Whew. Project and predict one year into the future. For someone who lives pretty much just into next week (maybe month), this is a difficult concept to fathom. But I shall try...
1. I hope to go confidently in the direction of my dreams, and enroll in a culinary arts program at the local community college.
2. I also hope to stay encouraged and excel at said culinary arts program.
3. Spencer will return to public school next year, and I hope he acclimates well.
4. I hope Kirby will have a seamless transition into middle school.
5. I hope Brent and I will transition (seamlessly) into being parents of a preteen girl.
6. I plan to write another novel in November.
7. Brent and I hit 15 years in August and I plan to travel somewhere exotic (British Virgin Islands to visit an Auntie, perhaps)
8. I plan, hope, and dream of living a life with purpose...where I make every minute and every person matter.
29 February 2012
28 February 2012
Day 28 - Handbag Contents
I keep it pretty simple, really.
* Keys (house, cars, office, gym)
* Wallet (typical fare: cards, receipts, cash license, Black-Eyed Peas concert tix stub)
* Two tubes Burt's Bees Lip Balm (Acai Berry and Mango Butter)
* Checkbook
* Gold Bond Ultimate Restoring Skin Therapy Cream
* "Books Checked Out" slip
* Baby fingernail clippers (see yesterday's post)
* Boston Rewetting Eye Drops
* Ibuprofen
* A pressed powder compact
* Tube of Revlon ColorStay (Overtime Wine)
* Tube of CoverGirl NatureLuxe Balm (Clove)
* My daughter's turquoise wristwatch
* 50k NaNoWriMo button
* Tube of Campho-Phenique
* Six pencils
* Five pens
* One Sharpie marker (brown)
* Cell Phone
It looks like I've got a thing for writing instruments and lip implements.
* Keys (house, cars, office, gym)
* Wallet (typical fare: cards, receipts, cash license, Black-Eyed Peas concert tix stub)
* Two tubes Burt's Bees Lip Balm (Acai Berry and Mango Butter)
* Checkbook
* Gold Bond Ultimate Restoring Skin Therapy Cream
* "Books Checked Out" slip
* Baby fingernail clippers (see yesterday's post)
* Boston Rewetting Eye Drops
* Ibuprofen
* A pressed powder compact
* Tube of Revlon ColorStay (Overtime Wine)
* Tube of CoverGirl NatureLuxe Balm (Clove)
* My daughter's turquoise wristwatch
* 50k NaNoWriMo button
* Tube of Campho-Phenique
* Six pencils
* Five pens
* One Sharpie marker (brown)
* Cell Phone
It looks like I've got a thing for writing instruments and lip implements.
27 February 2012
Ugh. Do I really want to talk about this?
Or more importantly, do you really want to know?
My worst habit?
Ugh. Okay.
Whenever I go to a nail salon, I get a pedicure. I love pedicures and having my feet pampered. Inevitably, the pedicurist asks if I want a manicure. And I'm flooded with a sense of shame as I say, "No, just the pedicure today."
I am embarrassed to let the nail technicians work on my hands, because I'm positive they are the most disgusting hands on the planet. Iowa's dry, cold, chafing winter weather is the worst...my skin dries, peels, and drives me insane.
To top it all off, though, I am a picker. If I'm prepared, I've got nail clippers handy and I can easily remedy any wayward cuticle or flap of skin without any pain. However, often enough, it happens that I don't, and then I pickpickpick the little annoyances away.
That's when it usually hurts...when I peel skin too far (not Black Swan too far, though). Then, the next time I wash my hands, I'm in agonizing pain.
Obviously not enough to learn my lesson though. It's a mindless habit, I'll do it when I don't even realize I'm doing it. It's terrible, and I've got to get it under control before I even think about any kind of degree in the culinary arts.
My worst habit?
Ugh. Okay.
Whenever I go to a nail salon, I get a pedicure. I love pedicures and having my feet pampered. Inevitably, the pedicurist asks if I want a manicure. And I'm flooded with a sense of shame as I say, "No, just the pedicure today."
I am embarrassed to let the nail technicians work on my hands, because I'm positive they are the most disgusting hands on the planet. Iowa's dry, cold, chafing winter weather is the worst...my skin dries, peels, and drives me insane.
To top it all off, though, I am a picker. If I'm prepared, I've got nail clippers handy and I can easily remedy any wayward cuticle or flap of skin without any pain. However, often enough, it happens that I don't, and then I pickpickpick the little annoyances away.
That's when it usually hurts...when I peel skin too far (not Black Swan too far, though). Then, the next time I wash my hands, I'm in agonizing pain.
Obviously not enough to learn my lesson though. It's a mindless habit, I'll do it when I don't even realize I'm doing it. It's terrible, and I've got to get it under control before I even think about any kind of degree in the culinary arts.
26 February 2012
Day 26 - My Week
How mundane is this?
Since early January (and the start of a new term), my weeks have been roughly the same. I've settled into quite a lovely routine.
Mondays: I wake about 6:30 to shower, caffeinate myself, prepare breakfast, and herd children off to school. I also get Spencer started on his schoolwork for the day (Logic, Foreign Language, Reading, Vocabulary, History, Math, and Writing/Blog). Usually from about 8:30 to 10:30, I work on my own schoolwork (grading or reading or lesson planning) or meal preparation (usually a crockpot something or other). At 10:30, I toodle off to the college, where I usually make copies or get other things in order for my 11:15 class. From 11:15 to 1:05, I'm teaching. After class until 3:00 are my office hours, where I usually grade, read/annotate, or plan. I pick up the children at 3:30, and I might either go work out or come home and finish meal prep. We eat an early dinner on Mondays because I go to yoga at six (unless there's a community theater board meeting or special event - Mediterranean dinner, etc.), and Brent has bowling at 6:30. Beyond 7:00 pm, I return home to read or hang out with kids until they go to bed at 8:30 or 9:00. Then, I either blog, read, write, surf the Net, grade homeschool work, or spend time with my husband.
Tuesdays: Same morning ritual, but I have the whole day free from teaching/office hours. Tuesdays (and Thursdays) are for bread-baking, laundry, light housecleaning, or extra schoolwork. I'm able to grade Spencer's work immediately (his schedule: Geography, Writing, Math, Reading, History, and Science). In the afternoons, I try to get to the YMCA for a half-hour workout. Then, it's home with the family and various supervision of homework and meal preparation. At 6:30, I'm off to writing group at the library...and then, there's a repetition of evening events when I come home.
Wednesday: Same as Monday. Except the only evening commitment is yoga at six.
Thursday: Same as Tuesday, except I get Land Transfer/Marriage/Dissolution information from the courthouse (it's a side job I do for the local newspaper).
Friday: Similar to Monday and Wednesday except there's no yoga. Usually, we'll do something as a family (watch a movie, go out for dinner, play games). Sometimes (this is becoming more frequent), Brent and I will go out by ourselves for a couple of hours (dinner, movie, etc.). Kids stay home to watch a little TV, play Wii or Starcraft.
Weekends are pretty open. If there's no obligation, we stay home in our pajamas, hang out, do various odds and ends around the house, etc. Usually, the groceries get done sometime on a Saturday. For my recent Saturday, refer to yesterday's post. Sundays are sometimes church days, sometimes Dungeons & Dragons days, sometimes whatever strikes our fancy days. After dinner, kids get bathed, and prepare for the week ahead.
And then we start it all over again!!!!
Since early January (and the start of a new term), my weeks have been roughly the same. I've settled into quite a lovely routine.
Mondays: I wake about 6:30 to shower, caffeinate myself, prepare breakfast, and herd children off to school. I also get Spencer started on his schoolwork for the day (Logic, Foreign Language, Reading, Vocabulary, History, Math, and Writing/Blog). Usually from about 8:30 to 10:30, I work on my own schoolwork (grading or reading or lesson planning) or meal preparation (usually a crockpot something or other). At 10:30, I toodle off to the college, where I usually make copies or get other things in order for my 11:15 class. From 11:15 to 1:05, I'm teaching. After class until 3:00 are my office hours, where I usually grade, read/annotate, or plan. I pick up the children at 3:30, and I might either go work out or come home and finish meal prep. We eat an early dinner on Mondays because I go to yoga at six (unless there's a community theater board meeting or special event - Mediterranean dinner, etc.), and Brent has bowling at 6:30. Beyond 7:00 pm, I return home to read or hang out with kids until they go to bed at 8:30 or 9:00. Then, I either blog, read, write, surf the Net, grade homeschool work, or spend time with my husband.
Tuesdays: Same morning ritual, but I have the whole day free from teaching/office hours. Tuesdays (and Thursdays) are for bread-baking, laundry, light housecleaning, or extra schoolwork. I'm able to grade Spencer's work immediately (his schedule: Geography, Writing, Math, Reading, History, and Science). In the afternoons, I try to get to the YMCA for a half-hour workout. Then, it's home with the family and various supervision of homework and meal preparation. At 6:30, I'm off to writing group at the library...and then, there's a repetition of evening events when I come home.
Wednesday: Same as Monday. Except the only evening commitment is yoga at six.
Thursday: Same as Tuesday, except I get Land Transfer/Marriage/Dissolution information from the courthouse (it's a side job I do for the local newspaper).
Friday: Similar to Monday and Wednesday except there's no yoga. Usually, we'll do something as a family (watch a movie, go out for dinner, play games). Sometimes (this is becoming more frequent), Brent and I will go out by ourselves for a couple of hours (dinner, movie, etc.). Kids stay home to watch a little TV, play Wii or Starcraft.
Weekends are pretty open. If there's no obligation, we stay home in our pajamas, hang out, do various odds and ends around the house, etc. Usually, the groceries get done sometime on a Saturday. For my recent Saturday, refer to yesterday's post. Sundays are sometimes church days, sometimes Dungeons & Dragons days, sometimes whatever strikes our fancy days. After dinner, kids get bathed, and prepare for the week ahead.
And then we start it all over again!!!!
25 February 2012
My Day (In Extraordinarily Great Detail) - Day 25
Today was an atypical day. Usually, Saturdays are rather laid back...depending on the time of year. Fall and spring we are cheering on the children at their respective soccer games, but winter is bereft of any such crazy weekend activity.
But, like I said, this was an atypical day.
We enjoyed the luxury this morning of being able to sleep in. To 7:30 am. The kids, however, had been up, reading, since 7:00. After a breakfast of pancakes, my husband played the best prank ever on me (in the shower), and then he and I did the week's grocery shopping. We packed a lunch in the cooler and we were off...
to Iowa City to watch our foreign exchange student compete in the State Robotics competition. While the boys were enthralled with the robots' antics and such, Kirby and I snuck away for a little girl shopping at one of the best consignment stores ever, Stuff Etc. A new pair of khakis and a couple of tops for me, and a flouncy pink skirt for Kirby. But the shopping wasn't done...
we visited TJ Maxx, where Kirby was lucky enough to come across a new swimsuit for the summer (a non-bikini two-piece!) and a cute top. After that, our energy levels flagged a bit, so we stopped at Bruegger's Bagels for a bagel and cream cheese (Blueberry and Honey Walnut for me, Pesto Cheddar and Onion n'Chive for Kirby).
Then, we were ready to return to the University of Iowa Memorial Union for the semi-finals (both of the high school teams made it). And about forty-five minutes later, both teams had been eliminated from the competition. Thus, we left and made our way to HuHot for dinner before driving home (a hour and a half).
Now that we've arrived, kids are getting shuttled off to bed. Naturally, I'm updating things here, but I should probably grade some papers. We'll see how *that* goes...
But, like I said, this was an atypical day.
We enjoyed the luxury this morning of being able to sleep in. To 7:30 am. The kids, however, had been up, reading, since 7:00. After a breakfast of pancakes, my husband played the best prank ever on me (in the shower), and then he and I did the week's grocery shopping. We packed a lunch in the cooler and we were off...
to Iowa City to watch our foreign exchange student compete in the State Robotics competition. While the boys were enthralled with the robots' antics and such, Kirby and I snuck away for a little girl shopping at one of the best consignment stores ever, Stuff Etc. A new pair of khakis and a couple of tops for me, and a flouncy pink skirt for Kirby. But the shopping wasn't done...
we visited TJ Maxx, where Kirby was lucky enough to come across a new swimsuit for the summer (a non-bikini two-piece!) and a cute top. After that, our energy levels flagged a bit, so we stopped at Bruegger's Bagels for a bagel and cream cheese (Blueberry and Honey Walnut for me, Pesto Cheddar and Onion n'Chive for Kirby).
Then, we were ready to return to the University of Iowa Memorial Union for the semi-finals (both of the high school teams made it). And about forty-five minutes later, both teams had been eliminated from the competition. Thus, we left and made our way to HuHot for dinner before driving home (a hour and a half).
Now that we've arrived, kids are getting shuttled off to bed. Naturally, I'm updating things here, but I should probably grade some papers. We'll see how *that* goes...
24 February 2012
My Hometown - Day 24
Aren't I lucky? The town I live in happens to also be my hometown.
Oskaloosa, Iowa is the gem of Mahaska County in the heart of...
Okay, okay, enough with the touristy babble. I live in the town of nearly 11,000 people. And, it's certainly small enough to be able to:
1. Know 75% of the time whom someone is talking about when a "You know, the *---------* family?"
2. Drive across the entire town in about 10 minutes with traffic lights, 15 without, 30 when the train's coming through.
3. Enter any of the three grocery stores on any given day and be able to recognize and say 'hi' to about 50% of people I encounter (this increases significantly when I'm with my dad).
4. Have access to sufficient shopping without sprawling mall configuration.
However...
1. Everyone does not know everyone else's business.
We have two grocery stores and a SuperWalMart. Retail is basic, nothing fancy. Churches outnumber restaurants, which outnumber bars (barely). We have a nice coffeehouse and bookstore, but I wish we had a upscale, classy "bar" and a Target.
Religion is pretty conservative around here, which causes me to miss the Universalist Unitarian church in Minnesota. Many of us are tolerant of others, but many are stuck in their old ways and aren't as much.
There are no clubs, not much nightlife to speak of, which the college students here in town lament widely. Oskaloosa is home to William Penn University, a small liberal arts college of maybe 900. Education is pretty linear: one elementary (huge), one middle school, and one high school.
Culturally speaking, there's not excitement here. Mostly Caucasian, ruralish population, and our businesses reflect that. However, our state's illustrious capital is less than an hour away, and it is possible to get away to a play, nice dinner or evening out, or place to shop.
Oskaloosa, Iowa is the gem of Mahaska County in the heart of...
Okay, okay, enough with the touristy babble. I live in the town of nearly 11,000 people. And, it's certainly small enough to be able to:
1. Know 75% of the time whom someone is talking about when a "You know, the *---------* family?"
2. Drive across the entire town in about 10 minutes with traffic lights, 15 without, 30 when the train's coming through.
3. Enter any of the three grocery stores on any given day and be able to recognize and say 'hi' to about 50% of people I encounter (this increases significantly when I'm with my dad).
4. Have access to sufficient shopping without sprawling mall configuration.
However...
1. Everyone does not know everyone else's business.
We have two grocery stores and a SuperWalMart. Retail is basic, nothing fancy. Churches outnumber restaurants, which outnumber bars (barely). We have a nice coffeehouse and bookstore, but I wish we had a upscale, classy "bar" and a Target.
Religion is pretty conservative around here, which causes me to miss the Universalist Unitarian church in Minnesota. Many of us are tolerant of others, but many are stuck in their old ways and aren't as much.
There are no clubs, not much nightlife to speak of, which the college students here in town lament widely. Oskaloosa is home to William Penn University, a small liberal arts college of maybe 900. Education is pretty linear: one elementary (huge), one middle school, and one high school.
Culturally speaking, there's not excitement here. Mostly Caucasian, ruralish population, and our businesses reflect that. However, our state's illustrious capital is less than an hour away, and it is possible to get away to a play, nice dinner or evening out, or place to shop.
23 February 2012
Day ? Something - A Youtube Video
I can't say I access the youtube very often...but when I do, it's usually to watch "My Drunk Kitchen". It's a "weekly" program that is now in its second "season". Essentially, the woman (Hannah) attempts to cook something, but she drinks alcohol as she does it.
So. It's a combination of things I really like: wine and cooking. I find Hannah hilarious, and I am amazed how she is able to maintain some semblance of lucidity in the kitchen even when it's obvious she's "had a few".
Enjoy this most recent video - the first episode of season two - in HD, too, no less!
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