This is what work should be like!

Most of you know that every morning when I wake up, the first question I ask myself is "Wait, what day is it?" Then I figure out if I have school (Yay!!) or work (eh...).
Today was a work day, so naturally I stayed in bed as long as I could possibly get away with and not be late.
 But, today was not a typical work day for me. When I arrived (on time) one of my managers said to me, "Vicki, today you're going to color on the sidewalk."
I said, "Ok. Um... wait, what?"
I had been up way past my bedtime the night (morning?) before and was trying my best to stay focused, and being given artistic grant for a project took me off my guard.
We stood outside in front of the store and she handed me a flyer and showed me where they wanted this chalk drawing. Sure it was only to advertise for our classes, but it was something that made me feel that, yes, they did listen when I said, "You know, I go to art school, I can draw, too."
As I got comfy with my Crayola sticks, customers walked in and out and commented things like "Well, don't you have the fun job today?" and "Looking good" and some even asked for more information about the classes. A couple people asked where my tip jar was. Sadly I was not allowed to put out a tip jar since I was already getting paid.
I had fun and can't wait until they trust me with another project again.

I would liked to have  put more flower doodles in the 50% off area,
but I was told I was done....ppfffttt!

Who needs a roommate...not this girl!

So the other day, my friend, who I used to live with, texted me and asked "how is single living?"
 I think I forgot to answer her because I was enroute to deliver some suitcases I had borrowed. She has a two year-old and is going to nursing school, so I don't hold it against her if she doesn't read my blog every time I post one. She obviously didn't know about the brown bananas.
Well, I will answer the question now. I'm eating all my food, now that I've come to terms with the fact that it's ALL MINE and I don't have to share with anyone else. When I walk out into the living room and see socks on the floor, at first I think "Who the hell left these...." then I remember and think, "oh, yeah, those are my socks." I remember my mother telling me that when I was first born and she was home with me all day, she kept thinking she was babysitting. "When are these people gonna come pick up this kid?" She told me she had to get it in her brain that I was her kid and I wasn't going anywhere. Since I've never lived by myself before, some days I come home and sit on the couch to watch t.v. and think, "When's my roommate getting home?" and then I remember, "Oh yeah, there is no roommate to worry about."

Here are some signs I found that make me yell "praise allah" because I don't have a roommate and glad I never had roommates like these!

if I had this roommate, I'd stab him in the face

the 80's totally rock!

So I invited a few friends over for movies. Since these guys are are all under 25, I decided to educate them on the 80's since their parents didn't. We watched "Goonies" of course!

"Sloth love Chunk!"
 "bootie traps! that's what I said"
 Most of them had seen that movie, and why wouldn't they? It's awesome.

Then I slipped in "Weird Science"
(one of the dvd's I scored with at the Thrift store the other day!)

Man! If you've not seen this movie or not seen it in a while, I highly recommend it. You could probably stream it on Netflix. To their surprise, they witnessed a very young Robert Downey Jr. - aka Iron Man! Plus, Kelly LeBrock, who wouldn't dig that? They all talked about 80's hair and my friend Nick loved the look so much he took this pic in my bathroom after I tried to tease his hair up. Since we didn't have the proper hairspray - AquaNet - it didn't stay up too long. I told him he looked like a rockstar!

my friend Nick taking a pic of his "rockstar" hair
I was wondering why he was in my bathroom so long!

my first video blog!

My friend Elizabeth asked if I could make a video blog. I suspect it's because she has an allergic reaction when she reads. So, here it is, a video blog introducing my apartment. The sound is bad because the only video camera I have is on my Casio photo camera. I may do more video blogs, depending!

Elvis has left the building

I finally got my loan from school, which is good because my savings account was about gone. I'll apply for a new living expenses loan in September.
I was busy last week with life stuff and was rushed on my homework. I think I have a good bead on things now, (homework, what to expect from what teachers, work hours, grocery stuff, etc) except my bills, but that will have to wait until the end of the month so I can get that organized.

School keeps moving along. I'm am doing more on Illustrator with instruction, so I like that. Today in my typography class, our assignment was to use Adobe InDesign to create a graphic using only words given to us, no pictures. I sketched out something by hand then tried it in the program, but the program wouldn't do it. I kept being told I couldn't do that, but I kept thinking "there's gotta be a way", so I created it in Illustrator and used the "place" function in InDesign to trick it into placing a picture when I was actually placing a different type of graphic, but it worked and I got to do what I wanted.

Now, in my Digital Illustration class, we are learning more about how to use Adobe Illustrator and last week I showed y'all a picture of Elvis I was going to render as a cartoon. Here it is. Don't laugh too hard, it's my first attempt at "drawing" a photo in this program! I think I did okay!

the photograph

my first attempt at rendering the photograph

The bananas are brown

Some people have asked me how I like living by myself. Let me tell you this: I am still trying to understand that EVERYTHING in this apartment is mine and only mine. Usually when I buy food, I eat it, of course, but I am used to leaving some for someone else. Bananas for example. I bought 4 bananas the other day and the last one is turning brown because I haven't eaten it yet. Me. I haven't eaten it. I am still getting used to the fact that I don't have to share that banana with anyone. I have never NOT had to share my food.
I still use the bathroom with the door closed. I'm just used to it, I like it, it's comforting to be in the bathroom by myself. I still sleep with my bedroom door closed. I'm used to that, too. I like it.

I have most everything unpacked except my pictures and nic-nacs. I still can't find my knives. I also don't have this plastic bag holder my mother made me out of a leg of a pair of jeans. My friend Jarred gave me a knife and I gladly used it to cut up my cantaloupe. Now I have my bedroom set up. I figured since I never use my tent, why not set it up and put my mattress in there! It fits with plenty of room for my alarm clock and other things. It's fun.

Ok, I'm off to eat that last banana.

my bed. just because I have my own apartment, doesn't mean I have to be ALL grown up!

drawings on my ghetto mirror. I invite all visitors to doodle!

eh, it's a kitchen with a cheesecake on the counter

ok, so to sum up...

As you know, last weekend I moved into my new apartment (where unbeknownst to me, my upstairs neighbor must be an elephant and a rhino tromping around on extremely squeaky floors).

On Saturday, I grabbed my rental truck and Evelyn and I loaded it up. I met my friend Jarred on the other end and he helped me unload. I was thankful for both, but I was so worn out by the end of the day! After I dropped off Jarred, I drove directly to Denton to meet up with my friend Cathy who was holding a few things for me in her garage. We both drove back, unloaded the things and I offered to cook her dinner. (I had gone grocery shopping the night before!)
We pushed the various boxes aside and found a chair to sit on, plugged in my tv and dvd player and started a movie. While I was tooling around in my kitchen, I realized I couldn't find my chopping knives (and I still can't!). Also, I don't have any potholders, which makes taking my baked chicken out of the oven a bit difficult. I managed to make a carbonara spaghetti sauce (using a steak knife to cut the bacon, ugh!) and a salad (also used a steak knife to cut the tomatoes).
I started putting a few things away when she left and continue to still. I hope I find my knives, but it's looking pretty grim. All I have left is books and framed pictures to unpack.

Now, I also started school the same week I moved. I managed to keep up(ish) with my homework. I have two teachers who I had last quarter, so I'm already familiar with how they work. The other two teachers are pretty accommodating, too. I like all my classes even though three of the four are computer based. I am learning and becoming a little (just a little) more comfortable with Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. Photoshop will have to wait until hopefully next quarter.
In my Digital Illustration class, our assignment for next week is to render a photograph using Adobe Illustrator. I am choosing Elvis! I hope I do his face justice, we will see.

Well, Saturday is my housewarming party and I hope we have fun. Will you be there?

the photo of Elvis I hope to recreate in Adobe Illustrator