Vanishing Act!

Now you see it (braces)...

Now you don't!!
The big reveal after 2 years of orthodonics! Tada!!

A Midsummer Night's Dream!

Rave Reviews for "A Midsummer Night's Dream"!

Here's a picture I snapped during the curtain call - it's hard to get a good shot when they're moving and I can't use a flash - but you get an idea of the set & costumes!

Go middle schoolers! Way to speak in iambic pentameter and totally get your point across. Hooray for glitter, wings, and some serious hair gel!

Here is the Queen of the Fairies - Titania -

And the very mischevious King of the Fairies - Oberon -

All the world's a stage - and the middle school rocked on it tonight!

Saving Earth in Style

Are these aluminum water bottles gorgeous or what? They're almost like jewels!

I've been looking at aluminum water bottles for a month or two now, checking prices, styles, etc. I came across a company called The Watergeeks in Canada that make these splendid items. Even better, they're only $9.99 (way better than REIs $25+).

So, I got a red one for myself, a blue one for my daughter, and a silver one for my son. NO MORE PLASTIC! Even though we recycled all of our plastic water bottles, this is a way better alternative. And did I mention how PRETTY they are? And that mine is RED? (I'm having a seriously RED phase. Everything I'm buying these days is RED. :-)

If you'd like to save the planet in style, go HERE.

INFJ

I am an INFJ.

(I know you... you're coming up with all kinds of words that start with INFJ right now... but be patient...)

When I worked at Santa Clara University some years ago, my VP had us all take the Myers-Briggs Personality Profile Test. (It's all very scientific.) Turns out, I have the personality type, INFJ. I won't dare bore you with the details of what all that means. Just imagine a person like me. Voila. INFJ.

The reason I'm bringing this up now is because it's January. It's a new year. I made resolutions. And my current job is seriously out to hospitalize me.

So, after a day last week of trying to do three people's jobs, of finding out that we had fraud on the company's bank account, and that several vendors were not going to ship the parts I needed (for various and sundry reasons - most related to money), I was doing a little career soul-searching.

I remembered that I was an INFJ and that there was a list somewhere of what INFJs were good at.

I went online and found that list. Apparently I am perfectly suited to be a novelist, artist, actor, musician, or dancer. Marvelous. If only there was a steady income and I could be such things between the hours of 8 am and 2 pm. Apparently I am also perfectly suited to work in healthcare. Peachy. If only the care of health didn't make me pass out.

I laughed to see that I was perfectly suited to be a librarian or a teacher. Now we're talking. I began to make a list of viable careers that matched my INFJ-ness.

Then I found a link. It said there was also a list of jobs that INFJs were NOT suited for. Jobs that should an INFJ find themselves doing one it was a recipe for personality disaster. I was intrigued. What could they be?

There was a list of 8 jobs.

I am currently doing 4 of them.

The universe is so ironic.

That night I had a dream. I was standing in front of my refrigerator and freezer where the contents were only broccoli and ice cream. My doctor showed up next to me and told me that I couldn't eat broccoli and ice cream. They would make me sick.

But I looked at my doctor and said, "But that's all I have."

(Sigh) So at the moment, all I have is broccoli and ice cream - or shall we call it accounting and production management. And I count my blessings that I have a job and a paycheck at this time.

But... I'm also keeping my eyes open. Considering my INFJ-ness. Creating my own destiny.

Isn't a new year fun?

Simplicity = Happy

I waged war on clutter yesterday. It's January. I got inspired.

I got up at 7 am on a Saturday and attacked my downstairs. I decided that I only wanted books on my bookshelves. No pictures, no plants, no figurines. Just books.


By the time I was done my family room, dining room, and kitchen only had the very basic necessities in them. Couches, bookshelves (with BOOKS), piano, armoire (with TV), table, chairs... you get the picture. Nothing superfluous. A very few items of simple decor. Done.

Ah... I'm so happy.

A Poem for a New Year

I rediscovered this poem recently and it has become my theme for 2009. So, here I share it with you...

A PSALM OF LIFE
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

TELL me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream ! —
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real ! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal ;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way ;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
Be a hero in the strife !

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant !
Let the dead Past bury its dead !
Act,— act in the living Present !
Heart within, and God o'erhead !

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time ;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate ;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

More Books...

I pretty much got stuck in one book in December... but at least I listen to books on CD too! Here's where I spent the little free time I had:

1. Brisingr - Christopher Paolini - This is the third book in his Inheritance Series (you've probably read/seen Eragon). This is the book that took me all of December! But it was worth it. His writing is getting better and better. Can't wait to see how the series ends.

2. Legend of the Wandering King - Laura Gallego Garcia - This was fantastic! It's based on an old Arabian tale and it is beautifully written. It is profound and engaging at the same time.

3. Tantalize - Cynthia Leitich Smith - Well, the best I can say about this one is that it is a wannbe Twilight. It's a vampire romance that falls far short of Bella and Edward. Sorry.

4. The Last Lecture - Randy Pausch - I finally got my hands on this one... and then couldn't put it down. If you haven't read it yet - go do it - right now! It is life changing.

That's it for now. :-)