Edition 1: Fashion Friday

Is there anything more fun than partaking in blog parties? Well, maybe. But not today! While in the shower this morning-- it's where I do my best thinking, you know-- I realized that today would be my day. Check out Big Mama who started the greatness that is Fashion Friday.

Now, please realize that I do not consider myself "fashionable" by any stretch of the imagination. I would wear jeans, a white tee, and a scarf every stinkin' day if I could, but I can't. People would think I'm weird. However, I do think that I have a good sense of what just looks bad/ tacky. I mean, those girls on the dating shows on MTV and VH1-- bad, gross, tacky, ew. Either they're wearing basically nothing or it's a Gap striped shirt circa 1997. And don't ask me how I know what they wear. I won't tell you.

BUT, today, I want to talk about something very near and dear to my heart. Shoes. I love shoes. If you've been to my house, you can see that I love shoes. Flats, boots, heals, (What is the proper spelling of "heal/heel" here?), I love them all. And today, I am going to tell you about one of the best shoes of all time: the clog.

Yes. I said it. Clog and best in the same sentence. The horror!

But... I love them. I really, really do. I have since way back when they were actually cool (were they ever actually cool?). They are more comfortable than bare feet when they are broken in and loved. I have had a pair of these Birkenstocks (I also have them in black, dark brown, and pink-- yes, pink) since my freshman year of college. I. Love. Them. They are comfy and they feel like a second skin. Yes, they are stained after years of love and no, they are most certainly not the cutest shoe in the world, but I wear them proudly. Oh, and they are also gender non-specific, which makes them even better a little questionable. I think the pink are a little gender specific, but hey, I don't judge. In my defense, I choose to wear my Birkies to school (where I don't care what I look like) and if I'm going super casual. Not to, say, go out for a nice dinner at the Melting Pot, which by the way, I would love, Tyler random friends who would love to bless me with a gift card.

These are not the only clogs I own, which might make me a little more pathetic awesome. I also own two pairs of infamous Crocs. Let me make it clear, though. I own a regular pair and fleece lined regular pair. They look just like this:
My fleece ones are just as lovely. Here they are!

There is certainly Crocquitte (Do you see that I combined Croc & etiquette? Oh man, I crack myself UP!). This summer, while in Boston with my sweet man, I happened to see a young woman who was very attractive. However, she was doing everything within her power to make herself as unattractive as possible. She was wearing a rather ill-fitted bright purple tee (FYI, I have nothing against purple-- love it, actually) and bright red Crocs. Take a moment and let the full weight of that statement sink into your brain. Oh, it was painful. A pair of tennis shoes would have been better (maybe some cute Pumas for walking around and seeing the sights). But this outfit took my breath away. Please, for the love of all that is holy, don't wear your Crocs unless you are gardening or in jean shorts and a tee and just hanging around. I wore mine TONS when I nannied last summer and we were going to the pool everyday. They are very easy to slip on and off and you can wash them in the DISHWASHER! How cool is that?!

The fleece Crocs are obviously more appropriate for winter, but please, do not wear them in lieu of a cute pair of boots. I'm talking about more casual days with a skinny jean or with a cuffed leg. I mostly wear my fleece Crocs when I have to run down and do laundry or with a pair of jeans and a hoodie. I also have committed the ultimate fashion faux pas of wearing them with my yoga capri pants to and from my Vinyasa class, but that's only because no one sees me except Jennifer and we have bare feet in class. Why bother with tying and untying tennis shoes? However, we did go to Panera after class a few weeks ago and I'm sure someone else in the world is writing in their blog about the girl they saw with yoga pants and fleece lined Crocs in Panera.

In those situations, when you just can't help it, if you're sick and you need to go out and you just want to be comfy and you don't care what you look like, then I say to you-- confidence, girlfriend! Who cares! You can wear anything with confidence unless you look like a hoochie.

But please... no Crocs or Birkies with dresses. Definitely never okay. Now you know.

Blue Hands

I can't believe I haven't posted on this sooner, but better late than never, right?? Some of you sweet things have been praying for me ever since I posted about my hands turning blue. So, if you were one of those, THANK YOU! The Lord has been so faithful!

They tested me for lots of things but primarily for rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. The arthritis test came back negative right away, hallelujah! However, my lupus test was not conclusive at first. After a few days, though, it was shown to be negative as well! Praise be to our glorious God who heals us!

The doctors did put me on medication to widen my veins for awhile. I finished the medicine last night, so the next step is to watch to see if my blue skin returns. I have to say, I giggle a little when I write blue skin. :) I have been experiencing some pain in my left hand, which was the bluer of the two. I will be keeping an eye on them and we'll see what happens!

Thanks again for your concern! Keep praying!!!

Lots of love.

Back Again.

It's Not Me! Monday and I refuse to not participate any longer. I am making myself sit down and write this today if it kills me. I miss blogging profusely and I miss seeing your comments. So, in order to make a comeback to my poor blog, I am going to give you a short (but well worth it, I hope) Not Me! Monday post. MckMama is so great at doing these and I have missed out on the fun. And even if you aren't interested in reading hundreds of Not Me! posts from around the world, go on over to My Charming Kids and check out her precious bunch. I promise-- you will NOT be sorry. And if you can't figure out how to click on one of my FOUR links to her site, well, then... sorry. Here goes...

I did not make three of my students cry on Friday. I did not have the audacity to change the colors of two of those three because they didn't understand the meaning of "BE QUIET". And, seeing as though it is a classroom policy to follow the rules, they most certainly did not cry as a result of the color change.

The other cryer most certainly did not cry because I made him write his REAL middle name on an assignment and not his FAKE middle name, which would be Orange, in case you were wondering. He did not insist that his middle name WAS Orange, causing me to wonder if he really thinks it is or that he believes his teacher is really gullible. I'm still not sure.

I did not cry myself on Friday in front of my kids because I was so tired and I just wanted them to be quiet. I also did not cry again while reading them The Other Side, which is one of my favorite children's books. One of my students did not say, "Who's getting the tissue for her this time?"

I did not cheer wildly when Heath Ledger won his "Best Supporting Actor Oscar" last night. I also did not tear up when they were talking about him and then announced his name. Oh, man. Heath. What a guy. And please, no Brokeback Mountain comments. I know, I know. We all make mistakes. Give the dead guy a break.

I also did not choose to be a little bit bitter again last night at Tyler for throwing away my commemorative Heath Leger issue of People when last night would have been a great excuse to pull it back out and read it for the 1,348th time. Ugh. Why would you throw that away? WHY? Okay, gotta get over that.

I have not already lost 10 pounds. I am not pretty thrilled about this. I do not have 15 more to go before I am at my goal weight.

I do not absolutely love, Love, LOVE my new Smartboard. If you don't know what that is, I would encourage you to look it up. You can even click on the super easy link I put right above. Basically, it's an interactive whiteboard and I am obsessed. It blows my mind.

And finally, when Dana and Malia came for a visit last week, the woman who cleans my classroom did not stop and TOUCH Malia with her RUBBER GLOVES that had been used for cleaning an ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM (I'm big into capital letters today; have you noticed?). Oh. My. Glory. Dana and I did not just about flip out when she left. I mean, who does that? Ew. EW. EW.

Okay, that wasn't as short as I thought. But it sure was fun. Let's hope for no tears in 3B today. I'll keep you posted.