I just can't help it...

I'm still dreaming of pink hair. I don't know why really... Wishing for a change? I'm a bit punk-rock at heart? Early mid life crisis? Desperate need to appear cool? My friend Pinky has pink hair...well it's pink now...she was purple a few weeks ago. She's totally a cool chick, but she'd never admit it.

Anyway, a while back I wished for pink hair. Pink highlights, to be more specific. I didn't go pink then. I ended up going yellow and then blonde. I just picked up more blonde(my roots are showing waaay too much) and found myself looking for temporary pink hair color. It's probably a good thing that there was none to be had at CVS.

I'm a tad afraid of applying a wild color myself and I don't really want to plunk down the $ it would take to have it done correctly in the salon...for fear of looking ridiculous and being broke afterwards. This is an extreme version of the look I'd like.

Here's the fun part...those are extensions!! Made from human hair, the extensions can be curled or straightened. How cool? They come in several shades ;) and they are much cheaper than a trip to the salon. I ordered three...just to try...mind you. If I love them I may get more or who knows...add a blue streak! For less than 8 bucks, I can afford to be daring for once! I bought them here.

If it doesn't look completely ridiculous, and even if it does, I'll post a pic when they arrive! I'm excited! Now I can have my pink hair if and when I feel like it!

And Ya'll thought I was joking about being domestically challenged...

Note to self:
The next time you wash a load of dark clothes that includes your favorite cargo camouflage capris, check the cargo pocket to make sure that there IS no cargo...such as an entire mini pack of kleenex...in aforementioned cargo pocket.

Man, I Wish I Could Dance

When it comes to dancing, I got nothin'. No smooth moves AT ALL. This guy...he's got the moves...and they are hilarious.

Apron Day!

Today was National Apron Day. Needless to say I participated and I enjoyed it! I even whipped up an apron last night just for the occasion. The pattern is called "Lorelei" and it came from this book. I may be mistaken but I believe it is the same or very near this pattern. I plan on making some of these for the shop in the near future. This fellow is a student whom I forced who agreed to tie on an apron and pose for a picture with me.

Luckily I have some good great wonderful friends at work who are almost always willing to join me in my occasional bouts of silliness. Is that? Why yes it is! There's Southern Belle Mama looking gorgeous...as usual.
Several other gals at work tied one on today...more than are pictured here. And these girls, unlike others of my generation, see aprons for what they really are.

One gal said about Apron Day..."What? is that something some man came up with to keep women in the kitchen cooking?" Yes, aprons, by default, are a symbol of domesticity...but not in the derogatory sense she meant. Aprons, for me anyway, also represent the generations of strong hardworking women who came before me. Those women who donned their aprons and worked on the farms and in the fields, who, during WWII worked in the factories and returned home at night to care for their families, those who labored at home to provide a good life for their children and husbands. And they are a symbol for the strong hard working women that we are today..be it in our homes, in the workplace or both.

Happy Mother's Day...Happy Birthday....and a Belated Birthday Blog

Happy Mother's Day! My Mom...she's the greatest.
And a big Happy Birthday today to my kid brother Shea! He's the coolest kid I know! Love you Shea!! And I forgot to send bloggy birthday wishes to my Lil' Sis Jack on her birthday back in April! Happy belated Birthday Jack! Love you!

15 Days and Two Aprons

You'd think the end of the school year things would wind down, wouldn't you? Nope. It's been crazy-busy for me at work the past two weeks. Last week I spent hours after school nearly every day helping make a backdrop, staying for rehearsals and then running lights for the performance of our end of the year chorus program. This week we had Family Reading Night and yesterday our entire school was bussed to the city park for field day! The Art/Music teacher and I did a Jackson Pollack style art project at our station...which I forgot to photograph, shoot! It was a lot of fun, but I was exhausted by the time I got home!

And as may be evident in my last post, the last weeks of school are...well...interesting. The kids have been tested to death and they are basically done(and it's understandable). Keeping behavior in check is a constant test of a teacher's patience and creativity. We have 15 more days to go! Whew!

I'm so looking forward to Summer. First of all my trip to Europe is getting closer and closer! I cannot tell you how excited I am about that! And of course, getting to spend two weeks with these two and then bring them home with me is just as exciting as the trip itself!

Then there's my Etsy shop. I'd really like to build it up and get more aprons and other goodies added. I'm really itching to try my hand at some more full aprons, some lunch totes, and make the little lavender dolls that are cut out and just waiting to be put together.

I did make these two patchwork aprons last weekend...it's taken me till this weekend to post them and get them in my shop. I absolutely LOVE the scotty dog print in this apron.And the Lily Pulitzer-like floral print in this apron makes me sooo happy!Of course the most wonderful thing about Summer vacation is the "I can do whatever I want to do and nothing I don't want to do all day long" part. I'm really looking forward to that.

What I Heard at Work Today

Working in an elementary school for the past 13 years, I've heard a lot. I know you thought I was gonna say "it all", but I doubt the surface has been scratched. I'm fairly certain there's no end to the touching, funny, and occasionally mind boggling stuff that comes from all angles; parents, teachers, staff, and of course, the kids I work with!

Sometimes the things I hear bear repeating...at least in my mind. Those things are a new topic here on the ole' blog which I shall simply call "What I Heard at Work Today".

This idea of documenting some of the things I hear at work was inspired by something a fellow teacher who is incredibly patient said as their children were lining up to leave the library this morning. Maybe I'm just goofier than usual because it's the end of the school year, but I had to turn my head and laugh when I heard this...

The What I Heard at Work Today Inaugural Quote:

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD...Stop Talking!"

**Update** My friend Fiona is playing along with this topic on her blog as well. Please leave a link to your blog if you decide to add a "Heard at Work" post of your own!

I KNEW it!

My Name is Earl is one of my favorite TV shows. I have suspected from episode one that the writers were either from my town, were related to people from my town or at the very least knew people from my town. Soooo many all too familiar things on that show...perhaps that's part of what makes it so hilarious to me.

There is an episode of Earl where Randy is talking about the movie Phenomenon. He says something to the effect of: "That movie with Footlooses wife and the one cool sweathog..." The "Footlooses wife" comment had me completely hysterical. So many funny moments on that show..."Footlooses wife" was an early one, but it has stuck with me.

Tonight a friend and I went to the movies. Baby Mama, by the way, made us laugh out loud. We made a stop at the ladies room on the way out and there were two loud-talkers having a conversation from adjacent stalls. It went a little like this...

"That movie was really funny!"
"Yeah, that one guy is that Dax Shepard. You know, he dated Kate Hudson for a while."
"Oh, Yeah. He's in all those silly movies!"
"Oh Yeah."
"He looks like Raising Arizona!"

Bwahahahahaha!!! I don't know what was said from there 'cause I was trying SO HARD to concentrate on not completely losing it and breaking into hysterics.

I have proof ...the Earl writers DO have a connection to my little town. I knew it!

Paradise by the Oven Light...OR...Meatloaf

Are ya'll sitting down? You should be, cause what I'm about to tell you might cause you to fall over if you're not. I cooked! That's right! I actually 1. gathered ingredients 2. mushed said ingredients together and 3. prepared a meatloaf. And it was edible! Tasty even!

Now this was not my first attempt at meatloaf. My first attempt at meatloaf can be found here and it is my favorite meatloaf recipe(it uses Italian sausage), but this one comes in a close second. I wanted to try something without the sausage as it creates a lot of extra fat and I've been feeling a little Jabbaesque lately.

This recipe was easy, easy, easy. So easy, in fact, that even I couldn't screw it up...and I threw in some extras as I went along. I found the recipe on allrecipes, and like my other ML recipe, people who said they didn't like meatloaf raved about it, so I knew it was the one to try.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup quick cooking oats
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound ground beef

Glaze

• 2/3 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons prepared mustard

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, combine the egg, milk, cheese, oats and salt. Add the ground beef, mixing well, and form this mixture into eight miniature meatloaves. Place these in a lightly greased 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. In a separate small bowl, combine the ketchup, brown sugar and mustard. Stir thoroughly and spread over each meatloaf.
4. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 45 minutes.

My additons: some seasoned bread crumbs, a couple shakes of parmesean cheese, onion, Lawry's & a little pepper. For the glaze I omitted the mustard and used Corky's Smokin' Hot BBQ sauce instead.

Again, I was really happy with this one and I have five more little meatloaves in the freezer for when the mood for comfort food strikes!

I couldn't take a pretty picture of this dish...I'm afraid my meatloaf was just not very attractive.

But then neither is this Meatloaf.

And she can't even yodel!

Is anyone else utterly fascinated by yodeling? It can't be just me... can it? I think my yodel-love may be due in part to the Roger Miller records that my brothers and I used to listen to when we were kids...which contained both yodeling AND scat if I am remembering correctly.

Now if you hear the word "yodel"and only think of those marionette goats from The Sound of Music, then my friends, you are missing out. Luckily you have me to direct you to alternate yodeling goodness.

For example...

Brian Setzer has a mean yodel...in fact, I wish he'd yodel more! You can hear a teensy bit o' Brian's yodel when he performs Mystery Train and even more in his song 8-Track.


These cowboys know how to yodel.

Jewel yodels, although it gets a little freaky at the end.


This kid yodels to the animals down on the farm.

Sadly, I cannot yodel. BUT, Bonnie can! And she's gonna teach me! Here's lesson number one.

AND I found online yodeling lessons!

I'm off to practice my Hodl---oh-ooh-dees and my Hodl-eh-ee-dees so that I can someday graduate to a Ho--la--di--ho-dl-la-dee,--yo-dl-la-dee-- yo-dl-la-dee-- yo-dl-la-dee-- yo-dl-la-dee-- yo-dl-la-dee--yo.

Yes, I've visited the site and yes, I've tried yodeling. Whether you are listening to a yodel or attempting it yourself, it's fun and a little silly. In fact, I dare you to try yodeling! Just try it right now. I'll wait....

Aren't you smiling? Maybe even giggling a little bit? Wasn't that fun?

Later, Yo-de-laaa-eee-all!

Aprons and Car-Mull Corn

Yesterday I gave up a day at the 4-H flea market. Now, ya'll know how I love a good flea market and the 4H flea market has the best carmel corn around(that's Car-Mull not care-Uh-mel), but not only did I want to stay home and make an apron or two for the shop , the fact that I have exactly five dollars cash to my name was also a deciding factor. So I stayed at home and managed to get a few things finished this weekend. Here's a look:



Mark tried several times to get me to go along, but I refused and he went on without me. Knowing how much I love caramel corn, he brings me this from the flea market...and I am reminded of yet another reason why I love him.
It's the little things, ya'll.

Friendship Stars & NOT the High Kings...the week late post.

I forgot to share my Block of the Month last week. So, a tad late, here it is...a Friendship Star. Even though this was an easy-cheesy block, that didn't stop me from waiting till the morning of the meeting, hence going way too fast and doing a sloppy job. I must say that I am not digging these fabrics for these blocks at all anymore. I think it's the off white border that makes me not like them. These civil war repro fabrics used with a more modern block would be very nice, they're just toooooo old fashioned combined with these traditional blocks for my taste. And I like old fashioned! I wish I'd have chosen the 30's repro fabrics for this quilt.

AND last week Shea and I should have been at the High Kings concert at the Ryman in Nashville, but they went and postponed on us! We'll be waiting until September now. But never fear! I have located a youtubey that I think will lessen our longing for Irish folk singing until then. I hope ya'll enjoy it! Shea, this one's for you!