everything's smelling like roses

is quickly approaching. So why is it that over this carefree summer there was little inspiration, yet now that its ending the inspiration is here in abundance? I suppose it wouldn't be a problem if I were still not employed...and I can't complain about the new job that I am incredibly excited for. Though it is a bit of a teaser to finally have inspiration for several projects (and enough supplies to actually work on at least once) and know that my free time is going to greatly diminish shortly. On top of all of that, a woman has finally taught me the quick-sew spell (which I have had a great deal of trouble with in the past) so the new areas I can explore are exploding! I guess I am lucky that the job I got is part time (and still pays enough to cover my bills) so I should still have time to allow my inspiration to develop into finished products, but really the inspiration couldn't have come any sooner than it has?!!?!?

Went to work with me yesterday...in hopes of it getting an owl up to Washington after my shift. Instead the beautiful then ended up staying in my bag, because the AC was on in the office and I was really cold, so I didn't bother changing out of my suit. So I drove home in my bathing suit and skipped the PO. Today it will get to the PO...I promise! That tricky kit, I hope it enjoys its new home as much as it appears to enjoy my company

I have officially completed the workshop kit that I will be sending to Ambyr! Man does it look good...and it keeps begging me to let it live here. Doesn't seem to understand that I put my own thought and work into it, just to give it away. Oh well, I'm sure the little kit will be just fine. Maybe I'll ask the postman for an extra gentle and nice owl to get it up to Washington...

As the week ends, I'm finally getting started with my new job. I say new because it is, but I didn't really have an old job recently enough for it to be new in that sense. I am very excited about it, and I start my orientation and training tonight. I will be teaching little kids to swim (earliest they're in the pool 6 months, earliest alone 2 1/2). I am stoked! Who cares that I have a graduate degree, because honestly this sounds great! I'm a bit intimidated just by the shift set up, 3 hours 6 lessons straight. And I am only slightly intimidated because that was about the upper limit of straight sessions at my last job. So I know I can do it, just not sure how much I'll be able to do after a shift.

In the last week, it was decided that movies needed to be seen. My somewhat reluctant choice was Harry Potter (reluctant only because I really disliked the Order of the Pheonix) and the BF wanted to see the new Transformers movie. Now I hadn't seen the first Transformer movie, so we decided to rent it one night.

Well July sure has started with a bang as it usually does in the States. Fireworks, hot dogs, pool games...Basically perfect.

Alright, what has been going on...knitting, tv, pool, gym that is about it.

First things first, I will reveal my lie.....I hate making eggs first thing in the morning. I do love eating my eggs with some kind of toast, but I usually eat them at lunch or dinner time. Growing up we never had eggs in the morning, but they were frequently served for lunch or dinner. Lately, they've been a post-work-out food since I don't eat meat and its important to have protein after work-outs. That being said, I do work out a lot...though its tough to get off the couch with the unemployment thing... Speaking of unemployment, I recently finished my MA, but since I got it in counseling, I know have to complete internship hours before I can go for my licensing exam. Oh yeah, my last lie about the crafting and my obsession with really poorly mad TV shows. You guys should check out "secret life of the american teenager" it is horribly written, acted and has a bad soundtrack. The writing is hilarious! Its multi-faceted poorly done, and therefore incredible!

Here we go, good luck guessing which one is false...

and with it a few changes!

1. This “Harry Potter” character’s first name comes from Roman mythology. The mythological character’s twin brother is named Romulus. What is the Harry Potter character last name?
b. Lupin

2. Which “Harry Potter” character’s first name is the Roman equivalent of the Greed Goddess Athena?
c. McGonagall

3. In ‘Harry Potter’ World, this wizard has created the Philosopher’s Stone (called the Sorcerer Stone in the US). The historical figure from the 14th and 15th centuries was a scribe and a manuscript-seller who became famous as an alchemist. Who is this individual?
Nicholas Flammel

4. What is the first name of a character whose last name is the name of a Bulgarian leader from early 9th century who doubled the country’s territory?
c. Viktor

5. Which character’s name is the name of goddess in Indian mythology?
b. Patil

6. “Where the Wild Things Are” tells the story of Max, a young boy sent to bed without his supper for his wild antics. Who created this winner of the Caldecott Medal?
a. Maurice Sendak
b. Chris Van Allsberg
c. Ezra Jack Keats
d. John Steptoe

Its Easter weekend, and that means that spring is actually here. It also means spring break is happening (again). Sadly, I still must go to work, so its a half-break. But no school is going to be great. I plan to get some good knitting time in. I have been working on the Soap Bubble Wrap and its going pretty fast, so I am hoping to have the knitting part done with this little break. I am also hoping to do a little RAOK shopping, finish up my kit for Winnifred and start a new bag design I've been perfecting during my various classes. Other than playing tricks on Hufflepuffs (its fair since we are spoiling them this term) and giving first years incorrect directions when they're desperate enough to ask us Slytherins for directions, my life has been pretty low key. 

This week I recieved a fabulous RAOK and it really made my day. Dear Peneolpe got me some blank yarn and made a neat beaded row counter. I actually took the row counter idea with me when I made jewelry with a friend the next day and tried my hand at it. Sorry for the short update, but I've had a tough week and just want to rest. Hopefully I'll be up for sharing stories with you all in the near future. 

This week has been spring break at the elementary school that I am completing my Master's internship. So I took the time off to skip home for a mid-week break. It is so nice and warm here in California (much better than hogwarts). I was sitting outside in the sunshine, but my muggle laptop ran out of battery power. Since I haven't finished at hogwarts, I am not allowed to do magic here. Sadly, that made me move indoors in search of a power outlet. I am beginning to wonder if all the magic at hogwarts has  impacted my battery.  Anyone know a good spell or potion to solve this problem (not that I wouldn't mind buying a new fancy macbook, but its just not in the budget). 

As many of you who have viewed older posts on this blog know, I (not so) recently took a little vacation to Hawaii. Now due to technical challenges I have not seen the pictures from the digital camera on anything other than the digital camera screen. Due to other technical difficulties I could not make my cell phone and my computer talk to each other until today. So I have now transfered a tiny portion of the pictures from my trip to my computer and I hope to redeem myself with my fellow Slytherins by sharing these pictures with them. I have had a great deal of difficulty posting appropriately since the roommates unceremoniously cancelled the internet account at my place of residence, and I hope that these images will inspire forgiveness in my housemates. 

These two images are from the porch of one of the houses we stayed in at sunrise. That is one of my favorite things about the Hawaiian vacation, it is relatively easy to keep myself on California time so that there are no rude awakenings when I return to my real life. But these were just gorgeous mornings! The sunsets were also good, but the rain tended to start falling before the pretty cloud thing would happen so it was harder to get pictures. 

That pesky rain thing also happened one day during the daytime while we were there. On that day, instead of moping around the house, we went on a drive to the North Hilo District (we were staying South of the Hilo area) and here are a couple of the views we were graced with. The first one reminds me of the images of the African plains, I think I sent this one to the BF and told him we took a side trip to another continent. The second image is of a gorgeous little bay we stopped at. There was a path down to the shoreline and a botanical garden nestled down there. It was very pretty...the other pictures are on the memory card my mom sent to me that has all the pictures, but I have a Mac so none of those little slots and my camera uses a different memory set up. So....

This snail was on the path down to the shore. He was really big, so I took a picture with my foot in it for scaling purposes. Don't really see snails this big on the mainland, do we?

Another critter. As I mentioned above, we stayed at two different houses and at the second house, this dog found us. She was really thin and perked up a ton with food. But she hung out with us for our entire stay at the second house (probably five days). My mom is the type of person who had to make sure the dog was okay before we left, and thankfully we met some people who were staying on the island for 3 months and would be in the neighborhood for quite some time after we would. So we left the dog in their care. Poor thing.

These are pictures from the sliding glass doors of the two places we stayed. They were on the same street only a few houses away from each other. The first house was up on its stilts and had really full grown landscaping (as you can see) so even though it wasn't physically secluded, it was very private, sort of like being in a tree house. The second house was much older and it was only one room. We found out that the owners wanted to remodel it and add a bedroom, but because of the new zoning regulations, they would have had to completely demolish it and build something new. So they left it as is. We also me the housekeeper and she told us that the house used to have tons of bunk beds all pilled up around the room, that's not how it was when we were there. As you can see it was right on the water, this is the house that we heard the rain in every night. It must have had a tin roof, it was a great little spot. 

I had a fabulous weekend (and half of last week) in bed! It all started on Wednesday, when I lost my voice! I took then took Thursday off, and proceeded to follow the sleep schedule of a newborn baby. Friday was a bit better, I was able to sit up for most of the day. However, things like making food, or taking a shower wiped me out. Then over the weekend, we had company. Which luckily for meed allowed for laying around most of both days. All of this has resulted in me having to wake up super early on this lovely Monday, to drive the 20 minutes to school so that I can finish my homework to be turned in shortly. 

1. What momentous event was the reason that the members of the Order of the Phoenix felt it necessary to move Harry out of the Dursley’s house?
d. Harry’s upcoming birthday

2. Who revealed the actual date of Harry’s transfer to Voldemort, despite the misinformation the Order had been spreading around that the move would occur on the eve of his actual birthday?
a. Mundungus

3. With the use of Polyjuice Potion (and to confuse any possible attack by Death Eaters), six member of the Order were disguised as Harry and escorted out of Privet Drive, along with the real Harry. Which member of the order did not survive that night?
a. Mad-Eye Moody

4. Who informed Harry, Ron and Hermione of the bequests left to them in Dumbledore’s will?
d. Rufus Scimgeour

5. During the wedding celebration for Bill and Fleur, Kingley Shacklebolt sent a Patronus to tell the guests that the Ministry had fallen, Scrimgeour (the Minister) was dead and the wedding celebration was about to be attacked by Death Eaters. What form did the Patronus take?
a. A lynx

6. Escaping from the wedding to London, our three friends found themselves confronted by a pair of Death Eaters, disguised as workmen. This close brush impressed on them the need to find someplace to hide. Where did they decide to go?
b. Sirius Black’s house
7. Kreacher’s animosity towards Harry, Ron and especially Hermione (a Mudblood) was well documented in book five, “The Order of the Phoenix.” His initial interaction with them showed that his attitude had not changed. How did they win him over?
d. By giving him Regulus Black’s old locket

8. Who did they eventually find was in possession of the locket/Horcrux?
d. Dolores Umbridge
9. What did Harry find embedded in the door of Umbrdige’s office?
a. Moody’s magical eye

10. After retrieving the Horcrux, they tried to return to their safe place but they were pursued (actually Yaxley tagged along when they disapparated). This meant that the Death Eaters knew their hiding place and they had to go somewhere else. Where did Hermione take them?
d. To the site of the Quidditch World Cup

Picture Scavenger Hunt

Mad-Eye Moody

Nymphadora Tonks

1. Which housemate has an 11 ½ inch holly wand with a Dragon Heartstring core?

Last friday, my roommate decided to cancel the comcast account with no warning to me (or his wife) so I will do my best to keep up with everything, but its going to be a little bit difficult. I just hate being in the library for hours on end, but there is nowhere else I can do it!

What are your three most favorite colors?

Aloha!