If you want to be my BFF

Since my life is pretty much an open book on this blog, you pretty much already know my likes and dislikes.

BUT,

I'm gonna tell you again.

Say we've never met, and you want to be my BFF.

These are some things you're gonna need to know about me.

Number 1.

I'm all about vintage.

Vintage gum ball machines, tape measures, books, globes, etc.  ALL things Vintage.  Hence the name of the blog.  I like to display it, shop for it, and sometimes wear it.

Number 2.

I LOVE to read.  You know this about me too.  If I have ANY spare time and I'm not making crafts, I'm reading.  I LOVE TO READ.  When my best friend and I were in college, we would often go out on a Friday night to Barnes and Noble for coffee, and to peruse the store.  It was WONDERFUL.

Number 3.

I'm kinda a name brand snob.
Yeah, but a name brand snob on a budget.  I wear, use, and sell name brand things from resale shops, etc.
Like my Kate Spade bag I use as a briefcase...

and my Fossil purse I just got for $5 at Goodwill yesterday.
Oh yeah...

Number 4.

I will ALWAYS (unless I'm at home in my p.j.'s ) be wearing an accessory of some kind.  ALWAYS.  Like shoes with flowers,

or big rings with a little bling...

minus the disgustingly fat fingers and winter skin.  Gross.  Just look at the rings!

Number 5.

I like pets.  Dogs, Cats, cute birds, BUT NO SNAKES.  ABSOLUTELY NONE. I MEAN IT!

Number 6.

I am the most loyal friend you will have.  Unless you stab me in the back...then we're done.  I wouldn't do it to you, so don't do it to me.

I'm sure there is more you will learn about me over the course of our friendship.

Now, do you want to be friends?

Preschool Highjinks

Tonight was the Preschool Christmas Program at the Preschool I help out at.

My job is to help a set of triplets with their everyday tasks at the preschool.  They are a great set of girls, and so are all the other boys and girls in the class.

For weeks we've been practicing Christmas songs, and little dittys, and even Bible verses in anticipation of tonight.

This past week we practiced three times in the sanctuary in front of the microphones, so the kids were ready.

We thought we were good.

I arrived tonight 15 minutes before the kids did, to help get things ready.

Then everyone came. 

Things were looking good.  We brought the older kids (pre-K age) down to the circle where we have "circle time" everyday.

We went over some songs ONE MORE TIME, and then got them lined up in the order that we thought would cause the least hassle, or fights, or stop the talking problems between best friends. 

I turned around to lead them upstairs, (the other teacher was at the end of the line...) and noticed the first boy in line had the start of a bloody nose.  I quickly wiped it up, only to hear the other teacher helping a boy who was THROWING UP at the end of the line.  We were rushing around to find a trash can, and she had his mouth covered with kleenex, and I knew I needed to get the other kids UPSTAIRS, and FAST.

We headed upstairs, everyone was following the person in front of them.  All we had to do was enter the sanctuary, and go to the front, and turn to the left and sit down on the front pew.  THAT'S ALL WE HAD TO DO.

I walked with the first boy in the line to the end of the pew, and turned around one last time, only to see the whole line disassembling themselves.  They had moved to where their friends were, and NO ONE was in the same place as when they were downstairs.  I heard some tinkling laughter from some parents, but what was I to do, I had only turned around for a second.  I didn't get them back in the right order, but I got them in some kind of order, and we all sat down on the pew. 

Once it was our turn on the stage, they handled things pretty well.  Some did all the singing and the motions, some just looked shell shocked.

After that there was cookies and drinks. 

Whew.  What a night.  I can honestly say I'm SO GLAD my kids are not pre-K age anymore. 

They are good kids that I help at the Preschool, but quite a handfull!

To settle myself after the festivities, I came home and made some more things for my ETSY shop. 

Would you like a preview?

Some flower pins/hair clips...

 and some more Christmas items.

Hope your Sunday afternoon was less chaotic than mine!

Do you remember where you were?

Do you remember where you were the first time you heard one of your favorite books?

I do.

I totally do.

I had a 3rd grade teacher, who everyday after we came in from lunch recess would perch herself upon her tall stool at the front of the class, and read to us.

Sometimes, when it wasn't a book I particularly liked, it seemed to take HOURS for her to get through it.  Sometimes, when it was a GREAT book, suddenly she couldn't be up on that stool long enough.

One of the books she read to us was James and the Giant Peach.

 The characters were creepily attractive, and the story was amazing.  I tried to read it to my kids years and years, and years after I first heard it, but they weren't as intrigued as I was.

My teacher also read Charlotte's Web to us.  I wanted to be IN the book.  I wanted the pet pig Wilbur as my own.

My third grade teacher taught me to LOVE reading, and I also got a good healthy dose, through heredity, from my dad as well.

I grew up loving (and still do), The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein.

I recommend it to ALL the kids I've ever known.  It's such a great story.

As a teenager I read Gone with the Wind once...

and then read it 8 more times after that!

When I was learning more about planting and eating more healthy with my family, I read Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and wanted to do exactly as she and her family did for a year of eating only what they had grown and stored away themselves.

I found the author Sarah Addison Allen, and read all her books in  a matter of months, but fell the hardest in love with the Peach Keeper.

Books can take us away to someplace we've never been before, or someplace we've always dreamed of visiting.  They can grab you suspensefully or turn you off completely.
I cannot imagine NOT loving to read.  It's very relaxing to me, and I wish my kids shared my love of it more than they do.

I came across this title maybe on Amazon in the last couple of weeks, and I'd love to read it.

Has anyone read it?

Tell me... do you remember where you were the first time you heard a book you'll never forget?  Are you a reader?