{ simple, vital pleasures }

There are so many things to seek and take pleasure in in life. I prefer the simplest things.

Yesterday I bought a new planner book. It was $11.99 and was the simplest version I could find. Each page is one day, a date only, with lines below for thoughts, schedules, or scraps of memories. I've gone through filling in days of the week this morning in new gel pen that slightly soaks through each page. I'm retro-filling in a few memories from last week: dinner at the acreage, a friend sleeping over, baking off croissants for breakfast. I'm also planning for the week ahead. Monday: read one of Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Stories" with the grade 8s; examine the Seven Years' War with the Social 7s. Thursday: finalize editing of all report card comments. Sunday: Easter dinner at Grandma's house.

Yesterday I ate lunch out. It was far too greasy and left me, my mom, and my grandma feeling ill into the late evening. Around 11:30 I craved dinner, and I invented a little open faced sandwhich for myself. Let me tell you: IT IS DIVINE! It is great for springtime, and you must eat it, too! Let me share the secret of its moan-worthy deliciousness with you:

ASPARAGUS AND TUNA ON TOAST

1. Toast whole wheat bread till it is nice and dark and crispy.

2. While toast is toasting, gently simmer asparagus spears (halved) in one inch of boiing water.

3. While aspargus boils, dice one stalk of celery and one long green onion.

4. Open tuna. Mix tuna with desired amount of Miracle Whip, add in salt and pepper to taste; then add diced celery and green onion.

5. Drain asparagus. I like to make sure mine are still firm and crisp but are tender when pierced with a fork.

6. Retrieve toast. Smother with tuna mixture. Top with short asparagus spears. Top the open-faced sandwhich with more fresh-ground pepper.

7. Eat, MOAN, and crave another sandwhich.

It is my number one new spring favorite. I'm eating it again today for an afternoon snack!!

I've also been dabbling in more photography as has become the spare time norm for me. Have a looksee if you please.

So there are just a few of the simple pleasures that have been lifting my spirits this week. I am so incredibly rejeuvenated by this spring break that I can scarcely effectively describe my own transformation. I intend to harness this calm joy, internally bottling it somehow for the next three months. Please remind me of that when I start moaning over some terrible (and non-delicious) thing that life throws at me in a few weeks' time ...

{ currently }

On my stereo: The Killers (Hot Fuss)
On my tongue: Coca-Cola Classic
On my taskbar: Internet Explorer, Adobe Photoshop CS2, Windows Media Player
On my body: Muddy green pants, seafoam blouse, chocolate brown wool sweater, chocolate brown headband
On my face: Nothing--it's au natural this morning!
On my desk: Digital camera, two dirty plates, coffee cup, cordless phone, broken stapler
On my TV: Star Trek (Derek's home)
On my mind: SPRING BREAK!!!

So I'm into Day 5 of 9 of spring break! So far I've:
* hosted two out of town guests for two days
* eaten a designer cupcake (yum!)
* had a sleepover with a friend
* drank bubble tea with friends
* eaten a Baskin Robbins ice cream (Jamocha Almond Fudge)
* gone to Starbucks twice (day one: Grande Java Chip Frappuccino; day two: Grande Caramel Macchiato, extra foam)
* taken photos of mailboxes and hay bales
* had a family dinner on an acreage out of town
* eaten a Quizno's sub
* watched Prison Break, House, and American Idol
* finalized my house blueprints
* marked one class set of tests
* slept in four times
* stayed up late five times
* done laundry once
* done my taxes
* gone for a walk
* written one blog post

Still to do: meet some girlfriends for cheesecake, update photoblog, do some painting, take more photos, visit my family and puppy, clean my bedroom, mark some more, make lesson plans, start report card comments, burn my photos to CD, update my ipod.

{ visual dna }

this was fun:

Read my VisualDNA™ Get your own VisualDNA™

{ mornings }

I've been thoroughly enjoying seeing a year of mornings in visual form. Life is so simple and so aesthetically pleasing on its own, isn't it?

My morning today was ushered in early--in the wee hours of the morning I started getting that nagging pain in the back of my neck. By morning I could hardly stand up, the migraine was so bad. I had to wake up, though, I had to call a sub at 6:00 am, I had to eat something to take my pills, I had to type and email sub plans to the school.

I still found a way to enjoy my morning, though.

I think so much hurt and sadness can be solved by mere glimpses of beauty. I lied in a dark room with zero stimulation to my visual or auditory senses for hours upon hours today. And yet I could visualize beautiful photos and replay lingering melodies in my head. The beauty of photos and songs has been resonating with me so strongly these past few days. Now, twelve hours past my head-splitting morning, at 6:00 pm, I'm back on my computer, and my headache is nearly gone. I think even the strong mental fragments of beauty helped get me back on my feet.

And, since I started delving back into my photography just before bedtime, my sleepwalking has also ceased. There must have been something troubling my soul before; now God has given me something to combat the worry and grief: beauty.

I urge you, too: find something beautiful to go to sleep or wake up to.

{ borrowed phrases }

I love what Suse has embraced in her post at Pea Soup; I am thus stealing her idea and using it here on *daintee.

I think every family develops strange quirky sayings of their own. Many of these sayings, quips, and quotes are borrowed from movies and tv shows that have become family favorites.

From my family, here are some phrases that are used and used again and again:


Honey! I'm ho-ome!
("The Flintstones") To be called, a la Fred Flintstone, when returning home from work or school.

Put it in your purse! P-p-put it in your purse!
(Home Alone) To be said in hushed tones when at a restaurant when there is something nice on the table that you would like to smuggle out and take home with you (i.e. a nice lamp or pepper shaker, for instance).

For-ev-er. For-ev-er.
(The Sandlot) To be said with a serious voice and drawn out syllables when the word "forever" needs to be dramatically emphasized.

- Stop it! I mean it!
- Does anybody want a peanut?
(The Princess Bride) The second line is the most important one; it is said in response to the first one. Usually I say the first one angrily when Derek is bothering me or tickling me, and he infuriatingly replies with the stupid second line, which makes me even more angry!

Look what you did, you little jerk.
(Home Alone) I know this line could be construed as being quite rude, but it is often exchanged in good fun between my sister, Amy, and I when we make a small, unimportant mistake on something.

- Next!
- Chicken necks?
("The Simpsons") Again, the second line here is the more important one which is uttered in response to the first. My family often exchanges this Ralphie quote with one another, even over dinner if the opportunity is right.


These are all the ones that come to mind right now. I will add more as I remember them. Please join in with the fun and leave any of your family or friend-shared phrases in the comments section as you think of them, too.

{ photoblog }

Please see my new photoblog, a picture's worth. More content will come slowly and over time.

Please leave me a comment if you take the time to stop in. Thanks!

Also, from now on I will leave a link to my photoblog under "daintee things".

{ coming soon }

I've been working on a very special photoblog for the sidelines. Please stay tuned.