Tired

Well, my life right now consists of work and waiting to hear back from nursing schools. Please keep your fingers crossed for me.

Sick But Satisfied

Well, I've managed to develop a cold.

But! I did well on my TEAS test! I started my new job! And for good or ill, I also submitted the first of my nursing school applications. I've got all of my fingers and toes crossed, though of course after I'd clicked submit I double-checked and found a (small) mistake. Which I will probably angst over for the rest of my life if I don't get in.

TEAS Exam

Dr. Evil from the "Austin Powers" movies making air quotes.
The text over the photograph says "Take the TEAS test they said. It'll be easy they said." 

Well, today is the day I take the TEAS (Test of Essential Acadamic Skills) test, which I need to do well on to get into nursing school. Wish me luck!

Week of Studying

Well, this week I'll be studying, studying, and then studying some more. Why? Because I have an important multi-hour test to take on Saturday. It's an important component of my nursing school applications so I need to do well.

Meme saying "Yeah... So I'm gonna need you to go ahead and study for the TEAS every night this week. Yeah, that'd be great."

Book List 2018

Black and white picture of a baby in giant glasses reading a book.

Well, I'll admit that I didn't write down all of the books I read so far. I know that I read a bunch of gardening books but I don't remember the names or authors of any of those. That said - I can remember a fair amount of the fiction I read! I figure I'll just list all the books I can remember here and then keep track from now on. They're in alphabetical order by author.

Charlie Jane Anders - All the Birds in the Sky
Martha Beck - The Four Day Win
Christophe Chabouté - Tout Seul
Ernest Cline - Ready Player One
Neil Gaiman - Smoke and Mirrors
Dave Goulson - A Buzz in the Meadow: The Natural History of a French Farm
Nalo Hopkinson - Brown Girl in the Ring
Nalo Hopkinson - Falling in Love with Hominids
Nalo Hopkinson - The Midnight Robber
Nalo Hopkinson - The Salt Roads
Tove Jansson - The Woman Who Borrowed Memories
Matt Kindt - Dept. H.
Shari Lapena - The Couple Next Door
China Miéville - Railsea
Gabriela Mistral - Madwomen: The "Locas Mujeres" Poems of Gabriela Mistral
Morgan Parker - There Are More Beautiful Things than Beyonce
Zenaida Sengo - Air Plants: The Curious World of Tillandsias
William Sloane - The Rim of Morning: Two Tails of Cosmic Horror
Danez Smith - Don't Call Us Dead
Zadie Smith - Swing Time
Erik Axl Sund - Les Corps de Verre
Peter J. Tomasi - House of Penance
Charles Yu - How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe - Charles Yu

Not too shabby.

Lovely Day

Today was a lovely spring day! All the trees are in bloom and I got to hang out at the park (and play paparazzi) while Waldo went on a date.

Tree with white blossoms.

Tree with pink blossoms.

Waldo and his girlfriend.

Right Side of the House!

Ok, as promised here is my next garden section - the right side of the house! This section is shady, covered with leaves, and overgrown with ivy. I fixed it up over the weekend but my phone was not working so it took me a while to get pictures. Anyway, I peeled back some of the leaf layer - not too much because I wanted to keep this more woodland-y. I hacked away a bunch of the ivy and tossed a bunch of dead branches to the woods in back of the fence. Then I planted some woodland perennials, cleaned up the paving stones, fixed up the area around the swing, and added a bird feeder. I even set up a nice spot for the rain barrel on the corner of the house.

Before

Stairs and top of the garden.

You can't see the paving stones because they are covered in ivy.

This swing area needs some help - and someone to haul away the fallen tree branches!

After

View from the stairs.

Birdhouse.

Step garden.

View standing next to the step garden looking towards the swing.

Flowers in the step garden.

Ferns growing in the rocks.

Swing area.

Rain barrel area with rocks and lily of the valley flowers.

Break from School

Finals week is over! Here's my plan for all of my newfound free time this week:

Woman sleeping on a couch under a giant book.

In other news, May is National Foster Care Month. I have many thoughts about foster care so it's likely that I'll end up making a post about those thoughts sometime before the month is over.

Wolfie's Pillow Dress

I pride myself on being thrifty. And also on being able to sew things. So this week I did both - I used an old pillow to sew a dress for Wolfie. Look!

The pillow has fabric looking like wood on the open edge and fabric with an apple pattern for the rest.

Once I decided upon my hair-brained scheme, I decided to turn to the internet to see whether others had gone before me. Turns out they had! Unfortunately they were all the same and not at all what I had in mind. Here are some examples:

Pretty Prudent
Sew Like My Mom
Baby Rabies

The thing they all seem to have in common is a horrid gathered ribbon neck. Also the fact that the dresses actually look like pillowcases. I was aiming for something simpler and more… Dresslike?

Anyway, this is what I finally came up with. I've sent it to France and will coerce Dolphin and Feather into sending me a photo of Wolfie in the dress so I can post it on here.

Me holding the dress in question.

I also mailed her this super cool marble with a beetle inside it. Because I used to love marbles as a kid so I'm hoping she'll be excited about it as well.

My hand with clear marble with beetle inside.

This Weekend

Well, my Saturday was spent skipping out on my plans because I had run out of social energy. Instead I slept late and then went over to my parents' to work on the yard some more.

That said, Sunday was fun. It was the Somerville Open Studios and I had plans to be in the Boston area anyway, so after church I went to Somerville to check out the Museum of Modern Renaissance. My old bus route went past the building so I've seen the outside of it a bunch even though I'd never been inside. The space is a former Masonic lodge and is now owned by Nicholas Shaplyko and Ekaterina Sorokina. They've painted the entire thing with these amazing vibrant murals.

Outside of the building.

Front door of the building.

One side of the main room.

Other side of the main room.

After my mini trip, I dropped off a bleeding heart plant to my friend Aquafabulous and then had a cooking and sewing date with my friend Tea (she was making hand pies, I was sewing):

Me laying out quilt squares for a t-shirt quilt.

Tea poses by the finally laid out quilt squares.

I did make a couple of other things but they are presents for other people so I can't post them on here lest I ruin the surprises.

Anthony and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Book cover spoof titled "Anthony and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day"
with signs like "Bad Mail" and "Caution: Windshield Cracking Trucks Ahead."

Well, yesterday was fairly crappy. Ok, really crappy. Here are the crappy things that happened:

* My cell phone finally died.
* A truck on the highway kicked up a rock that cracked my windshield.
* The barber cut off my sideburns without asking.
* My health insurance screwed up, leaving me with no psych meds.
* I got an official looking letter in the mail from my landlord that had me convinced I was getting evicted - not because this was a realistic fear but because I didn't have my medication so my anxiety was getting the better of me.

On the plus side, one of my friends made me that hilarious fake book cover to cheer me up! My other plus sides were...

I passed my pre-work drug test (that I had no concerns about since I don't do drugs):

The parents from "That 70s Show" glaring at the camera with the caption "Are you high?"

I got two free lipsticks from CVS because of coupons:

Me holding my new lipsticks and wearing both shades at once.

Wolfie was excited about the letter I sent her! Her reaction to the letter: "Oooooh je l'aime beaucoup vraiment!!!" She opened it yesterday, brought it to breakfast today so she could read it again, and has now decided she wants to send letters too:

Wolfie opens her letter.

Wolfie sees her stickers.

Spring!

Well, today it was hot enough outside for Waldo and I to spend the afternoon at the park near his house watching the local kids playing baseball. So I think I can officially say that spring is here!

Black and white photo of lion-headed people in old fashioned suits.
The text over the photograph says "Spring is here and the dandy lions are everywhere."