Finally a night at home

It has been an insane few days.  Monday I had to get ready to teach the digital citizenship lessons which took a lot of planning.  Monday night was orchestra rehearsal and even though I got there an hour early, parking was almost impossible.  I had to park across the campus and walk in the dark.  Since I’m not familiar with the campus, I just walked in the general direction of the building and eventually found it.  Tuesday morning I had to get to school early to set up for my lessons and I had to go to the elective team meeting to explain the process of sending students down for the lessons.  I taught a full day yesterday with my only break at lunch.  It was pretty exhausting.  Then I had band rehearsal last night as well.  We are playing a lot of music and my chops were pretty shot by the end of the night.  Today I got a break for one class period in addition to lunch but I taught mostly classes of boys today so that was kind of a pain.  One student I had to send back to class because he starting cussing out another student.  Tomorrow will be better because I’ll have two free class periods and smaller classes in general.  Friday is my concert so I’ll have to rush home to change and then head towards the church where we are playing so I don’t get stuck in rush hour traffic.  I’ll probably have dinner in the shopping area that is close by.  Matt is coming to my concert so that will be nice to have someone in the audience. 

I had to laugh at Andrew’s comment on the previous post.  While I have made the first move before – I only did it when I knew the other person would be receptive to it.  I haven’t even hugged Matt yet.  When he came over to watch a movie the other night, I wasn’t even sure how close I should sit next to him.  I wasn’t brave enough to sidle up to him so I left some space between us.  If things do progress at some point and I get the feeling he is truly interested, I probably will make the first move if I need to. 

I finished the “I” book by Sue Grafton yesterday and I realized that I didn’t have “J.”  I thought I got all the books I was missing, but I must have overlooked it.  I guess I’ll have to go out and get it this weekend.    I think I might go to the movies this weekend as well.  I think I’m going to finish watching Mythbusters on t.v. and then call it an early night.  I’ve surprised myself how much I sleep better here.  I don’t always sleep through the night, but I am able to fall asleep relatively quickly most nights.  I think the difference is the job.  I don’t have the stress I did before with my mind racing at the end of the day.  I still need to sleep through the night without the animals getting me up, but for the most part I’m sleeping better. 

To flirt or not to flirt

So Matt and I went out to dinner tonight.  We went to a place called the The Little Red Barn which is a steakhouse.  It was interesting in that they give you a salad as soon as they seat you.  The steak was good.  We decided to stay in and watch a movie tonight.  He brought over Mystic River which I had never seen.  I’m still having a difficult time trying to figure out if Matt is interested beyond something platonic.  A part of me thinks that because he keeps asking me out and spending time with me, that he is interested beyond the superficial stuff, but he doesn’t really flirt or make any kind of move.  We haven’t even hugged.  I’m not complaining – I guess I’m just not used to that.  Either a guy likes me or he doesn’t and if he does, then he usually pursues it more actively so to speak.  I think, though, that perhaps, he is really kind of shy when it comes to dating.  I’m thinking that he perhaps doesn’t have a lot of experience or something.  Or maybe he just takes things really slowly – which in my case is probably a good thing – it just confuses me.  Regardless, I’m just enjoying spending time with him and he keeps acting interested so I’m just going to go with it and quit over analyzing things.  Ok, so I won’t quit overanalyzing, but will still enjoy things as they are.  He’s coming to my concert on Friday. 

Tomorrow I have to go to the store and get ready for the digital citizen lessons I have to teach this week.  Though I still enjoy my job, I’m glad that Christmas break isn’t too far away. 

What happens in Vegas…

Isn’t really much… No shocking stories to tell.  Had Thanksgiving dinner with my family in a casino restaurant downtown.  Food was decent and relatively inexpensive.  Everybody except Josh and I had Turkey and all the trimmings.  I opted for a steak and Josh had a burger.  After dinner, my dad, his wife, and I went to see the Titanic exhibit at the Luxor.  Josh went and saw the Aquarium at Mandalay bay.  After that we headed to the Hilton to see an Elvis impersonator.  The show was pretty good.  The guy nailed Elvis’ voice, but it was a small audience that was not very outgoing so he didn’t seem to be giving it his all.  Josh and I thought the tickets were overpriced, but it was still entertaining.  After that, we headed back to the hotel, stopping at Paris so Josh could find something for his girlfriend.  We picked up jackets as it was very chilly by then.  We walked over to the Venetian and went to dinner at an Italian restaurant.  We window shopped some and then headed back to the hotel.  I didn’t gamble much.  I put about $33 in the slot machines and that was it.  This morning we used a taxi to get to the airport and we got home around 6:30.  We tried to order a pizza, but they wouldn’t deliver past the road that is just one block over.  I cooked some fish and chicken instead. Josh is heading out tomorrow afternoon.  I may have a date with Matt tomorrow evening.  I read two books while traveling.  I finished Sue Grafton’s “G” book – I’ve been re-reading the series.  I also read the newest Janet Evanovich book as well.  I think I’m going to read a little bit and call it a night.  Traveling is exhausting.  I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed with my cat next to me. 

Wish you were here

Well I'm in Vegas and posting from my iPhone since Bally's wants to charge 13.99 for 24 hours of Internet service. We got in around 8:30 yesterday evening and after checking into the hotel, we headed downtown to see my dad and his wife, Gina. Josh got to gamble for the first time. He only played slots and lost $35 quickly. He has discovered that it is frustrating to play. I spent $20, but played for an hour or so. We didn't get in until 2:00 which was 4:00 am Texas time.

Today we mostly shopped. My dad bought me a pair of Sketchers for my birthday. They are purple and more comfortable than the shoes I brought. My sister used her comp card at Maggianos for dinner so our meal was half price. Tonight we went to Penn & Teller and it was very entertaining. Now we're back at the hotel and I'm going to read until I fall asleep.

Heading to Vegas!

Actually it will be a few hours before I head out, but I’m getting ready for the trip.  I got my boarding pass last night.  I refuse to get suckered into the $10 charge to have it automatically reserved.  I’m still in the “A” boarding group so I’m happy with that.  It’s going to be a busy morning.  I got up earlier than I really wanted to.  I kept hearing email notifications on my iPhone so I got curious about it.  Turns out someone hacked my email and sent a spam message out.  Luckily, I only have about 15 contacts in my new email address so I sent a quick note out letting everyone know that I had been hacked.  I changed my password so I hope that will be the end of that.  I have a to-do list going and am making progress on it.  I met with my ex-husband yesterday to go over information on taking care of the animals and the house.  Max is feeling much better so I think the medicine is working.  I had to resort to putting it in cat food, but he eats it with no problem.  On my list today is to clean the house, pack, go to the bank, call my other bank, and make a quick trip to the store.  I also have to clear stuff from my old laptop so my ex-husband can use it while he stays here.  I don’t think that there’s really anything incriminating on it, but I suspect he would love the opportunity to snoop.  I’ve already put my journals in the storage area of my car which will be left at the airport so that he can’t read through them.  I think it would be really tempting.  I also have to mow the lawn today.  Not looking forward to that, but I finally was able to get the mower lowered so it will cut the grass a little deeper.  I had to use some WD-40 on the things that you lift to adjust it.  It worked like a charm.  

Josh and I will probably leave around 4:45 and go eat and then head to the airport.  Our flight leaves at 8:00 and arrives in Vegas at 9:00 given the time change.  Tomorrow night we have tickets for Penn & Teller.  On Thanksgiving day we will find someplace to eat and it will be great to be able to see my dad and sister and all the in-laws and nephews.  I just wish my brother could have come.  Hopefully I’ll see him in January.  He is taking a cruise out of Houston so he’ll be driving through and we’ll probably go out to eat or something. 

Well, I guess I better get back to work.  I’m almost finished with my cup of coffee.  (I’m still not really a coffee drinker – this is the first cup I’ve had in about two weeks – but it’s getting more tolerable with enough cream and sugar.)

The things we do for our pets

Yesterday I spent 3 hours and $500 at the vet.  My dog, Max, hadn’t eaten anything since Friday evening.  He threw up early Saturday morning and then stopped eating.  He was a bit lethargic and wanted to go outside almost constantly.  I kept an eye on him and kept trying to get him to eat, but he wouldn’t.  On Sunday, he was acting like he needs to go to the bathroom but couldn’t.  Luckily in a big city, there’s 24 hour vet hospitals.  They say they don’t charge more for coming in on weekends, but they sure charged me an arm and a leg regardless.  They ran blood tests, took xrays, and did a urinalysis.  Turns out that he doesn’t have any major diseases, but probably had an infection due to the high white cell count.  They also discovered that he had bladder and kidney stones.  They gave me the option of going with surgery or try to treat it with meds and diet first.  I opted for the meds/diet first.  The surgery was going to run 800-1500 dollars and I didn’t even have the $500 that I already spent.  I ended up putting it on my credit card and I guess I’ll eventually pay it off with the hope that the medicine and fancy dog food helps Max get better.  I had a heck of time getting Max to take the first round of pills (antibiotic and two pain killers).  With him not having any appetite, I had to get them down his throat and he didn’t like that at all.  I called my aunt and she suggested wet cat food.  I tried that this morning and it worked like a charm.  I know it doesn’t help with the diet, but this point, I’m happy to get the meds and any kind of food in him right now.  I think the meds are going to have to kick in first before he gets his appetite back.  I’m guessing he has a bladder infection.  I know that when I’ve had them in the past, it was really painful and you felt like you had to go all the time.  I hope the medicine kicks in soon.  Max is getting old, but I think he still has some life in him yet.

In other news, my Scrabble friend, Matt, came over Saturday night.  He brought me a stuffed animal and I made homemade pizza.  He seemed to like the pizza and told me that I was a good cook.  We played 4 games of scrabble and he showed no mercy.  He beat me every game, though I did have a pretty good score of 389 for one game.  It was kind of frustrating for me, but I appreciate that he didn’t hold back.  I don’t think he should let me win.  He did ask me if I wanted to do something next Saturday and mentioned the possibility of bowling.  He said he didn’t want to monopolize my time, but I made a comment about not having much of a life anyway.  He’s still difficult to read as he is not flirtatious at all.  Perhaps if we do something other than play Scrabble, I’ll get a better feel for him. 

Today I’ve got to pay bills and see if I have enough money to spend on the trip to Vegas.  I’m going to skip a car payment this month by submitting a $25 fee to do so.  That should help a little.  I also got paid $100 for playing at a church service yesterday.  I have orchestra rehearsal this evening and will probably pack tomorrow since the flight doesn’t leave until 8:00 p.m.  My ex-husband is coming over shortly so I can go over information on taking care of the animals. 

In a happier place

Don’t you just love the mood swings in this blog?  A few weeks ago I was downtrodden and feeling lonely.  Today I’m realizing that things aren’t really too bad.  It was a busy day at school.  I didn’t get to work on anything that I intended to work on, but still had plenty to do.  Lots of students visited today.  After school, a group of fellow teachers met at a local bar/restaurant called The Cove.  I had a couple of beers and a burger and fries.  It was fun to socialize with them.  I’ve become a kind of confidant of one of the male math teachers.  We’ve talked about dating (not each other) and he was telling me about a girl he really liked and whether he should pursue it. 

I was finally able to reserve an iPhone 4S at the Apple store.  I’ve tried several times, but haven’t been able to get through.  You can reserve one to pick up the next day after 9:00 p.m. the night before, but each time I’ve logged on this week, a black 16GB wasn’t available.  Sometimes the 32GB was, but I only need the 16 – I haven’t even filled up my 8GB phone that I’ve had for two years.  I almost had it reserved yesterday evening, but I couldn’t remember my full login so by the time I got logged in, the phone wasn’t available.  I finally got through exactly at 9:00 tonight and I’m supposed to pick it up between 10 and 6 tomorrow. 

Tomorrow I also have to go to the store to get pepperoni for the pizza and then do some housecleaning before library guy comes over. 

A respite

If only briefly, I finally get a break from meetings and rehearsals.  I spent all day at a meeting and am tired of the perky lady that makes us stand up and find new partners all the time.  Today was the first time I ran into really slow traffic for an extended period of time.  What should have taken me about 15 minutes took about 35 minutes.  The way home was better though.  When I got home I let the animals out to do their business, fed them, and then I made my infamous cashew chicken for dinner.  It was quite delicious as always.  I think I’ll have some seconds.  The problem with making this recipe is that it makes way too much for one person.  I’ll have leftovers for a few days. 

Library guy and I have been emailing back and forth a few times this week.  I think he likes me – but not sure if it is just a new friend kind of way or an I think she’s an interesting prospect kind of way.  We might try to do some form of exercising together as he is needing to lose about 25 lbs as do I.  He mentioned tennis, but I have never really played the game.  He’s coming over after work on Saturday and I’m going to make homemade pizza and we’re going to play a lot of Scrabble games.  This time he said that he wouldn’t be as nice and that he is going to pull out his obscure, arcane words.  Guess I should do some studying myself.

Tomorrow is Friday and then my Thanksgiving break starts.  I’ve never worked for a district that gave us the entire week off for Thanksgiving.  Josh and I leave for Vegas on Tuesday.  Richard (my ex-husband) is going to house sit and watch the animals for me.  Tonight I’m going to watch some t.v., read a book, and just take it easy.

Orchestra Rehearsal

I haven’t played in an orchestra since high school.  Tonight was a bit intimidating.  With so few “wind” players, the parts are very exposed so you can’t hide when you aren’t playing well.  I played the principal part tonight so it was a bit scary at times – especially when I had solo parts all to myself.  But it was a lot of fun.  I really enjoyed playing with the ensemble tonight.  I started to get more brave as the rehearsal progressed.  I am going to actually practice though.  But it will be good for me in the long run I think.  It’s kind of nice to be so involved in music again. 

On the way home I talked with Michael (his real name - Matthew was the pseudonym I used).  He is the same as always – dealing with school budget issues and such.  He said he would still like to visit sometime and so he will try to get down here in a few months or so.  Won’t hold my breath, but it would be nice to see him and have him visit.  Library guy (Whose real name is Matt – thus the need for clarification on the pseudonym) emailed me last night.  He asked if I had a chance to look at the scrabble word book he gave me.  He is gearing up for another tournament in December.  He said he was looking forward to making pizza and playing scrabble again this weekend.  I emailed him back and told him with Josh visiting and reading my other book that I haven’t had time to check out the word book yet, but would do so. 

It was a busy day at work for me.  I’m still at a loss on dealing with the new textbooks.  I think I’m going to tackle that task tomorrow and see if I can make some room for them. 

Well, I’m pretty tired so I’m going to head to bed.  I think this week is going to go by fast.  I’ll be heading to Vegas in no time!

An Outlet

Well, now I’m going to be playing in an orchestra believe it or not.  I got a call from a lady that is in the community band that I’m playing in and she said a local college community orchestra was needing a clarinet player and someone had mentioned my name.  So I looked up the music that they were going to be playing to see if it would be too difficult for me and it looked like it would be ok.  She had mentioned that I might need an “A” clarinet, so I called her back and told her that I was interested but would not have access to an “A” clarinet.  She called the director and he said the parts were in B-flat so that it would be ok.  Then I was told that I’d be playing the principal part this time.  No pressure there.  I haven’t played in an orchestra since I was in high school, but I really enjoyed playing in it when I did.  I think it will be fun.  I think it is good for me.  Playing more often will build my stamina and help me improve as a player.  It’s also a way for me to be more social here in SA.  I haven’t found a church yet – need to get on that soon, but music is allowing me an opportunity to meet other people which can be really hard for a person as shy as I am.  Then there’s also the potential for getting involved with Scrabble stuff if I can learn to play more quickly.  I’m going to make pizza for library guy next weekend and we’re going to play again. 

Josh headed home a little before 2:00 today and I took a nap.  I haven’t done much other than read, surf, watch t.v. and I did mow the yard in the front lest I get in trouble for the weeds again.  It’s going to be a really busy week for me at school.  I have a lot to get done in a short amount of time.  I’m going to try to make an appointment to get an iPhone 4S at the Apple store tomorrow if they have any.  You can place an order online after 9:00 p.m. the night before as long as they have some in stock.  I don’t know that I can afford it – but I may never actually be able to afford it. 

A day with my son

Josh got in a little after 10 p.m. on Friday night.  He told me that he had spent his birthday playing a new video game.  I told him at least he wasn’t having a baby.  He told me that there is no way that he could handle something like that at his age and he had no idea how I did it.  I think now that he is 21 that he has an even greater appreciation of what I went through in having him and raising him on my own. 

On Saturday morning, I slept in (yay) and then went to the store to get milk and some things I needed.  Since Josh was home, I found the closest donut store and picked up some donuts for him.  It wasn’t that close – still a few miles away, but they were decent.  He played his video game for a while and then we headed out shopping around 1:00.  We went to the mall because there was an Apple store there and his mac’s hard drive had crashed for the second time and he wanted to see about getting it fixed or getting another one.  Luckily I bought a three year warranty so they are fixing it for free.  Only thing is that I will have to pick it up for him in a few days so he won’t get it back until he comes home for Thanksgiving.

After we finished at the Apple store, we had lunch and then did some shopping.  Well, Josh did some shopping.  He found some jeans and a shirt at JC Penny’s.  From there we went to Ross for Less and didn’t find anything.  We went to half price books where Josh found two CDs.  After that we went to Walmart to get a storage cabinet that I wanted to store my office items.  We got it and came home because I had forgotten my cell phone.  I think I’ve made the decision to go ahead and upgrade to the iPhone 4S.  My phone seems very sluggish these days.  So we headed to the ATT store.  I wanted to change my data plan to the minimum in order to save money.  I had been grandfathered into the $30 a month unlimited plan, but when I checked my past usage, I only exceeded the minimum plan of 200 MB once in a year and a half.  I usually use my own wifi at home.  Even if I have to pay $30 to increase my data a few times a year, most of the time I’ll be saving money.  I also signed up to get a discount since I work for a school district.  I was going to upgrade my phone, but they were out and said it would take 2-3 weeks to get a phone.  I decided to wait and consider other options.  I might be able to get one at the Apple store here instead. 

After that, we went to a different mall and Josh found a leather jacket that he liked and two more shirts.  After that, we finally went to Olive Garden for dinner.  I went out on a limb and ordered something different.  I probably should have just ordered what I always do. I ordered the stuffed rigatoni with chicken.  It was ok, but almost a little too cheesy and rich for me.  I ate half of it and will have the rest for dinner tonight. 

Josh is still asleep and I’m going continue reading the next Sue Grafton.  He’s leaving this afternoon to head back to school.  I’m not sure what I’m going to do when he leaves for Tasmania in February.

Scrabble Success

So I had my lunch date with library guy today.  We went to a home cooking kind of place that is on this side of town.  Food was pretty good but not amazing.  I had the fried catfish with mashed potatoes, corn, and dirty rice.  We then came back to my place to play Scrabble.  He had his own board, timer, and scoring sheets.  Luckily we didn’t use the timer or I would have not done as well, but I ended up winning 373 to 289.  He had an off day and I ended up with most of the good tiles.  And he did help me make a bonus word.  We’re going to get together next weekend and I’m going to make my homemade pizza.  He said that he thought that I had lot of good potential to be a great player.  He brought me books to use for studying and some other books just to read.  So things are going pretty well in that sense. 

Josh will be coming home tonight but probably won’t get in until late.  Tomorrow I think we’ll go shopping and then go out for Italian.  Today I mopped floors and am doing some laundry.  I had the day off from school for Veteran’s day.  The rest of the house is still clean though I will have to mow this weekend.  I find it amazing that just having free evenings make it easier to keep a clean house.  Sure, sometimes it gets a little messy because I get lazy – but it hasn’t been too bad.  Part of it is the amount of space I have, but most of it is the fact that I have time on weekends to stay on top of things. 

Pity Party Over

There’s nothing like getting a date to get over self-pity.  Surprisingly, the library remembered it was my birthday – only after telling once on our date and he emailed me today telling me happy birthday and asked me to lunch tomorrow.  So of course I said yes. 

I got up early this morning for some reason.  I got to school and stayed busy all day.  No birthday wishes from anyone at school – but nobody knew it was my birthday.  I did get a lot of comments on Facebook though.  I had a meeting after school and then headed home. 

I’m heating up something for dinner and having a beer while watching Harry Potter.  I’m on my third Sue Grafton book so I only have plans to take it easy tonight.  Can’t complain too much. 

Doldrums

Today I was at a training session for our textbook tracking software.  Though it was useful, I felt that we could have done the training in half the time without all the longwinded gripe sessions.  I ate lunch at a place called the Pig Stand.  I ordered a bacon cheeseburger which was ok, but I thought it was rather overpriced.  We finished a little after 4:00 and I got home about 4:45.  I fed the animals, checked email, caught up on blogs, watched some t.v., and made some dinner.  I finished the second Sue Grafton book a little while ago.  I feel like it should already be about 9:30, but it is only 7:00.  Though I like this time change, I feel like I should be in bed already. 

I guess I could start the next book in the series, but I’m not sure I want to.  There’s nothing on t.v.  There’s nobody really to call and talk to.  I guess I’m also feeling a bit melancholic.  It’s probably the fact that my birthday is tomorrow.  While I will certainly get a bunch of happy birthday wishes on Faceback and probably from a few blog friends, I realize that I’m rather alone here in San Antonio.  Then again, I’m not sure what is so different here than it was in Canyon -except that I at least saw some of my facebook friends in real life.  My birthday usually fell around one of the major speech tournaments that I’d usually attend.  It’s not that I want a party or presents or anything, I guess I’m just wanting more companionship here. 

I’ve always tried to make other people feel special on their birthdays and it seems that mine has been just another day for the past several years now – especially with Josh gone to college. At least when he was here it was more special since we shared the day.  I thought that turning 40 would be a major event and yet it was just another day.  No party.  No black balloons.  Nobody making fun of me being over the hill.  Perhaps I’m just feeling like an old maid.  Don’t worry, my birthday will pass quickly tomorrow and I’ll get over my pity party.  Josh will be here this weekend and we’ll get to celebrate our birthdays together with a traditional dinner out.  The fact that we share the same birthday is pretty awesome.  I’m sure that’s fairly rare.  Well, enough of this rambling.  There’s a show on the Titanic on this evening so I’ll watch it and read my book during the commercials until it is time to go to bed.

A Full Day

It has been a busy day.  I got to school at 7:45 and had several things to do.  The library was pretty full with students this morning so that kept me busy.  Then I had to make posters (enlarge them on a poster maker) for the science department.  After that I had fix a jammed paper in the nurse’s printer.  During 2nd period I had to get a screen, overhead projector, and computer set up for a presentation in the afternoon.  I got that done, then worked on updating the card catalog software.  It did fine on the data station, but wouldn’t update the correct software on the circulation station.  I couldn’t focus on it since I had to leave at noon for a meeting.  I drove across town to another school to work on a Library Strategic Plan that we have to turn in next week.  I stayed there for a couple of hours and then headed back to my school.  I stopped at the bank to deposit a birthday check that my aunt sent me.  Once I got back to school, I had to get the project ready for the presentation and then sit through it.  At 4:45, I put up the projector and laptop and headed to the DPS office so I could renew my driver’s license since today is the only day that they stay open late.  I got there at 5:00 and was on my way home around 5:30.  I stopped at Sonic to pick up dinner.  I’m heading out to band rehearsal shortly so the day isn’t even done.  I don’t know about you, but I’m already exhausted.

Josh is coming home this weekend so I’m looking forward to seeing him.  We have to go out to dinner for our birthday.  I’m debating whether I should buy season tickets for the symphony.  I would get the cheap seats which means I could buy two sets of tickets that covers about 7 concerts for around $100.  Still not sure yet.

Tomorrow I have to go to training all morning to learn the textbook software.  That means I have to get up and leave earlier than I usually do.  Guess I better head to band rehearsal.

Bad Annabel

So when I moved down here to San Antonio, I packed a lot of books.  This is after getting rid of about 1/3 of them.  When I was putting them on the shelves last weekend, I had a full shelf of books that I still have not read.  I decided that I shouldn’t buy any more books until I read those.  I’ve been trying.  I started one and just couldn’t get into it.  I have another started and might finish it at some point.  I have several book collections as well.  At one point I had all of the Sue Grafton series as well as the Janet Evanovich books.  But I’ve loaned some of those books out and never got them back.  So I was missing 3 or 4 from each of those series.  So yesterday I went to some used bookstores in town and found the missing books.  I also got one of the hardcovers of my Harry Potter series.  I had all but two of the books in hardcover.  I still need to find one more.  They had one that I found yesterday, but the pages were coming apart from the spine.  So I bought more books – but at least they weren’t more books that I may or may not read.  I do re-read my series books from time to time.  In fact, I started with the Sue Grafton books again yesterday.  Her next book is coming out in about a week so I don’t think I’ll make it through all of them, but I’ll get through several. 

I stopped for lunch at Five Guys burgers and then headed home.  I started my book and just took it easy the rest of the evening.  I watched some t.v., surfed the web, and talked to one of my friends from back home.  I’m hoping she will get to come down and visit at some point.  Josh will be here next weekend so I’m looking forward to that.  We’re going to go out to dinner for our birthdays as is our tradition. 

I sent library guy an email after we got back on Friday, thanking him for the evening and told him that I enjoyed meeting him.  He responded last night and said that he enjoyed it too and was looking forward to doing more fun things with me in the future in addition to some Scrabble sessions.  So I think that is a positive sign.

Today I have no plans other than reading and relaxing.  I have a little bit of laundry to do, but other than that, nothing that must be done.  It’s really nice to have such weekends.  No speech tournaments that keep me exhausted.  No papers to grade or lessons to plan.  I don’t mind doing stuff on weekends as long as it is something that is fun that I want to do, not something I necessarily have to do. 

A Nice Evening Overall

My day didn’t start out very well.  I went to school with full blown allergies that kept me miserable most of the day.  I used kleenex after kleenex.  I was sneezing and stuffy at the same time.  I took an allegra before leaving for school.   I took claritin while at school.  Neither one helped.  At 1:30 I left for a meeting downtown.  I took a box of kleenex with me.  I suffered through the meeting that ended at 4:00.  I didn’t want to be miserable on my date so I came home and took more meds.  Thankfully, they started help a little.  I took a nap for about an hour and then got up and got ready.  My allergies calmed down some so I wasn’t completely miserable.

My date showed up a little before 7:00 and we headed out.  Library guy is really tall.  He is 6’6.  I’m 5’4 if I stand up straight.  He’s nice looking – and looks just like his picture on his profile.  He has a goatee and short salt & pepper hair.  He speaks with an upper midwest accent.  We have a lot in common.  We both drive a Prius, enjoy scrabble – though he’s a nationally competitive player, and of course we’re both librarians though he is actually an archivist. 

We headed out to the restaurant which was about 30 minutes away.  It was pretty crowded that night as a band bus came through with about 200 students.  They said the wait would be an hour and a half but we decided to try our luck.  We got margaritas and sat down to visit.  The actual wait ended up only being about an hour.  In the mean time we just talked.  We talked about our jobs, family, rollercoasters, and Scrabble.  He said he would like to play a game with me and teach me some tricks.  I told him my stats from my iPhone games and he seemed to think that I’m probably pretty good.  He said that I’m probably at a fairly expert level.  We were going to play a game after dinner, but it ended up being kind of late and he had to work today. 

My overall impression is that he seems very nice and intelligent.  I think he might be a little shy and awkward.  He doesn’t have much family and is relatively estranged from them, but he has friends from all over the country because of his involvement with Scrabble.  I think at the very least, I’ve found a new friend in San Antonio.  At the end of the evening he said he enjoyed it and would like to get together again in a couple of weeks since Josh will be here next weekend. 

On the drive home, my allergies started to flare up again.  By the time I got in bed, my nose was so stopped up I couldn’t breathe.  I took a sudafed, but it took forever to kick in.  I tried a very hot shower and it still didn’t help.  I eventually got to sleep once the sudafed worked and I could breathe again.  I slept in this morning which was quite lovely.  My house is immaculately clean at this point so I don’t have anything that I really need to do other than get to the grocery store sometime today. 

Cleaning Frenzy

There’s nothing like the potential of company to make me clean my house.  It has already been a long day and there’s much more to do.  This morning I had to act as a sub for two class periods.  Not my favorite thing to do, but it went ok.  Then I had to deal with 100+ boxes of textbooks that arrived.  I had to count them as they came in and make sure we received everything.  Now I’m not sure what to do with them.  I’ll start figuring it out next week I guess.  Tomorrow I work 1/2 a day at school then have a meeting in the afternoon.  I stayed after school a little bit and then came home to get started on the house cleaning.  I mowed the lawn and then started clearing the boxes that were left after unpacking all my books and Marvin collection.  I started the dishwasher and tidied up the kitchen.  I still have a lot to do though. 

I’m looking forward to the date tomorrow night.  Not sure what I should wear though.  He’s picking me up at 7:00 and we’re going across town to a Mexican restaurant that he likes.  Sounds good to me.  Well, I guess I need to get back to work.  My break is over.

So much for sleep!

Ok, now I’m really excited.  I must be to post twice in one night.  So here’s the deal.  I could barely keep my eyes open while watching t.v. around 8:00 so I turned off the t.v. at 9:00 and came to bed with a beer and a book.  I was reading the book and drinking my beer when my phone rang a little after 9:00.  It was a San Antonio number that I didn’t recognize.  I answered it and it is the library guy that I’ve been emailing.  He asked me to go to dinner on Friday night!   I have a date!  Can you believe it?  A date!  With a guy that is a librarian.  He plays scrabble.  He likes to ride roller coasters.  I shouldn’t be so excited.  But I am. 

Not a cold

It’s just allergies and they are still driving me crazy.  I took a bendryl last night so I slept pretty well – just not enough.  I’m becoming a coffee drinker just to be able to wake up.  I made coffee and toast when I finally rolled out of bed this morning and it did seem to help.  It was another busy day in the library with students continuing their research.  Overall, I thought they did a pretty good job considering they have no research experience.  Most used three different sources and were able to get their citation information down.  I have tons of books to put up on the shelves now.  It will be difficult to get done tomorrow, but I may be able to get a lot of work done on the computer.  I think I’ll lock myself in my office while 6th graders are listening to an AIDS presentation and ESL classes work in the lab. 

I planned to go to go try to renew my driver’s license after school today, but when I checked the website for information, they had changed their extended hours from Wednesdays to Tuesdays.  So now I have to wait until next Tuesday to renew my license which is just two days before my birthday.  I should have done it sooner, but never really thought about it.  Luckily I did find my social security card and birth certificate yesterday. 

I have to much Halloween candy leftover.  I have to stop eating it.  Maybe I should hide it from myself. 

I’m going to have to go to bed early tonight.  I’m just too tired.  Psych is coming on, but I might just DVR it so I can watch it later. 

Allergies or a cold

I can’t tell if the allergies are just getting worse or if I’m in the beginning stages of a cold.  Today I got a huge headache right before lunch.  It was bad enough that I had to take three tylenol caplets to get it to go away.  I took two just before lunch, then ate and drank a coke but it was hanging on so I took another one.  Finally after another hour or so it passed.   I had classes that I was working with in the lab all day today so it was hard to shake it.  I finally did just have to sit down for a bit during the latter part of one class.  Now I feel like something is coming on and I’m not sure if it is full blown allergies – got the watery eyes, feeling like I want to sneeze but can’t, and kind of drained.  I took a benadryl so I hope that will knock it out for the evening so I can sleep.  Band rehearsal was tough because I just wanted to get through it and go home.  My mouth was hurting by the end of the night.  Once again, we’re playing a lot of music. 

I think I’m going to get tickets to see Les Miserables in January.  The show is almost already sold out so I need to go ahead and get the tickets.  Josh and I will go since he’ll be home on break.  I’ve never seen the music, but have heard the music quite a bit and it is simply powerful.  Tomorrow I really need to go get my driver’s license renewed.  My birthday is coming up next week and I need to do it before then.  The DMV is open late on Wednesdays only.  I need to dig out my birth certificate and social security before going to bed tonight.  I think I’ll do that and then hit the sack.  I hope the benadryl kicks in soon.