Remember, Remember, the Month of November...

Well HELLO November! We meet again!

It's been a very interesting few months. Months that have left me with little or no time to post blogs, craft or even breathe. I am exhausted, but also feeling quite encouraged and hopeful for the future.

The biggest thing I really feel like I need to do to make sure I'm living fully is to write. I don't write nearly as much as I should and I worry that a lot of my stress is based solely on the fact that I am just not venting at all, anywhere. We try to keep away from talking about hideous topics as much as possible and a lot of it is getting quite on top of me.

Anyways, let's get this blog on. I am excited that November is here and that the end of this really quite horrific year is just that much closer. Let's do this, shall we?

Things i love most RIGHT NOW:

• Building a better me... Our class took a vow to lose weight. To treat ourselves better, feel better and look better. We started two weeks ago (we've been doing T25... and can I address how much this made me want to die the first couple of days after I started? I actually thought I was going to die. Like, legitimately, I couldn't walk.) and I've since lost ten pounds, which brings my grand total since about June to a total of twenty-two pounds! I still obviously have a lot of work to do, but it's a road that I've finally started to make some headway down and it feels amazing. I've since finally been able to dig out some of the clothes that haven't fit me in a while and THAT has been one of the better things about this month.
• Eating better foods. I've fallen completely in love with smoothies at the moment. My fridge is full of spinach, fruit, greek yoghurt, fennel seeds and almond milk. I make myself at least one smoothie a day and have been really enjoying what a difference it has made in my day-to-day. I have more energy, feel less weighed-down and am overall happier. I've also cut cola almost completely out of my life and have stopped eating fast food, save for maybe once a week. It's nice. I'm finally doing what needs to be done to feel better about me and I couldn't be more pleased because this is all me now. It's MY self control, MY better choices and MY life that I'm improving.
• De-cluttering. It's no secret that I have a lot of stuff. I literally have so much stuff that I'm bordering on being submitted for an episode of Hoarders. Not like a gross episode though, as my house is only filled with STUFF. I like things. I like books, films, wool and other random shit, so I keep them. BUT! Seeing as we've recently moved into another apartment, I was very much forced into the realization that I have WAY too much stuff. For the last month I've been systematically going through all my books, all my films, clothes and other misc crap and selling/giving it away. It's been really nice to be able to literally take an entire huge plastic bin full of books off to Half Priced Books to get them out of my life. It's been a lot of work because I've had to ensure I have all the books in SOME form, so I had to go through all ELEVEN of my bookshelves, write out the names of every single book and then search to download them. The ones I found? I got rid of, the rest I'm having to add to my Amazon wishlist for future reference. I'm getting there, but it's a lot of work.
• Cardigans! This month marked my finally being able to pull out all of my favourite cardigans and I couldn't be happier if I wanted to be! I LOVE cardigan weather so much!!
• School. It's been a long road, but we're nearly done now and I'm happy to say that I'm rocking the hell out of all the hair that's been sitting in my chair. I'm becoming more confident, more capable and more encouraged for the future. I'm so close to being finished now and I just can't wait to get out there and start my career!
• IT'S MY BIRTHDAY MONTH!! I turn twenty-nine this year and I plan to make this year more fabulous than the last. I want to be better to myself, to Muffin and to the people who maybe don't SEEM to deserve it, but really truly do.

 
Things that are consuming my life right now:

• Emo Music... Songs with gorgeous words about heartbreak and love and emotions. I pretty much constantly listen to music that makes me want to curl up and die. Lots of Magnetic Fields, Mumford and Sons, Belle and Sebastian, Broken Family Band, etc. I'm on the hunt for some new music, but it's a hard search... so I guess I shall keep looking. If you have any ideas, let me know!
• My Kindle... I've been reading a TON recently and it's nice to have like five hundred books all at my fingertips.
• Drawing. I've been really inspired to outlet a lot of stuff through the medium of pen and paint. I actually also got myself some colouring books that I've been working through, which has been inspiring me. It's been nice.
• Trying to pick the PERFECT tattoo! Muffin and I haven't been able to get any tattoos for quite a long while and I've promised myself that once I finish school and get a good grade on my State Boards I will get myself a fabulous new inky baby to commemorate it. I can't WAIT!

 
Things I want to tell December Danie:

• "Please know that all this pain and emotional agony will be worth it. Good things are due to come, you just need to keep your chin up and know that you're doing what's right."
• "STOP BUYING SO MANY SWEATERS! YOU HAVE ENOUGH!"
• "You need to be more gentle with Muffin. He's really doing his best right now and that's good enough. You both have so much on your plates and it's okay to get frustrated sometimes, but it's not okay to be blatantly hateful or disrespectful... especially to one another. You're each other's strongest allies right now and you need to stick together."
• "Hey, guess what! You're almost done with school, what have you done to prepare yourself? Have you vetted salons? Have you registered for your final classes? Have you started writing cry-worthy thank you letters to your teachers? Are you ready? Because you're worth it and you're going to rock the fuck out of the world of hair, I promise!"
• "Patience, Danie. Please practice patience. This will be a difficult month. You can handle it."
• "Only one more month until you can FINALLY get another tattoo!! WOOHOO!!"

 last but not least... here's a quote.

tues... a little (lot) late

fine, i get it, i'm lame and have seriously been lacking in the blogging. let me tell you why...

Janey came to visit for five weeks and i was literally involved in SO MUCH excitement every single day that i couldn't bring myself to pick up my laptop, let alone concentrate on a blog. i've been keeping a list, though, which will certainly help me to get this list rolling.

also? i've got about a thousand blogs in the midst of being written, but i've been trying to concentrate on building a new blog on a different site, which has left me in the mindset of, "i can put it off another day, because i'll CERTAINLY have pulled my head out of my arse soon and have the new, shiny blog up to update with all my shiny, new posts."

that seems to have worked well. clearly.

anyways, here i am today, telling you that i AM building a new site, new format and new EVERYTHING, which should hopefully be done by the end of next week at the absolute latest... i hope. school really eats up my evenings, but i need to just sort my life out and stop creating excuses.

okay, so here's Tuesday for this week, and hopefully i'll figure out a better schedule soon that will allow me to post more regularly.

Will Arnett... hilarious!
Bronner Brothers hair show
Good Hair... i've recently come into a new love for documentaries on hair and it's no secret that i've ALWAYS had a love for black people, so this absolutely had to make it onto my list,
fake punching the dog... he's HILARIOUS and gets REALLY verbal when i fake punch him.
Didi Conn
shredded lettuce
other cars with wiener dog stickers... yeah, we have a fabulous wiener dog sticker on our car and when i see other people with wiener stickers on THEIR cars? i get WILDLY excited and squeal and imagine i could be friends with those people. especially if they are inappropriate (ie... OURS says, "yes, i AM playing with my wiener" and it is HILARIOUS)
the way grass looks when a helicopter is ascending
pizza rolls
ice water
pop-up books
dental training heads
exposed brick walls
pedicures... i've only now officially had two, but they are UH-MAZE-ING!
parafin wax
coupons
cutting hair... it terrified me to begin with. if you had told me seven weeks ago that i would be wielding a pair of shears and altering a person's hair and that it would look amazing in the end? i would have laughed in your face. literally. i would have laughed one of those hearty, guffawing laughs right in your face. now though? i've done a lot of cuts, one or two on an actual alive person, and they've been pretty fabulous.
Janeyvisit... oh it was epic. epic and wonderful. there will most likely be a blog, so i don't want to spoil anything.
Space Needle
mexican food
green nail varnish
Morgan... she's in my class and i adore her. she's tiny, southern and so, SO funny. we work together a lot and really gel well, spurning one another on to do better. it's really nice to have that in class. i don't know what i'd do without her.
LaDonna... literally the best sister in the land! i love her more than most people could ever imagine ever loving their sibling.
learning
collecting art
writing out Christmas cards
Allie's impending moving date
Panera Bread... primarily because she will be moving into OUR apartment complex. SHE WILL BE OUR NEIGHBOUR!! WE WILL DO SO MANY CRAFTS!!!
scarves
sewing
my new anatomy book... i found it for six dollars at a local bookstore and it's a huge book full of original colour prints of the anatomy and surgery plates from 1831 to 1854. it's beautiful and i could literally stare at it for forever. i adore it.
Half Price Books... the book store i purchased the above book at. it's a local store that blows my freaking mind every time i go into it. it's huge, cheap and full of really special, rare finds that make every trip worth the time and effort. also? their warehouse is in Seattle and they have a HUGE sale twice a year (one of which we went to in August) that gets rid of EVERYTHING for three dollars or less. MY MIND WAS BLOWN!
Pepsi
surprizingly amazing thrift stores... you know the ones you've driven past numerous times, dismissing them because they look like giant shitholes? yeah, we've got one of those by our house and we FINALLY went into it last week. EVERYTHING IN THE STORE WAS NINETY-NINE CENTS!! EVERYTHING! i nearly died.

right, time to figure out this other blog thing and snuggle the puppy. he's driving me CRAZY!

have a great day!

learning

so... after nearly ten years out of school i'm back at it and i'm at a loss. it seems as though i had literally forgotten what it was like to go to classes every day and learn in a regimented environment.

for the last several months i've literally been sitting around the house doing whatever i wanted whenever i wanted. i've been hanging out with the dog, baking, painting, crocheting and sleeping at all hours of the day and doing little else. living a little life that didn't entirely fulfill me, but always left me with enough sleep and homemade crap to make me feel slightly satisfied and maybe even a tiny bit agoraphobic. i had developed this sense of security that only the comfort of my image-covered walls and homemade blankets could offer. i had lost virtually any desire to leave the house, not because i was lazy, but because i had fallen into the fabulous state of depression that i have told all of you about ever-so-many times.

now, though... i have a schedule. a rather serious one at that. leaving me responsible for a lot of stuff, but namely, my own future... i've never had so much pressure. never so much riding on my daily activities. i've got a class in the morning and class every night... a class that lasts nearly seven hours.

my first day of school was ridiculous. generally getting used to having to listen to people again... i have teachers that expect very little less from me now, as an adult, than they did twenty years ago, when i was seven (TWENTY YEARS AGO?!?! OH HEY! I'M FUCKING OLD!). i proudly pranced into class two weeks ago expecting the scenario to be more adult, but it literally almost feels as though my fourth grade teacher, Mr Duran, expected more of me than my current teachers do.

i am alarmed (but also slightly NOT alarmed) by how little the educational staff trust us. the first four days at school were literally comprised of teachers telling everyone over and over again how and where to get really basic things like their books (THE SCHOOL BOOKSTORE), financial aid (THE FINANCIAL AID OFFICE) and student IDs (which every student was emailed about two weeks prior to school starting, stating hours of availability and rates (see: FREE) for ease of picking up our identification PRIOR to school starting. please know that i followed the rules and got all my shit prior to school starting, mostly because i didn't want to waste my fucking time!). i am not even kidding when i tell you that non-stop, every single day for the first week, my teachers were re-explaining how to do the most ridiculously menial things that really, everyone should have had the foresight to have taken care of PRIOR to school starting.

the teachers actually make it seem like we are retarded and can't be expected to do anything on our own. i HATE that. i hate that teachers are forced to sweep everyone together under the heading of "stupid, un-independent" because of the many people who can't seem to function without the help of their parents.

maybe right now would be the best time for me to say that i am at least five years older than literally everyone in my class, which doesn't SEEM like a lot until you realize that here in America, the vast amount of twenty-two year-olds could pretty much be classed as mentally handicapped. they act like toddlers that need to be prompted to do everything and can't so much as go to the toilet or eat something without having to gain approval from at least ONE person either via mobile or in person.

most of the people in my class are made exclusively of a special brand of horrible and they make me want to die. not a day passes that i am not floored by some stupid comment, action or piece of insight that is inflicted upon me by one of my fellow classmates.

every single class is pretty much just a constant pissing contest, which is fun (and by "fun," i mean the worst thing in the world). literally ANY time a new topic comes up (a disease, hair condition, skin disorder, etc), someone will ALWAYS chime in with some, "OMG THIS STORY IS SO CRAZY, LISTEN TO ME," bunch of word vomit, only to be followed by someone ELSE with another story, presumably offered to try and one-up the previous storyteller and also because they love hearing their own voice.

lessons take forever because we have to follow the same old stupid script of one-upping and stupid questions. i desperately want to just learn and not have to fuck around with a bunch of idiots who keep asking questions that either have already been answered or are set to be answered in the next several weeks according to the established rubric (seriously, my BIGGEST pet peeve right now is the fact that we are forced to waste SO MUCH time talking about future lessons RIGHT NOW because people can't wait until the scheduled lessons to learn about shit we're not even equipped to deal with right now).

i've made a couple of friends in class... literally, two. and they are fabulous.

the other ten people in class make me want to die, each in their own special way. i am sure i'll end up going into all the details about how and why my classmates make me want to die, so i'll leave it for now. 


the very worst part?! our house. i feel like i am going insane because i rarely see things getting done when i am out of the house (except, of course Muffin advancing further on one of his stupid video games or learning a new song on his guitar. thank GOD these things get done! what would we do otherwise?!). virtually no tidying gets done whilst i am out of the house, the list of things that need doing around the house just gets longer. the kitchen is a trainwreck and...

sigh. i'm overwhelmed. i don't even know how to advance this aspect of this blog. my anti-dsepressants ran out, Muffin's been acting like a giant asshole lately and i feel like i'm losing my fucking mind.

i shouldn't have to be SO pissed off every single day when i get out of school only to have my rage fueled when i get home and see nothing has gotten done except for Muffin's spot having been warmed on the sofa. i get so tired during the week with the late hours at school and wish, just sometimes, that i could use my weekends for ME. to recharge and enjoy my time, but nine times out of ten, i have to spend most of my weekend tidying up the shit that hasn't been done during the week.

bleh. school starts soon, so i need to pull my life together and get to the financial aid office to sort out getting my loan paid to me.

snotty Tuesday.

oh MY! the McBlowme household is ill and full of boogers and phlegm! it has been SUCH a WONDERFUL week. I was patient zero, as far as I can tell... Last Thursday i started feeling like I was going to die and have since spread my illness to Muffin (who i REFUSE to feel bad for because EVERY time he came in for a kiss I warned him that I was ill and that he would get ill to, to which he would ALWAYS say that he loved kissing me and didn't care. he's ill now.), three of my classmates and possibly one of the teachers.

anyways, everyone i know is rather ill and it's been a fun time.

i've been in the middle of writing a blog about school for a while, there's just SO MUCH information. it's been SUCH a fun-filled and informative several days. i promise i'll have it finished in the next day or two and you will be pleased, i'm sure of it.

so, school's out for the night, my belly's full and it's time for my Tuesday before i go to beddy-bye.

enjoy!

the growl of an old muscle car
getting an extra chicken tender... there is little that excites me more than when i open my box of five tenders to find six. YAY!
diet cola
New Girl
school... i don't want to give too much away, but it's so much fun and i'm really enjoying learning again.
my teacher... she is literally the most fun, scatter-brained, hilarious person ever. i love her.
tiny hats
chicken tenders
squish-face cats
when my bus is on time... special panic attack for every late minute
Go On... i randomly found it on Hulu and decided that i like Chandler, so i watched it. it's FUCKING hilarious! there's a boat load of amazing actors in it and the premise of it is so different and fun.
water slides
roasted broccoli... Oh. MY. GOD.
raspberry jam
Hotel Transylvania.... it was a double date Muffin, me and my new friend and her beau. we'd been wanting to see it since we first saw a trailer for it months ago. it's SUCH a great film, mostly because of the animation, but also for the really fun, original and entertaining songs that Adam Sandler does in it. go see it, it's awesome.
breadsticks
doodling
blood oranges
planning tattoos... Janeyface is coming in three weeks (AND NOT A MOMENT SOONER) and our local tattooist has opened up his shop to me and Janey for us to use his equipment. i can't WAIT to have more original Janey artwork on me! YAY!
Janey... she literally arrives in twenty days. i CAN'T. FUCKING. WAIT.
pigs
ice water
costumes... particularly animal costumes.
original art prints
painting puppy's nails... he hates it SO. MUCH. i have to attack him whilst he's sleeping and and do one nail at a time... it takes forever but it's totally worth it.
butterflies
hair... i have a completely new-found respect for hair. since we've been studying Trichology i've learned a HUGE amount about these tiny little things that we have all over our bodies. they really are incredible and i am sure you can expect a nerdy hair blog in the near future because i am literally THAT impressed and fascinated by it.
eighties documentaries
beards
rainbow titanium... ALL of my haircutting equipment will be the best haircutting equipment of all time.
hot pink lipstick
Adam Sandler
Roseanne
Netflix
poppyseed muffins
flaunting my puppy at everyone

right, it's time for me to finish this show and go to bed. i really need to get onto a better sleeping schedule. soon enough, i presume.

have a fabulous day all!!

<3
 

FINALLY!! A TUESDAY!!

right, after the previous epicblog, i think i just need to churn this epiclist out.

please, enjoy!

almond flour
corriander
Holocaust documentaries
Pixar films
how i feel when i eat healthy
Wall-E
rice
my pestle and mortar
Honey Rivers Band
when Muffin cleans the kitchen... it's been happening much more often recently and i absolutely LOVE it when he prances off to the kitchen and tidies, even if it's just to do a few dishes.
Pictoplasma
lounge songs
when people on talent shows completely surprise me... i LOVE when i'm watching something like The X Factor or America's Got Talent and someone comes out and they completely take me by surprise with their act... if they look like a filthy country bumpkin and sing a stunning opera number. it's wonderful and ALWAYS gives me chills.
fountain cola
feeding Sebass a new food... since we've had him we've fed him just about everything we've eaten ourselves and i LOVE when it's a completely new food because he just doesn't understand how to eat it. it's hilarious.
continuous shots in films... for an amazing example, please go watch Children of Men, right now.
Sarah's weight loss... she had surgery in January and looks SO incredible now! every single day she looks better and i am so proud of how far she's come and how fabulous she looks!
Deja and Jason... they're beautiful people and i just love their wonderful little faces!
Muffin kisses
Evil Dead films... yeah, i suck and only just saw them for the first time recently. they're not amazing, but they're better than i thought they'd be.
stop animation
fire... i'm not a pyro, it's just pretty
fans... particularly in the summer! we've only barely survived the summer with the help of our fans!
gratuitous blood in films
my book collection
the sound of chainsaws
my Nook... Muffin got me one for our anniversary and it's completely renewed my love for reading! i always had trouble reading because my favourite time to read is just before bed, but Muffin has the light on HIS side of the bed, so it made reading difficult. since i've had my Nook i've literally gone through like five books and i am SO happy about it! i have missed reading so much and for as much as i battled having one, i couldn't go back. 
hearing Janey's voice... i miss her so much. i hate being so far away from her and i LOVE when she rings me and we get to giggle and muse about her upcoming visit. i love her so much.
blood splattering on a lightbulb... ALWAYS a wonderful touch in a gory film.
homemade tortilla crisps
finding INCREDIBLE cards
rocking chairs
quesadillas
Percoset
when outtakes are played during credits
laying with my face so close to Muffin's that i can kiss him constantly
old people who talk excitedly about my tattoos... old man at Midas talking about blank spots, cigarette advert on my leg
David Letterman... i used to watch him all the time as a kid with my sisters and i'd totally forgotten how much i loved him.
bok choy
little girl, hot tub... during our anniversary weekend Muffin and i were sitting in a hot tub and a little girl who couldn't have been more than six or seven came and sat in the hot tub and immediately began grilling me on my tattoos. she liked me reading the sentence on my leg and had me read it to her no less than six times. she was INCREDIBLY interested in the holes in my ears and was VERY determined to find out the exact number of tattoos i had, what order i got them in and if i planned on getting any more. it was a very fabulous hour and i love when little kids aren't scared to ask questions.
Joan Rivers
our Soda Stream... seriously, it's changed our life! we make our own cola and it's SO MUCH BETTER than the canned stuff!
my hairs... i went and got them done properly and i love them! they're red and black and getting rather long.
Red Genie Pizza... oh. my. GOD. it's the BEST pizza in the land! during our trip to the seaside for our anniversary we asked around about good places to eat. we'd planned on going to one of the two pizza places in the tiny town and whilst shopping for buttered-popcorn flavoured salt water taffy the clerk told us that we should TOTALLY go to the other one... i was personally VERY concerned about the other one because there were NO other patrons and it looks rather ram-shackle and crappy. we trusted the clerk though, and went. i was terrified when we walked in and the lady who seated us sounded like she MUST have been smoking since she was four and smelled just as terrible. can i say though, it was literally the greatest pizza i have ever had.
air con
sand dollars
my shark... whilst at the seaside i got a shark in a jar. i named him Snake. he's handsome.
cola
the sound of the sea
the smell of the sea
Muffin skateboarding
how smug i feel watching shows about naughty dogs... because Sebass is literally the most handsome and well-behaved dog in the land!
Muffin's feigned interest in my hobbies... literally the ENTIRE time i was reading the trilogy of 50 Shades of Grey he let me tell him what was going on and pretended to enjoy talking about it. he does the same with Desperate Housewives, Diablo II and Glee. he's a good husband.
when parents see their babies for the first time
shower puppy... so, our dog HATES baths. there is nothing that makes him want to die more, so we'd just resigned ourselves to have a filthy dog. that is, until one day Muffin and i were in the shower together and Sebass couldn't handle that he wasn't in there with us. he whined and tried to jump in, so we brought him in and now, we have a dog that LOVES showers!
Evelyn Giennie... she's a percussionist and she's baffling.
Olympics opening ceremony... blew my goddamned mind.
hot tubs
swimming
POSTCARD FROM JAPAN
Wes not being obsessed with video games... Wes is my step-son and he came to visit last month. it was a week of stress with the best thing being that he wasn't obsessed with playing on our mobiles or other games console. he's able to entertain himself, which i wish more kids these days could do.
our car after a trip to Chinatown... as it ALWAYS smells of chinese buns!
pulled sugar sculptures
when people take my Ranch problem seriously... i ALWAYS say i need more ranch than most people would, and about seven times out of ten, i will only get a tiny container. i LOVE it when a waitress actually takes me seriously and brings me a soup cup full.
petrol stations that put fresh flowers outside
How I Met Your Mother
Cosmetology School... yep, i've enrolled and am ready to start. the excitement is unbearable.