Happy Monday!

So I did nothing this weekend.  And it was amazing.  I scraped myself off the couch to go to church on Sunday and accompanied my parents to Lowes for an hour or so... and that was it.  It was glorious.  So what's in store for this week?

Well, today I worked.  It was supposed to be a morning only half day and it turned into all day in a completely different position.  Tomorrow I work in a different school district and have rehearsal in the evening.  Wednesday... half day afternoon and evening rehearsal... I am waiting to hear about a potential job for Thursday/Friday so I've been turning down other offers.  I would only do this for this particular teacher so here is hoping the job comes through.

My mom's birthday is Friday and I have to come up with something to give her.  I keep going back and forth between about five different ideas... and I still cannot make a decision.  Ah well.  I'll decide eventually.  If not, well, gift cards work I guess?

My iPod is dying so I will be portioning off part of my next paycheck to buy a new one.  I don't particularly want to shell out the cash but my ipod died for two days and I almost cried.  Seriously.  Especially since it died the weekend I had to drive to Rehoboth three times.  Since said iPod touch was given to me at no cost at all, I can't complain over much about its death.  The up side of getting a new one is that the new iPod touch is fancier.  Mine is older without a camera and that fancy stuff.  The new one will be able to shoot video.  in HD.  I'm excited to get this new toy, though I am not excited about the money I will have to part with to purchase it.

Blargh.  Hope everyone has a great week.  I need to run off to go pack my lunch so that I don't get stuck eating cafeteria food again.

Love, peace, and chicken grease,

Ten Things I Can't Live Without

So I thought, in an effort to come up with some content for my blog, that I would try doing some top ten posts.  So here you go.  Ten things I cannot live without.

1.  Jesus
Seriously, y'all.  I am a very screwed up person on about 1,000 levels.  It is wonderful to know that no matter how many times I screw up in a thousand different ways that he loves me enough that he died for me. That is a powerful, powerful thing to know.

2.  Coffee
Coffee is my drug of choice.  I drink far too much of it but I don't care.  I LOVE coffee.  Good coffee, fancy coffee, plain coffee, even bad coffee is better than no coffee

3.  My Mama
Aside from the literal "I wouldn't be alive with my mother having given birth to me" thing, my mom is one of my favorite people on earth.  She has made me who I am today and I look an awful lot like her as well.  I have no idea what I will do with myself when she dies.  My mama is a brave, strong, faithful woman of God who is living with terminal lung cancer but that doesn't mean she has given up on her life.

4.  My Kindle
That little device is almost constantly by my side.  I have a regular kindle, not the fire or anything fancy like that because honestly?  I just wanted it to be able to read, not play angry birds.  I scour the "Top 100 Free" list on amazon almost every day so that I can download free books of varying genres and qualities.

5.  Dairy Products
If I ever turn out to be lactose intolerant, I will cry endlessly until I die from dehydration.  My two favorite foods are ice cream and cheese.  I eat too much of both.  As a singer, I'm supposed to avoid dairy like it is satan incarnate and I just can't do it.  I now use almond milk on my cereal because it has fewer calories and more calcium for this calcium deficient girl but some how I don't think I want to try almond milk cheese.  That sounds DISGUSTING.

6.  Flip Flops
I have always been a bare foot kind of a girl, traipsing about in the grass without shoes early in march and on into October.  Alas, now that I am 23, this is much less acceptable and I am expected to protect my tender soles and thus wear shoes.  This is one of the reasons I am frequently mistaken for a teenager; when I am not working I tend to wear jeans, flip flops, and a tee shirt.  Usually without make up unless I'm trying to impress someone because I'm lazy like that (and also because my skin/eyes hate make up in most forms).

7.  Netflix
So the reason I subscribed to Netflix in the first place is kind of embarrassing:  I wanted premium currency in mob wars and they had an offer for said cash with a Netflix trial.  I signed up and never looked back.  It fuels my addiction to SVU and Bones and My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (yes, I watch My Little Pony like a small child).

8.  Liquid eyeliner
Like most women, I have gone through some seriously questionable make up phases.  I also just got done telling you that I don't wear make up when I don't have to.  Still true but when I do, I have an addiction to black liquid eye liner.  I've been trying out various brands, hoping that I can find one of the "marker" varieties that will actually adhere over my eye shadow but alas, not so much.  I think I have four different tubes in my make up bag right now.

9.  My pillow
I have a memory foam pillow that I love.  It's kind of funny when people pick it up for the first time.  Reaction 1 is usually "ooh! squishy!"  Reaction 2 is usually "OMG heavy!"  It weighs about 50 pounds... and by 50 I mean about 10 but still that is one beast of a pillow.  I think it would win in any pillow fight.  For serious.

10.  Music
I know that is far to general but this is my list not yours.  I need my ipod and also my own ability to hum/sing whenever I so desire.  Seriously.  I will sing and walk around the house.  Music is my friend and I think part of me would die if I didn't have music.

So there you have it.  Ten things I can't live without.

Impatience, my life, and why teachers are really cool

So I am not a particularly patient person.  I hate to wait on things, especially important things, like for example, waiting to hear back after submitting a 1 million page job application.  Or waiting for the latest ana white momplex update (I'm an addict.  It's pretty ridiculous).  Some say anticipation is a good thing.  I say anticipation is for people who have more time on their hands than I do.  Even in the mornings, I am not good at waiting for it to be time to go to work.  Yes, I am a nut case.  What else is new?

So what is new in the life of Caitlin?  Whelp, I had Wednesday off and basically slept it away, Thursday I worked half day AM teaching middle school and today I taught half day PM for chorus.  At least it was a music class though it was admittedly challenging.  Adolescence is challenging time in one's life, especially in high school, I think.  At this point, these children's physical maturity exceeds their mental and emotional maturity.  They look and often feel like adults but their heads haven't quite caught up with their bodies.  Case in point?  Teenagers storming out of class because they didn't like me.  Yeah.  It happens.  I have to remind myself to not take it personally; very rarely is it specifically me (though admittedly I have had some  times where a student and I just didn't mesh).

The more I work as a sub, the more I admire the teachers who do this full time.  I've had classes that I loved and wanted to see every dingle day and I've had classes that I've been ready to abandon by lunch time.  Some times, there is just a bad mix of kids.  In addition to the day to day process of teaching and managing behavior within the classroom, there are 900 other things to do.  Meetings, committees, training, continuing education.  It's a lot.  I spend a lot of time filling in for these teachers while they are doing training and such.  Teachers must constantly be monitoring their students to make sure they are learning as they are supposed to and make sure they are exhibiting normal social development and bear no markers of abuse.  It is a lot of responsibility.

I really enjoy the actual teaching aspect of teaching and participating in a learning environment  The look in a student's eyes when he or she finally understands something is fantastic.  It's the other crap I dislike  I want to teach higher ed music and voice lessons.  That's not to say there isn't any administrative bull crap that goes along with it but it is a completely different environment inside the classroom.  It's different when students have to decide to take your class, not be thrown into it by a guidance counselor.

So... if my goal is to be a college music professor/voice teacher I should maybe do something about it.  I'm trying to get my ducks in a row for graduate school applications but often times that is easier said than done. Wish me luck?

I cannot stop gazing at the gorgeousness that is my new blog design.  Seriously.  It's fantastic and I adore it.  Thank you Hubby Jack for your mad skillz.  It looks WAAAAAAAY better than anything I could've come up with.

So yesterday was one of the few days that I worked at the high school and didn't want to strangle something afterward.  The reason? I really didn't have to do much and I still get paid my full days wages.  No complaints here.  Also, I didn't have rehearsal last night (which makes me kind of sad, actually...) so I was home last night to watch NCIS... and then promptly fell asleep around 8 PM and got up at 8 this morning.  Seriously.  I think I needed the sleep or something.

Tonight I will be running off to go to rehearsal for Rehoboth Concert band where I play the French horn.  My friends that I usually go with are not going so I think I might take myself out on a dinner date.  I have been craving Mexican for WEEKS.  Oh my gosh do I want Chile Rellenos.  And guacamole.  Yes.  It is a date.

I am not one of those people who is afraid of doing things by herself.  I have no problem with solo trips to the movies or to dinner or out shopping.  I think that's the whole introverted thing.  I like time to myself and doing things independently.  I don't shy away from that.  Being single doesn't mean that I am unhappy and need to wait for a man to take me out on the town.  Or friends for that matter since I keep old lady hours most of the time and most people my age don't.

Whatever.  I've never been a "normal" girl.  Case in point:  for my day off, I have done nothing except watch HGTV/TLC and read.  I had a list of things to do today and suddenly I'm just all "meh.  maybe I'll be a good girl... maybe I won't."  Yeah.  I knew I was boring anyway.

So there you have it.  The rantings and ramblings of the day as I debate what in the world to consume for lunch, especially since I skipped breakfast...

Love, peace, and chicken grease,
Caitlin

Opera, my life's calling, and my geriatric dachshund

So I sing with a group called the Southern Delaware Choral Society and this past weekend has been our spring concert weekend.  To my extreme excitement, we did "Opera's Greatest Hits" which is pretty awesome sauce for me because I love opera.  It's not a lot of people's cup of tea but it so is mine.  I love opera so much, I went to school to study it.  Enjoy this old video of me singing a fancy pants aria while recovering from pneumonia:  Che faro senza Euridice

For as long as I can remember, my life has been about singing (hence songbird takes flight, in case you were wondering).  I have sang in church since I was four and I loved it but when I started singing classical music, specifically opera, I really came alive.  I am an ok pop singer, I'm a great classical singer.

It's been an interesting week for me musically.  It started Tuesday night when I stopped at Walgreens on my way home from rehearsal because I needed red lipstick for this concert (that I bought four kinds in an attempt to find one that doesn't look orange on me is beside the point).  The cashier was someone I knew in high school (vaguely) and the first thing he remembered about me was that I sing.  In fact he remembered that before he remembered my actual name (he called me Katie.  Close but no cigar).  I guess that says something about me and the track my life has been on.

With the whole graduating from college, moving back home, and working full time thing, my performing has kind of gone by the way side.  I sing a lot, obviously, but not as a classical soloist.  For this opera concert, I got to do some acting bits as a flirtatious gypsy girl.  Twice.  As one of two women in the entire chorus under the age of 30 (possibly the age of 40.  I thought it would be rude to ask though) I am automatically the person to do the roll of the "pretty young thing" if it comes up.  I wish I had video to show you of my on stage flirting endeavours but alas and alack.  Me and my seductive red lipstick flirted with two hot guys banging on an anvil in one number, and a bull fighter in another.  It was fun to pretend, offering my most sultry smile and getting to squeeze an extremely hot guy's bicep before he and another gentleman fight for my affections.  An extremely talented baritone also got all up in my business for a brief moment for the Toreador aria and chorus (though I would have admittedly enjoyed getting all up in the business of one of those anvil guys more...).

This is especially fun for me to play because there isn't a seductive bone in my body.  I am a good little Christian girl with good little Christian girl morals and no intentions of changing that.  I am told I am extremely flirtatious but I don't do it on purpose (usually).  The other ladies in the chorus were encouraging me to go for one of the hot anvil guys and I attempted flirtation until I realized he had a girlfriend.  Poo.

Speaking of poo (I know, what a seque, right?), on to my geriatric dachshund.  The poor thing will be fourteen on May 1st which is quite old for any dog and he had developed some issues with his digestion.  That is beside the point.  The point is that I am owned by an eleven pound, stone deaf, bossy, needy, little dachshund.  In fact my whole family is and has been for the last (almost) 14 years.  We got him as a puppy when I was still in grade school and now here I am, all gradu-ma-tated from college and stuffs and still owned by this little dog.

I mean, how can you possibly resist this face?  

Notice I said owned by.  I'm not entirely sure you can own a dachshund; a dachshund owns you and most people I know who are lovers of the breed will agree.  There is just something about weiner dogs and their personalities that leave little to conclude other than that you belong to them.  And not the other way around, no sir.  He is a spoiled ROTTEN little pooch who for a time, even had my mother cooking his meals for him.  That's right, she was a dog chef.  But when you look at these pictures, you'll know why there was no resisting.

Do you really need to bring the camera out here?  I was having fun exploring!

Now put that down.  You could be doing other things.  Like feeding me.  

*huff* If you insist, I will do the "staring off into the sunset" pose you seem to like so much.   

I give up.  I'm taking a nap now.  

And there you have it, the face that launched a thousand ships.  I mean... the face that demands treats with regularity.

Doctor Who, job applications, and my pants

So I kind of gave away the contents of this post in the subject line.  Oops?  I imagine you will survive.  Or possibly just not read the post because you are probably convinced that I am a wack-a-doodle...

...In which case you would be right.

So.  Doctor Who.  For those who don't know, I'm mildly obsessed.  My ex-boyfriend and I used to watch it all the time.  In fact, those evening watching it on the couch were kind of how we got together.  Beside the point though.  I'll not get into everything about the series and my love for it (fangirlfangirlfangirlfangirlfangirl).  For those who don't watch it, the show is about an alien who flies around in his time machine and having adventures.  Sometimes he sees beautiful things and sometimes he sees ugly things.  He spends an awful lot of time in modern day London as well...  Anyway, one of the ugly things he encounters is a nasty piece of work called the silence who you forget immediately after seeing.  The characters in the show marked themselves with tally marks whenever they saw one to remind themselves.  In the halls where I am working this week are pictures of people with what looked like tally marks at first glance.  This was where my brain went:

Thought #1:  OMG silence!  They have worked Doctor Who into the curriculum!

Thought #2:  Is Doctor Who really appropriate for a school subject?

Thought #3:  ...Those aren't tally marks, are they? This has nothing to do with Doctor Who...

Speaking of work, I am applying for a new job.  If you haven't read about it before, I'm a substitute teacher. I'm applying for something a bit more steady.  Here is hoping I get it, especially after having to track down my high school diploma.  I am a college graduate and can easily produce that diploma and my official transcript from that, but they need separate proof that I did, in fact, graduate from high school in the form of my high school diploma.  It took an hour and a half of my mother and I searching to find the darn thing in my grade school memory box.  Yeah.

And on to my pants...

Problem #1:  I have lost approximately 35 pounds since September.  I still have a lot to love and want to keep going, but 35 pounds in and problems have been arising.  Or shall I say falling.  Yes, that's right folks, my pants are so big that I have one pair that will fall off.  So I have had to buy new pants.  I have been very moderate in my new purchases because this is one stop on the road to weightloss, not an ultimate goal.  Still, in the last few months, I have bought five pairs of pants.

Problem #2:  I am 5'2" with good posture.  Even for being 5'2" I have short legs so even short or petite pants are too long so every pair of pants I ever buy has to be hemmed.  In the chaos of life, My hemming pile definitely grew.  As did my alterations pile because despite those 35 lbs being missing, I still have a huge butt and a (comparatively) tiny waist.  So...

Problem #3:  Half the pants I buy also have to be taken in at the waist.

I'm sure you are all sobbing for me now with my whole sad story of needing to take in my pants.  Thankfully, I know how to do it and have done a few pairs already so I don't have to pay someone else to do it for me.  So I turn on an episode of Law and Order: SVU on netflix, grab the seam ripper and go to town.  Carefully.

Bonus Topic:  I am singing in a concert this weekend.  I have two (very brief) dramatic roles within the show where I play a seductive gypsy girl.  For that mojo, I decided I needed brazen hussy red lipstick.  That was no easy task.  I bought four different shades in an effort to find one that doesn't look orange on me.  I'm not entirely sure I succeeded but it will have to do.

So that's my ramble for the day.  Hope you enjoyed the fact that I'm a random weirdo.

I'm Still Waiting For... You to be the One I'm Waiting For

Happy Thursday blog land!  If you're like me, you may be currently contemplating becoming one with your sofa.  Whew.

So a good blogger would have a wonderful recipe or tutorial for your perusal right now.  Perhaps something spring themed.  Has it been as hot wherever you are as it is in Southern Delaware?  It's been in the 80s!  In April!  Anyway, I'm not a "good" blogger.  I don't have a tutorial.  Or a recipe.  I only have my normal sarcastic self.  And snot.  I have lots of snot right now.

Spring is here...  The flowers are blooming...  Love is in the air.  Oh wait!  I think that's actually pollen in the air...

I am currently cursing anyone out there who does not have allergies.  I kind of want to be you right now because I am coughing like a 90 year old chain smoker most of the time.  It's not cute.  My sinuses are reminding me that it's been four years since I last experienced a Sussex County Spring and they would like to go back to Pennsylvania thankyouverymuch.  Shut up sinuses.  I will not bow to your will!

So what else have I been up to?  Um, well... I am teaching and applying for a new job for summer/fall.  Maybe more on that later but probably not.  Privacy policies and what not.  I am also rehearsing, rehearsing, rehearsing.  For what you may ask?  It depends on the day of the week.  On Sundays I sing a church, Tuesday is Choral Society (with a fast approaching concert), Wednesday is Rehoboth Concert Band where I honk on the French horn, and Thursday is Bells.  I am musically busy.

I'm also writing again.  A novel as opposed to a blog.  I'm working on another cheesy Christian novel that is in the same universe as my NaNoWriMo but is not in fact a sequel.  Speaking of that... I should probably edit it at some point.  But I want to be able to publish it with one of those "If you enjoyed this novel, read this sample chapter of the other book" things.  To shamelessly plug my own work.

So there you go, a dose of snerk and spring from me.  Love, peace, and chicken grease,

P.S.  Bonus points for anyone who can name the song from the post title