Yes? No! Maybe...

I have been in love with scrapbooking for,like, a million years.  Now I’m loving the creativity of blogging too.  Since my recent blog re-design (check out IndieChick Designs!!!), I have seen how fabulous you can make a blog or website.  With all of this creative-ness and my love for all things educational and college-ish, I am seriously considering going back to school for a graphic arts, or probably more specifically a web design, degree. I already have tons of my generals done, so I think I could do it in 18-24 months, but I’m not sure.  I still have more research to do.

There are two main things that are holding me back include:

1)       the financial investment, and

2)       my fear that once I really get into the job specifics, I won’t love it anymore.

I guess I think it would only be worth it if I end up being able to do something being creative and preferably on a freelance basis, so I can eventually work from home on a flexible schedule.  I have wanted to return to school and finish my degree forever, but I’ve waffled about what degree to pursue. 

I know that I no longer have the emotional energy to work as an elementary school teacher.  I discovered early on as a parent that I was not good at working with children all day, pouring all of my love and energy into them, and then coming home and still having enough in reserve to work at the same optimal, loving, emotional place that they, too, deserved.  So… teaching is out. 

Social work and Psychology are out simply because I feel it’d be a waste of my time to go to school for those two topics and go for anything less than a Masters.  Frankly, I have no desire to get a Masters at this time in my life.

I’ve considered a degree in Communications and/or Marketing.  There’s also always an HR (Human Resources) degree, which has always captured my interest.  SIGH! 

My true passions and desires are all captured with photography, visual design elements, and the creativity of scrapbooking…

I guess, I’ll just have to keep pondering and researching and searching my soul.  In the mean time, I welcome any and all feedback!

Hello Dear Bloggy Friends,

Go and VOTE!

Stop reading blogs,

surfing the net,

working, playing, chatting.

Drive to your local polling place and

VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!

A Day Early

Tuesday's Tunes is appearing a day early this week, in lieu of ELECTION DAY!  So folks, remember to get out and VOTE, VOTE, VOTE tomorrow -- Tuesday, November 2nd.  It's your civic duty and a special privilege that each of us gets to exercise.

This week as I was looking for a song with a political theme (which I usually stay far away from -- music with too much political gusto), I decided to just settle on a quick history lesson.


We Didn't Start the Fire
~ Billy Joel




Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio

Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe

Rosenbergs, H-Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, "The King and I", and "The Catcher in the Rye"

Eisenhower, vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye

CHORUS
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it

Josef Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc

Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, dacron
Dien Bien Phu and "Rock Around the Clock"

Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, "Peter Pan", Elvis Presley, Disneyland

Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, "Peyton Place", trouble in the Suez

CHORUS

Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, "Bridge on the River Kwai"

Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather, homicide, children of thalidomide

Buddy Holly, "Ben-Hur", space monkey, Mafia
hula hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no go

U2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, "Psycho", Belgians in the Congo

CHORUS

Hemingway, Eichmann, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs Invasion

"Lawrence of Arabia", British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson

Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British politician sex
JFK, blown away, what else do I have to say

CHORUS

Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon, back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, terror on the airline
Ayatollolah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan

"Wheel of Fortune" , Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shore, China's under martial law
Rock and Roller Cola Wars, I can't take it anymore

CHORUS

We didn't start the fire
But when we are gone
Will it still burn on, and on, and on, and on...



There's a great link to most of the people listed above through the following website.

#960 Strategic trick-or-treating

One of my favorite happy, blog spaces (as I've mentioned a few dozen times before) is 1000 Awesome Things blog.  In honor of the upcoming, grandly ghoulish holiday, Halloween, I'd like to link to #960 on the 1000 Awesome Things blog.  Enjoy!

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

#960 Strategic trick-or-treating

Trick-or-treating ain’t no game.

No, it’s a life lesson in goal-setting, planning, and tactical execution. Kids who master trick-or-treating go on to become successful world leaders. Kids who don’t could possibly also do the same, but with less chocolate to show for it. The point is that chocolate is delicious, and you should fill your pillowcase with as much of it as possible. You just have to master the 4 Rules Of Strategic Trick-Or-Treating first:

4. Mo’ money, mo’ problems. In terms of where to go trick-or-treating, there’s always a lot of chatter about getting a drive over to the rich neighborhood for the big score. People would have you believe that the rich enjoy lavishing children with unopened boxes of twinkies and full cases of root beer. But that’s a lie! Rich people got rich by being cheap and their massive front yards will just slow you down. That’s right, you’ll be navigating wrought-iron fences, duck-shaped hedges, and koi ponds instead of ringing doorbells. Instead, aim for the new neighborhood with little kids and the all-important densely packed homes.

3. Dress for success. Trick-or-treating is a race against the clock, so set yourself up for success by wearing running shoes and avoiding masks that affect your visibility. No ballet slippers, high heels, or sandals. No robes, capes, or togas. And none of those cheap plastic masks from the dollar store that attach with a thin elastic and a couple of staples. Basically, keep simplifying your costume and then timing yourself running up and down the basement stairs until you’ve found a winner. If in doubt, go as Carl Lewis.

2. Partner up. It will be tempting to form a trick-or-treating posse and move from door to door as one big, shifty amoeba of fluorescent tape and facepaint. Resist that temptation. The amoeba will cause two problems: first, the group will travel at the speed of the slowest member. That means one kid with flat feet and asthma ruins everyone’s night. Secondly, a big group triggers the rationing instinct in the person handing out candy. They become overwhelmed and default to the “One for you, one for you” candy-for-everyone technique. You don’t want that. So instead, you need to pick one partner. Qualifications for that lucky someone include a low resting heart rate, winning smile, and really cute costume. The last one is key. The costume must trigger the “Aren’t you adorable!” reflex, which inspires extra candy. The gold standard here is a fit toddler in a ladybug costume with new Reeboks.

1. Timing is everything. The last rule is all about the three key stages of Halloween candy collecting. Times may vary depending where you’re from, but they go something like this:

• The 4 – 6pm Start Up: You must be very active and running around here, before the street gets too busy. This is your time to hit the houses at the peak of their inventory levels, when they may hand out more because of excess supply or poor foresight.
• The 6 – 7pm Rest Up: This is when the streets are their busiest. Don’t get caught in other people’s amoebas. Now’s the time to go home and dump out the pillowcase and refresh the face paint. Also, it’s a good time to hit your local fast-food joints. McDonald’s is usually pretty generous.
• The 7 – 9pm Clean Up: Now it’s all about picking up the scraps. Some houses will be left with too much candy and they’ll start giving handfuls instead of fingerfuls. Others will feel guilty about running out and start handing out creative treats from their kitchen like cups of pudding or boxes of Jello powder. The Clean Up stage is a real test of your cardio fitness levels, as many houses will have turned out their lights by now, forcing you to zig-zag the street in search of the remaining bounty.

Now that you’ve got a game plan, just remember to keep it clean out there. Under cover of night and camouflage facepaint some folks venture into the murky trick-or-treating ethical gray zone. Stay away from these folks, because while they’re telling people it’s their birthday too, collecting a second bag for a ‘sick sibling at home’, or body-checking toddlers into bushes on their way up the walk, you can rest knowing that you came out to play by the rules.

And you won.

AWESOME!

http://1000awesomethings.com/2008/08/15/960-strategic-trick-or-treating/

What type of SuperHero are you?


Evidentally, I'm...

 Superman!

Superman 65% Spider-Man 60% Batman 50% Hulk 45% Green Lantern 45% Iron Man 45% Supergirl 35% Robin 35% Wonder Woman 30% The Flash 30% Catwoman 30%

You are mild-mannered, good, strong and you love to help others.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

Imagine

For Tuesday's Tunes this week, I'm loving John Lennon's lyrics from "Imagine".  The song is absolutely epic and was on Glee last week (repeat from last season).  So let's all relax as we enjoy one of the many, many, many versions of "Imagine".



"Imagine"
Lyrics by John Lennon

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

Surviving

I have just survived a Halloween Party with ten girls (ages 10-11) with my Girl Scout troop.  I am utterly exhausted and can't say much more than that right now.  I'll post photos tomorrow...  SIGH!

I'm going to bed!!!