The case for pajamas

Today I am going to be one of those people I said I would never be... the type that wears their pajama pants to class.

As this plan breaks several of my self inflicted fashion rules, (Including "Never wear pajama pants in public") I naturally feel the need to justify the decision.

Excuse Reason 1. My pajama pants are really, really comfortable. They are the most awesome pajama pants in the world. These are the pants I got for Christmas and didn't change out of for four days afterwards. These are the pants I wore the entire time on our drive to Florida. One day when I had them on, they were so cozy that they prompted me to exclaim, "I love these pants! I want to marry these pants!" Which is obviously hyperbole, but caused my brother to laugh at me all the same.

2. These pants are a solid neutral gray. No patterns or hearts or bunnies to draw attention to them. They go with the rest of my outfit.

3. They are a nice light thin fabric, but they are surprisingly warm.

4. My next class is at 8pm. That's practically bedtime. I think after a certain time of day everyone should wear pajamas.

5. I wore them to take a nap today and I am reluctant to change out of them. This is the real reason I'm justifying this action. They are just so comfy I don't want to change. : )

So, there you have my case for the pajama pants.

Are there any fashion rules you usually follow but occasionally break? What are they, and what excuses do you give yourself?

~Jane~

15 step program

Still working on my short story for the Jane Austen Made Me Do It contest. I wrote a new beginning scene last night and I like it better.

Writing is a lot harder than I ever thought it would be, just so you know. Here's how it goes:

1. Write two sentences.

2. Whine.

3. Get coffee.

4. Moan.

5. Delete three sentences.

6. Make yet another outline.

7. Stare blankly at the screen.

8. Discover that your coffee is now cold.

9. Whine.

10. Get more coffee.

11. Finally finish the scene.

12. Despair that it is badly written.

13. Go to bed.

The next day:

14. Discover that the scene you wrote yesterday wasn't as bad as you thought.

15. Repeat the entire process from step one.


Despite all the whining and cold coffee, I really enjoy writing. Step 14 is my favorite.

On the website that is hosting this contest, http://www.pemberley.com/, they are also doing a group read of Emma. It is starting today, but there is still time to catch up.

When I very first started visiting Pemberley they were doing an Emma group read, so doing it again makes me feel all nostalgic. I learned so much the first time. It's really what made me love that novel. Everybody on these message boards is so intelligent and they all have a love for the books that makes it a great experience. I highly recommend participating, or at least getting on and reading other people's posts.

I go by LindseyJane on the message boards. I'm not sure how much I will be posting, but I might pop in once in a while. Hope to see you there!

~Jane~

Florida

As we've been home for two weeks, I think it's high time I blogged about our trip to Florida.

The trip down was fun, but I've always loved being in the car. We listened to music, played the alphabet game and admired the scenery.

The mountains near Chattanooga were my favorite part of the trip. So beautiful.

The terrain changed the most in Georgia. Northern Georgia has a lot of hills and pine trees. Once you get past Atlanta, it is a lot flatter with cotton fields and peach and pecan orchards.

There were a few palm trees in southern Georgia, but they were mostly planted around buildings. It was really exciting when we reached Florida and began to see them growing naturally in fields.

And, of course, when we arrived at our Grandma's house, I got my picture with the palm tree in her front yard.

While we were in Florida we took a boat ride through the Everglades, drove along a stretch of water and counted 50 alligators, and went to Epcot for one awesome day. All of these were amazing, but the thing I will miss the most about Florida is this:

The water was cold, but it felt great to wade until your feet went numb, then stretch out on the sand until you were warm again. I collected a pile of shells, too, walking along the beach with my feet in the water. I went all the way in and played in the waves, one day, which was insane but fun.

And if the water was too cold you could always play in the sand.

These are my brothers. The little one is Andy, and the one with no head is Kevin. He dug a deep hole in the sand (he ended up hitting water eventually) and stuck his head into it, balancing with his hands on the edge of the hole. Yep, that's talent.

This is me and all my siblings. And my nephew. Isn't he the cutest? I'm the one hiding in the back, peeking over the baby's head.

This was my favorite vacation ever.

On the way home we stopped briefly in Metropolis, Illinois, the home of Superman.

This statue is bigger than it looks. I was barely as tall as his leg.

Well, that was our trip. Before you go I have a brief tale of today. 

Last night the snow started falling and it hasn't stopped since. We've gotten about six inches. Normally I would be ecstatic about six inches of snow, but not when I had somewhere to go. Today was supposed to be my first day working in the writing lab at school and I was very excited.

This morning I woke up early and got ready to go. I walked out to the car through the bitter cold. I braved the elements, driving on slippery, snow covered streets. I drove to the school, 35 minutes away (45 in the snow)-- only to discover an empty parking lot.

That's right, I was so excited to begin work that I forgot to check the school website. We were closed due to "inclement weather." Something tells me this should have occurred to me earlier.

~Jane~

Let the learning begin

What do you think of my new background? I had to get on Shabbyblogs.com to update my html code, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to pick out a new look. It's fresh and new, but it still works with my header and buttons. I like it.

Today was the first day of class.

Here's something about me: I almost always sit in the very back of the second column of seats. So when I figured out that one of my classes was in the same room as last semester I decided to change it up and sit somewhere different.

Don't ask me why I thought that was a good idea.

I sat in the second row, way on the other side of the room. It was ok at first, but as the room started to fill up and people sat in the seats behind me, I remembered why I always sit in the back.

I hate having people behind me.

Someone was already in my usual seat, so I stayed where I was, but it felt odd. I think next time I will stay where I'm comfortable.

My story is slowly coming along. I always get to a point where I realize that it is not very good. As soon as I come to this conclusion I want to edit, but at the same time I don't want to edit until it's completely finished, so I come to a standstill. That is the part I have reached in this story. I just have to push through it to the finish so I can edit and make it look pretty.

~Jane~

22 1/2 hours until school starts

I have no excuse for not blogging this past week, and I didn't do much else either. I've been enjoying my last bit of freedom before school starts again.

My first class is tomorrow. I should be used to school by now but I still feel nervous about the first day. Nervous and excited. This semester I am taking Intro to Fiction, Creative Writing 2, Intro to Film and Intermediate Algebra. I bet you can guess which of these four I am not excited about.

I have not finished my first draft from Nanowrimo, but I am getting back into the habit of writing. The past few days I've been writing a short story for this contest; Jane Austen Made Me Do It. Mine is a modern story about a blogger. I'm enjoying it, but I don't think it will win. It's full of Austen jokes (I named the antagonist "Richard") but there are no direct references to Austen or her novels.

So last night I watched the first Star Wars movie (episode 4) with my brother and my dad. I decided beforehand that I would enjoy it and not mock the ridiculous parts. I wasn't prepared to actually love it. It was a really fun movie and now I want to see the rest of the original trilogy.

I'm not saying it wasn't corny and ridiculous, but it was the fun kind of corny and ridiculous.

Anyway, I will post tomorrow about the first day of school!

~Jane~

Journal excerpt

I have written a guest post on Shaynie's journal blog. Here is the link.

Sorry I haven't been on here in awhile. Our Florida vacation was wonderful and I'll post more about it soon.

~Jane~