A Day in the Life...

The beginning of this week was epic and I thought I would share its secrets with you.

This is just a short overview and not every gory detail. Just the extra juicy parts.

Monday: My mother-in-law Paula and her friend Jesse were overdue for a visit. They were due to arrive in the evening after I got off work but they thought better of it and came around noon.

Noon comes and goes I grew worried. Turns out they drove to my mothers house!

Now this is funny because my mother only lives a couple blocks away so the directions from her house to our house was only the difference of a couple of minutes.

They arrived and we had a great visit.

(Here is a picture of our dogs loving on Paula when she first arrived. That is my hubbins [her son] next to her.)

While I was at work (here is a link to a post about where I work) all the babies were picked up before 5pm so with an hour to kill I relieved a different teacher in the 4 year old room. One of the kids (a favorite of mine) was running a temperature of 103°! We'll call her "Braid."

Braid: "Can you pick me up? I don't feel good."

Me: Yes, I can pick you up.

(I picked her up and was holding her on my hip while talking to another teacher)

Braid: *sniffs* "Mmmm yum. You smell like broccoli."

Me: "Well.. that's not good. I haven't HAD any broccoli."

O_o you never want a child to think you smell like broccoli. Not a good feeling.

Anyway we had left umpteen messages on several different phone numbers for them and they didn't show up to get her until the normal time. Kind of frustrating. Afterward I drove home.

I really wanted to take Paula and Jesse to one of my favorite little local places.

Mac n' more. Gourmet macaroni and cheese. OMG. Its amazing. Chalkboard tables and delicious inexpensive macaroni cheese? Heaven.

(Here is my food. Loaded Potato Mac n' Cheese)

(Here is a drawing Paula drew on the table while we were waiting for our food. Isn't it pretty?)

When they dropped us off at home to go back to their hotel I realized that I had left my PURSE at the restaurant. Yeah. The WHOLE bleedin' thing was sitting on the floor behind my chair. ARGH. I'm such a dunderhead. I blame school, work, and small table space.

Luckily the waiter found it right after we left and saved it. Thank goodness. I adore this purse! Here is my review on it!

Tuesday: Ugh. So, I got up and checked my classes to see what I would have to do for the rest of the week. I like to sit down and write everything down for each day so I know exactly what I have to do at a glance. When I finish an item or task I just mark it off with pink highlighter.

(The outside of my wonderful Downton Abbey planner given to me for Xmas.)

(The inside has full sheet photos across two pages and a large picture with each set of 7 days)

My English teacher assigned another 5 page paper (I turned the last one in the Monday morning) without teaching us anything in-between. Literally the day after the last one was due he assigned another and instead of two weeks to do the last I had FOUR days to do this one. It is due (if you are reading this the day I publish it Friday the 31st of January 2014) today. Read a 10 page paper and chose the five main points of it and write a FIVE page paper on it. That is a bunch of hooey goulash.

So, after a little mini freak out session I made my way to work.

Where.. I found out that there has been 2 confirmed cases of Mouth, Hand, and Foot Disease. Where you ask? THE BABY ROOM. My room. I went in... with trepidation. What was this "DISEASE"? Could I catch it? I knew very little. The poor little babies. :( Smiley (read this post about my work to find out who Smiley is) is one of the babies to have been confirmed. That poor thing can't catch a break.

I didn't find out that if adults get it it is usually very mild (even so much so that it goes unnoticed) until I got home. I felt bad though. I felt like I hadn't sanitized ENOUGH every day. I mean.. I did what I was supposed to (and told to) every day. I still went a little BLEACHCRAYCRAY though. I hope that my efforts can halt the spread at least.

Thankfully, the end of my week was less hectic and unusual.
Thank you so much for following along!

Review: Merona Purse

My Merona purse from Target is amazing. One of the presents that Hubbins got me for Xmas 2013.

You can purchase this here at Target. for $34.99 if you are interested. It does come in SIX fantastic colors.

(Brown<--mine, Beige, Gray, Blue, New Mint, and Pink)

Gawd, if I wasn't afraid of color I would love to have the new mint color.

Its the perfect size for all of my garbage. 9.0 " H x 13.0 " W x 6.0 " D. It has handles AND a shoulder strap that can be made into an over the shoulder strap. It is very long.

Makeup, wallet, sunglasses,emergency supplies, random supplies, water bottle, phone, and keys.

I love the feel of the outside (Polyurethane) It is really soft leather feeling and the inside is the same color and polyester.

The inside has a cell phone pocket, an accessory pocket, and a zippered pocket. I use the cell phone pocket and accessory pocket for random items like receipts, lip gloss and lotion. The interior zippered pocket I use to hold all of my emergency supplies.

Emergency Supplies (inside right now):

Eye glasses repair kit

Band-aids

Tums

Ibuprofen

Tissues

Sleeping Eye Mask

Pad

Tampon

Hand Sanitizing Wipes

Inhaler

The exterior has one zippered pocket, and two side pouches. The exterior zippered pocket I use for non-emergency type items.

Non-Emergency Supplies:

Extra lip gloss

A Lighter

A mirror

Spare set of keys

Hair ties

Lipstick

A step counter...

One of the side pouches I use for my keys and cellphone and the other I use for my water bottle.

Complaints:

The top can close with a zipper. Personally I do not use this and I'm not sure I ever will but I hate it. I don't like the feeling of the two zipper edges scraping both sides of my hand and arm while I'm fishing around inside.

Also it isn't the BEST quality. There were a lot of strings hanging off everywhere when I first got it and I've had it over a month now and there are still some that I find.

In every other way though it is perfection.

What is your favorite purse and why?

Thank you so much for following along!

My Sweet Day Care Job

I'm currently a full-time student in college. I also have a part-time job working at a daycare. It is a rather expensive day care to take your children to. We cater to children from 4 weeks-10 years old.

Unfortunately, I can't show you any pictures of the building. Even the inside would be creepy and especially not the kids. I wish that I could. I wish we lived in a world and there was an internet that existed where I could.

So instead here are some pictures of ME when I was a wee wittle chil'

(My mother is 5 1/2 months pregnant with me. This was in February/March 1985)

I work short little shifts Mon-Fri.

I work primarily in the infant room! The best room ever.

A teacher can only be responsible for 4 babies at a time. If there are 5 there are two teachers. If there are 9 babies there are 3 teachers.

We currently have 9 babies enrolled. We'll call them:
La'biter
S'taker
Smiley
Scardy
Lil Pewp
Wittle
Le'twin
Stwin
Lonely
(a new baby who has yet to have a nickname will be starting soon because La'biter and S'taker are moving up to the 1 year old room in February)

(Awwww look at me! That's me as a baby.)

On a regular basis I have Scardy every single day until we close. The other three usually leave around an hour before we close. They are Smiley, Lil Pewp, and La'biter.

Maybe I should explain their names? La'biter likes to bite. S'taker likes to take other babies binks. Smiley smiles no matter WHAT. Even if she is in the middle of a cry and you look at her to see why she is crying. She'll start smiling. Scardy has a fear of strangers/anyone new. Lil Pewp constantly has blowouts*. Wittle is the youngest and is too small to even turn over. Le'twin and Stwin are twins. Lonely cries a lot because he is held constantly at home.

(The hair! That curl.. still happens if I try to get bangs. Cowlicks... ugh.)

Anyway I think Smiley and Scardy are my favorites. That doesn't mean that I give the babies any less attention. I just talk about them more while I'm out of work. Scardy is not 100% okay with me yet. I've had the job for two months now. She lets me hold her now and I can feed her but she doesn't like me to rock her to sleep. She FREAKS out if I try and change her diaper. I'm not sure why. I think she just hates it and the fact that it is me (the newer person) she freaks out every time. It is the saddest thing ever. Like I said earlier she is one of my favorites regardless. She isn't the cutest.. in fact (nothing against the hair cut) she has a little mullet. It is just an unusual baby hair cut.

Most of the babies are adopted (probably due to the high prices we attract wealthier couples and adoption is EXPENSIVE.)

The babies who are adopted:
S'taker
Scardy
Lil Pewp
Le'twin
Stwin


(Notice the curl... yeah. My mom wouldn't give up on the bangs idea.)

The adopting parents are my favorite. They are so much more caring and attentive than real parents. I'm SORRY. I don't mean to offend but it is true. Adopting parents come in on their lunch breaks to visit. Adopting parents ask 10,000 questions about their babies day. Adopting parents want to know about any accomplishments or failings. They are attentive and interested. The real parents of:
La'biter
Smiley
Wittle
Lonely

Come in grab their kid and leave. Every single one. For example.. Smiley's mom came in and picked her up signed her out and left without even putting a coat on her. Scardy's mom (one of them) came in and sat Scardy down. Put her coat and shoes one. She talked about her habits. I showed her a little game we were playing (knock over the rain stick) and that she seems to enjoy the songs "Twinkle Twinkle" and "I like to Eat Eat Eat" most...

Maybe I'm being judgmental but I ADORE these babies. If I had one of my own.. I'm not sure I where I would pull the strength from if I had to do daycare. Leaving them.... ugh. I know it is possible. I mean well all have to work!

(I love this picture... crazy '80's bedroom curls with my random pink hair clip and frills!)

So, I got this job on the referral of a friend who also works there. I got it thinking that it would be just an easy thing. I'm hooked. I got really sick for a week. I missed going to work. I frequently forget to clock in, I don't check my hours, and I don't know when I get paid. I'm NOT there for the money (well.. kind of. lol I do NOTICE the teeny bit extra but it isn't life or death need)

What am I going to do when I get out of school? What am I going to do if I have to quit because my schedule interferes?!?!? I'll die. I know I don't want to take care of the babies as a full time career for the rest of my life. I just can't. Min. wage... just wouldn't cut it for my future.

(I was in tap dancing! So much fun. I still remember some of the songs.)

There are parts of the job that I just can't stand too. La'biter hasn't been in for the passed week because of a horrible rash. The worst rash.. I've ever seen. It was dime sized open wounds. Horrifying. I just wanted to cry every time I had to change her diaper. Smiley right now has a really bad rash and it breaks my heart when that little smiling angel cries.

Not sure why I had to tell you all about my job but there will be update posts I'm sure in the future about frustrations or joys that come along with the position.

Thank you so much for following along!

*Blowouts: When they go potty in their diapers and it comes out and gets all over EVERYTHING. Their onesie, pants, top... etc. Even if they had just been changed. Lil Pewp has one EVERY DAY.

Allergies: The main ones

My Obscure Allergies

After posting about my favorite new tissues HERE. I thought I would elaborate on the allergies I have issues with. Maybe one of you could help me with one of them or I could impart some information that could help you.

Allergy
noun
a damaging immune response by the body to a substance, esp. pollen, fur, a particular food, or dust, to which it has become hypersensitive.

Are any of these considered allergies, sensitivities, or intolerances? What is the difference? Also none of these are helped by any kind of allergy pill I have tried prescription or over the counter.

1. My own hands.

Yes. My face is extremely sensitive. If I rub my face I break out in red splotchiness. This can be covered with makeup so it isn't too inconvenient. The splotches don't itch or hurt. They feel a little bit warm as if the area has swollen. They happen in varying degrees. If my husband (who has a very full beard) were to kiss all over my face I would be covered in them. This again is JUST my face and sometimes on my neck. I haven't ever broken out like this anywhere else. Example below is from my hands and its just along my jaw bone. There is a tiny bump in the middle. What does that mean? To get this reaction (just for YOU) I just rubbed my hands all over my face like someone who was exasperated would.

The picture below is after my husbands beard attacked my neck.

2. Bleach/Clorox Bleach Pen

I hadn't used bleach in years then I bought some white sheets. I washed them in some Tide with bleach at some point and put them on the bed. I woke up in the middle of the night and every breath I took was crackly. I assumed it was the sheets and took them off. It took me two days to recover. The second incident was at work. There was a spill and they cleaned the area with TONS of bleach. I walked through the area and five minutes later I had the crackly lungs again. The third incident was while making a t-shirt as a gift. That Pinterest pin everyone has seen where you write with the bleach pen on a shirt and wash it and the design is a different shade. I did that with a complicated design and queue the crackle lungs. So I've come to the conclusion that I have a sensitivity to bleach.
-p.s. The t-shirt came out amazing... she LOVED the gift. #Worth it.

3. Bamboo.

Yeah. My roommate Nathan told me that a bird kept smashing into a window. I went to investigate and sure enough. A small bird was throwing itself into one of the windows. I Googled this and figured that it saw its reflection. One of the tips was to take soap and draw lines on the window to get rid of the glare. I got the soap and walked around the back of the house where there is no clear path. The whole side of the house is a jungle of bamboo. I loved it but I hadn't had a chance to tromp through the stuff yet. I waded through five feet or so of the stuff to the window and rubbed the lines on. I went back inside and relaxed. I had saved the bird. It was summer and I was wearing shorts. My legs broke out in EXTREMELY itchy blisters. Little tiny ones in clusters all over my legs. It was horrible. I itched them and they oozed. Disgusting. I'm sorry. I itched the spots like crazy and I have slightly (barely noticeable unless you know where to look) darker skin in those areas. Example photo is a picture I took of my cousin for my Etsy shop in front of the offending bamboo. Look at it back there... all evil and such a beautiful shade of green too.

4. Band-aids/Hospital Tape

I learned this the one and only time I've been in the hospital for a serious surgery. I had my gallbladder taken out. (ugh) Long story short they taped the IV onto my arm. When I woke from the surgery they tore it off and 10 layers of my skin went with it. The hypoallergenic tape they had used fused with the sensitive skin inside my elbow. I can use band-aids ANYWHERE except my face, neck, chest, inside of my elbow, and the backs of my knees. Those areas are very sensitive and the resin in the band aids fuses with my skin. It took so many layers off that my skin took almost three weeks to recover from that alone.

5. Vapor Rub

This one I learned just a few weeks ago. I bought some vapor rub off-brand from Winco (Hey.. it says *Compare to the active ingredients in Vicks Vaporub) because I remember always wanting to try it when I was little. It looked so soothing in the commercials. I'm not sure why I thought dabbing stuff on my chest and below my nose would turn out okay. I did so and it did feel good to breath in until my chest and lip started BURNING horribly. I quickly washed it off and my whole chest and my upper lip were inflamed and burning for hours afterward. Regardless of my ministrations.. the burning. Oh... the BURNING. It was horrible.

Other random allergies?

• Penicillin/Amoxicillin (not sure which) gave me an insanely uncontrollable nose bleed when I was little and every since I've been firmly on Azithromycin. *See post about being sick
• Kiwi. I'm no longer allergic to this. I also had a crazy nose bleed while eating these SLASH drinking things like Kiwi Strawberry Snapple. I can safely eat them now though. Delish!
• Microfiber blankets. Yeah the ones that are so super soft that they catch on your calluses? My skin doesn't like them. It makes it get all rashy.
• Bourbons/Whiskey gives me.. body hives. Not 100% sure about this one. Happened twice after drinking either. (I'm not really a drinker. I just had a glass with some coke on both occasions)

I'm feeling itchy just writing this!! Fear not readers... I doubt I will obtain an allergic reaction to posting blogs!

Thank you so much for following along!

Short fun facts extra!

Short useless facts post!

1. Someone told me about monthly subscription boxes.
2. I looked up unboxings for them.
3. I found Jaaackjack (who did unboxings) and subscribed to her adorable kindness.
4. She told me in a video about popsugars channel (she has lazy girls guide to beauty on their channel)
5. I watched popsugars channel and liked it. I subscribed.
6. I watched a top that! episode and loved tyler oakley.
7. I watched a video on his channel and then subscribed.
8. I watched his videos all the way back to aug 19th and saw joe sugg.
9. In the suggested videos in the right bar while watching that video I saw one of Zoella's vlogmas videos. I watched it. Liked it. Subscribed.
10. I watched all her videos. Including the ones on her more zoella channel. Subscribed.
11. I saw all her friends in her videos. Liked them and subscribed. Louise, Tan/Jim

So in essence.. because someone told me about a monthly subscription box earlier this year. I have since subscribed to:

JaaackJack
JaaackJackVlogs
Popsugargirlsguide
Tyler Oakley
Extratyler
Zoella
MoreZoella
Sprinkleofglitter
Sprinkleofchatter
Tanya Burr
Jim Chapman
vlogswithjim

Thank you so much for following along!

Review: Kleenex Cool Touch Tissues

I'm sick. This post is a review about one of the products I found. It is a STAR. My new favorite product ever. Read on...

Doctors prognosis is:

Otitis Media (Middle ear infection)
-Horrible in both ears but worse in the left

Sinusitis, Acute
- nose death and face hurt

I'm allergic (see this post about my crazy allergies if you are interested) to all of the penicillins so I was given Azithromycin as my antibiotic. It is pronounced "Ahh-zith-row-my-sin" but for some reason I always say it "Ahh-zith-row-my-a-sin". Not sure why you needed to know that but..whatever.

While writing this (Monday night 01/07) I've actually only got one day left before I'm out and I feel almost exactly the same as I did on Saturday. This worries me. I got the pills on Friday. They look like this.

Its a full course of antibiotic therapy in just 5 doses (that is what it says)

Anyway about the product...

I'm not working for this company at this time. They didn't give me samples. Nothing. I went out and bought these items myself for no other reason than I thought they looked good and/or they were cheap and looked like they would do the job I needed them to.

Kleenex Cool Touch Tissues

Description:
Enriched with aloe & moisturizers.
Experience the soothing sensation of Kleenex cool touch tissues! These unscented tissues are enriched with moisturizers and aloe and immediately feel cool to the skin - a rush of comfort when noses are sore or gentle refreshment anytime. And because they're from Kleenex brand, they provide all the softness you expect.

Claims:
Soothes a sore nose on contact
Cooling. Soothing. Soft.

Ingredients:
Stearyl heptanoate, Stearyl Alcohol, Polyethylene, Mineral Oil, cocos nucifera (Coconut) oil, Aloe barbadensis leaf extract.

Not recommended for cleaning eyeglasses. (teehee! funny warning)

So, does it sooth a sore nose on contact? It DOES. I have THREE empties of this and I'm partway through my fourth. In-between my second and third box I ran out and had no way of getting more for a few hours. I used toilet paper in the meantime and my nose was really starting to hurt. I finally got my hands on the third box. Once that tissue hit my nose it soothed it. The redness that had started went away. It was glorious. These things are something I will treasure.

They are VERY cooling. When you take one out of the box it is very cold against your skin. They do get warm soon afterward but that's fine. They've done their job by then.

Finally... they ARE soft.

These tissues have mineral oil, coconut oil, and aloe in them and I think I can tell. There is a sort of residue (not visible) that I THINK it leaves behind on the nose. I've rubbed them on my cheeks before (admiring the softness and coolness) and it doesn't leave anything. I think I only feel it on the raw portions of my nose. It just feels a little more... greasy? It goes away SECONDS afterward. I thought it bared mentioning because it does happen.

In conclusion I will be recommending these to anyone I hear sniff their nose for now and the rest of time.

I'm in the middle of a box but I have a back up. I don't think I will be needing it but I'd like to keep these in the house at all times. Just in case. Do you have any favorite products while you are sick?

Thank you so much for following along!

A Year Long Scarf

It is officially 2014! Happy Happy New Year!

(I'll never remember this.. If I wrote checks I would be one of those people who writes 2013 on her checks for most of the year)

For the new year I'm finally able to start a project I've been planning since last summer! I'm REALLY excited.

A Year Long Scarf! Taaaa! daaaaaa!

I drew inspiration from THIS picture on Pinterest.

The original pin states "365 day scarf - Knit a row every day depicting the color of the sky that day. In 365 days you'll have a scarf that's 5ft long."

Now as you may or may not be aware we live in Washington. It rains a lot in western Washington... so the scarf may end up just being one sort of sad shade of white. Well, if that happens then I'll end up with a LOVELY white scarf with several blue stripes in the middle. STILL sounds amazing to me.

Example. I took this picture in July 2012.

Yeah. While it is WARM in July it isn't usually very clear on a regular basis. August will be BLUE skies almost all month. So this is going to be an interesting scarf.

Since I can only crochet (knitting is hard!) I will be crocheting this scarf!

I'll be using these 3 shades of blue as well as white and black for those overcast and stormy days. This is all worsted weight yarn and this is yarn I just scrounged from my stash.

The white is for overcast days. Light blue will be for partly cloudy. Medium blue will be for clear skies. Navy blue will be for slightly stormy. Black will be FULL ON BLACK storms.

Here is today's row! I'll have sporadic updates for you on this project throughout the year. :D I suspect that it will be mentally therapeutic to crochet a row in black on those stormy days. What do you think?

What if someone were to do this but with colors representing their moods? Green for jealousy. Red for ANGRY days. Blue for sad. What a lovely scarf that would be. Full of meaning and so many memories.

Thank you so much for following along!