Back-to-School Clothes - #NaBloPoMo #septemberchallenge

  

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Kick out the back-to-school fashion show on your blog: show us what you're wearing as we head into fall (or spring if you live in the Southern Hemisphere).

~~~oOo~~~

If I were to be a on-campus student again, you might see me wearing one or more of the following:

ThinkGeek.com is apparently out of this shirt right now, so I may also be found in:

Just the pants in this next picture.  I tend to wear a lot of black jeans.  I'd kill myself wearing heels that high though.  They are NYDJ Barbara boot-cut.  Clicking the picture on this (or any piece of clothing in this post) will take you to a shopping site (usually the manufacturers') with whom I have no affiliation whatsoever.

The boots picture I had saved (to Shopcade.com) did not show up on the manufacturer's site, so the next picture just goes to the main site and not to the product page:

Yeah, they may not be very 'feminine' but they remind me of something Abby on NCIS would wear.

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So, what outfit would you wear to classes?

Childhood Snapshots - #septemberchallenge #NaBloPoMo

  

Monday, September 7, 2015

Show us a picture of yourself from the first day of school as a child.

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OK.  This one is not going to happen.

First of all, while there are numerous pictures around from when I was 5, I'm not at all sure there is a picture from my actual first day of 1st grade.  Secondly, any such pictures surviving the intervening decades are locked away in a storage space in Salt Lake City, where my brother stored the things from our mother's house that weren't given away, donated or trashed after the house was sold.  If I had thought about it soon enough, I could have asked him to send a picture or two, but speaking from experience it might have gotten here by Christmas.  I love my brother, and he just doesn't get in a big hurry about things.

There are a few pictures of me from the last couple of months, which is an oddity in itself, because I do not like to have my picture taken.  I saw a candid shot of me recently, taken on my husband's cell phone, and I literally burst into tears.  (Part of me doesn't want to admit that.  I don't want to be seen as weak, and I don't want peoples' pity.  I guess I'm trying to be transparent, maybe?)  Even though my weight has gone down, if the camera adds 10 pounds, most of the weight loss is negated.  My most common profile picture is from around the time my daughter was born - nearly 13 years ago now.  

This picture is about as close as we're going to get today:

As you can see, this picture is nearly 10 years old.  The children, of course, have changed tremendously.  I, however, look much the same, except for my hair is a lot shorter and grayer.

~~~oOo~~~

Do you like/mind having pictures of yourself taken?

#septemberchallenge - R.I.P. X Reading Challenge

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R.I.P. X officially runs from September 1st through October 31st. Click the graphic for all the details.

Genres included are:  Mystery.  Suspense.  Thriller.  Dark Fantasy.  Gothic.  Horror.  Supernatural.

Peril the First: Read four books, any length, that you feel fit (the very broad definitions) of R.I.P. literature. It could be King or Conan Doyle, Penny or Poe, Chandler or Collins, Lovecraft or Leroux…or anyone in between.

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I am reading something that fits into these genre's right now!  Huzzah for me!  Here is my tentative list of 4 books to be read for this challenge:

Sixteen-year-old Macy is not your average teenager—she’s a member of the Chosen, an elite group of gifted and magically talented children responsible for protecting humans from the monsters of the Hidden race. But when the Shard of the Ninth Chosen arrives at her Watcher’s door with the deadly Shadow Wraiths in hot pursuit, her world is shaken. The Ninth is to lead the Final Battle against the evil forces of the Dark. And when the Ninth turns out to be Tolen Parks, a clueless seventeen-year-old who has no idea he’s anything other than a freak, she figures the world is a goner. The two of them are swept down a dangerous path that tests everything Macy is ... and brings out everything Tolen can be. Amidst monsters and Radia Warriors, the pair must discover who they really are and face the heart of darkness in order to find victory ... and their destinies.

 

Ty Burdin, the retired demon hunter who just can’t stay retired.

In the final installment of the Beasts of Burdin trilogy Ty has found himself roped into working for the Agency, a top secret organization with the sole purpose of eliminating all demon activity, yet again. Demon hunting is a full time job, but luckily

Ty has managed to work his way down to a ‘consulting’ position in the Agency after a few disagreements and a couple dead superiors.
Ty’s part-time position becomes far more hands on as the demon activity in his region cranks up to eleven. Demons are crawling out of peoples’ minds and into the real world at an alarming rate and it’s up to Ty, once again, to step in and save the day. First step: get over last night’s hangover. 

Halloween means spooky scrapbooks for the Cumberland Creek Scrapbook Crop, but what's been happening around town is truly frightening. First a dead woman is found in the freezer at Pamela's Pie Palace, and the next day a second woman is found murdered by the river. Reporter Annie Chamovitz learns the victims were sisters and is certain their deaths are linked. Most bizarre of all, both women were found clutching scrapbook pages.

As their Saturday night crop quickly becomes an opportunity to puzzle out the murders, the ladies begin to wonder if Pamela is hiding more than her secret recipes for delicious pies--or if the crimes are related to the startling discovery that there are gangs in Cumberland Creek. As All Hallows Eve approaches, the crafty croppers must cut and paste the clues to unmask a deadly killer. 

Have you ever heard something go bump in the night and wonder if someone was there? Only to go looking for the cause of the noise and find nothing at all. Or how about unexplainably feeling like you’re being watched when you’re completely alone? Things disappearing for no reason or strange ghostly footsteps in the hall? This book is a collage of short stories about a few of the otherworldly experiences I’ve had. Although they are not movie worthy, you may find them interesting. All the stories are %100 true. Nothing has been added for dramatic effect.

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 The first three books are part of book tours running between now and the end of October.  The fourth (Haunted) is an Amazon freebie that fit the challenge theme.

#septemberchallenge #100wordsonsaturday - Teacher's Day

 

Prompt, (a quote from Thomas Huxley):

Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.

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I like languages.

I've had five years of French classes and once took French, German and Russian at the same time.

One of my French professors asked if I had ever studied Spanish (I had not) because apparently I was speaking French with a Castilian accent.

My most unique language-learning experience was my first Russian course ... which was taught in German.

You see, my mother was born in Switzerland and was bi-lingual in German and French.

Unfortunately, due to passage of time and lack of practice, now I only speak English (with a strong Appalachian accent).

#Review: Calming the Chaos by Jackie Woodside

Far too many people in contemporary culture feel they don’t have enough time to “get it all done.” The stress of this chronic overwhelm creates a disorganized mind that leads to a chaotic life. Based on her highly acclaimed “Energy Management” workshops, and drawn from over 25 years of counseling and coaching experience, professional trainer and speaker Jackie Woodside shares her breakthrough methods that lead to becoming the least stressed, most productive person you know!

In Calming the Chaos, you will learn the step-by-step skills and thought processes that lead to increased productivity and peace of mind. Jackie’s approach stems from the new frontier of human performance called energetic consciousness. Part philosophy, part psychology, fully practical application, you will learn:

• Why there is no such thing as time management and what to do instead.
• How to manage your energy instead of your time and stress.
• The three-step formula for managing every component of your life for the rest of your life!
• Why “to-do lists” are a set up for failure and what really works.
• “The Three Strikes Rule” that will end procrastination for good!
• How to always know that you have the time for what you want and need to do!

Many books promise to change your life. Applying these principles will make this a reality!

#septemberchallenge #NaBloPoMo 4 - Lessons

  

Friday, September 4, 2015

How did/do you get to school: bus, walk, drive, or bike?

I have been to four schools in course of my public school 'career':

I started at Johnson Heights Elementary School in Cumberland, MD, in 1966.  I tried using Google Earth to look it up a while back, but apparently it was torn down.  It's certainly not listed on the school district's website.  Anyway, we were only a couple of blocks away, so the vast majority of the time, I walked to class and back.  There was one street "Old Town Rd", I think it was called that was a little busier, that I had to cross, but there was a crossing guard.

The next school was Fortuna Elementary in Salt Lake City, UT.  My family moved in the middle of my 5th grade year, due to my father being transferred by the defense contractor company that employed him.  School was a little farther away, and about as far up the mountain (Mt. Olympus) as development went at the time.  Some years after I grew up, and the neighborhood aged, the school was closed and turned into a ballet school.  Later still, it was torn down and they built up scads of those cookie cutter large homes that were so close together you could hand things out the window of one house into the window of the neighboring residence.  

I walked there and back as well.  There was a short-cut placed between two homes a few streets away to the bottom of the school property which saved probably 5-10 minutes of walking time, giving the most direct route.

Next there was Churchill Jr. High School for 7th - 9th grades.  It was on the other side of the house.  I would walk to the end of the block, cross Brockbank, cut through the LDS Seminary lot and be at the circular track on the school property.  (I believe every middle and high school in Utah has an LDS Seminary building just off school grounds, where during the school year, the Mormon students would have religious instruction M-F as part of their regular school day).

Finally there was Skyline High School.  This was about 1.5 miles away, and again, most of the time, at least until I started to drive, I would walk back and forth.  I think it was supposed to be character building or something like that.  This is the school from which I walked home in sandals in 2' of snow, after an early-season freak storm.  I remember taking the driver's education course required by state law as an elective which was taught on school grounds.  I even took the motorcycle driving range portion of the class, even though there was little or no chance I would ever be at the controls of a motor bike after leaving school.

After my mandated schooling, I proceeded on to the University of Utah.  There was at the time, a fine public bus service in Salt Lake City and the metropolitan area.  A bus would come in the morning, at the end of our block (about two houses away), and drop us off on campus before proceeding downtown.  I imagine these days, what with it being nearly 40 years later, and after the 2002 Olympics, the public transportation has only gotten better.

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So how do you get around during your day?

#Review: Montpelier Tomorrow by Marylee McDonald

Mid-life mom, Colleen Gallagher, would do anything to protect her children from harm. When her daughter’s husband falls ill with ALS, Colleen rolls up her sleeves and moves in, juggling the multiple roles of grandma, cook, and caregiver, only to discover that even her superhuman efforts can’t fix what’s wrong.