Hump day happiness

Here it goes.....

1.  God woke us up this morning

2.  I'm home

3.  It's almost Friday

4.  I'm home

5.  This extremely long day at work is over

6.  I'm home

7.   My hair is growing beautifully (although I really need to co-wash it)

8.  I'm home

9.  The different world show finale played on TVOne and I got it on tape

10.  I'm home!!!!!!!

Yeah, I'm happy to be home!

Tootles for now......

Hump day happiness!

1.  God woke us all up this morning

2.  It's sunny today

3.  Got new research equipment yesterday

4.  Went to Panera yesterday (I had to pick the research stuff up from Columbia, oh how I miss Panera)

5.  It's almost spring break

6.  Found new sewing inspirations

7.  Convinced a student to consider a PhD program instead of Masters (not that Masters isn't good, but I like to challenge the students to consider new and advanced options)

8.  Both basketball teams won the homecoming game Saturday

9.  Church tonight

10.  It snowed this weekend and it was the kind of snow I like: it came, I saw, it left

Have a great Wednesday

Tootles for now........

Yeah, I'm patriotic.......is that okay?!?!?!

Source

Hello there lovelies~

This morning as I was driving to work the "call in" topic on the Yolanda Adams' Morning Show was about the boys who were asked to remove their American flag bandanas while at a high school basketball game.  The boys removed the bandanas, but then began to change, "USA!USA!" which prompted the principal to ask the four students to leave the game (read about it here).  The principal felt that the student's actions were racists because the crowd (of high school students) contained many Latin American students.  This story is quite similar to another that happened a few years ago for which students were suspended for wearing American Flag shirts on Cinco de Mayo (link to story).  

So this morning on Yolanda Adams people called in to state if they agreed or disagreed with the actions of the principal.  Most of the callers I heard (I eventually switched stations, hooray for 89.7;-) agreed with the actions of the principal.  

Now not that I am an extremely or even slightly patriotic person, but what in the world?!?!?  Since when is it a crime to represent your country in your country?  Furthermore, who is the principal to decide that the students' actions had a "racist undertone"?  Even furthermore (I'm getting mad now) where was this principal when I was in high school and students wore confederate flag shirts, belts, hats, shoes, everything to school EVERYDAY!!!!  Although I'm not a supporter of the confederacy, which I'm pretty sure is dead although many people don't seem to know that, I always said to each his own.  I didn't necessarily agree with others wearing a symbol that they knew meant something negative to a large population of people around them; however, who am I to stifle the pride of someone else?  

So, I boldly disagree with the principal.  Even if the boys' actions did have a racist undertone that is their perogative.  Is it okay to protect the feelings and "freedom" of one individual at the cost of another person's feelings and freedom?   I mean, is it okay for me to wear an American flag shirt even though there is a large Asian population in Florence?  When does the madness end?!?!?!

Chime in and let me know what you think?  Do you agree with the principal or not?  What do you think these incidents say about the state of our country?   

Tootles for now.....

To be natural or not to be natural?!?!?

Random pic one evening of I think 3 day old, perhaps 2, wash and go hair using the Cantu products for co-wash and leave in and water sprayed on at night and in the morning.

No, no, not your hair, your products.  Since I got my hair cut in July I have been trying to use only all natural products in my hair.  However, I have recently converted back to using some not so natural products.  In particular, I use Cantu Shea Butter Leave In as a leave in and Cantu Shea Butter Rinse Out Conditioner, as a conditioner.  I used to use Cantu Shea Butter leave in for twist outs prior to my hair cut, but stopped because it's not all natural.  Sadly, I just can't stay away.  This leave in smells great, is thick and creamy, keeps my hair super moisturized, and doesn't feel like it builds up on my hair.  I'm still deciding how I feel about the rinse out conditioner so I'll report back on that at a later time.  However, after my homemade leave in fail I decided to go back to what I know.  I mean, my mother used non-natural products in my hair for years and my hair always grew long and, at least reasonably, healthy.  I don't put the Cantu on my scalp and therefore am not worried about anything seeping into my brain or anything crazy.  However, the great results of the Cantu has convinced me that being all natural all the time just may not be necessary.   

So what do you think.  Do you stick with only natural products?  Why or why not?  Leave a comment below. 

Tootles for now......

Hump day happiness

A little late in the day, but here it is.......

1.  God woke my family and me up this morning

2.  Bins full of free fabric on the way

3.  Great church service this past Sunday

4.  Spring break is only 1 month away

5.  A Different World

6.  My Granny's 84th birthday (yesterday)

7.  My parents

8.  Naps

9.  I got to play tennis this past weekend

10.   Shunta's in the single digits!  I'm excited to meet Zoe!!  

That's all for today!

Tootles for now........

From the window, to the ceiling, urk.....what?!?!?

So......how do you think I got terressentials on the ceiling by simply washing my hair?!?!?  I tell you, natural hair gets wild.

Tootles for now.....

Child bullies grow up into adult bullies.....

Adult bullying is real

So let me start of by saying that this post will serve the main purpose of allowing me to rant about a student.  Those of you not into listening (or in this case reading) rants please skip over this post and look for the next ray of sunshine to be written later in the week.

Now, with that said, oh my goodness.  So, I teach an online class for another university, and received the rudest emails last week from one of the students.  This particular young man has missed many assignments and basically is wanting to make them up which I do not allow.  He had the audacity to send me an email with the subject line "is any one there."  What?!?!?!?  When I was in college I wouldn't have even had the gall to think of sending an email with such a subject to a professor.  He then proceeds to tell me that my records (of which assignments he has turned in) are wrong and that if I can't find his work please let him know so he can take it to the dean.  

First of all, my records are NOT wrong just because you want them to be wrong.  Second of all, don't think that you can intimidate me with a threat of going to the dean.  If I don't know anything else it is that when you are right there is not need for you to be intimidated in such situations.  So I politely informed him that I would not be answering anymore of his rude emails and suggested that he go ahead and take his concerns to the dean.  

Now my biggest problem, well actually I have many, is that this young many is in the wrong but for some reason unknown to me feels that it is okay to 1. blame me for his slackness and 2. think he can scare me.  Well, no sir he can't, unfortunate for that young man he didn't know who he was emailing.  Geez, when did bullying, let's call what he is trying to do what it is, become so wide spread that students feel it's okay to do to a professor?!?!?! 

So I'm now wondering if this is simply this guy just completely tripping or are individuals of his generation (20 and under) under the impression that they are entitled to get what they want when they want with complete disregard for others, tact, or personal responsibility. 

And please don't get me started on all the grammatical and spelling errors in this guy's emails.  So here he is trying to be all big and bad and doesn't even know how to properly write an email (think no address to me, no formal sentences, no capital letters, apparently no spell check on his computer and no closing).  Where are our children headed, how did they get here and how do we bring them back?!?!

That's the end of my rant for today, but if you have any experiences or thoughts relevant to this topic please do share in the comments section.

Tootles for now.......

Latest DIY

Hey there lovelies~

I just finished, literally like 20 minutes ago, my latest DIY sewing project.  I decided to make a skirt using instructions from this youtube video.  Overall, I am super pleased with the results.  I found this fabric at JoAnn's Fabrics in the clearance seasonal fabric section, and I already had elastic at home.  This skirt was super easy to make!  All you need is fabric (I bought 1yard 10" since it was the end of the roll and this turned out to be a just about perfect amount), elastic, the usual sewing utensils like scissors and thread, and about 5-10minutes.  I really like how this skirt falls, it has a bit of pleat to it at the top, but nothing extravagant. 

And since paisley is my all time favorite pattern, I was very happy to find fabric with paisley on it!

You of course can make this skirt any length, but I like the long length especially because now I can wear it at waist height, pull it up as a high waisted skirt or wear it as a dress without it being too short!

So for anyone thinking of taking on a DIY sewing project this one is highly recommended.  One caution I would give is to be sure that you measure the elastic correctly.  I unfortunately measured a little too freely and the skirt is a smidge big, but nothing that a cute belt can't fix :-)  I'm sooooo excited for Spring to come so that I can start wearing all of my new creations (think one more item checked off on thirty before thirty list :-).  My next planned DIY sewing projects include cloth napkins, a maxi-dress, a shirt and a shirt dress.

So, how have you spent your weekend thus far?  

Tootles for now!     

Hump day happiness

Here we go.....

1.  God woke us up this morning just because of His grace

2.  Jillian got into her number one pick for med school!

3.  I bought new fabric today to make a maxi skirt

4. It is so beautiful outside (I even opened the sun roof on the way home)

5.  I bought groceries Monday ( I love food )

6.  I'm feeling inspired to be awesome

7. I found a semi close place to get my iPad screen repaired ( so starting probably tomorrow no word games for a couple of days)

8.  I hung out with Erica this weekend

9. Rima is spending the night out Friday (I also love Mommy time, maybe I'll go on a date)

10.  Spring is on the way ( can you tell I am ready for warm weather? Yeah, mainly to wear dresses/skirts I have made :-)

That's it for today. You know the drill, leave your happiness in the comments section.

Tootles for now.....

New hair challenge.....and the results are......

Image source

For those of you who read about my latest hair challenge I wanted to update you on how that went.  Yeah, I failed.  I made it until about 2:00pm before I started touching my hair.  If at first you don't succeed try, try agin.  So, I'm going to try my challenge again on Sunday.  

Did anyone else try the hair challenge?  If so, let me know how that went for you.  

Tootles for now........