in stuff. Like I said the kitchen counter is usually covered in dishes. Until last week, I had a large box on the floor with stuff I wanted to get rid of.

And here we're looking into the living room from the kitchen. This doorway is on the other side of the refrigerator in the picture above. Once again, I usually have a lot of stuff on my floor.

This is what our garbage cans looked like Tuesday morning. I was really impressed that the garbage guys took it all away. I felt sorry for them.
So, I took the rest of the week for myself. Tuesday, when the realtor and my parents came through, I went downtown to buy things for my Favorite Color swap partner. I found a few things, and something for me. I found a 1.25 pint Old Orchard Pyrex bowl. I don't know if it's vintage, but I love the size, so I bought it. That night, we went to Red Green. It's hard faking being happy, when you'd really like to stay at home and mope.
Wednesday, I had to be at work at noon, I basically sat on my ass and watched a movie I forgot to take back, I figured if it was gonna be late, I might as well watch it. It was hard at work, thankfully it was all people who didn't get the job, so we all talked about it, we needed it. One of my co-workers even gave me a hug, I really needed that.
Thursday, I also worked at noon, I'm not even sure what I did that morning. It was very awkward at work, I had to work/interact with 3 people that got salaried jobs.
Friday, I slept in and took my time at stuff. One of my neighbors was having their annual sale, so I wondered over to that.

I bought two Pookie bears (Garfield's teddy bear, it's kinda funny, I got rid of all my Garfield stuffed animals, but I bought these.), an I Love Lucy beanie baby, and a couple cute boxes I thought I could use for swaps.
I went to the grocery store to mail my Favorite Color swap package, and a couple Altoid tins someone bought off my Etsy store. On the way home, I stopped by our cupcake emporium, I had to pick up my free cupcake, and of course buy some. I'm standing there waiting to be helped and there's these two ladies in front of me ordering lunch (which is kinda weird, cause their main product is cupcakes), and one of them says all she wants is lunch, no cupcake. The other one comments that just by being there and smelling them, she was gaining weight.

They are peanut butter cup, pink champagne, dark chocolate/white swirl, dirt and worms, hazelnut and dark chocolate raspberry. Later that night, I hung out with a friend who also didn't get the job and we bitched about work and other stuff.
Today, I had about 6 garage sales I wanted to go to. I had planned to do some of them on Friday, but I got distracted by the computer. I didn't find very much to buy and spent about $5.00. I ended up walking 5.52 miles, and my feet were not happy when I got home.

I've dubbed this, the Elmo pillow. It pretty much looks like someone skinned Elmo and made him into a pillow. And I certainly don't need another pillow, but I like it.

I have no idea what these are, I found them and bought them because they are wicked cute. There's pigs, frogs, turtles, killer whales, seahorses, hippos, a dolphin, a teddy bear, monkeys, kangaroos, clown fish, octopi, and elephants. They're kinda rubbery and have a hole in the bottom like they're pencil toppers. I also bought a thimble for my collection.
When I got home, I found my Favorite Color package on the porch. I said my color was purple, and I'm a bit disappointed in the stuff in the package. There were a couple fake flower napkin rings, a spatula, a towel, a couple candles, a cute little hedgehog lip balm and a bottle of lavender soap. I kinda feel that she just put in things most people would like/need and didn't really pay attention to what I liked. I did say I liked fake flowers, so there was that.
I feel I should stop doing swaps, it seems one of every five or so I get something I'm actually excited about.
After getting home, I sat down for about 20 minutes, then had to go get gas so I could mow the lawn. And then had a heck of a time starting the mower, and then it got clogged because the lawn was really bad, so we had to raise the height of the mower, one of the wheels is stuck or something, so it's really hard to change, that was fun. Even with raising the height of the mower it still took forever to get the lawn done, and then I had to lower it back to normal height and mow again. I did get to take a small break while eating lunch.
I feel like I've been busy all day. Now, that I'm actually sitting still, my legs, feet and back hurt. I'm really tired and heading to bed really soon.

How was everyone else's week?

For my broken heart

Reba's For my Broken Heart song totally sums up how I feel right now:
There were no angry words at all
As we carried boxes down the hall
One by one we put them in your car
Nothing much for us to say
One last goodbye and you drove away
I watched your tail-lights
As they faded in the dark
I couldn't face the night in that lonely bed
So I laid down on the couch instead

Last night I prayed the Lord my soul to keep
Then I cried myself to sleep
So sure life wouldn't go on without you
But oh this sun is blinding me
As it wakes me from the dark
I guess the world didn't stop
For my broken heart

Clocks still tickin, life goes on
Radio still plays a song
As I try to put my scattered thoughts in place
And it takes all the strength I've got
To stumble to the coffee pot
The first of many lonely mornings I've got to face
You call to see if I'm ok
Look out the window and I just say

Last night I prayed the Lord my soul to keep
Then I cried myself to sleep
So sure life wouldn't go on without you
But oh this sun is blinding me
As it wakes me from the dark
I guess the world didn't stop
For my broken heart

I guess the world ain't gonna stop
For my broken heart

Though my broken heart is over a job and not a person. I do feel like the world should stop, I did cry myself to sleep last night and hope the world didn't go on. I wanted this job so badly. It took everything within my being to not break down in tears when my supervisor told me I didn't get it. I feel I put so much into this job that I should get the promotion. I have worked so hard every day I go to work. I've been there almost 5 years and I'm still in the same spot. I'm happy for my co-workers that got the position, but I feel so broken inside. I knew I was too young to have a job I loved.
I have so many other things that I NEED to do, I don't have time to mope and feel sorry for myself. I'm glad I'm not going to work today, but I don't know how I can face it on Wednesday. I just wanna leave and never come back

no such luck. I need music, pop, comfort food and surprises in the mail

New purchases.

I've been lax on posting lately. Seems I'm only doing the Wednesday Hodgepodge. Last weekend, my co-worker and I went to The Lucky Star Market at the local winery, basically it was a bunch of artists selling their wares. I didn't buy a ton, but I love what I bought:

a cute teddy bear, 3 different kinds of washi tape (which I actually used some of the other day), a cute square of flowers and some photos.
I had read on their website that the first 50 people were to get a free bag. We didn't make it into the first 50, but I really wanted a bag so I picked one up. I'll have to say I didn't really practice much self control.

I also got a new friend:

She had built a nest on the fire escape right out my kitchen window. One day, I heard this thumping and I thought my neighbors were slamming their back door, I go into the kitchen and a robin flies away. I finally started inching into the kitchen, and found this robin flying into the window.

She would alternate flying and hitting the window with her beak and flying at the window and grazing it with her wings. And then I'd come into the kitchen and watch her, and she'd sit on the fire escape and stare at me. It was very bizarre.

And then, last Sunday, we started the week of rain. It rained about an inch on Sunday, with a few downpours. And basically rained all week. I haven't seen her since.

A few weeks ago, Cathy at Ma Vie Trouvee posted about green tea kit kats, and that got me interested, so I wandered over to one of the three Asian food stores here looking for green tea and other flavors of kit kats. I didn't find any of those, but I found these yummy goey things called mochi. I'm not entirely sure what they are, but I really like them. They're made with rice paste and some kind of flavoring. I bought some green tea mochi, and then there were some other ones also called mochi, but they were only made with powder and not the paste, those weren't as good. So, I went back for more. And I bought some choco sticks with taro (which I'm still not quite sure what that is), some mango mochi, mango cakes, some more green tea mochi, and some red bean mochi. While I was picking out these new ones to try, I was eyeing some other ones.

I'm not too sold on the mango mochi or mango cakes, it seems the Asians don't sweeten them up as much as we do.
Wednesday, my parents say we need to talk. That's always a good sign right? Well, turns out, their realator says they need to list the house soon, and he's coming to take pictures next Tuesday, and by that time I have to clean, make sure there's no clutter on the floor. My parents said I could stack boxes in my closets, but not so much that people can't get into the closets, and I'm not supposed to sort while I'm cleaning. So, I'm a little stressed out.
Friday, my friend and I went shopping, usually I have a great time with her, but I imposed a rule on myself that I wasn't allowed to buy stuff I didn't need and only bought one thing I didn't need. While we were out, the sky looked so cool, so I had to take a picture of it:

Today, my co-worker and I went to a close town's garage sale. I spent less that $20 dollars, but I don't feel like I got anything really cool. I did see an old radio:

Here's what I did buy this weekend, the one thing I bought yesterday, a bird garland:

And the things I picked up today: some activity books (the totally help with my stress), a make your own gnome kit, some fabric flowers,

a couple solar dancing guys, a cute cat, a few pieces of jewelry,

And I headed back to the Asian food store today, and bought the rest of the flavors of mochi they had there. Some three pack, taro and some red bean cakes. I am not allowed to go to that store anymore. I'm also not allowed to spend anymore money on myself.

And I found out that since it's May, I now have dental insurance.