Summer

Summer has progressed on and I really haven't done much.

Which is F.A.N.T.A.S.T.I.C!! I deal with my anxiety and depression throughout the year while I teach and this year was tough; so summer is the one time that I can somewhat start to feel more like myself. I even crack a smile or two when I can manage it. With the new "principal" that didn't pretty much screwed me over with my end-of-year evaluation (even though she never stepped foot in my classroom for more than 5 minutes) to failing to secure another job and worrying about actually surviving my Master's program. Well, I'm on my last 2 classes of my Master's (which are the hardest two that I've had). I'll be finished by July 31st. I'm hoping that with that credential under my belt I will have an easier time securing another job that I actually look forward to going to on a daily basis.

But for now, I am enjoying my summer by doing very little. I think I've left the house only a couple of times, and those have been for charity events. The rest of the time I've just been reading, sewing, or being a "gamer" (or at least as close to one as I can get with my measly skills). But it has been fun.

Here's a little view:

I really haven't had the drive to sew for myself since I've gain so much weight lately that I don't like to see things on me or my size. But I wanted to get this Jedi costume out of my brain and into fabric. I've had these fabrics in my collection for years and finally decided on what I wanted to do with them.

I despise baseball, but we had an event at the Orem Owlz for the Utah Special Olympics and so we went. I didn't have to sit through the entire game considering we were up on the concourse taking pictures with the patrons.

We had another charity event for the Princess Millie Foundation. Each year they select two kids (a Prince and Princess) who are going through cancer treatments and give them the "royal treatment". There is a 5K and fun run that benefits the cancer research that these two kids are going through. This year's event fell on the 3rd anniversary of Millie's death and so it had special meaning for Millie's family. The medal that the boys are wearing was one of the last drawings that Millie did, so it has special meaning. We didn't run the race but the dad insisted we take the medals for all that we do.

Currently, the only costume that fits me is the corset Padme since it is a little bit adjustable but people here in Utah have an adverse reaction to it because it is "immodest". Yeah, I find that a little weird, but whatever.

Quick story behind this photo: the little girl was a little scared of all the characters in helmets and the size of the Wookiee and the dad walked her forward and I could see that she was very nervous. The dad was trying to calm her down enough to try and take a photo with us but she wasn't having any of it. So I got down on the floor and started talking with her and told her that there was another girl in the costume: the TIE pilot (the one in black by the Wookiee). Her eyes lit up and she smiled. I then asked if I could have her picture and she hugged me and sat down right next to me. When we were done she hugged me again and waved to everyone else.

Again, I hate pictures of me lately but this is kind of cool.

Jakob loves things like this and this boy was so curious about his helmet. He spent a good 10 minutes looking at the helmet and all the other buttons and toggles on Jakob's costume.