#working at a thrift store is fun because i have fun coworkers and we usually just quote YTPs and kids in the hall nonstop

[sidetable-drawer]

Amazing conversation I had with my co-worker buddy about Foster's that I'm still laughing about (this started with us talking about the tired "Frankie is Madame Foster's imaginary friend" "theory" and snowballed):

Co-worker: I mean if you're watching Foster's and what you get out of it is that everyone is unfair to Bloo when he's being a jerk, then maybe alternate universes do exist because I want to know what version of the show some people watch.

Me: Wilt is short. Eduardo speaks French. Mac can shoot lasers out of his eyes.

Co-worker: Coco speaks perfect English. Duchess is a nice person and Terrence volunteers at hospitals by reading to sick children. Berry hates Bloo.

Me: Madame Foster is a secret drug lord.

Co-worker: ...what are you talking about that's probably canon.

...it's too bad the spinoff is going to be for preschoolers (if it even happens because Zaslav fucks with everything) because I really need that to be a B-plot to an episode now.

[theflannelwizard]

please give us some Mr small or Mr cornelle (corniell? corneille?? how do you spell it) headcanons 😳😳

i will b honest i haven’t given enough thought to the frog man to have much of an opinion on him but!!! i will attempt to do both for u anon! hold on bc this is gonna be a long post!

here’s mr corneille-

gender- this boy is a trans man. not sure where this idea came from but i like it? especially considering how quickly he jumps at any chance to be seen as macho/masc

sexuality- maybe bi? he def has a thing for the school nurse in canon and i’m not opposed to that but they do need to work on honesty and genuine bonding in their relationship.

OTP- i’ve seen him shipped with the nurse and also with steve! both of these are entirely valid but i haven’t given enough thought to them to say either is an otp. i def like the idea of him getting involved in a workplace romance tho, whether or not it leads to drama and gossip amongst the other teachers

BroTP- this man is BEST FRIENDS with steve small and you cannot tell me otherwise!!!!! (unless ur going to tell me they’re dating, which, again, could b cute.) they talk about the students, steve helps him pick out books to teach when mr c gets too excited about multiple options, and they hang out in the teachers lounge together! since they have the same break schedule they also hang out over holidays and shit- maybe they have double dates with larry and the nurse? and they have inside jokes about the students and other teachers. usually it’s nothing hurtful, more just “you had to be there”

NoTP- i feel like there’s a slim chance someone tried to ship him with a student and again. pedo.philia is not allowed. otherwise i’m chill with him being in lots of different relationships! he’s enough of a blank slate that lots of dynamics could work!

A fun dynamic they would have- i bet he’s the kind of Cool Teacher that really inspired Clare and her classmates! I would love to see his teaching style and know how he interacts with his students! it could be especially fun to see him and Anaïs interact, because he’s either one of the most positive and encouraging forces in her life (this could be a sweet bond) or he has a different favorite student, which could lead to her either resenting him or working overtime to become the teachers pet. personally i see anaïs as the type that teachers love and dote on bc she’s so smart and clever and she prefers to hang out with the teacher at lunch and recess since she doesn’t have many friends

Any other fun headcanons or things i wanted to elaborate on- again, this character is kinda new to me, but i like to think he becomes a pacifist after his terrible experience in the ring, which makes the nurse like him even more (he’s sweet and sensitive!!) and also strengthens his bond with mr small, who tries to rope him further and further into hippie culture.

and mr. small!

gender- i like to think he’s nonbinary!! he uses he/they pronouns in his personal life but usually sticks with he/him and mr. while at work (and i’m gonna use he/him for convenience in this post)

sexuality- i mean. he sure is gay for men. maybe bi/pan, but he definitely likes men.

OTP- again, i may be basic but stevelmeyer/smallarry/etc is endgame for me uwu. that said i’m not gonna rain on anyone’s parade if they have a different ship! i talked a lot about these two in the last post, but i didn’t mention that i think they were both absolutely useless before they got together. steve thought he could flirt by just being really nice and always giving larry a tip and being ambiguously very affectionate and it worked but it also threw larry for a loop because 1) is this flirting? not expressly but also no one is nice to larry so maybe it is? but on the other hand- 2) he did this starting the first time he saw larry. maybe he’s just really nice to everyone. larry gets so flustered around steve that he sometimes welcomes him to the wrong store. also steve is enough of a good and decent person that he doesn’t aggressively flirt with people while they’re working and he waits until he finally catches larry on a break/off day to actually make a move. also once they’re more comfortable together larry uses steve as a pillow and eventually rob does the same

BroTP- mr. corneille!!!! bffs!!!! once mr c becomes a pacifist steve is all “hey do you wanna go to a rally with me? it’s for peace” “how do you rally for peace?” “we mostly just hold signs and sing kumbayah but at the very least it’s peaceful within the rally” and “hey do you wanna go thrifting with me? i try to only buy things that are used or recycled” “uh... sure, why not?” “oh thank god larry is at work and rob is at school” “wait, you mean NOW? steve, we’re at school too”

NoTP- i don’t want to see him dating any of his coworkers except maybe mr c. i’m not entirely sure why this is but i feel like he’s not really a dating within the workplace kinda guy. also obviously no minors

A fun dynamic they would have- i LOVE seeing him at work with students, but i wanna home in on him and rob. rob starts coming to him because he’s either sent there or wants to get out of class, where he feels simultaneously ignored and judged. at first he doesnt say anything, just sits there holding his knees and refusing to make eye contact, but eventually steve is able to earn his trust and they start actually talking. rob gets more and more open about his past, his lack of a family, his troubles with making friends and feeling wanted (or even noticed), and all the other shit he’s been through, and steve is actually able to help. his advice isn’t always perfect, but he does a pretty decent job when given a specific problem to fix, and he’s so loving and well intentioned that rob doesn’t hold any mistakes against him. rob accidentally calls him dad during a session once, and it makes steve cry. he immediately goes home after school and asks larry if he wants kids. yes he does adopt rob. yes it does make both of them insanely happy. steve is the cool dad who doesn’t care what rob gets up to as long as he’s safe and not hurting anyone, and rob is so proud that he’s earned his dads trust that he usually does a pretty decent job staying out of trouble. steve is also careful to never smoke in front of rob, even tho rob absolutely knows his dad isn’t sober by a long shot.

Any other fun headcanons or things i wanted to elaborate on- working as a guidance counselor is actually the only job he’s ever had. he spent his 20s really deep in drug/hippie culture, and even tho he never wanted to “escape” it, he did realise eventually that he needed a job if he wanted to make it. his parents were always very supportive of him, but they naturally grew more distant as he became an adult. part of the reason he was able to have such a laid back childhood and young adulthood is he had their support. also, as much as he advocates for alternative medicine, he’s not an anti-vaxxer. he’s about learning what herbs and natural medicines can do for you, and using stuff like vaccines and medicines where they’re needed rather than as a first resort- if a tea can cure a headache, why take advil? and he painted janice himself! it took forever, and he’s so proud of her (and himself)

[essence-ofme]

Struggle of a Shopaholic

Over the past year, I’ve started to come to terms with the fact that I am a shopaholic. In other words, I’m kind of really materialistic, obsessed with clothes and other items I feel I need for whatever reason, but especially clothes. Blame my Auntie Karen. She was once a personal shopper for a very wealthy couple back in her day; she was notorious for finding the best deals and bargains— would send my mom to school in designer brands from Gucci to Givenchy. Coming up myself, I would spend hours at the thrift store with her and my granny, sifting through clothes. My Auntie Karen would also give me hand-me-downs— bags filled with clothes she’d never worn or were too small to fit (her and I were roughly the same size, with me filling out a bit more in certain places). Watching her as a kid and even ‘till this day, I marvel at the way she dresses, clad in outfits you can tell that she puts a great deal of consideration in, even when she’s not particularly going anywhere. I’ve been this way for as long as I can remember as well, carefully planning out my attire almost every day, taking pride in my sense of fashion and combination of clothing choices, probably a bit more so than the average Joe. But what can I say? That’s just the way I was raised, what I was taught, what I’ve seen. So yeah, blame her.

OK, she’s not really to blame, although I definitely think she’s a significant part of the reason. A while ago, my mom even slightly (not so slightly) mocked me for my excessive spending on clothes while we were in the midst of discussion about possibly getting a car for me in the future.

“You stay spending your money on clothes you don’t need,” she scolded. “If you had stacked your unemployment, you coulda been had a car. But you felt the need to buy shoes in every color for some reason.”

I had chuckled at this. OK, fair point. But hey, I’m not exaggerating when I say my shoe collection had been looking very shabby, minimal. I had to get more, especially in a variety of colors to match my outfits! Duh.

“Hey, blame Auntie Karen for my obsession with clothes,” I joked, to which my mom shook her head. But then, a bit more seriously, I added, “Just kidding. I don’t know. You’re right. It’s definitely a problem.”

“It’s a sickness,” my mom had declared brazenly. “If I were you, I would think deeply about why— are you trying to get attention, are you filling some type of void?”

It was kind of funny because deep down I had known the reasons myself for quite a long time already. But to hear her question it so bluntly like that had really made me start to think about some of the underlying issues I really did have, but were trying to pretend as though they were no big deal. Was I trying to get attention? I mean the wording of that made it sound so desperate and pathetic, but I did often intend to get noticed a little bit more from people based on the clothes I specifically chose to wear. With my wardrobe came a certain confidence, a new me coming to life every day and making myself known. Even on days when I dressed more casually. And I was definitely filling a void, I mean, who isn’t? Shopping and the feeling of buying new clothes and things, but once again, especially clothes, just makes me feel better when, unfortunately, most times I’m used to feeling shitty and insecure. Everything about it is fun for me, from looking around and discovering clothes to imagining where I’d wear them, there is even great excitement once I get home and begin to put all of my things away.

I know I said blame my Auntie Karen, and I was partly joking, but let me just say that the fact that I work in a retail store does not help at all. In fact, I think it’s only made my shopaholic tendencies even worse. Ironically enough, my Auntie Karen was the one who actually pointed out the T.J. MAXX job opening to me, and well, she is the reason I have this job ‘till this day. Thank you, Auntie Karen. But seriously, what is the lady trying to make of me? A clothes-obsessed, materialistic bitch who unnecessarily wastes all of her money? All I do is shop on the clock, wander around the shopping floor looking at things to possibly buy. But OK, I’m deflecting. Once again, it really isn’t her fault. But she is a major influence.

Sometimes I even find myself embarrassed by how much I shop, believing that it’s something others notice as well. Usually I’ll pile items on the counter about a good two or three times per week, and every time someone rings me up, I can’t help but wonder if they and other surrounding coworkers at the registers are wondering why I buy so many things from there. I mean, it’s not like I’m the only one who does, but still. Knowing what I now know about myself, I feel slightly self-conscious about my excessive shopping habit.

All I know is that something’s gotta give. I can’t keep spending money on clothes I don’t need. (OK, well actually I don’t think I can just quit cold-turkey. I think it would be better to modify my shopping, going back to my old ways and buying a bunch of clothes at thrift stores instead, so that way I get more for less.) Maybe one day, hopefully, I’ll realize that I don’t need clothes and other items to complete me. But for now… I mean, why not shop?

[phobiadeficient]

Speeding bullet - scout being really braggy and boastful while 'trying' to get sniper into bed and when sniper finally agrees Scout is rlly fuckin insecure bc he didn't think it would work

scout tf2 all “ooh i got big dick energy” until he’s gotta get his dick out. ft. trans sniper because i fuckin feel like it

-

It was only half-joking, yeah, but that still meant that half of it was a joke.

It mostly started as just… an extension of what Scout was already kind of doing. It had started on him trying to get Snioer to laugh, and when it turned out he liked doing that, he’d worked hard to dig up all sorts of material. Puns and lame dad jokes and stuff, mostly. Then when he’d run low on those, he moved on to cheesy pickup lines. Then eventually he moved on to just regular pickup lines, then it somehow morphed into straight up flirting.

Kissy faces at Sniper across the room when he was trying to focus on a different conversation and pretending he hadn’t been doing anything when the other person looked was one of them that he had fun with for a while. Offhandedly saying “hot” when Sniper did normal, regular things, because to be fair, Sniper was a real attractive dude. Sniper occasionally bopping him on the shoulder for a sassy remark, to which Scout would make a dramatic noise and go “harder” just to make Sniper blush. Casually calling Sniper “babe” or “hon” when he wasn’t really paying attention just to see him sputter a bit.

He didn’t think it was ever gonna go anywhere, not just on the basis of it mostly being a joke, but also because Sniper was wayyy out of Scout’s league, as far as he was concerned. Mysterious Australian marksman, tall and handsome, real sweet and awfully polite in a way that made him the exact kind of guy Scout would’ve wanted to bring home to his Ma back when he lived in Boston and was still trying to date for real.

And he knew Sniper was into dudes, had gathered as much when Sniper one day quietly murmured some remark about an ex-boyfriend and promptly tried to brush past it. But that didn’t necessarily mean he was into Scout.

But he liked the way Sniper’s mouth ticked up at the corner when he hit him with a really good pick up line. Liked the way Sniper would sometimes roll his eyes, sometimes flush, sometimes sputter and smack his shoulder. It was nice, the thing they had going. Friends, but better than coworker friends, but kind of different than friends. It was a weird dynamic they had going on.

They were in Scout’s room one day, playing checkers on the shitty little board Scout had picked up from a thrift store at some point and never gotten around to throwing away. Sitting across from each other with the board between them on Scout’s bed, Scout criss-cross and Sniper half-lounged against the wall.

Sniper finished off his last two pieces in a double jump, and Scout swore, having lost track of the piece responsible.

“You suck, dude,” Scout complained, picking up the pieces and stacking them with the rest of his own.

“Mate, you suck,” Sniper corrected.

“Only on weekends,” Scout shot back, only a second delayed, and winked. “But hey, I can make exceptions.”

“Is that right?” Sniper asked.

This was a new bit. Sniper didn’t usually push the joke forward, or prompt him for more. Scout rolled with it. “Yeah, man,” he laughed. “I can start taking walk-in appointments for a nice face.”

“How far do you schedule in advance?” Sniper asked next, raising an eyebrow.

“Not too busy these days,” Scout shrugged.

“Might be able to say you’re able to… squeeze someone in?” Sniper asked, and Scout’s heart hammered, even as he burst into laughter.

“Aw, fuck, that’s a good line. Jesus, I’m mad I didn’t think of that first,” he managed, and Sniper was smiling too, looked away after a second.

“Thanks, mate,” he replied, looking satisfied. He shifted, not looking back. “You’d think there’d be a waiting list a mile long.”

“Fuckin’ tell me about it,” Scout groaned, leaning back to get a bit more comfortable. “I mean, seriously. There’s like nobody out here. Unless I wanna dick down on some sand or whatever, I’m shit outta luck. And most of the people in town are way too old for me, and the people that ain’t are like, either taken or super weird or just not interested. And yeah, one or two are all clear, everything’s fine, but the second the word relationship crops up, poof, gone, smoke cloud, fuckin’ witness protection levels of disappeared. What’s a guy gotta do to get appreciated a little around here, y’know?”

Sniper nodded and hummed sympathetically. “Well, I’m sure there’s one or two people around who can tell a good thing when they see it,” he said, tilting his head.

“We talkin’ besides you?” Scout asked, grinning and starting to gesture at himself. “I mean, look at this, look at all’a this! No duh, I know you’ve got two workin’ eyes and at least a little bit of taste. Even if your food is fucked up and weird.”

Sniper rolled his eyes, but he was smiling. “Humble, are we?”

“What, am I supposed to be?” Scout asked, cheeky and unapologetic.

“It’s alright. It’s cute,” Sniper replied, glancing him up and down.

Scout flushed. The tables weren’t usually turned like this, and it was taking surprisingly little to fluster him. “Thanks,” was all he could think of. He cursed himself for not having a better line. “I mean, yeah. Of course I am. Uh, it is. Fuck.”

Sniper chuckled, and sat up. “Thought you usually hate it when people call you cute,” he pointed out, tilting his head back and forth to stretch his neck where he’d been sitting weird.

“I mean, it’s okay if it’s… you,” Scout said, words slowing as he realized how sappy that sounded. “I—I’d be okay with—“

He stammered a little, distracted by the visual of Sniper pulling off his shades, which he almost never did, and folding them up, setting them off to one side and fixing him with a look, eyes sharp and overwhelming now that they were uncovered and Scout was faced with the absolute brunt of them.

“—I mean I-I-I’d be okay with all sorts of things,” he said, a little desperate to turn the conversation back to their standard flirty jokes. He felt way out of his depth all of a sudden and it made him a little uncomfortable.

Then every muscle in Scout’s body froze as Sniper moved forward.

He knocked over their little stacks of checker chips with his knee, sending a few in a lazy topple down off the bed towards the floor, and a gentle push to Scout’s shoulder was all it took to make him fall back onto his back, and then Sniper was over him, on top of him, inside of his thigh against the outside of Scout’s propped up on his arms.

“What sorts of things?” Sniper prompted quietly.

Scout’s breath caught, staring up at Sniper with wide eyes.

After a few seconds of silence, Sniper’s eyebrows started to furrow. “You awright, mate?” he asked gently.

“Yeah! Yeah, for sure,” Scout said right away, fumbling to try and find a good place to put his hands, settling on Sniper’s shoulders despite the awkward bend it put into his elbows between them.

“Are you… not ready, to…?” he started to ask next, trailing a little, and Scout was faced with a series of concepts. That Sniper thought their arrangement was one where Scout could be ready for this. That Sniper thought they had some kind of arrangement. That Sniper wanted him.

The last one buzzed around in his head hard enough that Scout didn’t even remember to respond.

“We can stop,” Sniper said next, and Scout fumbled for a good reply.

“No! No, I’m good. It’s good,” he said, trying to calm his hammering pulse.

Sniper sat up a little, glancing him up and down again. “It just seems like you’re nervous is all,” he said.

And he was, and he was sure his hands would be shaking if they weren’t holding on to Sniper’s shoulders. “I’m good,” he said anyways. “I just—I dunno what you, what you like, what you want.”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Sniper replied, and Scout had to fight hard not to jump at the feeling of Sniper trailing a hand down his side. “What do you want to do?”

Scout swallowed hard. “Can,” he started to ask, and he didn’t know how he could be reading this wrong but he was sure that he was, had to be, felt this was an insane thing to be able to request but Sniper had asked so he tried anyways, “can I touch you?”

Sniper shrugged, sitting up just slightly further, squaring his shoulders to open himself up. “Go ahead,” he prompted, and Scout did.

He managed to undo the buttons of Sniper’s shirt, pushing it down his shoulders a little ways before he realized he had an undershirt on and that it would need to go as well. A glance up at Sniper, and Sniper chuckled, sat back slightly, pulled off his shirt and undershirt both before he leaned back forward within range of Scout’s hands.

Scout traced across all the scars he could find with gentle fingers, trailing them momentarily over two large scars there at Sniper’s pecs. “How’d you get these?” he asked, glanced up at Sniper.

Sniper frowned. “Mate, I’ve told you already,” he said quietly, and Scout took a good few moments to realize what Sniper meant, then looked down again with wide eyes.

Somehow the words “top surgery” hadn’t brought him the mental image of big, wide scars. Suddenly he was all the more impressed with Sniper. “Oh yeah,” he said, tracing over them again. “Huh.”

Sniper fixed him with a befuddled smile, the sort of fond “are you serious, how’d you forget that?” look he tended to get from people who actually liked him, and Scout could only smile back sheepishly. Finally Sniper rolled his eyes and plucked on Scout’s shirt. “Planning on ever taking this off?” he asked, and Scout quickly nodded, trying to wrestle himself free of the shirt as fast as he could. “Easy, mate. No time limit, here.”

“I know!” Scout said a little defensively, finally getting the shirt off over his head, and Sniper smoothed down the hair on one side of his head where it was probably sticking up and looking dumb.

God, he probably looked so dumb. There lying beneath a big, cool guy like Sniper, all… scrawny and already flushing and not a single cool scar to speak of—

“Mate, it’s alright if you’re nervous,” Sniper said, worry increasing.

“No I’m not nervous why would I be nervous I’m totally cool,” Scout said all in a rush.

Sniper raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

“I mean, maybe a little a little nervous, but just because I—“ And he realized it in the same moment he fished through his head for an excuse. “I just don’t have anything to… y’know, stuff we might need.”

Sniper stared, waiting for him to elaborate.

“I don’t have any condoms or anything on me,” Scout finally admitted, surely flushed down to his chest.

Sniper’s lips parted around a silent “oh”, and he nodded. “Awright. Well, that’s fine, still plenty we can do,” he decided aloud after a second. “How’s about I tug you off, you do the same for me?”

Scout didn’t know how he was in a situation where it was acceptable to ask the thing he blurted a second later, but thank god that he was. “Can I go down on you?” he asked, not entirely sure what words he would use in the specific and not wanting to be super rude and ask.

Sniper laughed, grinning. “Sure, mate. If you want,” he nodded. Another look up and down. “Mind if I get you off first, though? I’ll admit, I’ve, er, been looking forward to the chance a bit.”

“Go ahead,” Scout said weakly, and Sniper’s grin widened, and he moved to work Scout’s pants open in simple, confident motions.

It was a little embarrassing that he was so hard already, and he had to look away from Sniper, tilting his head back to look at the ceiling. Sniper hummed, and then spit into his hand, and then he was jacking Scout off, steady and nice.

“How’s that?” he prompted softly into Scout’s collarbone when all Scout did for a while was pant and gasp quietly.

“S’good,” he managed, voice shaky. “Real good. Real fuckin’ good.”

So good that he felt a moan rising up in his chest and pressed his hand against his mouth, biting down on the meaty part of his palm to try to stifle it.

“Oh, no,” Sniper chided, voice a growl, taking Scout’s wrist and pinning it just to one side of him, grinning. “I wanna hear you.”

Scout started to protest, but then Sniper squeezed nice nice nice over the head and it made his lashes flutter, his back arch, his mouth fall open in a gasp trailed by a moan, and his face was absolutely on fire.

“There’s a beauty,” Sniper purred, and pulled his hand back to spit in it a second time before he returned, picking up speed and apparently greatly enjoying the way Scout squirmed, the noises that rose up in his throat. “There you go. Nice, aren’t it?”

“Yeah,” Scout agreed, and he wished he could shut up, wished he could shut his big fuckin’ mouth for a minute before he embarrassed himself, but he couldn’t, could only whimper out praises and pleads as Sniper drew him closer to, and finally over, the edge, heralded by a weak groan and Sniper’s name.

He came back down to earth to the feeling of lips and stubble against his cheek, his jaw. Scout blindly fumbled with his newly-freed hand towards his dresser, managing to find the tissues and mop himself off, still flushed, thoroughly embarrassed.

“Cute,” Sniper hummed, looking down at him, and Scout groaned, head falling back for a second to finish collecting himself.

“Uh,” he tried to say, blinked once or twice, looked at Sniper. “Hey, let me hit you with somethin’ real quick.”

“Mm?” Sniper asked, mildly intrigued.

“How about you, uh.” And usually he was so much smoother, way cooler, but Sniper had him frazzled in a way that most people didn’t, not even that really hot guy he met the year after he graduated, the one with the leather jacket and the cologne that made him practically lightheaded. He fumbled for a way to phrase it that was hot, but couldn’t seem to find anything, and just sighed, spitting it out and cutting the bullshit. “How about you sit on my face?”

Because in a cursory glance, he’d noticed that while Sniper was smiling, movements languid and smooth in a way that meant he was very much into the proceedings, he didn’t seem to have a bulge in his pants, there being no hardness to speak of when he ground his hips forward into Scout’s thigh. And apparently he’d made the right call, because Sniper  chuckled and agreed.

And to be honest, he didn’t remember much after that. It was mostly a haze, movement and heat, Sniper’s husky voice dripping into his ears much in the same way that slickness dropped down Scout’s chin and cheeks. All he knew was that Sniper was gorgeous, and seemed to like what Scout could do with his mouth—and damn right he did, he had enough experience that he would be a little insulted otherwise. All he knew was that halfway through he found himself outright hard again, and wound up jerking himself off desperately with his free even as he continued trying to wring noises out of Sniper with mouth and fingers, muffled groans escaping him as Sniper decided to tease him about it in that low raspy voice he was starting to get addicted to.

Sniper finished first, and the rush he got feeling Sniper’s legs close right around his head drove him over the edge, bucking and making Sniper roll forward slightly and prolonging things for him.

And finally Sniper was leaning up onto his knees, reaching for the same tissues Scout had gone for earlier and laughing at the picture Scout made. His hair was all stuck up on one side again, he was pretty sure, and his face was red and shiny with wetness, lips swollen and parted as he panted, staring up at Sniper with bright eyes.

“We gotta do this again some time,” Scout said before Sniper was even done wiping himself down.

And Sniper laughed. “Sure, mate. Any day of the week.”

[sitinthelight]

I’m on my period and I keep forgetting that is a decent excuse for why I’ve been so hyper emotional

I’m literally just an emotional being in general. Very aware of what I’m feeling but very bad in communicating it to others. So many flaws in such an average sized person.

I have made a million text posts today because every little thing that’s gone wrong has honestly been a huge mountain for me to climb over (in my mind of course). But I took a nap, I’m okay again. Still meh, but okay and not contemplating casual mishaps like death and what not. 

I’m pretty sure my managers hate me but it isn’t my fault that someone miscalculated how much time it would take to do inventory for the store.  I still stayed as long as I could before my body took over and told me “NOPE BITCH, you’re going to start cramping until you literally can’t move.” They probably thoughtI was faking it but even though it wasn’t hell cramps, it was still painful and I’m not chancing being the person to pass out DURING inventory. 

However, I worked in a few different departments today. I literally live in women’s shoes. I know the department better than I know the back of my hand. I could walk it in my sleep and pick out a shoe for you with my eyes closed. I never explore anywhere else. I rarely shop around because I personally don’t like a lot of what we sell. It isn’t my style and I’m trying to be better economically and for the environment by reducing what I own and buy and sticking to thrifting or paying more for brands that actually care for the environment and their employees. 

Anyway, I worked in intimates. Basically shape wear, underwear, pajamas, and lingerie. And boy, am I a slut for lingerie and bralettes. They are one of my few weaknesses in life. Just kidding, I have so many weaknesses. And we just had a ton of mark downs so a lot of things are crazy affordable and I OWN TOO MUCH FUCKING UNDERWEAR but omg did I fall in love with quite a few things. I love bralettes. I wore one today since we didn’t have to dress business casual and it’s so comfy, I still haven’t taken it off. Did my nipples pop through? Yep. But I wore a pull over because our stock room has no heat so it’s not like anyone really noticed and if they did, I don’t care. So I may be tempted to take a trip over there soon to see what they have in my size.  I literally don’t even wear or buy lingerie for sex. It literally is all for my vain self because I like to stare at myself in the mirror. Like, I bought corsets and things in the past for like anniversaries but I’ve always had issues with finding sizes that fit my tiny boobs so I kind of gave up on that dream. Plus, they are ridiculous to get on and off. Honestly, what is the point of dressing up for sex when everything is going to come off anyway? Like where is the admiration in what I am wearing? ADORE ME IN MY CUTE MATCHING SETS. And I actually enjoy having sex with my underwear on sometimes. Like, something about it turns me on.

Something I want to work on is being more open about sex. Especially since I spent several years of my life worrying about it and obsessing over it and jesus, high school me had such a fucked up mentality about it. I thought I’d stay a virgin until I was married and oh man, who even knows when I’ll ever be married. I told one of my coworkers how long I had been dating Zach for and she asked if he was going to propose any time soon since it was like “we were already married” and I literally started to choke on my lunch and had to excuse myself. She got the memo after I came back and didn’t ask anymore about it to my relief. 

But yeah, sex. I want to be able to talk about it freely (except with my mom). Because I do have sex. I masturbate. It’s a human experience and usually, I enjoy it. In high school, I masturbated A LOT. I kind of think I had a problem because I did it whenever I was bored and sometimes it was multiple times a day. I also felt extreme amounts of guilt for several years, even into college for masturbating. Oh small horny me. Yet I didn’t like doing anything with my high school boyfriends, because everything they did felt awful. I liked making out, that was it. I thought dicks were gross, (still aren’t crazy attracted to them) and I wouldn’t do anything past a blow job (except the one time I was coerced into doing anal, which was an awful experience). I didn’t know how to communicate what I liked and didn’t like and honestly, I doubt my high school ex would have listened much because one time I did mention how much pain I was in and he kind of just ignored me. 

And you know, I still have a hard time with full communication. I know myself a lot better now. I do have ideas on what I like, but I still am just so easily...passive. Maybe passive is a word I can use. And honestly, sometimes sex is just boring. Not always, not often, but just sometimes, I’m doing it for the sake of making my partner happy or to have him leave me alone and that’s okay but not ideal. I want to be more open about sex for myself. I want to do a lot of things for myself. I want to explore masturbating with toys because I haven’t ventured too far out of my comfort zone. I also want to have sex while on my period! Zach refuses to do it and I definitely understand. Blood is gross, but he is missing out because I am literally the horniest when I’m on my period and it sucks because I can’t do anything about it but masturbate. There are a long list of things I want to explore. I also want to stop feeling like I have no control in sex. Like I have to be submissive allllll of the time. I like being submissive, it’s fun sometimes. But sometimes I wish I was more assertive and took more initiative. One day, i think I’ll conquer my sex goals. Slowly, maybe, but surely. I have the rest of my life to figure it out if we don’t all die from some force of nature or the government first.

[kennethherrerablog]

12 DIY Christmas Gifts That’ll Make Your Loved Ones (and Your Budget) Happy

I grew up with a big family, which made it hard to buy everyone something nice at Christmas.

My gift options were to shop at the dollar store or “do it yourself.”

While the dollar store is by far the easier path, DIY gifts are a genuine labor of love. But you don’t have to be Martha Stewart or a contestant on “Making It” to explore the DIY route. It’s more about the gesture than making a perfectly crafted artisanal present. Your loved ones will likely appreciate a heartfelt and useful gift more than a store-bought one.

Plus, staying at home to make these gifts will save you from the impulse purchases shopping can bring.

12 DIY Christmas Gift Ideas to Try This Holiday Season

1. Photo Magnets

These are so much fun to make, and there are dozens of ways to get the job done.  

Use precut wood shapes, tiles, glass stones or mason jar lids — all found at your local arts and crafts store — as your base. Use some Mod Podge (a glue-type sealant) to adhere your printed photos to the base. Once dry, glue magnet strips to the back of the base. Done.

Or, you can use adhesive magnetic sheets for bigger images. You can make hundreds of these personal DIY gifts and inexpensively give your friends and family all the feels.

2. Baked Goods

The fastest way to someone’s heart is through their stomach. Home-baked treats will do the trick.

Try making holiday-themed cookies with cookie cutters and decorations, or play with seasonal flavors like peppermint, ginger and chocolate.

Turn up the sweetness with some fudge, challenge yourself to whip up toffee or make a loaf of banana bread (my mother’s signature baked good).

Bake your goods in large batches and deliver them to family, friends and coworkers in reusable holiday tins, treat bags or Tupperware.

3. Family Cookbook

Covertly gather recipes from your family members and put them into a special family cookbook.

Ask family members to share their recipes or take notes next time someone whips up a casserole or batch of cookies. Maybe grandma has a box of handwritten recipes you can convert.

Create an accessible digital version online or assemble your own hard copy. Free and low-cost templates and software are available if you want to do it yourself.

The cookbook will be a treasured gift for generations to come. Just don’t tell anyone else what’s in the sauce, because we all know that’s a family secret.

4. Pickled Fruits and Veggies

Use a hot water bath to pickle fruits and vegetables. You can pickle anything from cucumbers, green beans and carrots to cauliflower and pears. Find out your relatives’ favorites and surprise them with a homemade jar — or five.

One minimal investment in canning equipment and the basic ingredients can yield enough to give something to everyone special in your life during the holidays. Go a step further and create your own cheeky product labels for the jars.

You might find a workshop in your city to teach you how. Follow our pickle tutorial or use herbs and vegetables from your garden to save on produce costs.

5. Framed Pictures

Love that photo of you and mom on vacation? What about the one of all your best friends together? Frame it.

Scope out affordable picture frames at thrift stores, dollar stores, Michael’s (it always has a coupon available) or another major retailer.  Or spruce up and decorate an old picture frame with buttons.

Once you know what size frame you have, get the highest-resolution copy of the picture and have it printed to size at a local photo processor (CVS, Walgreens, Walmart). Each print usually costs less than $1. Too many photos to narrow down? Assemble an entire photo album.

6. Ornaments

Commemorate the year with a homemade ornament using paper, glass, precut shapes or reusable everyday products like wine corks, popsicle sticks and bottle caps. Spend a Saturday and craft them all yourself, or get the kids or significant other involved.

Make cheeky ones using pictures of the kids or fur babies, or you can tailor them specifically to your home state or siblings. Start a tradition and create a new one every year.

7. Mason Jar Mixtures

Assemble an edible gift in a jar. Concoct your own specialty holiday recipe like salsa, dry soup mix, hot chocolate, snack mix, nuts and cookie ingredients. Shoot, you can even go the alcohol route and infuse vodka.

All you need is a case of Mason jars, your ingredients and a recipe tag. The tag should include ingredients and any baking instructions.

If it’s really good, you’ll have everyone excited for next year’s batch.

8. Kid Art

There’s nothing wrong with this kind of child labor. The rugrats get creative and you get cheap DIY Christmas gifts out of it. Win-win.

Gather non-toxic paints, glitter and large pieces of posterboard (paper, cardboard or canvas work, too) for the kiddos to craft their masterpiece upon. Let them go to town. Once it’s finished and dry, cut up the project into frameable pieces. Sign and date the bottom like a true artist.

Frame the pieces and give them out as gifts. I have the one my nieces made me in 2011 on my desk.

9. Coasters

Do your civic duty and save all tables from condensation rings by making DIY coasters for your friends and family. It’s a cheap and easy gift you can’t go wrong with, because everyone needs coasters, especially funky (or classy) homemade ones.  

Craft DIY coasters out of ceramic tiles, wood slices and pressed flowers, mason jar lids, popsicle sticks or fabric. The picture magnets mentioned above can double as coasters if you skip the magnetic strips.

Sets of four are standard, so put on some Netflix and settle into a project weekend.

10. Pressed Flowers

Pick wildflowers on a walk, or save flowers from a special occasion and use them to create a piece of art.

Press the flowers with a book or iron and display them between glass, on paper, as a bookmark or matted onto a candle holder or key ring. There are a surprising amount of pressed flower projects to try.

While the art of flower pressing takes time, the elegantly preserved souvenir will be worth it.

11. Homemade Spices

Homemade spices, seasonings and extracts are an affordable and practical gift for the food lovers in your life.

Awaken your inner chef and concoct a spice combination that suits your personality or complements a slice of your favorite meat. Blend a piquant taco seasoning, dry rub or apple and pumpkin pie spice mixes.

Just don’t forget to add your own labels for that extra zing.

12. Knitted or Crocheted Goods

My favorite handmade gifts over the years have been knit scarves and shawls my mother made.

Knitted and crocheted goods are truly one-of-a-kind gifts.  Something as simple as a hat, scarf or bag will carry sentiment forever. The only thing they really cost is time, which makes a finished product feel more valuable.

If you don’t want to make bulky sweaters and ill-fitted hats for people, try coasters, blankets or rugs. There are free patterns galore online.

Probably not a new hobby to take up 10 days before Christmas, though.

Stephanie Bolling is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s making mustard and pickled things as gifts for her friends and family this year. Read her full bio here or say hi on Twitter @StephBolling.

This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.

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12 DIY Christmas Gifts That’ll Make Your Loved Ones (and Your Budget) Happy published first on https://justinbetreviews.tumblr.com/

[rampageperson-blog]

The Story Behind Special Needs

               The bell rings to signal the end of class and you walk as quickly as humanly possible to the lunchroom, where you shove through the lunch line, sit down with your food, breathe a sigh of relief, and begin eating. As your friends sit down at the table too, you look around and your eyes fall upon a special needs student a few tables away, standing next to a janitor and helping them clean one of the dirty tables. You point this out to your friends and everyone shakes their heads and talks under their breath, bringing up the times they’ve seen students dusting lockers or taking recycling out of classrooms and the common, underlying question as you discuss these unjust horrors is How could they?

               Unfortunately, a majority of students share similar, ill-informed opinions about why the special needs students at Southeast Polk go around the school doing what they do. They have no idea about the incredible values of the Special Needs program, all the hard work done by associates, teachers, families, and administrators, and simply just how much the students involved love every aspect of their days.

               John Steffen has been the coordinator of the special needs program for the 12 years he’s been at Southeast Polk, and before that, worked with special needs students at the middle school he principaled at. He creates programs and works with teachers, associates and students to create personalized and helpful programs but knows the reason behind the highly successful program is the associates working closely with the students.

               “All the programs we have are about education. It’s all about getting kids diplomas, and different kids have a different range of needs,” said Steffen. From high functioning to lower functioning students, programs are individually tailored to suit specific needs and so the same programs are never exactly the same year after year.

               “We have like students with the same abilities and we put those kids together,” he said.

               The values of these programs are immeasurable in how helpful they are to students. They help students figure out what they like to do, what they’re good at doing, and what they could do after high school that matches the jobs they ‘ve done that they loved.

               “Before they came to the high school, they didn't have any experience working in a job somewhere,” Steffen said. He explained that when most people were young, they were given chores to teach responsibility and job skills. For children with special needs, however, there are usually other priorities and challenges that are put before telling the child to do the dishes, vacuum, or mow the yard.

               “So now we’re gonna give those experiences to them, we’re gonna do it in a safe environment, where they only get very small pieces at a time, and then we slowly over those next four years build on that so when they graduate, they can get a job, make their own food, and schedule their own appointments,” said Steffen. The goal, just like for all students that walk through the high school doors, is to prepare them for life after school.

               A huge part of the special needs students’ day and environment in school is the program called Living, Learning, and Working.

              “There’s the learning part, which is academics,” said Steffen, “learning how to do math and read better, write better, even communicate better.” For the associates in the program, this means getting students to enjoy what they’re learning and have a sense of accomplishment in what they’re doing so they continue to learn and continue to read and write and use math in their everyday lives.

               Some of the programs created for the special needs area of the school is PEOPEL pe, Best Buddies, and Special Olympics, and also included in the students’ days are programs tied to the Living, Learning, and Working initiative that helps build on educational skills and skills needed live independently after high school. Special needs students have a huge range of jobs they can do every day, including recycling, assisting in the library, kitchen, Ram Cafe, delivering classroom supplies, helping the custodial staff, and more. In addition to that, there’s a senior group that leave the building and visit businesses in the area and help, including nursing homes, thrift stores, gyms and the ARL.

               One of the associates largely involved in the special needs program is Angela Duden, an ID teacher who’s been working with special needs students for eleven years, teaching them reading/writing skills and the Living, Learning, Working program.

              “(The purpose of these jobs) is to learn how to follow directions, how to start a task and follow through with it, and they’re learning how to get to their different destinations on time; follow a schedule. They’re learning how to follow routines with the help of our picture schedules and our checklists. A big part is learning how to communicate with your supervisors and your coworkers,” said Duden.

              For students in the special needs program, these jobs are their favorite parts of their days. For junior Tyler Kaut, delivering Kleenex and other classroom supplies is the best part of his day, clearly shown by the way his face lights up when he talks about all the things he gets to do.

             “It’s so fun,” said Kaut about delivering supplies. He also loves math and reading, and getting to water the plants in his math classroom after he’s done with worksheets.

             Because of how much he enjoys taking trash cans out of classrooms and sorting through it, Kaut has decided that after he graduates next year, he wants to work in the cans and bottles department at HyVee.

            “I like going and pulling the tabs off,” he said, smiling at his associate helper Wendi Young, who accompanies him to classrooms when he delivers supplies and works with him throughout the day.

             Because of these programs and the expansive and thoughtful process in individualizing and specializing them to each student, kids like Kaut have a fun, excitement filled day that has led to a definite career path that he’s ready and extremely excited for, with no small thanks to all the teachers and helpers who have been supporting him and his friends each step of the way.