I love the dance outfit, Kat! That skirt and top are so romantic! The lace trimming, ahhhhh I love it!

For the housewarming, yes, there will be lots of food :D we have three different kinds of potato chips, mochi-fashioned sweets and small muffins for snacks. Gonna get some breadsticks and call it a day. And for actual food later on husband is making a Thai noodle soup. First he told me he'd make the soup and two types of sandwiches, and I told him I don't think all of that is necessary, especially with us serving up plenty of snacks! The plan has still become to make two soup variants though, one spicy and one for the faint of heart. I was sold on that easy because more soup = more good. I'm genuinely a big fan of a hearty soup!

And we did do a lot of cleaning today, which I do appreciate the impetus of people coming over to clean up, I do often need that as motivation as well. The place looks so nice now!

Did plenty of Major Drills quests today - he had me do SO MANY pulls on the slot machine! - and the most expensive thing he offered went straight into my wardrobe! I love a bright hair color, and am aiming towards that full wardrobe achievement. Once I got that I'll weed out the wardrobe of things I definitely don't like, because I know there's some. I've seen people do free shops or discount shops to clear out the wardrobe, and that seems like fun! A lot of work too, but fun, haha.

It's late for me, I'll be heading to bed soon! Feeling sleepy after a full Friday of work, doctor's appointment, cleaning. I'll be sleeping well tonight for sure.

That sounds very fun!

Honestly, I'm not even sure I know 12 people i'm not related to to invite haha.

I.. didn't do ANY quests today. Did my dailies, at least!

Then I laid down to read and immediately fell into a death nap. You know those naps that don't sneak up on you, just.. wallop you over the head with the knowledge that you WILL be napping, no matter what you think? And then you wake up and you're like WTF just happened? Well, that kind of nap, for at least a full hour.

And I think I'll still be sound asleep by 8:30.. at least by 9!

I feel half dead lately, I just don't know what it is.

I ALSO love a bright hair color! Well.. any bright colors, really :P

Sleep well, everyone!

Thanks!! This top and skirt are from L'Amour Parlor if I remember right, and there is like 5-6 different colors of them!! I like to wear them for the masquerade. I had a lot of fun at the dance. I wasn't sure if I'd stay a long while or just a little while, depended on how things went. I ended up stepping up and manning the drink station, no one was there when the girls and dads came in, and then when the teachers DID come in, they chitchatted so much and didn't fill the cups!!! Then we ran out of cups, so one of them ran to get more cups and then those ran out, and the principal dug out another package from somewhere but then we were DONE. No more cups. Four or five more bottles of juice LOL oh well. I moved down to the cupcakes and cookies area after the cups ran out,and sat down for the rest of the night with the art teacher and passed out cupcakes. Then I helped clean up the leftover snacks and left. I got to see all my girls who came, though one of them didn't see me, but I saw her sister and mom and told them to say hi for me. I got hugs and talked to all the others. ALL of our girls attended from our class (we have 10 girls). :)

Awww, that sounds so fun, Kat!

Guys, it's SO cold out. It's noon, and the temp is 1, feels like -21.. FARENHEIT.

So everyone keep your fingers crossed this wind doesn't kick our power out, please :P

Kat, the bare arms on your HA are making me cold :P

Oh my. What happened to my shirt LOL I'll go fix that. I had a white shirt on. I promise!! :P

I've been working on my lesson plans. I need to find some books to read, some phonics activities, and some large group literacy activities and check with my lead teacher if one activity is acceptable. Then once I insert those, I'll have 3 weeks done, and will begin working on the other one/two. (I'll have her decide if she's ok with two more weeks or just one more week of me teaching, I'm good either way - I have to have 3-5 weeks and figured at least 4).

I've printed them out, highlighted what I need to add, and oh yea, once I do that, I WILL have to go make sure the GELDS match. And I need to make a lesson plan/assessment for my 2nd lesson plan assignment, because I decided to do that on Fridays small group activities (I HOPE I can do it that way, I SHOULD check the assignment - eh - might do it my way anyway - do a whole group session to intro it and then small group it for assessments)

EDIT: Made Nathan take the trash out. Need to clean out the litter box and change the litter. I got a new crystal type litter (I LOVE the pretty litter but its SO expensive, this is similar but bigger crystals and half the cost, a little more smellier, but not as bad as regular litter or scoopable litter). Still gets tracked EVERYWHERE. I need to sweep out that room again. I had to put it back in the middle room because the dog discovered she can jump over the couch and get to the litter box if its in the LR sigh

I also put away clean dishes, including unloading the dishwasher, reloaded the dishwasher, set up a sinkful of things to soak for a bit, and started the washer for the first load (I have 2 I need to do). I also plan to vacuum my room at the very least and maybe yell at Nathan to do the LR vacuuming. But he goes to work in less than an hour now (its after 2 now as I edit this) so maybe I'll make him vacuum tomorrow.

[edit] 740am Feb 8th Ugh. Well the assignment IS for small groups, however its DUE before I planned to get to it. Guess I have to adjust my small group lessons. I might ask for a 1 week extension on it... The week its due I have OTHER specific small groups for Dr. Suess week...and the next week was just made up small groups....I dunno if its worth it to ask. I can skip a Dr. Suess activity and it not really matter after all. Eh. I dunno. I'll talk to my co-teacher first I guess and then maybe talk to my professor if we decide we want to stick to the Dr. Suess theme.

Also, I vacuumed the LR because I invited my neighbor over to play games and it was gross. I also wiped off the kitchen counters and table and swept the floor before she came over hahah! Today I am going to her house and watching the superbowl with her (I mostly watch the commercials lol I don't mind watching football, but its not my favorite thing).

Woah Kat, so productive! And I'm crossing my fingers for you, Mieke! May the power stay intact through the weather! I will also need to vacuum and wipe the floors (again), after all those people came through yesterday.

The Housewarming was successful and more fun than I expected. I think I got into my own head by worrying about not being "host-y" enough. It was fine! I don't feel anyone expected me to entertain them better than I did (I really don't do "entertaining" in that sense at all), and my cat even came out briefly and got some visitor pets (she's pretty skittish so that was a Minor Event haha).

And finally got around to doing a rollerskating-themed HA (only visible on Kumos, as per usual for me), pretty happy with it. NEEDED a helmet, I never put on skates without having on protection so ideally I would have had a full set on my HA as well, but I couldn't find that, so I'm happy I got a helmet. Hope everyone is able to get the most out of their Sunday <3

Ooooh, way to go Kat! That does sound quite productive!

And that's awesome! I've found the best way to be a host is to set everything up in advance.. and then let whatever happens happens. I hate it when people hover over me when I'm at their houses, like.. relax, person! So I'm glad your party went well, and everyone had fun! (including the cat!)

AND I like your rollerskating HA! Though it seems to me that a helmet with hard cat ears may hurt more, depending on how you fell.. but I share your love of protective gear!

Woke up this morning and made some banana muffins.. and then while I had the big oven on and heated up, whipped up some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies too. While everything was baking I scrubbed and cleaned the counters, taking everything off, etc. And took the knobs off the stove and cleaned that, too.

So at least I'm a little alive, today, unlike what I have been for the past week, it seems like :P

Both your HA's are very cute!! I can't say I've ever worn a helmet while rollerskating. Or biking. I made my kids wear them when biking in the road (but not in the yard). I used to be dragged behind my brother riding the bike, while wearing my skates, no helmets for either of us LOL We lived so dangerously!!

I am glad your housewarming went well! And yay for the kitty coming out for pets. I also tend to try and set stuff up ahead of time, but often I ended up cooking parts of the meal while the guests were here and that always made me felt left out of the party....Haven't really hosted anything big since Katie moved out honestly. Most of our hosting was her friends. Now, its just me having my neighbor over for games or a dinner now & then.

So far this morning, I've turned in my hours log for the week, my philosophy part 2 assignment, and made my comments to 3 peers discussion posts. All my currently due assignments. Done. And I've washed 1 sinkful of dishes, unloaded the dishwasher, reloaded it with last nights dirty dishes, and did a load of laundry. Realized I now have enough towels to wash too, so that will actually make 3 loads for me to wash. One load is done, need to get it out of the dryer and go toss my clothes in the dryer and start the towels and that will be the end, once the towels get dried. Still need to vacuum my bedroom.

I can only ride bikes on flat, straight surfaces.. so I don't especially always wear a helmet, because normally I'm just in my driveway going slower than Isabelle walks haha.

But I always make the kids wear them, because uh.. they actually go at a speed :P

It's cold af again today, high of 8.. we only hit 3 yesterday. Less windy though, at least!

Brrr! Its supposed to be warmer this week for us. Even up in the high 60s!! :o I hate this up/down temps. Its why I get sick, even though I try to keep myself temp regulated.

ugh. Just realized I still haven't changed the litter either. Another chore I HAVE to do. I am seriously thinking no more cats. I thought at first, only cats because I can leave them for a few days to go out of town and not have to worry....but honestly... I am tired of dealing with the litter box and keeping the dog away from it. So now I am thinking, maybe I'll just stick to SMALL dogs. Ones I can travel with. I mean, I CAN travel with Belle, I found that out when I took her to Katies for Thanksgiving. But a small dog would be easier. And I've always been a small dog person. Like, I love chihuahuas!! :P I do like cats too though. :) NO MORE animals right now though, just the two I have. And when they pass, thats when I'll decide what I want next. I mean, if I have no dog and only a cat, I don't have to worry about a dog getting in the litter box and can keep it wherever. And if I only do a small dog, well no litter box, but still poop in the dog pen to clean... so either way I'm cleaning poop LOL I thought for a bit I might end up with Dixie, the chihuahua/weenie dog Anna got for Shane back in October, but nothing came of it. I wouldn't mind that one. I can't take Daisy, she's too annoying with Belle, and much bigger than Dixie. I'd be happy to have Dixie but eh. Better not to have another dog anyway.

In the 60s! We're so excited, we're going to get above freezing (34!) maybe two days this week haha.

I'm SO jealous!

Can you maybe put the litter boxes up higher, like on a table or something, so the dogs don't bother them? At least for now?

No, I don't have any tables free for something like that. Its safe from Belle where it is, just in an annoying space. Its in the middle bedroom which is being used as a storage room. I'm just a little afraid the stink might get into the stuff stored in there. Its the baby crib/mattress, and holiday decorations (so think, pillows, stuffed animals, clothing, stockings)....I don't THINK the smell will, if I keep up with cleaning it, but I forget its in there until I smell it sometimes :P Her food is in the same room, just in the doorway, I had to put water there when I had Daisy because the cat wouldn't come out to the kitchen to drink from the big bowl - and now I just have her food and water there since I took down the cat towers - she never used them anyway anymore. She's 14 now. Still jumps around to get on furniture but not as much. SO I would rather her stuff was all on the ground anyway. Less jumping for the old lady.

It was 27 this morning. Plenty cold enough for me! :P Low tomorrow is 39 and in the 40s the rest of the week. Tuesday is supposed to be the warmest day.

That's definitely a part of pet ownership, dealing with poop! I don't mind it too much with one cat in the house, but I don't want to downplay it, I still do have to deal with poop. It's just something I accepted, and I would find it stressful if there was another animal in the house that would like to get to the litterbox for anything untoward. So I get that, Kat! I would say with most animals, the poop bothers me less if they're herbivores, but cats ARE my favorites, so I put up with their carnivore selfs instead.

And it's true this HA helmet is probably not coming with a safety certificate, but it DOES look cool, and my real helmet is safety certified for sure :'D I haven't ridden a bike in years! I think I could still do it, though. I'd wear a helmet too. Kids sometimes seem invincible, but I've had too many reminders of how easy it is to get a brain injury banging your head, and sometimes I am clumsy with that kind of thing. Banging my head standing up or getting into a car, ow. Better not risk it when going fast on wheels!

I love your new hair, Mieke! The red hearts in the light pink hair is so cute.

Oooh yeah, if she's old it'd definitely be better to have everything on the floor!

Kelly is only 8 or 9 so she's still pretty young.

These other two idiots though.. ugh. I let the two outside cats in because of the extreme cold, and now I remember why they're not allowed to live here. :/ Isabelle has been chasing them down all yesterday and today to clean up after them. They KNOW about litterboxes, just.. can't be bothered to use them most of the time. Even last night, when they were locked in the bathroom. >.<

And thanks, I love this hair, too! It's the

Yes. Poop is part of pet life. I wouldnt have dog poop to deal with if it wasn't for the dog pen. My big dog likes to run away, so she has to be tied up on the runner line or enclosed in a safe pen. The pen I currently have is set up to the back door, with the dog entry door against my back door, so that is her outside space. She used to be an outside dog, and stayed on the runner line, but now she's an inside dog and uses the pen. But yes. Poop clean up in the pen. On the runner line, I let it stay out there, ran it over with the lawn mower, whatever. Didn't bother me. Eventually it dissovled or whatever and fertilized the yard. But not in the pen where she can track it back inside, nope. That gets picked up. I used to be much better about the litter box when my desk was in the livingroom, because then I sat beside it a lot. Now that my desk is in my bedroom and the litter box is in the middle room, I forget to clean it daily...it will be every two or three days sometimes, or if she does a really stinky potty!

Ooof Mieke. That was my two outside dogs I had before. We got them, they had to be outside dogs because we were renting, but when we owned, we decided to try and bring them inside....and it didn't matter how many times or how long we walked them, they always just peed or pooped inside whenever they felt the urge, since that was what they were used to outside. Belle thankfully started as an inside dog, when she was a puppy so learned about asking to go outside to potty...so she does good now, even tho she was an outside dog for years.

See, these two were born outside.. we brought them in to try and clean up eye infections that they had, they did just fine using the litter boxes.. and then they just.. stopped. Wouldn't do it, once they weren't kittens anymore.

We tried everything, attractant, we had more than enough litter boxes, they got cleaned twice a day, they're not sick, I even tried feliway. They're just.. awful.

So that's how they ended up back outside (Fixed, though! And fed!)

There may just be something they didn't like about the litter box. Who knows!! Gosh all this pet talk has me thinking back about my pets over the years lol

They're just.. awful. Cinnamon is the bane of my existence haha. Toast isn't much better.

Isabelle loves them, though!

Kellly.. Kelly is the best. She's a brat, and she'll steal whatever she can, if possible. But she always uses the litter box, so.. I'll take it :P

Cinnamon Toast giggles I love it. You always have the most creative kitty cat names. Well except for Kelly. Thats just basic. She should have been Jelly or something hahahh :*

There was a third one, Sugar. She didn't make it :(

Kelly is named from a tumblr post haha. "No Kelly, that's illegal!" Because that was DEFINITELY her!