Ballet is Hard!

I just watched this video and just about died laughing. This little girl is 100% the cutest thing I've ever seen. She also reminds me of exactly how I felt every time I tried to do a turned-out first position.

I feel her pain.

I think I'll watch it again.

Pigs May or May Not be Flying Right Now. . . .

Why yes. I did just win in Words with Friends by more than 100 points. 

Thanks for noticing.

This will probably never happen again.

Ever.

Feeling Legit

I was in Barnes and Noble the other day and I saw a book on display that I (thats right . . . me, myself, and I) copyedited. It's the first (and hopefully not the last) time that's ever happened to me!

That was exciting.

How an Idea Becomes a Book... an Infographic

This little gem was going around our office last week. We all pretty much agreed that this perfectly represents how an idea becomes a book.

This may be why I'm slowly going crazy. . . .

 



Thanks weldonowen.com

Somehow This Makes Me Feel Better

I've had a super stressful work and school filled couple of weeks and something about this story (which a friend of mine just posted on Facebook) makes me feel like things can and will get better.

When things in your life seem almost too much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar and the two Beers.  

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, he wordlessly picked up a very large and empty glass mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.  

The professor then picked up a jar of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open spaces between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.  

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous yes. 

The professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the grains of sand. The students laughed.  

"Now," said the professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things—your family, your children, your health, your friends, and your favorite passions—things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. "The pebbles are the other things that matter, like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else—the small stuff.  

"If you put the sand into the jar first," he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for your life." 

"If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.  

"Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness.  

"Play with your children. Spend time with your parents. Visit with grandparents. Hang out with your friends. Play another 18.  

"There will always be time to go to work, clean the house, give a dinner party and fix the disposal.  

"Take care of the golf balls first—the things that really matter. Set your priorities. The rest is just sand." 

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the beer represented. The professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked," he said. "The beer just shows you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers with a friend."

I See Lots of Soup in My Future

If I wasn't feeling the fall fever yet, this picture has definitely done the trick.

It's like squash heaven.

Dad just sent me this (rather blurry) picture of the squash he and mom just picked from their garden. Those are twenty glorious butternut squashes, which can only mean one thing. . . my freezer had better be filled with delicious butternut squash soup pronto.

So. Excited. For. Fall.

DC Wandering, Friends, and TOTEM!

A few weekends ago, my friend Jason came down from the Big City to visit me in the Capitol City for the weekend.

Love this guy!

I met him at Union Station and we proceeded to walk around the city a little bit... it was only his second time in DC, so he was excited to see more of the memorials/important buildings.

Side of the Postal Museum

First we tried to go to the postal museum, which is conveniently located next to Union Station. I've been there before and I found it fascinating (although my a weird obsession with stamps may have had something to do with that). Unfortunately these plans were foiled by the smoothies we had only partially finished, because drinks are not allowed in the museum.

The building that houses the museum is very cool though. It's also a real post office, so we looked around a little bit, and I managed to snap a quick photo of the ceiling before we left.

I would love this to be my post office!

Then we started walking towards the back side of the Capitol building. I'd never realized you could get there so easily from Union Station. On the way we saw this cute little squirrel "sleeping" on the side of the road.

RIP poor little squirrel.
Now you won't be able to chew anyone's fuel lines.

I've never seen the Capitol building from the back before and it was beautiful! There is so much more to it than I ever realized! We walked around for a little while before heading back home.

The Capitol from the back

The Capitol from the front/side.

Then on Saturday night we saw TOTEM, a Cirque Du Soleil show! We were joined by Jenny and Mik and my friend from school, Jamie. Totem was probably one of my favorite Cirque shows so far (I've seen two others, Kooza and Ova).

The show is sort of an evolution/nature based one, so there were lots of "animal" acts and Native American things and then the introduction of science and technology a little at the end via an appearance by Charles Darwin. There was one hilarious scene where they recreated the monkey to human evolution picture. There weren't as many terrifyingly dare-devilish stunts in this one as there were in Kooza, but there was so much cool artistry and the acts were just fascinating, that I didn't feel like I was missing anything.

Jason, Me, Jamie
and the TOTEM frog man!

The Cirque logo was projected onto the ceiling and it looked very cool.

Check out the TOTEM trailer below... The Native American ring dancers were one of my favorite acts!