Desk obsession

I don't know if I truly have an obsession with desks, but I'm now the owner of yet a third desk in my house. But let me explain. I bought a new desk because I wanted a work space for doing my grad school stuff and grade papers and such instead of doing it from my recliner as I've done for the past year or so. I know what you're thinking. "If you already had two desks, why did you need a third?"
The first desk that I have is now the craft desk in the extra bedroom. I bought it when I was still married and bought my first Dell desktop computer back in 2003 or so. It is large corner desk that spans 6 feet on either side. It's not in great shape, but it is still holding up and works great for my crafting sewing area. While I could certain clear off an area to do my grad school work, I don't want to be closed up in a bedroom to work. I like being in the living room - sometimes in front of the t.v. with it on. Sometimes I turn it off, but regardless, I like being in this part of the house when I work.
The other desk I have is nice dark brown desk that is against a wall in my living room. The problem with that desk is that it really only fits the specific place it is in and to work from there my back would be to the t.v. (Yes, that's a stupid reason.... but it is just also in the wrong spot for me in general which is even more of a stupid reason, but I just don't find it to be work conducive for me.) It wouldn't work for me to move it where I've now put my new third desk and even if I thought it would work, I could not physically move it myself.
So that brings me to the newest addition to my house. As I would work in the recliner, I would have to deal with usually at cat on one side, the computer on the other, a book in my lap with a drink or snack on the table next to me. I also would have difficulty motivating myself to really work in such conditions. But really this all began with shopping for a new printer. I needed to be able to print stuff for school, but my printer was 1. in a different room. 2. currently out of ink. I hated that I had to get up and take my computer into that room to hook it up in order to print something. So then I though I'd get a wireless printer and just hook it up in the living room. But then I started thinking about work space in general and how I was really going to write my upcoming research paper when I needed to really spread out. So I started looking at desks. I had one idea in mind but then I saw this desk at Office Max on Saturday. I didn't buy it right away as I wanted to think about it. So I came back home to give it thought. I made my mind up to go get it but when I went back Saturday evening, it was no longer on sale and they had no more of the little papers that you take to the register. So instead I bought a chair on sale and came home and ordered it online. I got the sale price online and it had free shipping. It turned out to be a good thing because the box would not have fit in my car. So the desk arrived yesterday and I put it together last night. It took me four hours but I got it done. I really like it. It has a lot of work space and a place for my new (wireless) printer.
The chair, however, was another nightmare that I don't wish to share at this point. Now that I have my new workspace, I guess I don't have any more excuses for putting off homework, do I?

In other news, I dealt with a fraudulent charge on my bank card today. I noticed charge for 7.96 on my account but didn't recognize the company. I do buy a lot of stuff online but I couldn't remember anything for this amount. When I checked into it, I found that several other people had noted they had be fraudulently charged on their accounts. The website in question sold screen savers and I know I didn't purchase a screen saver. I called my bank and talked to them about it and had my card canceled. I then had to go in this afternoon and write a statement about it. It isn't so much about getting the money back as it is that someone did this and the irritation of it all. So now I don't have my bank card to use which is used for just about everything. And it's a matter of principle. I don't want scum like that to get away with stealing from me. So if you see any charges from ECONTENTNOW beware.

Though I finally got last year's yearbook finished and off, life certainly hasn't slowed down. Grad school is still going fast and furious as is my teaching job. I'm really ready for Thanksgiving break. Josh will be coming home and we'll head to Albuquerque for a few days. But I need to spend time writing my research paper. Well, it's past my bed time so I'm going to head that way.

Middle Aged

Now that I'm turning 40 (Nov. 10) I guess I would be considered "middle-aged." I don't know if that is a good or bad thing but I'm not keen on the idea of turning 40. Really, I guess it's no big deal. It's just another birthday and will probably be an uneventful one. I'll go to school. People will wish me happy birthday. I'll come home. I might go eat with my friend Pam, but there will be no big celebrations. No black balloons. No "over the hill" suggestions. I don't know if all that is a relief or a disappointment. In some ways I feel much older and alone. I don't mind being independent. After all - that's what I've been for some time. It doesn't necessarily bother me that Josh has gone off to college. I don't typically mind the solitude of my evenings. But sometimes I just wish I had something more. Well, enough whining about that. We always want something more than we have, don't we?
I know - if I'm lonely, I should do something about it. Easier said than done for a melancholic introvert. I even join things so that I can broaden my horizons, but even then I'm still a loner. I guess that is just who I am and who I'll always be. I guess I try to stay busy most of the time so I don't have to think about my loneliness.
So - in other news - I was sick and now I'm getting better. I missed two days of school last week which totally sucked. Some of my students threatened my sub and that really made me mad. I'm sure they'll just get their hands slapped like always. I enjoyed the brief visit from Josh. He came home this weekend to judge a speech tournament and to see the high school's musical. We had our traditional birthday dinner at Olive Garden. It was good, but I've gained about 200 pounds now.
Work is overwhelming. I stayed at school until 6:30 grading papers. Then I came home and made a quick dinner and worked on lesson plans. There's still a million things I should be doing, but I've got to get to bed at a decent hour tonight.
Well, I guess that's all the excitement going on here.

Sick again

I started developing a cough yesterday. Today I was still coughing and feeling a little achy. No fever though, but it's a little hard to breathe. I don't know if it's worth going to the doctor or not. I don't feel horrible - just not great. I am, however, going to call it an early night. I think perhaps I just need to get some rest. (Imagine that)
Tomorrow I have to get fingerprinted. Oh joy! It is a requirement by the state that every teacher is fingerprinted. It has been a complicated process and tomorrow is the day. I just hope I'm not one of those whose fingerprints get "rejected" because they aren't clear enough. If we don't get this taken care of within the 80 days of our "window" then we are out of a job - no ifs, ands, or buts. We immediately lose our certification until it is taken care of.
I still feel overwhelmed with work, but that is normal. I also need to get the house clean before Josh comes home this weekend. It will be nice that we can go to dinner like we usually do for our birthday though it will be a little early. Can you believe that I'll be turning 40 in a week? I'm not sure how I feel about that? I guess it will just be another day like it always is.
Well, I'm going to curl up with a book (something unheard of!) and call it an early night as promised.

Procrastinating

I actually have a song on my mp3 player titled "Procrastinating." It suits me to a T these days. I put off doing my grad school stuff until the day it is due. The cataloging stuff isn't very difficult but it takes me about 3 hours to read the chapters, do a practice assessment, a lab practice, post a discussion, and take a quiz. I scored a 100 on the quiz so that is a relief. I should be editing the yearbook from last year and getting it finished, but I'm just not in the mood to do it. So instead I started doing some research on my cataloging project that is due Dec. 1. I'm thinking about making a trip down to Denton so that I can view some of the materials in the library there as well as just getting away and spending time in a motel where I can hopefully focus a little more and get some work done. It's just a thought right now.
This past week was very full. I went to the Parish Mission every evening at 7:00 from Sunday-Thursday so needless to say I didn't get much done in terms of school or anything else. On Friday after school I helped out with setting up for the Fallback festival at church for about an hour. I went to just buy a ticket and ended up helping. Then I went to Walmart to get materials for my costume. I decided to try to make another clarinet costume - this time from scratch as I didn't have a long black dress to use. So I got a black twin sheet, hula hoop, black & yellow poster board, tin foil, and silver paint. I sewed the sheet into a dress of sorts but made a separate "bell" for the bottom portion with the hula hoop inside it to make it flair out. I attached it with velcro under the main dress. I made keys out of paper plates wrapped with tin foil and painted some of the other keys on the dress itself. I made a mouthpiece "hat" from the poster board and tin foil. I thought it turned out rather amazing myself. In fact, I won the costume contest at the festival. It was by "cheering" and I tied with Marilyn Monroe but the band that was singing broke the tie by voting for me (of course they would vote for the instrument.) I got LOTS of compliments on my costume, everyone thought it was very clever. A friend from church took pictures and as soon as she emails them to me, I'll post them.
On Saturday I finished the work on the costume (mostly) and went to take my journalism test in hopes of getting my certification. I really have no idea if I passed. I really think it could go either way. I guess I'll find out in a few weeks. Then I stopped by the speech tournament that was going on and said hello to the other coaches and the students. Then I came home to finish the costume before I headed out to the festival. I went to the festival, had my steak dinner, visited with some people, put in a few silent auction bids, then was supposed to work the computer for the reverse drawing. I already mentioned winning the costume contest and then around 9:30 I did my job with the reverse drawing. I found out that I won a gift certificate to the toyota dealership (I paid $10 for a $25 certificate) that I can use when I have to get my oil changed.
Despite the time change today, I was tired and slept in. I went to church at 11:15 and played at the service. I picked up some chicken for lunch and then surfed the web. I started working on library stuff at 3:00 and finished around 6:00. I spent time doing research after that and now I've decided to blog instead of doing yearbook. I guess I'm going to go find something to eat and then put in a few hours of work on the yearbook.
Band rehearsals start back up tomorrow so I've got that going. Luckily I don't have an assignment due like I normally do for my other grad school class.
Well, I'm off to procrastinate a little longer and then I'll get to work. I promise. Maybe.