Halloween is the scariest holiday of the year

During my craft and fabric store adventures on Friday, I also stopped by the Halloween store next to Hobby Lobby.  I am always curious to see what kind of costumes are popular and see what the hot trends are this year.  As usual, and honestly as I expected, the costumes aimed at adult women almost all featured mini skirts, low cut tops (more often than not a bustier), and fishnet stockings.  I cannot figure out why a police officer or nurse would wear fishnet stockings but that's what they sell.  As much as the need for all women's Halloween costumes to be sexy pisses me off, that was not nearly as disturbing as my trip to the children's section.  

Amongst the racks of cheaply made princess dresses and the super hero costumes with the sculpted padded abs I found costumes that were far more disturbing to my sensibilities.  In addition to the fluffy princess dresses and the stereotypical ghost and pirate costumes were duplicates of the "sexy" womens' Halloween costumes.  

Some of you may be going, "What's the big deal?" but I hope most of you are just as appalled as I am.  Now let me explain the problem.  As an adult woman, I am expected to wear something like THIS or THIS in order to be "sexy" or "desirable."  Notice the micro-mini skirts and the ultra tight fit.  One reviewer on the sheriff costume said that even though she was petite (5'2" or so) the skirt was not long enough to cover her butt.  And this is decent to wear in public?  

Now let's take a look at THIS costume.  I would guess the age of the girl in the photo to be around 9 or 10.  She is dressed as a referee but certainly like no referee I have ever seen.  Notice the close fit of the top and most noticeable for me:  the hemline.  It's not much if any long than the skirts on the sheriff or taxi costumes.  Yet this costume is somehow appropriate for a 9 year old.  

This "Night Wing" Costume probably takes the cake for me though.  Notice the spandex top that is printed to look like a bustier.  Notice the skirt so short I would hedge my bets that it doesn't cover her butt in the back.  And notice the fine print that the leggings are not included so essential you're supposed to send your preteen daughter out in her underwear.  

I've blogged before about my commitment to purity.  That commitment is deeply personal and I don't look down on people for making different decisions but do pray to sweet Lord Jesus in heaven that being sexy is not on the priority list of your average preteen.  Maybe I'm old fashioned, but I like to think that the most valuable part of who I am is my mind and heart, not my body and I think we should be teaching young girls (and boys for that matter) the same thing.  The message that these costumes show, both the adult and children's versions, is that our bodies are the most important part of who we are and that showing as much skin as possible is how one is cute or pretty or whatever.  

A lot of this is probably semi-incoherent blathering so I'll give you my main point right here:  What kind of world do we live in where "sexy" is the standard for preteens?  I find it completely unacceptable and I hope you do too.  

Things I've been reading lately

So one of my little secrets is my love for Young Adult and children's fiction.  I just love it.  I don't care if the books are too easy or beneath my level; I enjoy them so I'm going to read them.  Recently, the Scholastic book fair came to our school.  Being the thoughtful and supportive teacher that I am, I took this as an opportunity to support our school by buying lots of books.  

I remember the joy of Book Fair time when I was in school.  The shiny metal shelves of the latest in kid's literary greatness, just waiting to be bought and read.  The stacks of kitten posters, the light up pens and funny erasers.  It was all paradise.  As an adult, I find myself ignoring the stacks of posters and the pretty pink books that I MUST HAVE BECAUSE THEY COME WITH A NECKLACE. This is to be expected as I am now an adult and the idea of a cheap star necklace that will turn my neck green is no longer appealing.  The books themselves are as tantalizing as ever however.  

Book and Image Found HERE

Think Hunger Games.  It is a dystopian world where citizens are broken down into five factions.  Each person chooses his or her faction and is forever separated from the other factions.  They are tested to see what group they belong in and for most it is crystal clear but for Beatrice it is not.  She is Divergent.  She chooses to abandon her family to join the Dauntless faction where she finds herself fighting to remain part of the group she has chosen.  There is some romance woven in but the story would still stand up without it.  She uncovers corruption and has to hide her true identity meanwhile fighting for what is right and learning that it is the combination of her traits that truly make her brave.  This is also becoming a movie that comes out 3/21/14 for which I am excited.  I need to get Book 2: Insurgent and devour that before Book 3 comes out in October. 

Book and Image found HERE

An unlikely friendship is formed between two teenagers passing notes back and forth in a tiny practice room they use.  They are brought together through music as both try to stand up to the pressure coming from all sides.  A friendship is formed, but their other friends and families don't understand.  When music is involved, beauty is created.  

Book and Image found HERE

The fourth and final installment in Lois Lowry's "The Giver" series.  So good.  SOOOO good.  All four books in the series can stand up on their own and be understood but the four in context creates a wonderful story.  Claire was once a member of the Society and gives birth to a son.  He is taken from her and she will go to the ends of the earth to find him.  She sacrifices nearly everything for him and in the end it is her son who must save her.  

Book and Image found HERE

A sci-fi cinderella story.  I'm actually still reading this one but I love it so far.  Cinder is a cyborg and a second class citizen.  Her adoptive step mother hates her and essentially sells her to get rid of her but all is not as it seems.  Cinder is the best mechanic in New Beijing, so good that even Prince Kai has heard of her skill and brings her a broken android with information that just might change Cinder's life.  I can hardly wait for the ending.  :) 

Book and Image found HERE

Azalea and her sisters love to dance more than just about anything else but when their mother dies on Christmas giving birth to their twelfth sister Lily, they are thrust into the world of mourning: no color, no light, no music, and especially no dancing.  Her father the king does not understand them and treats Azalea like a child.  She rebels, finding a hidden place in the castle guarded by a mysterious man called the Keeper where she and her sisters can go to dance at night.  As the year of mourning draws to a close, she may find that the keeper's price is too high.  Yet, through the love of her family and friends and Azalea's own stubbornness he will be defeated.  I don't want to give away all the plot twists so I will leave it at that.  

I love reading.  I did buy other books when I bought these and I'll probably post about them another time.  If you want to borrow these, let me know.  I'll give you the hook up.

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Gotta Get Down on Friday...

...Everybody's looking forward to the weekend.  Partying?  Not so much.  Tonight, I made a very exciting trip to Walmart to hit redbox and get hagan daas.  I watched Star Trek and ate sorbet and have soaked in the tub with a glass of Niagra and my book.  Mmmmm....  I feel so good right now.  

Tomorrow, I am going to a vocal workshop in Lewes.  I haven't done much with my voice lately so this is a nice change.  I hope to ask about how to preserve my voice when I find myself talking and shouting so much in my life as a teacher.  I was so exhausted, vocally and physically, on Tuesday night and I can't keep on like that.  Maybe if the kids behaved themselves I wouldn't have to yell?  Somehow I don't think this is a good long term plan...

After I return from this workshop, Mom and I are going to go shopping at Goodwill.  With the whole I'm-losing-weight thing, I almost perpetually need new clothing.  On Sunday I realized my leggings were too big.  As in sagging in the butt too big.  Enter today when I decided to wear tights with my skirt.  They were a new pair that I bought in the spring.  When I first put them on, all was fine but as the day drew on, I kept having to yank them up as they were sagging around the knees.  Not a look I was going for.  

I am at the point where people are suddenly realizing that I have, in fact, lost a lot of weight.  I am down two sizes in pants and three in dresses (well, depending on the cut.  I still have huge hips).  I used to use my hips as shelves for carrying things.  I can still do that but not as easily.  The other day I was carrying a cardboard box on my hip and had to stop every 30 seconds to adjust because it was digging into my hip bone.  Ouch.  I haven't had that problem before.  Don't get me wrong--I still have more padding than I would like but I am now wearing smaller clothes than I wore in high school, a very good feeling.  

It was a rough week at work for a lot of different reasons I won't get into here.  Frustrating as it has been, the people that I work with are amazing and I believe that we are all committed to making a positive impact on these kids' lives.  I am so thankful for the friends that I have made in work, both last year and this year.  

Sunday is church day.  I am digging my new Sunday school class and it is also a youth luncheon Sunday, which I will be helping with because apparently 8 hours a day five days a week is not enough time with kids for me.  Middle school kids have wormed their way into my heart.  Apparently this is the age group of my heart.  Go figure.  

After church, I need to make a run down to Salisbury to pick up a birthday gift for my brother.  And also starbucks.  and possibly Old Navy.  oh, and Michaels.  I haven't been to Michael's in FOREVER.  ...This is starting to sound expensive.  Probably not the best since I was a week to wait before I get a real paycheck...  One way or another, I will figure it out.  

Hopefully I'll get to do some sewing this weekend.  I've knocked out a new garment each weekend and it would be a shame to break the streak...  I'm sure there is something in my stash waiting to become gorgeous.  :)  

Entry in which I make fun of myself

So funny story.  I worked very hard to try to remember all the French I know and post signage in the room in French.  I made verb conjugation charts and tried very hard to remember basic classroom commands.  I didn't fully trust myself to remember it all so I looked a lot of it up to double check.  Unfortunately, despite those precautions, I seem to have made some mistakes.  The teacher I will be working with pointed a few of these out.  Another one occurred to me after she left.  

On the door to my room, I have a sign that says "Chambre 107, Mademoiselle Wasson, Classe francaise."  This is one I didn't look up.  I knew "chambre" is a word for room.  It was the sign about the bathroom that made me realize me error.  See, in France, and in a lot of Europe in fact, they have split bathrooms that would have the toilet in one room and the shower and sink in another.  So I was thinking about how the toilet room is called "la toilette" or "le W.C." and how the shower room is called "la salle de bains" which literally means room of baths.  Room of baths.  Salle=room.  Crap.  But I know chambre means room.  Some kind of room anyway.  So what does chambre mean?  

La chambre can mean a few different things.  It is an antiquated term for room in general, but it usually means "chambers" as in court chambers or the like... or it means bedroom.  Or hotel room.  So welcome to bedroom 107.  I'll need to make a new sign now.  It's not *technically* incorrect but "salle de classe 107" certainly has better implications.  

In other news, two weeks down.  Apparently I rock as a facilitator.  But we all know that I'm awesome anyway.  This year's staff is awesome.  And I'm here permanently which is like the best thing ever.  Because I'm not subbing and I have my own classroom.  

Outside of school, I am sewing whenever possible.  In fact, I am getting ready to go turn a pile of waiting fabric into a new dress.  And reading.  Lots of reading.  Which is why I haven't been blogging.  Oh well.  Enjoy this post and maybe I'll post something else... at some point. :)

Hello grown up job!

I have determined that I am somehow becoming old at 23.  Because the most exciting thing in my life right now is that I have a job that is SALARIED and has BENEFITS like VISION INSURANCE and a PENSION!!!  And I have to make the difficult decision as to whether or not to join the union.  What I am most excited for, honest to goodness, is to not be subbing any longer.  Yes.  I've never been *normal* so I suppose my excitement over the mundane is to be expected.  

One other wonderful, wonderful part of this job is connecting with nerds like myself.  I am at the school where I was a long term sub last year so I know a lot of the people I am working with and know the music nerds.  I kind of miss being a music teacher so I have an excuse to pose questions like "Who was the bigger jerk:  Shoenberg or Wagner?" and "Handel: Do we call him a German, English, or Italian composer?" and "Drumline: Worst thing to ever happen to marching bands, even after almost 11(!?) years?"  I still get to have conversations like that at times, but instead of teaching music... J'enseigne le français (I teach French).  

The nerdy conversations do not stop though.  Oh far from.  Because, madams et monsiers, I have met fellow Doctor Who nerds.  WHOVIANS OF THE WORLD UNITE!!!

*ahem*  

I honestly can't remember if I have blogged about my obsession with Doctor Who but I love it.  The Doctor is my dream man.  I'm waiting for the TARDIS to be outside my window to take me off to see the universe, the big scary universe.  Yesterday, I had what was possibly the nerdiest conversation ever with another teacher in the main office.  We were discussing theories about one of the Doctor's companions and the upcoming season and all kinds of other theories about the show.  She and her husband are both Whovians, as is one of the teachers I spent a lot of time with last year.  The next casual day, I fully intend to wear one of my Who tee shirts so I can smoke out any other Whovians.  And we will rule the school.  

Okay, nerd rant done.  Peace!

The best advice

I have been given a lot of advice through the years.  Some of it I have followed and some of it I haven't.  There are nuggets of wisdom I wish I hadn't ignored and other little pieces of "sage advice" I wish I had never listened to.  That being said, I think the most important thing that has been instilled in me is that you should dedicate your time and "play" money to things that you love.  I'm not saying that you can ignore your responsibilities and financial obligations in favor of spending all your time and money on your hobbies, to be certain, but life is too short to do things you hate just because you think you're supposed to do them.  So what kind of things do I love?  

Well, I love to sing.  So music takes up a lot of my free time.  I love to create.  I have spent a lot of time and money on sewing and crafting.  I also love spending time with friends and going on adventures.  Case in point:  this weekend I went to the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire with a group of friends and had an absolute BLAST.  So much fun.  I am one of THOSE people at the faire.  The ones in costume who run around with a lot of other people in costume.  When my friend Matt is there in his full knight get up, it gets even more awesome because half of the people there are convinced that with a band of costumed groupies as large as ours, we have to be part of the staff, right?  If only they knew... 

I was AWOL for most of last week because when I wasn't working, I was working on costume stuff for myself, Jackie, and Aaron so we could be the most awesomely awesome people there.  Seriously.  We rocked it.  

Look at us being all awesome and stuff!

That being said, I learned something important at the Faire:  my well made, steel boned bodice is not made for someone who is 5'2".  How do I know this?  Those steel bones that make me look oh-so-svelte in that image were stabbing me in the arm pit all flipping day and cut off the circulation to my arms at one point.  I must have worn it pulled farther down over my hips last time because Saturday I thought I was going to have blisters in my armpits.  Which is more than you wanted to know.  But I looked awesome.  So my next major-major sewing project will likely be a custom corset scaled properly for someone of my height.  And also reversible.  

Jackie and I capped off our journey to the past by staying over in a hotel in King of Prussia with the LOUDEST FLIPPING AIR CONDITIONER ON THE PLANET.  It was like a truck driving through our room every half an hour, waking us both up.  Oh well.  Breakfast, while delicious, was also populated by way too many children at the waffle maker, and consumed on a sticky table after a couple stole the table I had reserved by placing my coffee on it.  Apparently this was ineffectual.  Oh well.  

The shopping senses of most women were probably activated by the "King of Prussia" mention there.  Yes, the same place as the mall.  Yes, we went shopping.  I learned that in the year since I have been to KOP, both the H&M and the Forever21 have greatly expanded.  I also learned that my friend Aaron has killer fashion sense.  It was scary have a straight man go "yes, that would look great" and "no, you'll look really old in that.  Don't do it" and be right. EVERY. SINGLE.  TIME.  Like the dress HERE.  I tried one on very similar.  Aaron said "No.  That will make you look like a middle aged soccer mom.  Don't do it."  ...To say how I looked in that dress would be an insult to all soccer moms out there.  It was bad.  He was also right about a top I wasn't going to give the time of day.  It looked fantastic on me.  And he also told me flowers in my hair are a good look for me.  

Also involved in the weekend festivities was a trip to Godiva (YUM) and to IKEA where adventures were had.  I was exhausted upon arriving home last night.  Too much excitement in one day makes Caitlin a tired girl.  That being said, I wouldn't trade any of it, nor would I do a single thing differently (other than stay in a hotel that didn't have an extremely loud AC).  

This week marks the start of my new job which is both exciting and terrifying.  So sorry if I disappear again.  I promise, it's because I'm doing really cool stuff.

Blessings!

Puppy Love

A few months ago, I wrote a post about my dog.  I love that little dog like he were family because, quite honestly, he is part of our family.  Or more accurately I should say was.  Last Wednesday, we had Fonzie put to sleep.  

He was fourteen years old and has been happy and active for most of his life.  He has had terrible pooping problems though and when I took him to the vet earlier in the summer, we learned that he had a mass on his prostate that was cutting off his bowel and causing all of his pooping issues.  It seemed really dire at first, and in a lot of ways it was but he still seemed happy, though perhaps a little more stinky.  

He was all our dog, my parent's, mine, and my brother's.  We all loved him and none of us were ready to let go.  So as long as he was happy, we were happy with cleaning up after him.  But when he stopped eating and seemed to be lethargic and in physical pain, we knew.  Fonzie has always been a voracious eater, and while he has gotten pickier with age, when offer food he loves like cooked chicken or bacon or french fries, he would consume them as eagerly as ever.  Until this weekend when he stopped eating and threw up the very little he did manage to eat.  Not a good sign.  

We took him to the vet, hoping for some kind of alternative but knowing that was unlikely.  I think the vet knew as well, almost as soon as he saw Fonzie, who normally does his level best to get as far away from the vet as possible sitting docilely on a blanket atop the exam table.  After a time to say good bye to the little dog we loved so much, the vet gave him a shot and he breathed his last. 

I've been trying for more than a week to write this post, to explain what losing this dog has meant to me.  When a human dies, you write a list of their accomplishments and who they are leaving behind.  But what does a dog accomplish in his lifetime?  He didn't rescue people from burning buildings or bark at an intruder to wake us up.  He was just our family pet, and his job was to love us, which he did faithfully to his last.  

In his younger years, Fonzie was a great source of entertainment.  When he was excited, he would run around the first floor of the house, ears flapping and nails skittering, only to stop on a dime in front of you.  If you moved, he'd turn around and run the opposite direction.  This could go on for several minutes before Fonzie would either allow you to pet him or would decide he was tired of it and hop up on the couch.  

One of Fonzie's favorite toys was a good ol' tennis ball, though perhaps his game wasn't the most traditional.  He would bid you to throw the ball and then proceed to knock it under the sofa or other piece of furniture where he couldn't reach it on his own.  Then he would cry until you got it and threw it again, at which point he would repeat the whole process until either he or the human was tired of it.  

He loved to take walks... in theory.  Once you got more than about 100 yards from home, suddenly he had to rethink the whole idea.  He was also not a big fan of being in the car, unless we were going to the cottage.  Fonzie LOVED the cottage.  He would get super excited as soon as he realized we were driving into the neighborhood.  

Fonzie loved all of us.  In recent years, He has done the rounds between all of our beds at night, starting with my parents and visiting myself and my brother throughout the night.  I think he didn't want any of us to feel lonely.  When any of us were sick, Fonzie was always there playing nurse, including and especially when Mom has been sick and recovering from chemo.  

There are a thousand little ways he was loved us and we have loved him.  I would share all of them but I think that would take a novel.  I miss my little doggie and he will always be a sweet memory and a part of my life.  

Love and Peace,