Daily 3 - Three Things I'm Going to Miss

Matt and I leave for our first extended vacation tomorrow.  We'll be traveling the midwest for 10 days.  We are heading up to Iowa first for a Scrabble tournament this weekend.  After that we'll visit some family and then ride coasters in Chicago, Cedar Point, and St. Louis.

Although I'm looking forward to the trip, I will miss some things while gone:

1.  My Pets.  My cat, Lucy, is now 20 years and seems to be doing pretty well for her age.  She still has a good appetite but she likes to nibble throughout the day so I will be worried about her when I'm gone.  Fatniss Everdeen is my other cat and if you can't tell by her name, she could stand to lose some weight.  I'm not as worried about her.  Our dog Angie will be fine, but I will miss her.  We lost our dog, Mollie, back in December shortly before Christmas.  Part of our fence fell down and she got out and we never found her in spite of trips to the pound, signs, and online postings.

2.  My own bed.  It's not anything fancy, but it does have a nice memory foam topper that I love and I never quite sleep as well in hotels and other strange beds.

3.  My money.  Although we saved our tax refund and some extra money I got from being an assistant Academic Decathlon coach, we'll have to spend a bit of money for meals and especially gas!  It's going to be about 3500+ miles round trip.  Luckily we're taking my Rav 4 Hybrid but that's a lot of miles. 

Thankfully my cousin who has been staying with us for the past few months is going to take care of the animals.  We're only taking the trip since he is here at home taking care of them, otherwise,  we probably wouldn't be gone so long.  He's going through a divorce and had been living in his car for about a month when he called to tell me what was going on and asked if he could stay with us.  It has been great because he is much handier than Matt and I.  He has fixed several things for us at the house so he's earned his keep.  I couldn't afford the cost of hiring a pet sitter for 10 days so it has worked out well. 

Daily 3 - Observations about 4th, 5th & 6th graders

So I've been teaching a class to 4th, 5th and 6th graders this week.  They are learning to create their own comic books.  After being at a high school for the last three years, I did make a few observations today:

1.  They have not yet started cussing like sailors.  It seems every other word that comes out of a HS student's mouth is the F-word or something similar.  The kids I have this week have been pretty tame in that regard.

2.  They enjoy telling your stories.  Whether it's their character's background story or that their birthday is in 8 days, they like to talk to adults.

3.  They are more easily entertained.  They don't groan at brain break games and enjoy playing the board games I brought from my school. 

Daily Three - Things I Could Not Find at Target

Matt and I are heading on a road trip this weekend so I was needing to get a few things.  I went to Target because I needed makeup and unlike Walmart, you can find what you need without someone having to unlock a sliding door.  While I was there, however, I couldn't find 3 things that I was shopping for:

1.  Underwear - I was looking for a specific brand and style and they didn't have it in stock.

2.  Sports Bra that fits - I found one that I kind of liked but the only one in my size had stains on it.  I didn't think the rest would provide the support needed.  I did, however, find two other regular bras that seem to fit ok.  Since we are going to be going to some theme parks and walking out in the sun for hours, I wanted something that would help with sweating.

3.  Stationery - I know that letter writing is a lost art these days but I was needing to actually write a letter (by hand) and the stationery I've had since the mid-80's was a bit faded and dusty.  The only thing Target had was some blank cardstock cards but no actual stationery sets. 

Daily 3 - Things I Loved About Andrew

Today's Daily Three will be three things I loved and miss about Andrew:

1.  How good he was at fixing, building, and maintaining computers.  I wish I had him around when I needed help with my systems.

2.  Posting his Helen Friday meals.  Being a picky eater, I probably wouldn't always eat everything but her cooking always looked so good!

3.  How much he loved Maggie.  I love how he doted on her constantly and she was always by his side.  I'm so glad he found her and I hope she goes to a good home.

Gone too Soon

I heard about Andrew's passing on Wednesday.  I've needed a few days to process it.  I am truly heartbroken and devastated.  He has been my good online blog friend since I first started blogging in 2004.  Of course, I haven't really blogged in a while.  I do feel guilty about that because Andrew always told me that my blog was his favorite.  He enjoyed reading about my mundane life.  I think that when I started blogging, it was my form of therapy that I needed post-divorce.  When I moved to San Antonio, life took a different turn and my blogging became much more infrequent.  I didn't even read other blogs as much but I would always catch up with Andrew every few weeks.  There was just something about his writing that drew me in.  I loved how he was not shy about sharing.  He would write about his embarrassing moments so nonchalantly.  I was always afraid to be as completely forthcoming.  I loved the many characters he encountered and wrote about.  Rosa, George, Charlie, Horsefly, his mom and dad... the list can go on.  I am so sad that I will no longer be able to read his writings. 

It started with Prison Pete's blog.  (I just now tried going back to it and it sends you to a spam site.)  I stumbled on it in my early blogging days, recommended it to blogger as a "Blog of Note", it got noted and then tons of people who started reading it also found my blog.  Andrew was one of those but he didn't post a comment for several months afterward.  I also found several other blog friends like Summer, Cheryl, Leann, and Janet who I'm also friends with on Facebook.  Most of us have stopped blogging and mostly post on Facebook these days (if that), but Andrew was able to keep up with blogging for some reason.  I wonder if it was a step out of loneliness for him.  Whatever it was, I appreciated him, his life, and his many stories.  He will be greatly missed by me and his many readers. 

Though it's too late for me to do this for Andrew, I'm going to give blogging another try.  A Scrabble acquaintance of mine on Facebook has been posting a "Daily Three".  Though I can't always take the time to post a lengthy blog, I figure I might be able to at least do a Daily Three.  We'll see how it goes.  Maybe blogging is old school these days, but it was a big part of my life for many years and it helped me get through some tough times.  I may be writing for an empty audience, but at least I'll be writing again. 

2018 Year in Review

Well, here's my yearly blog post.  I guess I should eventually just archive this blog since I haven't been actively blogging in several years.  I don't know what it is... I've found that I rarely share anything these days - even on Facebook.  

1. What did you do in 2018 that you'd never done before?

Honestly can't think of anything new at this time - other than getting the flu for the first time in a very long time.  (On New Year's Eve, no less.)

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

Still don't really make resolutions though I did do another Goodreads goal.  I read 45 books (though I did have to change it from 50 as I ran out of time)

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Nope - most people I know are too old.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

My uncle Dave died just a week and half after Matt and I saw him in September.

5. What countries did you visit?

Still no countries and didn't really travel very far this year.  I did get to Albuquerque for a training session and back to Amarillo for my high school reunion this summer.

6. What would you like to have in 2018 that you lacked in 2018?

Same as always ... More time, more energy, more money.

7. What date from 2018 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

Friday, December 21 - they day that Mollie got out of the yard and ran away.  Don't know if she got killed or dognapped, but nobody has called to say they've found her for more than a week now. 

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Genrefying my entire library and winning my first Scrabble tournament (first time to come in first).

9. What was your biggest failure?

No major failures that I can remember.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

Got the flu (right now) 

11. What was the best thing you bought?

I had custom Scrabble tile bags made for both Matt and I for Christmas.  Mine is a Harry Potter bag and his is a Spurs bag.  

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

 Nobody really stood out - Matt is still a great husband.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

Still 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

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

Being Gibsonized and winning my first Scrabble tournament.

16. What song will always remind you of 2018?

Wake Me Up (When It's All Over)

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 and an extra stipend this year for helping with Academic Decathlon
- thinner or fatter? About the same.

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

Studying Scrabble, reading

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

Procrastinating

20. How did you spend the holidays?

New Years (2017) – don't remember - didn't post on Facebook
Valentine’s Day – Matt had to work so I think we celebrated early.

Easter – with Matt - probably went to our regular church for Mass.
4^th of July – with Matt – had dinner at Chili's and then stayed in.  It was a rainy 4th.

Thanksgiving –Went back to Amarillo to spend Thanksgiving with my brother and family.

Christmas – stayed home.  Josh and his girlfriend arrived on the 22^nd.  We did an Escape Room and went to see some Christmas lights.  Did a lot of cooking (more than I normally do at list)

New Year's Eve (today) – stayed home in bed with the flu.

21. Did you fall in love in 2018?

Still in love with Matt.

22. How many one-night stands?

Oh please.... I really should just delete this question.

23. What was your favorite TV program?

Still like Big Bang Theory and also enjoying Young Sheldon.

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

Hate is a strong word.  I still dislike Delores Umbridge. 

25. What was the best book you read?

Notable books: The Damage Done by PJ Parrish, The FallenT by David Baldacci, and Past Tense by Lee Child. You can see my list of books here: https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/10170050

26. What was your favorite film of this year?

Even though it differed quite a bit from the book, I enjoyed Ready Player One.

27. Whom did you miss?

My dog Mollie that got out of the yard and ran away on Dec. 21.

27. Who was the best new person you met?

Can't think of anyone that really stands out.  Always meet some new Scrabble players and teachers every year.

29. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2018.

Some years are simply going to be better than others.  Overall this year wasn't really that bad until the end of the year.  Don't judge your year on one or two bad moments.

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.