Underbite

One of the sites that I frequently visit, pacingthepanicroom.blogspot.com, is a guy named Ryan Marshall who blogs about his family as well as his efforts to successfully do what he loves... photography and being a good father.  It seems as though he's been extremely successful in his efforts so far as he continuously churns out beautiful photographs and has recently used his creativity and his connections to organize a charity music album for kids to help raise awareness for SMS (Smith-Magenis Sydrome), a developmental disorder that his step-son has been faced with.  The album is called, "Do Fun Stuff" and features songs that sing about going potty, birthday songs, and missing teeth.  Totally kid friendly and really fun.  Check it out.  It's for a good cause and it's something I'm sure any kid you know would love.  If you want you can buy the album off of itunes (be sure to rate it and/or leave a review) or you can leave a donation.  100% of the proceeds from the sale of this album goes to a grant fund Ryan established with PRISMS. From there, "the money will be made available to grad students who wish to make SMS their field of choice, the benefit of this is more hard research being done, which leads to more case studies, which leads to more answers for parents and researchers". 

Photo taken from the website "The Year of Mud: Cob and Natural Building"

Joey and I have been talking about the possibility of someday building our own house.  This idea is exciting not only because of the romantic notion of physically building a home together, but also saving money while building a house... if we were to do it right, that is.  I've always been a huge fan of cob houses and other alternative ways to building a home naturally.  For the longest time I would design blueprints of my ideal home to build based off of my grandfathers barn.  I wouldn't change much to the design or the feel of the barn except for getting rid of the snakes and spiders and adding a living interior instead of wild kittens and hay with ticks crawling in it.  The cob house above looks wonderfully comfortable and seems to say "Welcome Home".  This kind of architecture is the kind that is made out of love.  Finding and collecting salvaged wood, doors and windows, and other used household items to help to create the structure re-uses and breathes new life to forgotten pieces while giving the house an eclectic and cozy feel.  Using materials provided by the earth (straw, mud, sand, and clay) to create quite possibly the best insulation a house can offer is a partnership with the land and the builder as the home is created.  Like I said... love!  This little daydream, along with a chicken coop and some goats, sounds perfectly delightful.  What's your dream home?

This weekend was Lindsey's birthday weekend.  She turned 29 in the most graceful manner; juggling life as a beautiful and wonderful wife, brilliant new mother, and a successful and (I'm sure) inspiring teacher  (she's also an amazing sister to have too, btw).  She even manages to exercise.  What the hell, right?  I don't have nearly as many responsibilities as she does and completely lazy out when it comes to exercise.  I drink wine every night instead.  Never mind my own issues, though; she looks great and handles her business like a pro.  So, kudos, Lindsey, you're awesome and I hope your birthday weekend was great.  I mean, how could it not be with Pop, Skeeter, and Aunt Wheezer in town :)

Yes...

Back in July, I referenced a list I was working on.  I am most definitely NOT the first person to write a "30 before 30" list (just google it and you'll be able to read all sorts of fun stuff that people have determined to do before 30), but I love the idea of giving yourself time to consider goals that you want to reach, deadlines, whether they be completely ridiculous or legitimately productive and on task with your life's path... or off of it for that matter. I love making lists.  It's quite a lot of fun to do and it helps my scrambled brain to visually grasp order in my own life.  My sister is the QUEEN of lists!  If my list making skills were ever as good as Lindsey's, I believe I might quit my job and get paid to be a professional organizer/counselor.  I'm telling you, the woman is GIFTED!

Anyway, here is my list.  I'm posting it on the blog as a way to avoid forgetting about it and/or ignoring it.  I will complete it!  I WILL!!!

1. Get a tattoo
2. Learn to play an instrument (know how to play at least 3 songs well)
3. Go to New York City, Boston, and Washington D.C.
4. Go to the City Museum in St. Louis
5. Illustrate a children's book
6. Attain my MAT
7. Begin working on/finish my +45
8. Memorize 3 poems
9. Pay off my student loans
10. Get down to my most comfortable weight 
11. Train the dogs to sit, stay, lay down, and not pull on the leash
12. Get a bike... ride it to any destination that's within 2 miles or so
13. Learn how to sew to the point where I can create my own unique clothes
14. Go camping with Joey on Isle Royale
15. Understand and speak spanish well enough to carry on a simple conversation
16. Learn to surf
17. Have a day of Sun Studio's and the Civil Right's Museum
18. Design a custom-made header for Underbite
19. Visit Bowe down in Oxford before he friggin' graduates!!!
20. Attempt the master cleanse (over the summer, though, so I don't smell at work)
21. Take a trip with Joey up to Chicago by train
22. I want to be able to do 100 push-ups in one sitting
23. Create a simple, yet highly functional wardrobe where the majority of the clothing items are utilized consistently
24. Write and create a short film with Joey
25. Meet an elephant (if I can ride it that'd be even cooler!)
26. Begin volunteering regularly
27. I want to go to more musical concerts, but more than anything, I want to attend one that will top the list of my favorite concerts that I have been to.
28. Finish reading the Count of Monte Christo from start to finish
29. Go vegetarian for a year
30. Raise chickens

Happy Friday, everyone!  The first actual week of school was a successful one and I hope that everyone in the educating business had a good first week as well... and even if you aren't in education and it wasn't your first week back with the kids, I still hope your week was fabulous.

So, Joey and I finally submitted our pictures for the Mad Men casting call.  We didn't read far enough into the fine print, though, that it was specifically one person per entry, which makes sense, but it was fun when we thought we could possibly just send in a shot of the two of us.  Anyway, we improvised with some other shots that we took for the hell of it and pulled individual shots out of those.  These are the ones we chose:

It was indeed time for a change for ye ole' Underbite blog... so, I gave it a hair-cut of sorts... a wardrobe change... a new pair of hot undies, if you know what I mean.  So, what do you think?  Thumbs up or thumbs down?  I've been contemplating this look for a while now, but haven't been completely able to make up my mind, until I finally got tired of the plain white background and text.  I'm also wanting to customize the title bar, however, my scanner is out of order for the time being :( and I've got to figure out how to fix it.

Outside of the blog world and back into reality; I've started back into the school year and I've got to say, there's almost nothing better than having the kids excited to see you again.  It makes teaching totally worth it.  I'm a lucky woman.

I'm pretty excited about my classroom this year and will hopefully have some pictures of it up soon... so hang tight if you're curious and you'll probably get some awesome pictures of my kiddies as well.  One of them thinks my hair is a wig (I had them tug on it in order to determine its authenticity) and another noticed my tattoo and doesn't believe that it's actually real and wants to know where I got it.  Yes, people, they actually inquired as to which tattoo parlor it is that I went to in order to see if it's legit or not.  I told them we'll see if it washes off by the end of the year.  Also, I think I'm going to start posting some of my lesson plans, teacher examples, and/or student examples for my teacher buddies or anyone else who might be interested.

For now, let's live for today.   My plan for tomorrow... we're having a funeral... for "I can't's".  Meet me in the back of the school yard and bring an extra shovel, I've got a grave to dig!

Life unfolds in the most predictable and unpredictable of ways; always presenting to us the inevitable obstacles that challenge us and take us forward, sometimes throw us back, and sometimes just hold us to a stop until we're able to "pick up the reins" again.  Throughout our individual journeys through life we're faced with overwhelming experiences that, for just one person, can sometimes be close to impossible to face alone.  Our greatest gift and support throughout life are our friends and family... and the two are often interchangeable.

• this
• hopefully, this
• a litte bit of this
• and, perhaps, if we play our cards right, a little bit of this