conversations with carter.

me: when are you going to start using the potty?
carter: sunday.

--

[looking at a placemat with a bunch of different fish on it.]

carter: there's mommy fish... there's daddy fish.
me: where's robert fish?
carter: all gone. i ate it.

--

[pulling out canned foods from the cupboard]

me: what are you doing, carter?
carter: playing house. you want a taco?

--

and from the other day...

me: how was your day today?
carter: good. i hit a ball over the fence!

i call this photo...

"my first all-nighter of the semester -- ugh."

tuesday.

as it turns out, the clothes drive was not a complete failure. many people ended up dropping clothes off at the last minute, and the cafe dude offered me a cup of coffee. i think he was impressed with my box lifting abilities?

left for south dakota early friday morning (some people would go so far as to call it the middle of the night). work went well, and the hotel suite was pretty, well, sweet. i must admit, though, that after four days in south dakota, i felt as if i had reverted to some small town girl who was ready to leave the city and spread her wings. (oregon, anyone?) after four days, i was ready to experience things. something, anything. i can only imagine how the native south dakotians must feel.

mid-terms this week and next. coupled with travel on the weekends, i am going to be really cranky. i apologize to those who have already incurred by sleep deprived wrath (mom & hannah's dad, specifically).

e-mail.

Hello, there, Mrs. [English Teacher].

I thought this might interest you.

I have spent the last week organizing a clothes drive for a specific
group of refugees who have recently relocated to Sacramento from New
Orleans. While the clothes drive appears to have been a complete
bust, I think I did everything possible for one person to do in order
to get the word out. One of the ways to let people know about the
drive was submitting an announcement to the campus newsletter.

I submitted an ad which basically stated, bring in clothes for these
people. I listed the dates and even threw in a cute little graphic.
I made sure to mention that the clothes should be "gently worn", as
opposed to some pieces of junk that would otherwise go to the dump or
thrift store, ya know?

Well, the newsletter lady took it upon herself to change the wording
to "unworn" clothing as opposed to "gently worn" of the original ad.
Now, she and I are e-mailing back and forth. We are currently
debating the meaning the words "gently worn" and "unworn." It's
riveting, I tell you.

My view is this: "Gently worn" means clothes that are in good shape.
They're used, of course, but nothing shabby, stained, ripped, or
otherwise defaced. "Unworn" means new clothing. Considering the
prefix "un" means "not," correct?

Newsletter Lady insists that "unworn" means, "clothes so gently worn
that they appear new," whereas "gently worn" means "clothes you
wouldn't be embarrassed to wear out in public."

At this point, I don't think I am going to return her e-mail. Am I
wrong in thinking "unworn" carries the connotation of new? Am I going
crazy?! And, lastly, could this e-mail count for some extra credit?

Just kidding.

See you in class tomorrow,
Ms. Schott

my favorite flower.

i started my day with a 2.5 mile walk. i snapped this dahlia picture just a couple blocks from my house.

before.

after.

progress, bitches.

the newsletter announcement was sent into the newsletter honchos, and i made flyers to post all over campus. unforunately, many classrooms were locked.

a.) there are very few classes on fridays
b.) someone is trying to thwart my clothes drive success! thwart? is that the word?

kidding. anyway.


CAN'T GET A DATE?

[picture goes here - but blogspot says "no."]

Appear 37% MORE SEXY when you...
donate clothes to the blah blah blah [pertinent info.]

some guy called me from student activities. he gave me the idea that he's the head of student activities on the petaluma campus. all in all, probaly the oddest person i have ever encountered (besides hannah's father, that is).

student activities guy starts the conversation saying, "yes, this message is regarding..." huh? and his voice sounds really angry and confrontational throughout the conversation. i told him about the clothes drive. the guy has very little to say, except to start telling me about some spirit day in regards to hurricane katrina, getting people involved, etc. except i can't really make sense of why he is telling me... he doesn't ask me to be involved, or really come to any kind of conclusion... and so i told him i'd be happy to work with him.

he ends the conversation with, "i guess i don't have anything else to say to you" (his tone convinced me he was going to slam down the phone), "except... i'll bring in some clothes." uuuuuuh. okay, thanks.

lucy has a doctor appointment on monday morning. clothes drive starts monday, too. and i have to go pick up my prescriptions from longs. did you know, if you don't have medical insurance but are a AAA member, you get a discount on your medications? just found that out today.

explain to me why the little girl has just one leg.

(the formatting is going to be a bit off, but you get the idea.)

Love the new fall fashions? Make room in your closet by donating to a worthy cause!

who: 30 families recently relocated to Sacremento in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

what: CLOTHES DRIVE on the Petaluma campus. Seeking clean, gently worn clothing in all sizes.

when: Monday, Sept. 19th - Thursday, Sept. 22nd

where: Drop-off spot is located in the atrium (next to La La Cafe).

pictures of the day.

my camera decided to blur everything today, but i sort of like how the flowers turned out.

picture of the day

good morning, sunshine.

my funky mood is lifting. i have been awake for just over three hours - and it is only 6:40 in the morning! katie, i didn't take your advice. instead, i was asleep by about 10:20. bodies' orders. body's? anyway. early in the morning and four and a half hours sleep does not a correct speller make.

i am really excited about the clothes drive. if only i could find an instructor on campus with a gigantic office in which to use as a drop-off spot. any ideas? i am thinking of letting it run for two weeks. for a second, i was contemplating the idea of telling people mom's address and having them drop everything off themselves... then i realized, no. i don't want weird people at mom's house. besides, if anybody is going to be strange and at my mother's house, it will be me.

my cat reminded me of a little child this morning. remember the times when you were a kid and your mom would answer the phone? you would ALL OF A SUDDEN have something REALLY important to tell her. something like, "mom, i love you," or "i like your shirt." well, maggie was all about telling me how she wanted to lie on my papers and cuddle with me. or cuddle with my textbook. and when i would move her to the pillow instead and tell her to STAY, she looked so hurt. seriously, she was about to cry kitty tears or something.

our math tests were turned back to us last night. i made some really stupid mistakes. as opposed to smart mistakes, right? the important lessons i learned for next time are as follows: don't freak out & thoroughly check answers.

season of giving.

mom and i typically run errands together every saturday. i say typically, because sometimes i sleep in after a night out drinking, and other days i sneak away to robert's little league game.

yesterday, our first stop was the grocery outlet. i bought a big box o' tampons, a frozen dinner of herb chicken & broccoli, and some deodorant. i also picked up a little kiddie necklace and tossed it in the cart.

mom: what is that ?!
me: an adorable necklace!
mom: are you actually going to wear it?
me: no. i'm going to give it to a hurricane victim.

there was an old lady standing nearby and she started talking about her friend's church, and how the church will be bringing thirty families to sacramento in just a couple days. mom and i proceeded to fill our cart with tons of the stuff for the families. once at the registers, i followed the old lady to her car.

theresa: honey, you're so trusting.
me: well, you look pretty harmless. besides, i don't think there's much of a black market demand for fruit snacks.

mom spent fifty bucks on baby cereal, teething biscuits, pb & j, crayons, markers, hair ties, shampoo, baby shampoo, baby lotion, cookies, a cat in the hat lunchbox, crackers, and much more. you can only imagine the amount of stuff we were able to buy with $50 at the grocery outlet.

today, i received a voicemail from theresa's friend, shirley. she is going to call me again in a couple weeks with the address to the church. i plan on sending them my gently worn clothing. i also want to pick up some things for older kids - young adult books, bath gels, nail polish, etc.

on the subject, does anybody else hate the anonyposter on postsecret who doesn't give a rat's ass about new orleans?! i can't believe it. i don't want to believe it. how you could not care about people just like you and me, people who have lost everything, lost family, lost photos, lost homes, lost cars, lost livelihoods, is beyond me.

love it!

babies + sarcasm.

we're learning all about babies in child psych. yesterday, we were put into groups and each group 'had' a baby - ours was a girl with down syndrome. we had to name the baby, and i suggested annette, jr. the group turned me down, but did accept hannah ryan.

school is school. i bombed a math test on wednesday night even though i'd been studying my ass off. on monday alone, i spent 3 1/2 hours on one assignment. the test made me cry in front of my instructor and i felt pretty lame. crying in front of your instructor is never cool. i just hate that the homework was supposed to prep me for the test, that the homework is worth so little of our grade, and that the test doesn't really represent all of the work i've been putting into the class.

fortunately, she drops our lowest test grade. just unfortunate that it had to be the first test including the easiest material.

soooooo. for those of you who don't already know, i met my soulmate-type-person. at least if felt that way. we met and laughed and blah blah blah when he went to kiss me at the end of the night, i let him and then ran away...

without contact information. i was walking around really angry for a few days, but i'm okay now. especially considering how two of my friends are getting married or having babies or both. yeah. i'm feeling pretty good about my jc-going, math test bombing, soulmate sabotaging, non-baby making life as of late.