2017 Year in Review

Not sure why I keep doing this when I've barely blogged all year but here it is again:

1. What did you do in 2017 that you'd never done before?

Rode the Megabus (to/from New Orleans for Scrabble nationals and to/from Houston for a trip with Josh in October)

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

What’s the point of resolutions since I never keep them.  I did meet my goodreads goal of 40 books (only because I changed it fom 45 to 40 a few days ago)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Yes – my cousin had a baby

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Thankfully, no.  

5. What countries did you visit?

No countries yet again.  Went to New Orleans for Scrabble nationals and went to Orlando for vacation with Josh.

6. What would you like to have in 2017 that you lacked in 2017?

More time, more energy, more money.

7. What date from 2017 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Going to Universal Islands of Adventure and Universal studios in October and getting to fully experience Harry Potter World.  It was truly an amazing experience for a Potter nerd such as myself. 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Keeping my mouth shut at librarian meetings.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Not losing any weight this year.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing major this year.  Sprained my ankle again in the spring.  Matt shared his cold with me over Thanksgiving. 

11. What was the best thing you bought?

Ravenclaw robes, new wand, and a sorting hat from HP World.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Not sure.  Matt is still a great husband who tolerates me pretty well.  I guess that deserves celebration. 

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Delores Umbridge (code name for someone in our district that I do not care for)

14. Where did most of your money go?

Same as last year:  Bills, Scrabble tournaments, eating out (and Harry Potter World)

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Entering Diagon Alley for the first time.

16. What song will always remind you of 2017?

Can't think of any.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:

happier or sadder? About the same as last year – generally happy.
- richer or poorer? About the same – got a standard raise, but lost some stipends when I went to a new campus.
- thinner or fatter? Fatter – really, really need to work on that.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?

Studying Scrabble

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?

Procrastinating

20. How did you spend the holidays?

New Years (2016) – playing Scrabble at a friend’s house in Austin
Valentine’s Day – with Matt – had dinner at Maggiano’s 

Easter – with Matt - can't even remember what church we went to this year.
4^th of July – with Matt – didn’t really do much – went to Six Flags the day before.

Thanksgiving – Road trip with Matt – up to Amarillo then to Colorado Springs followed by Tijeras, NM and then home.

Christmas – stayed home.  Josh and his girlfriend arrived on the 22^nd.  We went to see Star Wars on the 23^rd at Alamo Draft House with my cousin Rob and his family.  Matt grilled steaks on Christmas eve and we opened presents just before midnight since Josh’s girlfriend had to leave early in the morning. 

New Year's Eve (today) – staying home.  Matt grilled chicken and I made fettucine.  We’re both reading books and not doing too much. 

21. Did you fall in love in 2017?

Still in love with Matt.

22. How many one-night stands?

Do I have to answer this question every year?  I'm a married woman!

23. What was your favorite TV program?

Big Bang Theory is still a favorite.

24. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?

Hate is a strong word.  I dislike Delores Umbridge. 

25. What was the best book you read?

Notable books: A Man Called Ove and The Serpent King.  You can see my list of books here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/15978192?date_added=2017&order=a&page=1&sort=read_at

26. What was your favorite film of this year?

Didn’t really go out to the movies much but I did enjoy the new Star Wars Movie.

27. Whom did you miss?

Friends that live far away and I don’t get to see very often. 

27. Who was the best new person you met?

Some new teachers and staff at Burbank and new Scrabble players. 

29. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2017.

Can’t think of anything major this year.  Life is short – take vacations and enjoy it while you can.

Doing some graphic design

I haven't been able to do much Scrabble stuff the past few days.  I've been doing some graphic design work on flyers and posters for the band as well as some stuff for our upcoming library convention.  I'm starting to get a little better at Adobe Illustrator.  I can handle InDesign in my sleep and I'm fairly proficient at Photoshop, but I've struggled with Illustrator.  Thankfully just googling stuff seems to help find answers when I need them.

Matt is out of the dog house.  He finally apologized before bedtime on Saturday.  I think he learned his lesson.  As husband's go, he's a pretty good one.  We rarely have disagreements or fights - he's pretty easy going overall.  As a male, he can sometimes be insensitive and not exactly realize that he is being that way.  The problem is that when I pointed it out and told him he hurt my feelings, he was dismissive which didn't bode well for me.

I stayed late after school today working with other librarians on their catalog home pages.  I'm the one most call when they have questions about technology issues and such.   Tomorrow at school I have to deal with three junior English classes in the lab helping them get signed up to take the SAT test.  I have other things I'd rather work on but sometimes you have to take one for the team I guess.  It could be worse so I won't complain (too much).

I finally lost a pound this week.  Last week I had gained .2 but this week was down 1.2.  I've lost a total of 8.8 pounds so far this month.  It's slow progress, but progress.

Husband in the Dog House

It wasn't a big thing but he said something that hurt my feelings and wouldn't apologize for it.  Being the kind of person I am who will hold a grudge forever it is now a matter as to when he is going to give in.  He will eventually because he is typically a peace keeper.  He is being stubborn right now because he thinks I'm being irrational - which may very well be true, but to me this is an unresolved issue and I can't/won't move past it until it is.  So there we are.  How's that for being vague?

In other news, I got my haircut today.  It had been way too long - 3 months and it was driving me crazy.  I'm finally getting over my cold that starting hitting me on Tuesday.  I pretty much came home most evenings and went to bed after taking a benadryl.  I didn't have any sneezing today.  There's a little bit of congestion, but I think I'm on the upswing.  I haven't done much studying this week because of the cold but I need to get back at it.  The Houston tournament is coming up in less than two months and I want to be prepared.  I may need to start going back to the public library on weekends and do some studying in a quiet place away from the distractions of home.  Of course the problem with a library is that often there are distractions in the form of books.  Two of my ebook reservations came through today so I've got to get those read first.  At least I have things to keep me busy while I wait for that apology.

Nursing a Cold

I could feel it coming on during band rehearsal last night.  You know that feeling when your throat starts to get kind of sore and you know something is about to hit you.  I came home and took a tylenol pm and went straight to bed.  Sure enough woke up feeling sick - but not enough to warrant taking the day off.  My throat is sore and I feel a bit run down with some sniffles.  Of course we had a faculty meeting after school so I didn't even get home until after 6:00.  I picked up Sonic on the way home in spite of the diet.  I didn't lose any weight this week but I'm not surprised after this weekend.  I'll have to do better the rest of the week but I think an exception can be made when you feel like crap.

I'm still working on my Scrabble stuff.  Up to the letter L in my four letter word lists.  I think tonight calls for an early bed time.  I'm going to go watch some HGTV or Big Bang Theory and call it an early night.

Scrabbling

I've been very focused on creating word study lists, cards, and even videos lately.  Matt and I are playing at a tournament in Houston in March and I want to do better than I did last year.  I'm focusing on learning as many unfamiliar four letter words as I can as well as the five letter J, Q, X, and Z words.  I also need to review my threes but I'm still pretty confident of about 90% of them.  I'm creating videos using a web based program called Animoto to create a kind of study aide.  I've focused on adding two new J, Q, X, and Z words each day with a picture with a sentence using the word along with the definition and hooks.  (Hooks are letters that can go in front or back of the word.)  I'm also editing at least one letter of my 4 letter word lists each day along with creating lists of their front and back hooks.  After that, I'll focus on some 7 to 8 bingo stems.  Once everything is created, I'll start spending time digging in and actually studying - though I think a few things are sticking through osmosis or something.

Matt and I went to see the movie Hidden Figures this afternoon with a friend of ours.  He's a retired priest that used to volunteer in his department at the library and lived in his same apartment complex.  We enjoyed the movie and had dinner at a Greek restaurant nearby.  I've been pretty bad on my diet this weekend - kind of dreading the scale on Wednesday (my self-designated weigh-in day).  I had to estimate some of the meals since they weren't at national chain restaurants with readily available nutrition menus.  Yesterday we at at the restaurant where we had our first date.  My cousin and his family met us there after spending the day at a Harry Potter arts and crafts festival.  I think it was the chips and salsa that did me in.  But it was very good.  I only ate half my dinner of carnitas (pork) and rice.

Here's a picture of my cat, Lucy, helping me study:

Can you believe that Lucy is my 17 or 18 year old cat?  She broke her foot 2 1/2 years ago and had surgery but is still doing well.  She does like to "help" when I'm on the computer sometimes.  She also wants me to get up and feed her around 6:30 a.m. which is about 30 minutes before I normally get up.  Sometimes she'll just lay right on top of me while I try to get that extra 30 minutes of sleep.  

Showing Off

Today we had a library meeting where we spent a lot of time updating our home pages for our online catalog.  I updated mine a few weeks ago so I mostly helped others with their pages.  When most people got their basics finished a few of us shared our sites.  Everyone applauded my effort and complimented me on it.  It took me a while to make all the html code to work - especially involving the calendar and its size, but I'm fairly happy how it turned out.  I'm probably going to have to offer training on websites for the librarians in the future.  

My principal came by today to tell me that his order for 3 carts of chromebooks was approved and that I would be helping with the management of them.  That is exciting news!  I won a grant for Chromebooks last year but didn't get them until the end of the year.  I asked the foundation if I'd be able to take them with me to my new school, but someone in technology said no.  I'm pretty sure most of them have just sat in an office all year.  

I've been spending time in the evenings working on Scrabble stuff - study cards for learning my 4 letter words as well as 5 letter, J, X, Q, and Z words.  I also need to focus on my 7 to 8 letter word bingo stems.  I often get tripped up when I have an unplayable bingo in my rack because I can't figure out how to play it using a letter already on the board (aside from the obvious plural 's' plays).  Matt and I are going to a tournament in Houston in March.  I didn't do very well at that tournament last year.  I hope I do better this time.  

Guess I better get back to Scrabble - starting on the 4 letter G words.

Goings on in the Library

Since the beginning of the school year, I've had a fairly open door policy in the library and I've never limited the number of students that could come in during lunch time.  Lately, however, I've had up to 50-60 students in there at once and being the only adult in the room, I felt it was getting a bit loud and overwhelming.  I decided this week I would limit the numbers to the first 30 students to come in.  It seems to have helped.  The noise level is down and it seems more manageable.  I hate turning students away but a good portion of them simply want to "relax".  I make exceptions for those who have work to complete, want to check out a book, or want to play Scrabble of course.  I'm still disappointed that my library isn't as active as it should be during the school day but taking it one step at a time.  I'm working on some ideas here and there.  I did teach a class after school on using Smore for creating online flyers and newsletters.  I'm going to start teaching more technology classes in the next few months.

In other news I'm doing pretty well with my diet but it's only 2 1/2 weeks in.  I religiously record all my food intake (except for the 5 fries I stole from Matt's dinner the other night).  I've lost 6 pounds so far.  I'm forcing myself to eat breakfast every day.  I know that eating breakfast has always been preached to me as an absolute must but I think I finally get it now.  I think it does help curb my overall hunger during the day.  I try to be more mindful of eating out.  Yesterday I limited my calories for breakfast and lunch since I knew we were going out to dinner at Olive Garden.  Even though I picked something with a high number of calories I only ate half of it to stay within my goal.  I only went over by 15 calories yesterday and that was because of that 3rd Andes Mint I got with the check.
Today I've got to work on a postcard for our upcoming anniversary band concert.  I also need to create a postcard or something promoting Scrabble to visiting 8th graders on our campus next week.

A Friend's Loss

I was very saddened to hear that my friend Andrew's mother passed away unexpectedly.  Andrew is one my oldest blogging friends who I've known since I started blogging in 2004.  He has been the most avid blogger I've ever known and although we have never gotten to meet in person, I consider him a friend.  I started blogging just a few months after my own mother passed away.  She died of lung cancer in November 2003.  I started blogging in May of 2004 thanks to a guy I started dating around that time.  So many things have changed in that time but I'm happy where life has lead me.  I'm also happy for Andrew who seems to have come a long way and is generally doing well though I know that the next several days, weeks, and months will be painful.  I feel like I've gotten to know his mother over the years with all the wonderful stories he has written about her.  I don't know if I've ever mentioned my mom in this blog.  Maybe I'll try to come up with a few stories to tell.

I don't know if Andrew still reads since my blog has been dormant for so long, but I'm thinking of him and his family and pray that they get through this difficult time.

Back again?

So if I write a blog post after a fairly long hiatus (only 3 posts last year) - will anyone still be around to read it?  Who knows.  I used to love blogging.  It was rather cathartic when I needed it to be.  Life seems to have gotten in the way but it's really no excuse.  I can find time for other things - why can't I write.  I do miss it in some ways.  It's nice to be able to go back and look at posts to remember certain events and such.  I tried doing that with facebook but I didn't post much there either.  Well, let's give it another try, shall we?  What do you want to know?

I've decided I really have to do something about my weight.  Yeah, I know you've heard that one before.  I finally exceeded my all time high and I can't afford to keep buying clothes in bigger sizes and I have closets full of clothes I can no longer wear.  I still hate exercise so I'm focusing on diet right now.  I know I'll eventually have to add exercise but I'm hoping that can wait until our pool opens in March.  I'm tracking my food intake using the My Fitness app on my phone.  I've been pretty good about about.  I've gone over a few times, but I've been under a few times as well.  Last week the scale said I lost 4.4 pounds but it might have been a fluke.  We'll see on the next weigh-in.

I moved up to a high school campus at the beginning of the school year.  It has been great - I feel like I have time to actually BE a librarian most of the time.  At least I'm not constantly dealing with textbooks or fixing everyone's computer problems.  (Of course word has gotten out that I know how to fix things..)  I started a Scrabble club but it hasn't taken off yet.  I only have two active players right now but I'm hoping for a push soon.  I need to come up with some ideas to get more students interested.

I've done a lot of reading.  Last year I read 40 new books as part of my Good Reads goal.  This year the goal is 46.

I didn't play in very many Scrabble tournaments this year.  I played in New Orleans a year ago last January and did pretty well but tanked at a Houston tournament last March.  I need to decide if I want to invest in improving by studying or not.  I'm going to try to write a Scrabble curriculum as part of my Tall Texans project but I haven't made much progress on it.

Well, I guess this is as good of a start as any.  If I have any readers left, let me know if there's something you want to know.   I guess at least you know that I'm alive and well.