& sundry

So I'm pretty sure that I've done none of my resolutions thus far... but I have been SICK for almost the last month now (& I'm finally starting to feel better, yay!)

My house is still cluttered (but the bathrooms are clean).

I have emails waiting and waiting to be written (so sorry, Emily.  honestly, your emails have meant the world to me.  they encouraged me a lot.  I'll write you back this weekend).

I purged my computer desk yesterday.  No trash on it now.  Maybe I can claim just one of my resolutions upheld. :)

Here's what I have been doing instead.  School, homework, sleep.  Seriously being sick is like a full time job!  At least it's almost gone (I think).

Yesterday I got to class a few minutes before the room was unlocked.  There were maybe 6 or so of us waiting.  I glanced across the hall at the guy standing there and to my shock saw that he was wearing monogrammed jeans. No biggie right?  The monogram was on his crotch!  Right there, in a dull brown-orange, was the letter 'P'.  Now I can only imagine what the P stood for.  But really...  not only was it a little crass it looked a little silly.  It made me laugh (tho' not out loud and definitely not right then).  I wish I could have taken a picture of it but I didn't think I could really ask for a picture of his crotch.  It didn't seem quite right.

Also, I've come to the conclusion that there are three final bastions of smoking left in these great United States: Community Colleges, Pool Halls, & Hospitals (not inside them, oh no! outside, in the 'smokers shack').

Off to study for the 4 tests I have coming up before I head out to class...

Resolved

I've never been one to make New Years Resolutions. I guess that can explain why I'm so late to jump on the band wagon this year. But three came to me today. They're good and they're achievable. I had better write them down. :)

1. I resolve to start fewer emails with the words: I'm sorry it's taken me so long to respond. Instead I'll respond to them more quickly.
2. I will throw away my trash. I don't understand the scraps of paper cluttering up my computer desk. It isn't that hard.
3. I will spend at least 20 minutes a day purging my house of STUFF. It's just the two of us. We should be able to fit into a one bedroom apt w/o any problem. It'll just take some doing.

spacious

It's too late to write again but I was just marveling at how large and clean my living room looks again, now that the Christmas tree is gone. It always amazes me. I do miss the nativity scene tho'. It was absolutely beautiful... the muted colors against the green wall behind it. I hope I took a picture. That scene may not happen again. Today I went apartment shopping. No real news on that front yet. But it may be coming soon. Good night. :)

p.s.

Oh and I'll have to tell you what I did for my birthday! It involved fulfilling a decade old wish, dressing up, delicious food, lots of driving, and very little sleep. :) But I'm off to bed. gotta be out the door in less than 8 hours. g'nite!

Re-entry

The past two days have thrown me back into academia... or at least seen the majority of my time in a school. Let's see... from admissions to transcript evaluation and then home. Next was a long line of phone calls to and from COD figuring out how to get a 'transcript' from someone who doesn't do unofficial transcripts _at all_. Back to Southwest... transcript evaluation, advisors office, admissions, meeting room c, waiver forms, cashiers' office, and distance learning. By this point it's 3:30 (I got there sometime in the morning) and I decided to eat lunch before buying text books. That's saved for tomorrow. It's my first day of class.

After dinner I started to realize that I should prepare myself for the day. What do I need for classes? I thought about taking a shower tonight (class is at 7:30am!!), picking out my clothes, having a bag ready for supplies... oh wait. supplies. I asked Walter if he had a notebook or something I could write in. No luck. Neither of us have any type of notebook. We do have tons of pencils tho'. And I made sure to have snacks in case I just couldn't make it home after class without succumbing to temptation and pulling over at a Wendy's. I bought so many yummy snacks at whole foods today. But did I think about basic school supplies? Not a chance.

So if school is about navigating red tape and staying mentally alert I think I'm ready for anything. If I actually have to take notes I may be in a bit of trouble. It all just made me realize how far removed from school I've really become. All soon to change, however. Tomorrow I'll go to Statistics and then next week I add Gen Chem and A&P (I and II). I guess I'll have to buy some notebooks. I think it should be fun. :)

Birthday Bonanza

December is chock full of birthdays for me: friends, family, Jesus... and me.

Every year birthdays have been kind of a big deal for me. I mean, I've always really been excited to be able to honestly say that I'm a year older than I could have the day before. And I always spent about 6 months almost slipping out that I was older than actually was the case. Not so with 26. Somehow this one is different. I think I'd rather stay 25 for now... at least until I feel like I understand myself a bit more, have my life squared away a bit better, and have accomplished one or two of my life goals. You think it could just hold off? :)

Anyway, I've always held fast to the rule that (at least when I had any say in the matter) I would not travel on my birthday. We always travel this time of year. As a kid I traveled from Chicago to Dayton, 6 hours in the car. Now I make the trek from Memphis to somewhere 10 hours away (be it Chicago or Dayton) and I've always held fastidiously to my rule: no traveling on my birthday. so there. This year I'm thinking about breaking it. (haven't talked to walter about it yet... we'll see). somehow the date just doesn't feel as important, car rides can be relaxing, and it does seem like the right timing to head up to the family. I don't know.

Regardless, I want to celebrate my birthday while still here in Memphis. I'm thinking the 22nd. And that's as far as I've thought. I mean, I just don't know what to do. Any ideas?

Looking back over this post it seems weird that I'd spend time telling you that this birthday doesn't feel as important or maybe that I'm not looking forward to it as much (I don't know, is that what I'm saying?) and then go on to ask for party ideas. The odd thing is that the party wasn't ever that big of a deal to me when adding a year to my age was. But again, this year feels different. Maybe I'm trying to compensate for the change. Maybe I'm just bored. :)

Either way, I would LOVE to heard your suggestions. I want to do something fun! (thanks)

Homemaking 'Meme'

I know that questionnaires get old really fast but when I saw this one I couldn't resist. One that is different from all the rest I've personally seen. I hope you enjoy it too.

(In case you're like me & had never heard the word meme before: This link's for you)

Aprons – Y/N? If Y, what does your favorite look like?
YES! I love aprons. I have two and they are both favorites. One was given to me at my wedding (from anthropologie!) and the other my grandma bought while visiting us in Austria. Soon I'll sew a third.

Baking – Favorite thing to bake
I think pie. Or anything that's heavy with spices. I love my home to smell like nutmeg, cinnamon, and allspice. And I love to bake something new. I don't have an old stand-by yet. There are so many fun things I haven't yet baked.

Clothesline – Y/N?
No. But I desperately would love one. I think they can be beautiful tho' all the ones I see around here look a little hick-trashy. I suppose it takes a little work to make it look like art.

Donuts – Have you ever made them?
Once. Wally & I bought a fryer specifically for beignets. They were wonderful.

Every day – One homemaking thing you do every day
Make the bed. tho' Walter sometimes does this for me now (yay!) so I also wipe down the sink to keep it shiny. :)

Freezer – Do you have a separate deep freeze?
nope. it would be handy. it takes skill to close my freezer currently.

Garbage Disposal – Y/N?
Yes. Prefer to compost when it's not raining.

Handbook – What is your favorite homemaking resource?
Umm, probably Flylady.net and the little "speed cleaning" booklet that came with a Real Simple magazine once.

Ironing – Love it or hate it? Or hate it but love the results?
I just bought an iron (my first non-travel sized) and it makes ironing much more enjoyable. :D but i only iron when sewing.

Junk drawer – Y/N? Where is it?
Yeah, top (half) drawer in chest of drawers and middle drawer of the island. I'm ashamed I have more than one. :/

Kitchen – Color and decorating scheme
My walls are green and my backsplash used to be wall paper covered in some plastic type sheet. Soon it will be subway tile and the floor and counter will be replaced. Wally's building a counter top this week! :)

Love – What is your favorite part of homemaking?
Making my home smell good. I love sitting down in a clean room with warm candles and being able to relax. Relaxing just doesn't happen if I'm staring at a mess. The candles are just bonus. But seriously, I seem to be on a mission to figure out the best way to make a home with two 80 lbs dogs smell like a home w/o. As long as they haven't just run in the rain I'm usually pretty good.

Mop – Y/N?
Twice a week. (i live at the end of a dirt road with two dogs who dig, roll, and run back inside before we can clean them off) Walt is so sweet and he vacuums and I follow behind with the mop. We could do it daily but we ignore it 5 of 7 days. :)

Nylons – Wash by hand or in the washing machine?
Are you supposed to hand wash them? I hand wash practically nothing.

Oven – Do you use the window or open the oven to check?
Door. My door doesn't have a window. Very sad.

Pizza – What do you put on yours?
Mmmm, if it were for me I'd stick basil, chicken, tomatoes, spinach, feta, olive oil oh i don't even know. There are so many great options. If Walter were here half would be sausage. He'd do anything for a sausage pizza. :)

Quiet – What do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?
Light a candle and drink some tea on the couch.

Recipe card box – Y/N? What does it look like?
I do. The box is ugly rubbermade but the cards themselves are beautiful.

Style of house – What style is your house?
Small ranch style house with a huge deck in the front and a brick patio in the back. It was your typical 1980's closed off and dark home when we moved in but now it is bright and open. We've added a sunroom, window, light bamboo floors. It's not even the same place!

Tablecloths and napkins – Y/N?
For holidays. Lately I've been tempted to buy some fun fabric and make a tablecloth so we may be using one more often soon.

Under the kitchen sink – Organized or toxic wasteland?
Organized, as of last week.

Vacuum – How many times per week?
Twice. But sweeping gets done every day.. except Tuesday.

Wash – How many loads of laundry do you do per week?
Never enough.

X’s – Do you keep a daily list of things to do that you cross off?
I have a list of things I'm supposed to do every day but I never cross them off. I usually do them tho'.

Yard – Y/N? Who does what?
Yep! We have 3 acres of land. I water the flowers and bushes and yell at the dogs when they try to dig them up (the bushes, we don't plant flowers in the back yard anymore). Walter mows and helps me with the heavy labor of gardening. I'm learning to garden... not very accomplished at it yet.

Zzz’s – What is your last homemaking task for the day before going to bed?
Put the dogs in their beds, give them a treat for going w/o making me shove their 80lbs into their crates, lock the doors, turn out the lights, unplug the Christmas tree & hop into bed!