Sigh . . . of Relief, Actually LOTs of Rambling, Yay!

-Thank God there are 31 days in July and August. There was some interesting way of remembering which months had 31 days ones but I never can recall that mnemonic device.

-At one point, I wrote that I would use this blog as a ledger of what I spend. I haven't been entirely truthful as I left out some purchases I bought at the Gap and Banana Republic, but I returned most of those items except for this:
http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=16814&vid=1&pid=859018&scid=859018002

There was a 30% discount and I am in need of tops that do not require tucking in, therefore the purchase. Actually I am always in search of tops that do not require being tucked in. I never tuck in a shirt unless I am wearing a sweater long enough to cover my upper hip. I love longer cardigans for this reason.

With my time off today, instead of reading about world history and how to make it meaningful, I bought several items:
1. Emersonmade skirt: http://www.emersonmade.com/collections/skirts-dresses/products/pockets-skirt-red-twill
Now I just wrote that I never tuck in anything. This skirt will require tucking in, but since it's high-waisted, I don't foresee it will be a problem and if not, I will just return it.
2. I did indeed buy the Brooks Brothers dress from the last post. It's 92 degrees and I buy a wool dress. I know that's not being a smart shopper because who knows if it will go on sale? But I just find it so hard buying a dress that fits all my criteria that I just decided to buy it since I was still thinking about it.

There's a similar dress in the J. Crew fall lookbook that I am excited about and will probably buy it in two colors if it works.

I realize if something works for you in terms of fashion, you SHOULD ALWAYS buy that item in multiple colors because you never know if they will stop making the item. I made that mistake with the Calypso Pazzi dress. I actually bought it in three colors (a hot pink, vibrant violet, and black, but of course the hot pink one shrank in the wash), but think I should have bought it in at least seven since it came in a really wide range of colors one season. Seven sounds a lot, but these dresses are so comfortable and low maintenance and they look nice dressed up or down. SIGH. I go to ebay every now and then to see if Pazzi is up for grabs, but generally what's available are XS and M sizes. At one point there was a small, but of course it was in this light orange color that few people could pull off (myself not included).

You know what, I sometimes think I am very much like the character, No Face, in the movie, Spirited Away (well as far as how greedy I can get when it comes to material things).

Wondering

Sometimes I wonder if I dress like a woman in her 50s or older. I bought a shirtdress from Brooks Brothers today because I thought it would be good for work. I know I am not supposed to look "hip" when I am at work but this dress just might fall under totally un-hip, um matronly. . . Dunno.

I am even considering this dress: http://www.brooksbrothers.com/IWCatProductPage.process?Merchant_Id=1&Section_Id=489&Product_Id=1553564&Parent_Id=1034&default_color=PURPLE&sort_by=§ioncolor=§ionsize=
I am drawn to the color, the neckline, and that it's a-line.

And all those purchases from J. Crew? I returned them. Haven't received the shirtdress yet so we'll see. . .

New Seasons

With every new season, I am always drawn to buying new clothes. Whatever I have, I don't seem to wear and then there are a few items that I just wear to death. I am starting to question my shopping habits and think more about what I will do with said item if I were to buy it. So far, I've bought two J Crew Lucinda blouses, one pair of red shorts, and and one oxford cloth shirtdress. I also wanted to buy the Nili Lotan boyfriend sweater but that quickly sold out. My justification for these items is that I will be able to wear the shirtdress and two blouses to work and I needed a pair of shorts. Now will I wear these items or will they just stay in my closet or be given away? That is the question.

Inspired

I often tend to get very complacent and blase about life. I attribute this to either not having enough work to do, being lazy, or possibly that I am not 100% satisfied with something. I watched this video just now and after hearing about Choi Sung-Bong's life story and then his amazing voice, I was and still am in awe. What people can accomplish under such adverse circumstances - wow. . . I really have no excuse to whine or complain.

Choi Sung-Bong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BewknNW2b8Y

Random

-I am absolutely in love with the spice cardamom. Oh my goodnesss, what a wonderful spice!! It totally surpasses any spice that I've used in the past for baking.
-I need structure in my life or else I become a total homebody and waste time.
-I am such a night owl. For some odd reason, I do not like working during the day but totally do not mind working at night. It's so bizarre for me to watch television on a week night let alone a weekend!

Writing a Profile

So I have a lot on my mind. I have work-related tasks that I should be working on so that my life will be more relaxing in the future. I should also use the time I have to spend more time with God and actually attend church. Last year was so exhausting that I preferred sleeping in than attending church. And one more other should - I should enter into the world of online dating. Yes, online dating!

The thing with online dating that I am concerned about at the moment is writing the profile. I've looked into eharmony and match.com and wow, some of the examples they give on match.com are quite good! They're not too long, to the point, and at times clever or slightly charming. The thing about me is that I am not charming or flirty at all. I am one of those people who likes to get to the point and just list and perhaps write examples. Not exactly endearing or clever, but oh brother. Writing like that is agonizing but I just want to get on with it! I hate thinking, "Does this sound good or stupid? Oh what should I do?" And then I think and wait and then write more stupid crap. Eharmony's setup is a bit easier to deal with in writing a profile but even then there are people with some well-written, impressive profiles.

Not only is your description important, but of course you need a profile picture. Lately I've been finding that depending on the lighting and my expression, I look completely different in a number of photos. It's a bit alarming and annoying and it's now making me even more self-conscious and wondering what I can do to improve my appearance. I've even gone into watching youtube videos of random women demonstrating how to put on makeup. I have no idea how to apply eye shadow and I do not have double lids. It's a bit more complicated than I thought! The brushes, the different shadows to use, wondering which products are better. . . The time and the money to do this! Ugh!!

I suppose I should look at all of this as a fun foray into meeting new people but does it have to take this much time?

And then I have all these books to read and I've been merely skimming some of them when they really need to be read!

I do apologize for all this whining, but that's all.

Jumpsuits, Rompers, What-have-yous

The items listed above look so cute. But, I imagine that when one has to use the bathroom, they're quite inconvenient to take off! And let's not even imagine the kinds of bathrooms that exist in New York City. I love the idea of wearing one item and not having to worry about anything else. So a dress is one example, but these also fall into that category. How do people wear these things?

Just Realized

I have to write 11 college recommendations for this fall. Writing a recommendation for a good student who actively participates is generally not a problem. But those students who never say anything, do B level work, and are not involved in school activities - that kind of student is harder to write for.

With the class load I have this fall, I will not have to worry about writing recommendations for the following year. (As of now and I write as of now because with scheduling, schedules can completely change the week before school starts - how, I do not know) I will be teaching five sections of 9th grade world history. I taught 9th grade world history last year but the curriculum was different (mainly ancient to medieval). This time around it's the age of exploration to WWI or WWII. I like the way California structures the curriculum and it makes it more manageable for the students to have considerable exposure to modern world history. With the textbook we have, I have a feeling we will be jumping around a lot.

There are pros and cons to this schedule. ONE PREP (vs. three last year but it often felt like four with AP World)!!! BUT, I will be teaching the same thing five times each day (no more block scheduling this year so no rotating periods). Depending on the students in each class, the dynamics will vary greatly and so I am not too worried about being bored. I am worried about how needy 9th graders can be and about setting the right boundaries so I will not become exhausted in addressing all of their needs. Once again, we'll see. . .

Korean Songs

I like listening to Korean songs even though I do not fully understand what they mean. I usually end up looking for the English lyrics after listening to the song. A good number of Korean songs have random English phrases interspersed and that really puzzles me. In some ways, I feel that the English words decrease the quality of the song. Why sing that short phrase in English when you can easily do that in Korean and the majority of the lyrics are in Korean?

One song that I really like at the moment that of course has the random English phrases (I wait for you, I still love you): "Scarecrow" by Jeong Il Wu.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3zuuhRLdkA

Mid-Summer?!

I cannot believe that it's mid-summer already. How fast time flies. . . I should start studying, reading different books, and preparing lessons. Sigh.