Where did the break go?

I can’t believe that spring break is almost over.  I haven’t accomplished everything that I planned to do, but it has been somewhat productive.  I’ve continued the cleaning binge I started on Thursday.  Yesterday I scrubbed all the toilets and cleaned bathrooms.  I also did about five loads of laundry.  I discovered a leak under the kitchen sink yesterday so I had to pull all the stuff out from there and now have a bucket until I can have it looked at.  Today my focus will be the downstairs – especially the kitchen.  Matt finally started going through all of his stuff in boxes upstairs.  I told him that we needed it sorted by the end of the weekend. 

I didn’t work on any school work.  I will try to get to some of that tomorrow if the house is clean by then.  I’m hoping that we will be able to keep it clean for at least a few weeks until we have company that comes to stay for a week.  I also have some band stuff that I have to get done.  I still have to order my wedding dress, but I need a few more measurements. 

Matt got me a Bose Soundlink Mini speaker for Christmas and I’ve been using it to listen to music as I clean the house.  It helps keep me going.  It’s better than having the tv on as I’ll get distracted and sit down – kind of like I’m doing now. 

Cleaning Binge

Yesterday I was on a cleaning binge.  Earlier this week Matt and I started to go through his boxes of stuff that have been sitting up stairs since he moved in last October.  I don’t know if the difference in packing is a men vs. women thing or if it’s just Matt, but I shook my head many, many times as I opened boxes.  It was as if he found an empty box and shoved whatever would fit into it and then put a lid on it.  No sorting, no rhyme or reason as to what was in there.  I, on the other hand, at least try to pack similar things in the same box – or at least stuff that goes in the same room in the same box.  I finally have the guest room and the floor of the loft area cleared of all his stuff, though he still has about six boxes of things to go through.  I created several boxes for sorting and a filing system for papers.  I also cleaned up Josh’s room (as much as possible with Matt’s desk still in pieces), the master bedroom and most of the master bathroom.  I still need to clean the toilet, the floor, and my closet.  I’m trying to get myself motivated to get started, but it hasn’t worked yet.

I enjoyed sleeping in this morning until I noticed it was “too” quiet.  Angie didn’t come when I called her so I figured she must be up to more trouble.  (She tore up carpet in Josh’s room earlier this week.)  Sure enough, when I went outside in the back yard, she came running from the side of the house.  I went to investigate and she had started digging underneath the fence.  She hadn’t made her escape yet, but was close.  So now I have her locked inside and will have to go to the hardware store and get more cinderblocks today. 

To answer Summer’s question posed on my facebook page – No, I’m not cleaning the garage.  Half of the garage is fine – my car is parked in there right now.  The other half is a different story.  We have Matt’s love seat, washer and dryer, table and chairs, and a myriad of other boxes from his storage closet.  There are also most of the empty boxes that I used for my own move.  The garage will be a summer project at some point, but not sure if it will be this summer or not.  When I do finally clean it out, I want to paint the walls.  Right now they are a dark green with a yellow stripe at the tope.  Probably former Greenbay Packer fans lived here.  I want it a nice neutral gray.  I also want a large tool box so I can actually put tools away where I can find them when I need them.   Maybe that will be next year’s Christmas present. 

Well, I guess I should try to get motivated to get going.  I have to run to the local library for a book today, then to the store for more laundry detergent (and cinder blocks). 

Spring Break is Here

Yesterday was a pajama day.  I never changed out my pajamas all day.  I slept in until 9:30.  I sat on the couch most of the day.  I gathered and input addresses for all the wedding guests.  The list keeps growing it seems.  I’m going to order my wedding dress this week.  I had a lady from school take my measurements for me.  My plan for spring break is to get some wedding planning done.  I also plan to get all of Matt’s stuff that is in boxes put away.  It’s time to actually use the attic for storage I guess. 

Matt and I decided to try to stop going out to dinner as much as we usually do.  I’m giving up fast food and alcohol for Lent.  Hopefully that will help our budgets and my waist.  I wish I had more exciting things to post, but life is rather dull here.  No exciting spring break plans.  We thought about going to Fiesta Texas, but the weather is going to be cool this week.  It was rainy yesterday.  It was just cool today – only getting up to the 50’s.  It’s supposed to be nice Tuesday and Wednesday. 

Sick of being sick

I went to the doctor last Friday hoping that I could get some medicine to kick whatever infection I had.  They did a strep test that came out negative and said that it was probably a viral infection that would just have to go away on its own.  I should get rest and drink lots of fluids.  Well, Matt and I headed to Dallas Friday evening and spent the weekend there so I didn’t really get any rest.  I did get to meet some of his family (cousins and an uncle) and that was nice.  I still wasn’t feeling great on Monday so I called in sick to work.  The library was going to be closed for testing in the morning and then I was going to be gone for a meeting in the afternoon, so I figured I might as well get some extra rest.  I did, though, I still went to the afternoon meeting.  I took it easy last night, went to bed at a decent hour and felt a little better this morning.  I went to work but found out at the last minute that I would be doing more testing today.  I still had a cough that I quelled with cough drops and water as much as I could.  I just didn’t feel up to par this afternoon so I didn’t do much work.  I mostly read a book.  Since it was a YA novel, I figured it was part of my job.  I had to go to yet another meeting after school today.  I was supposed to go to band rehearsal tonight, but with the coughing, I figured I shouldn’t go.  I just took some cough and cold medicine that I hope works or at least knocks me out soon.  I’m hoping that since I’m sick this week that I’ll be healthy during spring break and be able to get a lot done.  I have a lot of wedding planning and things that I need to work on when I have the time off next week.  I also need to do some deep house cleaning as Matt and I will have a house guest in April.  A fellow Scrabble player and librarian from Austin is going to stay with us during the Texas Library Association Convention.

Under the weather

Last night my throat started getting scratchy and I’ve felt generally blah today.  I had to do make up tests again today, but it was much better than last week.  We got started at a decent time and all were finished before 1:00.  I took some advil earlier in the day and it probably helped.  I could feel it wearing off by dinner time.  I met Matt at Taco Cabana for dinner.  I was hungry, but I could feel my throat getting sore.  I stayed for one miserable Scrabble game at club.  It was one of the worst games I’ve ever played.  I could not catch a break on drawing tiles.  I didn’t even break 250 points which is lousy. 

Matt and I are heading to Dallas for a weekend trip tomorrow evening.  He has family that is coming down to visit and we will get to meet up with them.  He’s going fishing with his cousins on Saturday morning and I’ll be shopping with my cousin Amanda. 

I took more advil tonight and it may be working – it’s kind of hard to tell. I’ll me going to bed shortly.  I’m trying to stay awake so that I can take my laundry out of the dryer before it all wrinkles.  I might not make it.  There’s only 5 minutes of Big Bang Theory left and the advil pm is starting to make me feel sleepy. 

I love testing (not)

It could have been worse, I didn’t have to test an entire class – I was the relief person so I just babysat for 15 minutes at a time.  Tomorrow I will have the joy of doing retakes (note the sarcasm).  These tests aren’t even real tests – they’re just practice tests.  It seems like overkill to test students over and over.  So this week is totally pointless for me.  I won’t be getting anything done in my library. 

I went to the store after work and got groceries and decided to make my famous cashew chicken tonight.  It was delicious as always.  I started making a list of wedding guests.  I need to get a LOT of addresses, but thankfully most of my friends are on Facebook and I can just ask them.  If you’re one of my regular blog readers and want an invitation, email me your mailing address to jifnerwedding @ gmail dot com.  I’ll leave this email information up for a week or two, but then I’ll delete so I don’t get junk mail from spammers. 

Matt is watching the Spurs and I think I’m going to head to bed.  I might start the next book on my Kindle.  I should since it’s pretty long, but I’m not sure if I’m focused enough to read tonight.  Maybe I’ll just play a pointless word game instead. 

Wedding Prep

Matt and I made a quick trip back to Canyon this weekend so that we could meet with Father Phan and do some wedding planning.  The meeting went fine and we are on track for the wedding on July 12.  We have some paperwork to do and get sent back in, but other than that, we don’t have to return until the rehearsal the night before.  We were able to have lunch with my friend Pam who is my maid of honor.  We also met my brother and his wife for dinner.  This morning, we picked up a dozen donuts from Donut Stop.  We stopped for lunch at what I thought was a Taco Villa in Lubbock, but it was kind of different.  It wasn’t quite what I expected.  Food was decent, but I probably should have gotten food at the one in Canyon.  Unfortunately it was too early when we were leaving.  Andrew – if you do get to come to the wedding, I’m taking you to Donut Stop and Taco Villa so you can finally experience it for yourself! 

I was able to finish a book while on the trip.  I read I am Malala about the Pakistani girl who was shot by the Taliban.  It was an interesting read.  Some of it was kind of hard to follow because it goes into a lot of historical background and such, but it was still eye opening.  Now I’m reading a YA novel.  I have one more book cued in my library to read after that.  The thing about borrowing books from the library is that I’m forced to read more often. 

Matt is out playing Scrabble this evening.  I’m watching ice skating on the Olympics and waiting for my laundry to get done.  Tomorrow and Wednesday will not be fun at work as we are doing test simulations.  That means wasted days for me and all the other teachers.

Another Valentine’s Day Down

I just spent time re-reading my past blog entries on or around Valentine’s day for the past nine years.  It seems that for several years when I had no Valentine, I was mostly spending the time heading to and from San Antonio for Josh’s all-state band concerts.  Perhaps that was a sign of things to come – that I was meant to be in San Antonio.  The only negative years was when I was in my “iffy” relationships with Marty and Michael.  The past three years have been pretty awesome with Matt.  Matt told me he loved me for the first time three years ago.  Last year was hit and miss mostly, but we ended up having drinks at The Menger Bar with Josh and my friend Kirsten who were here for TMEA.  This year he sent me flowers, which came yesterday.  I actually got a double order for some reason, so instead of a dozen roses, I got two dozen.  Matt grilled some juicy steaks on the grill and we had corn on the cob, baked potatoes, and salad for dinner.  Now we’re trying to find something to watch on tv since men’s ice skating is kind of boring. 

Matt has to work tomorrow, but he’s getting off at 3:00 and then we are driving back to Canyon so we can meet with Father Phan this weekend and go over wedding planning.  It will be a quick trip as we’ll be coming back on Monday.  I’m looking forward to seeing my friend Pam and my brother.  Oh, let’s not forget Taco Villa and Donut stop. 

Another Valentine’s Day Down

I just spent time re-reading my past blog entries on or around Valentine’s day for the past nine years.  It seems that for several years when I had no Valentine, I was mostly spending the time heading to and from San Antonio for Josh’s all-state band concerts.  Perhaps that was a sign of things to come – that I was meant to be in San Antonio.  The only negative years was when I was in my “iffy” relationships with Marty and Michael.  The past three years have been pretty awesome with Matt.  Matt told me he loved me for the first time three years ago.  Last year was hit and miss mostly, but we ended up having drinks at The Menger Bar with Josh and my friend Kirsten who were here for TMEA.  This year he sent me flowers, which came yesterday.  I actually got a double order for some reason, so instead of a dozen roses, I got two dozen.  Matt grilled some juicy steaks on the grill and we had corn on the cob, baked potatoes, and salad for dinner.  Now we’re trying to find something to watch on tv since men’s ice skating is kind of boring. 

Matt has to work tomorrow, but he’s getting off at 3:00 and then we are driving back to Canyon so we can meet with Father Phan this weekend and go over wedding planning.  It will be a quick trip as we’ll be coming back on Monday.  I’m looking forward to seeing my friend Pam and my brother.  Oh, let’s not forget Taco Villa and Donut stop. 

Solitary Saturday

Matt is off at work this morning and I’m sitting in my pajamas on the couch.  I’m watching the DVR’d American Idol episode that I missed on Thursday.  Angie has been going in and out and tracking in muddy paw prints.  I did catch Mollie and Angie kind of playing together this morning.  I think Mollie is warming up to the new dog, but still gets irritated by her. 

Not sure what my plans are for the day.  I have some reading to do.  I have four library books downloaded on my Kindle and I need to get busy reading before they expire.  I need to do some house cleaning as well.

Last night Matt and I had dinner with my ex-husband.  He is going to do the photography at the wedding.  Surprisingly (and ironically), he has a wedding photography business that has been doing well.  He was willing to travel to Canyon for the wedding (since his grandkids are in Amarillo) and he gave me a really good price.  Some people might think it would be awkward, but since we’ve stayed friends, it’s no big deal. 

Next weekend we head back to Canyon to meet with the priest.  I hope the weather warms up by then.  Canyon has been down right frigid.  I’ve been complaining about the 37 degrees here, but Canyon has been in the single digits with snow.  Today we’re supposed to get back in the 60’s and in the 70’s tomorrow.  It will dip back in the 40’s early next week and then warm up again.  I’m ready for winter to be over.  I’ve gotten spoiled by mild winter weather in south Texas.