Update
It's been forever so here are the updates.
◘ I'm back to work and it feels wonderful to be on a schedule. It seems like I have great students so far and I have some interesting projects going on besides the teaching.
◘ I've been making tons of pesto and freezing it so we can enjoy some delicious green basil-y flavor in the dead of winter. Plus basil is wonderful and cheap at the farmers market since our crop sucked this year.
◘ Speaking of the farmers market, I'm addicted. I've been buying amazing veggies and gorgeous flowers. I think this year I will have to check out this winter farmers market, something I didn't do last winter.
◘ I've been reading lots. For fun. Don't ask what, it's embarrassing.
◘ Even though the herb garden didn't fare so well, the African violets are looking good.
◘ I stood up in my cousin's wedding. It was gorgeous up on the North Shore, we ate well, had good wine, and danced a lot.
◘ I've had good coffee/tea and conversation with some friends recently.
◘ I finally got the nerve to introduce myself to this cool old lady I always see at the grocery store. She wears all purple every day and wears huge, round glasses with violet-tinted lenses. Her name is Norma and she appreciated my compliments of her outstanding fashion sense.
And here's what I'm looking forward to:
◘ Seeing some friends this weekend that we don't see as often as we'd like.
◘ Cooking and/or drinking wine with said friends.
◘ Going on an early fall scenic drive with Austin.
◘ More reading for fun.
Etiquetes de comentaris: cooking, daily, family, freetime, friends, good things, weekend, work
SAHNM (stay at home non-mom)
Thanks to Bad Z for the awesome term that describes my current status. I submitted grades on Monday afternoon and have since been seasonally unemployed (I think? Maybe that's not the right technical term for me but that's kind of how it is.)
Anyway, I've been spending most of my time cleaning the house because it really needs it and because we're having people over during memorial weekend. Besides that, I've been reading lots of travel narrative and wondering why Austin and I don't just up and move to the Pyrenees, buy an old cottage, and spend our days remodeling it and herding goats or something.
This is a boring post but I'm enjoying a little downtime for now. It's really, really nice.
Etiquetes de comentaris: daily
Sick Day
I started feeling under the weather last night around 7:00pm and it got worse all night. I could hardly sleep so I emailed the department secretary around 1:00am and let her know that I wouldn't be in today. I always feel guilty canceling classes but I'm glad I did today (and I'm sure my students don't care).
I've been laying around, doing some reading, and managed to doze a little after Austin left for work. He came back on his lunch break to bring me some flowers which was really sweet of him.
Now I'm going to watch "Crash" since we've had it for over a week and want to send it back to Netflix. Austin will watch it after I'm in bed tonight. I've heard good things about it from lots of people; I'll post my reactions later.
Etiquetes de comentaris: daily
Friday the 13th
It feels like we've been having a lot of Friday the 13ths in the past year but I could be wrong. One night, I tried to do the math to determine the probability of the 13th falling on a Friday. This futile exercise just proves that my math career really did peak when I had a trig as a junior in high school. My
TI-82 was sweet and we still use it :-) Anyway, Austin and a math professor friend set me straight but not without laughing at me a little.
The point is that it's Friday and finally, finally there appears not to be snow falling. It is mid-April so the sunshine that I saw while driving in was nice. I plan on leaving the office around 3:00 today and trying to get a walk in. This evening Austin and I are planning on watching a movie and making some shrimp that we tried last weekend; the recipe was awesome,
New Orleans Style Shrimp from Cooking Light. Austin calls it "Chex Mix Shrimp" because it contains Worcestershire sauce and, while baking, smells a lot like chex mix. It tastes great, though, and we had dirty rice on the side last time.
On Saturday I have a couple of events scheduled with some girlfriends and on Sunday I am excited to have brunch with Bad Z and stroll Grand Avenue arm in arm, pretending we are on Study Abroad St. Paul. Yeah!
Etiquetes de comentaris: cooking, daily, weather, weekend
LAN Party!!1!1!
Saturday's LAN party was a success. Austin and I ran errands in anticipation of the exciting event and we attempted to clean up a little on Friday night. All day Saturday, the die-hard gamers were at it. Guests arrived beginning at 9:00 a.m. and some stayed until midnight. They were all playing in the basement and it was a stereotypical male interaction, that is, very task-focused and not alotta talkin'.
On Sunday we just recovered from all the fun and I read a lot. School and house work were avoided. Yesterday was the typical Monday and I'm more in the swing of things today. One of my colleagues actually came into my class (students were working in groups so I wasn't instructing) and brought me a Starbucks latté and pastry to thank me for teaching one of her classes. My students were so cute, wanting to know who she was. If I had been feeling more creative, I would have invented a funny story. In the afternoon, I busted out the markers and crayons to make posters using the new vocabulary which went over well.
Now I'm doing some work in my office (well, not
right now of course) with the goal of getting enough done so that I don't have to take anything home with me.
Etiquetes de comentaris: daily, weekend
Attack of the Snow
I am titling this post as a nod to
Attack of the Show, an obnoxious program that my husband occasionally watches. I couldn't think of anything else and sometimes writing post titles is tricky.
Anyway, round two of the snow has come through the area in keeping with the whole March/lion thing. All the schools were closed except, of course, the University. It's ok by me since we do have a very generous winter break. Still, I was ready for the work day to be over.
Now I'm home (lesson plans were left unwritten, ack) and waiting for Austin to get done with work. We are going to pick up our new glasses; we each actually found something that looked good with our unusually shaped noggins. The optician said my frames looked "studious" and they were called "chica" so this added up to a convincing argument for a Spanish teacher who still fancies herself young enough to be a chica.
We're also going to stock up on groceries because Austin is hosting a LAN party and needs to entertain with Doritos and Mountain Dew or whatever it is that nerds feed on when they are gaming. I, on the other hand, plan on making some artichoke spread (have been craving it lately) and sipping on drinks made from
Pama (one of our guests works for a distributor and obtained a bottle at a reasonable price).
Besides that I think I'll have lots of tea and read.
Etiquetes de comentaris: daily, weather
It's Sunny Today
After 20 below windchills, the fact that it hit 40 yesterday makes it feel like spring so I bought some daffodils. It's funny how 40 degrees can feel so great but it's not spring yet; there will be more cold and snow before the season is over, no doubt about it. For now, though, I'm enjoying the dose of Vitamin D.
Etiquetes de comentaris: daily, weather
Signs of Spring?
I slept in this morning and reveled in waking up when there was actual daylight streaming in, feels so much better on the body. As I was making my tea, I heard birds chirping. It struck me because I haven't heard that sound for a long time in this frozen, dead world that is the Upper Midwest. I realize that there are birds that stay all winter long so it could be those kinds of birds and maybe they also have the sense to wake up with the sun (which would explain why I never see them on my way to work at 7:15). The combination of the birds and the bright sunlight made me dare to think a little about spring.
The current temperature, however, is six below and 19 below with windchill. Also, I am painfully aware that spring doesn't fully move in here until about May, even if we get a few teases in April, so I know not to get my hopes up (Hemingway tells us there is nothing more cruel than a false spring).
I'll experience the arctic blast firsthand when Austin and I head out to run some errands. I think we are going to pick up some king crab legs for our V-day dinner.
Etiquetes de comentaris: daily, weather
Freezing in February
I've been bad about posting lately, partly due to a mental block in that I don't want to bump down the Cancun post. When we took our vacation, the "permanent" winter snow had only just arrived and the temperatures were quite mild. It wasn't an 80 degree heatwave, but it wasn't bitter either.
Then we returned.
The weather has been painfully cold here and all schools in approximately the entire NW part of our state were closed on Monday since it was about twenty below zero with a wind chill of 30 below. I, of course, had to work but luckily all of my brave students showed up for their exam on the frigid Monday after the Super Bowl, ay de mí!
In addition to the weather, there's been the usual beginning-of-semester stuff going on. Besides administrative tasks, it's difficult to teach when I'm still not sure of the names of my 100+ students nor of their abilities.
Finally, Austin and I are planning some rather significant life events (NOT children) and while the changes are all positive, there is still some associated stress that I am trying to keep at a reasonable level.
This post sounds kind of complain-y but the reality is that things are going along just fine. Austin and I are looking forward to a plan-free weekend so I'm expecting that a cozy weekend in will be just the thing.
Etiquetes de comentaris: daily
