New Things

1. I am making steps toward starting my doula practice. I've enlisted the services of a very talented graphic designer friend to develop my logo, and I'm meeting with my aunt (a successful business owner and all-around amazing lady) in two weeks to talk about the business side of things. The skills I know about from grad school are mostly under the non-profit administration side of things, so I have a bit to learn.
2. I am going to apply for a fellowship with one of my dream organizations. It's due at the end of March. I'm trying VERY hard not to talk myself out of it. If I get it, that means Penny and I will pack up and head to New York City for a year! So, my friends with experience in the city (YOU know who you are), I may need your expertise and advice in finding an apartment in a not-scary part of town. Or to figure out how far I can commute. This fellowship is SUPER competitive so I highly doubt I'll get it, but if I do, then it will be fulfilling a quite literally lifelong dream.
3. I accidentally paid my March student loans with my January and February ones. Whoops! But that also means I am safe until like April 6.
4. I'm really loving my life here. Exciting things are in the works! It would take something like this awesome fellowship to take me away from it.

That being said, and keeping in mind I don't really have reliable internet and am currently typing this while standing up as my laptop sits atop my telephone stand, I haven't felt like blogging much lately. And I think that's healthy. But for those of you who still care and sometimes read, watch this space, because something is going to happen. Probably not what I think. But something.

I'm still alive!

I kind of hate blogging right now. Perhaps it's because of my unpredictable internet connection. However, I thought I could at least give you a few updates with projects I'm working on or have completed. And because a blog about projects without pictures is really boring, here they are!

Finished my color wheel project. Here are the first six. The blue and purple one is along the lines of the orange and yellow one.

My dishwasher broke and they left behind one of the shelves. Naturally this became a hanging collage. I call it the Magpie Nest. Basically anything shiny or interesting goes up there.

I'm experimenting with art. This is an illustration from The Six Swans. It's supposed to reflect the transformation moment. Still a piece I'm working on.

So, this is my couch. It is actually the couch my mother used for her first apartment. She and her mom found it at a flea market and my grandmother made the cushions. Yes, these cushions are over 30 years old. I already got rid of the rocking chair cushions but needed to save some $$ to make cushions for the couch. Upholstery foam is expensive! As is upholstery fabric. On January 2, I grabbed my Joann Fabric app on my phone and went to town. Foam was 50% off, and I used a 40% off coupon for the fabric.

I could only really afford one cushion, but still. I have enough fabric for another cushion, and I'm going to make some throw pillows out of some other fabrics I fell in love with at the store. If I use my coupons wisely, I won't have to pay full price once! Also, in a testament to my insanity and sheer hatred of measuring and fear of sewing machines (we're working on it), I hand-sewed this bad boy. Eventually I'll probably pull out the stitches and put in a zipper.

My open letter to Ann M Martin

Dear Ms Martin,
As a child, I loved being read to but really didn't get into reading. The books that my school offered were boring for the bright second grader that I was, and it seemed like I would never get hooked. That is, until I stayed late at Children's Courtyard and pulled out "The Ghost at Dawn's House."
I was so enthralled that at eight years old I stayed up until 11:30 reading My parents ended up making me go to sleep and not letting me finish the book because it scared me so much (I showed them, though, I read the last page!). But I had found the series and I was hooked.
Kristy's Great Idea, Claudia and the Bad Joke, The Truth about Stacy, I read all I could get ahold of. Babysitting became my main goal. My dad made a deal with me: since the babysitters' club sitters were 11-13, I could start sitting at 12. I read the tips for sitters two years before that, and I became fascinated with the way kids act.
Furthermore, I began reading. Not just reading, devouring books. I read all sorts of series and some junk books, but also read and fell in love with Greek Mythology, the Ramayana (at 10!), and The Chronicles of Narnia. I also decided I would be a famous...what? Poet? Novelist? Both? Either way, I started writing.

As a babysitter, I was exposed to all sorts of parenting styles (and some abusive parents) and became interested in parenting and child development. As I planned for college, some part of my goal to be a counselor was to help children like those in my care as a sitter.
I continued writing. I took college classes in high school (just like Janine!) and was second in my senior English class. By now I was reading Bronte, Austen, Robin Mckinley, Juliette Marillier, and in love with Tennyson.
In college, I majored in psychology. I wrote one of my final papers, my theory of psychology, stating that everything comes down to development. Throughout this time, I continued babysitting and nannying. I also began writing a novel.
After college, I took a year to figure out what exactly I wanted to do. I worked in child care and became a nanny for another family.
As I pursued my graduate career, I realized my heart still sided with children. I wanted so badly to make their environments safe and supportive. With this in mind, I focused on parent education.
In May, I received my Master's Degree in Family and Child Studies. I am currently working at a preschool that focuses on parent education. I hope to eventually work as a doula, childbirth and parenting educator, and general facilitator of family empowerment and problem-solving.
In addition, I have kept writing my novel. I also started writing short stories and re-tellings of my favorite folk tales. I tell stories whenever possible, and hope someday to have my work published to other young readers.
So, as strange as it seems, I owe a lot to you, Ms Martin. Maybe without your books I may have started reading and writing. Maybe without the stories of your seven sitters I would have become interested in child development on my own. Maybe, but I choose today to recognize the part you have held in my life. Maybe someday you will google search yourself and this blog will come up. Maybe you will never see it. Either way, thank you for your impact on my life and the lives of others.
Very sincerely yours,
Skatej

You know, I've been thinking about it, and you can't really call it "the one that got away" if you just looked over the edge of the boat and said "that's a nice looking fish."

Farm box again

Today, I got swiss chard again, some sort of greens (thai? I think?), sweet potatoes, some hot peppers, some sweet peppers, a very long cucumber, a very short zucchini (or is it the other way around?), a cantaloupe, about a billion roma tomatoes, and some APPLES! It's fall!
I see a lot of italian food in my future. What am I going to do with these greens?

I have a new blog!

I know, a bit excessive, right? It's not necessarily a new blog, but an additional one. Let me explain.
Today is my 25th birthday. Birthdays usually come and go uneventfully and a lot of people ask me if I feel any different and I say no.
This year, though, I feel different. I feel older, but in a good way. And I've decided this year is my year. Not only that, but I'm going to prove it.
Hop over to This is my year...and I'm going to prove it and journey through the year with me.

Never quite mermaid-like

This weekend, I was taken with the unshakable urge to do something different, something drastic with my hair.

I've long known that my very fine, very thin curly hair will never be quite mermaid-like. However, I've suddenly realized how much I like short curly cuts.
Looook at the wonderfulness:
I just love all of these. I think my curl patterns more closely fit the lower right hand picture. My dear friend Catia is smitten with the upper right hand cut, and I really appreciate the lower left.
I hope soon to get a proper chopping from a good stylist who understands curly hair and how to cut it (a rarity). This time, in particular, I plan to go in for consultations instead of just showing up somewhere for a cut. I'm so tired of that feeling of dismay as soon as I see the stylist (the "curl expert") pick up a fine-toothed comb and drag out my drenched curls into straight lines (the carnage!), saying something like "It'll be fun to see how much they shrink up!"
I'll be sure to keep all of you posted, because I'm sure you have nothing better to do than wonder about your bloggy friend's hair.