The Ides of March

Yesterday was the Ides of March, and an interesting day it was.

I did not get stabbed 23 times - for which I am grateful - but the day was interesting, nonetheless.

It began brightly. I woke up early(ish), worked out, and saw that I had mail. I had received a fun little card from a dear friend :) That cheered me.

As evening began to set in, we had some tornado weather over here in eastern Michigan - in the middle of March. I spent the evening watching the local weather channel and the skies changing outside. We were lucky enough to have no tornado touch downs here, but there were several nearby. We just had lots and lots of rain and thunder...with some hail. It was looking scary enough that I put Squirt in a shoe box, ready to run for cover if needed. He was not too happy with me.

During this lovely weather, Adam's grandma was driving home - chased by a funnel cloud. She went to the hospital last night, but she's okay. Mere minutes after finding this out, I found out that my sister Kathie's family was spending the evening in the ER. Her daughter Sophie has asthma induced by croup and needed breathing treatments. Luckily, she is now fine as well.

Once all this drama settled a little - as well as the weather - I got a text from my mother saying that her uncle Jim passed away last night. I have some very fond memories of Jim and his wife Margaret. Two of the nicest people I've known. Unfortunately I haven't seen him much ... at all ... in the past few years. His death is sad, but I'm more grieved for his widow and for my grandma (his sister).

That about sums up my rather ... odd ... Ides of March. Strange weather, strange events, and a slightly notorious day. Kind of cliche ... and yet a little chilling.

It's peculiar, really. Previous to yesterday, I had no idea what the "Ides of March" was. I had heard the phrase before - and knew it was somehow connected with Julius Caesar. With all the talk of it yesterday, I decided to look it up online. Thanks Wikipedia, I am now the wiser :)

But "Ides" or not, it was still a weird day.

How was your March 15th?

Fun and Frustrating Moments

So I thought I was doing a fair job, keeping up with blogging this year. Maybe I had missed a week here and there, but overall, not bad. Then I realized that I haven't blogged in almost a month. Oops.

Anyway, last week I went to my sister Kathie's house to watch her girls for four days while she and her husband went away for their anniversary. It was fun ... a bit chaotic ... but fun. On Monday, the girls didn't have school, so we built a fort in the living room

(Left: Laura - another sister, back: Sophia, right: Gwen)

I'm just glad Kathie wasn't around to see her living room in this state :)

We hung out in there for the day, I brought in a basket full of snacks, we watched Gnomeo and Juliet on my laptop, then we took a nap (I think I'm the only one who actually slept, though...).

The rest of the week, the girls had school, so we didn't do anything too exciting. I went back home on Friday - glad to see my hubby again! The next day we went shopping - Adam needed new tennishoes and shorts to work out in ... and I ended up getting some shoes too.

I LOVE my new tennishoes. If these don't motivate me to workout, I don't know what will. Though truth be told, I have not used them yet (for that purpose). 

I was able to sub a couple days this week. Wednesday I signed up for a job at Pioneer HS. For the first couple hours, I was helping with the MME testing (what used to be "MEAP"). During this time, one of the teachers asked if I'd sub for her the following day ... um, yes please! 

That day, after Adam picked me up, we went shopping. I hit my favorite clothing store, ready to spend the wad I made babysitting my nieces. I needed some new shorts for this summer, and also wanted to buy a dress, so I loaded up my arms with all kinds of lovelies and went to the dressing room to decide what I was going to buy. I had 3 sundresses, 2 pairs of shorts, 3 tank tops, a jean jacket, a cute top I found in the clearance section, and a jean mini skirt. Much to my dismay, I loved everything (with the exception of one pair of shorts). Much to my delight, and utter surprise, when I came out, Adam asked me what I liked. I replied "everything but these shorts." He said "okay, let's get it all!" Let's just say, I spent twice what I was planning on, but my hubby is a gem and I love him (and tax-returns...)

And that brings us up to date. 

Frustrating moment today:

We have A LOT of laundry to do. I loaded roughly 8-10 loads up in our car (carried down from our 3rd floor apartment), and drove over to the laundry room. All 10 washers were full. All 10 of those loads were finished with their cycles. Owner of said 10 loads was not in sight. So, I drove back to my apartment, and had the pleasure of carrying all of my own 8-10 loads back up to my 3rd floor apartment.

Lesson: Do not be THAT person. If you're going to take up all the washers, at least have the curtesy to stick around and move them to the dryers promptly when they are finished. 

Sincerely, 

Eternally Frustrated.

Dancing and Tulips and Cards and Turtles

Okay, so I've been slacking. I got in one of those ruts where I couldn't think of anything good to write about. I'm still in that rut, but I'm going to give it a go anyway.

The past couple weeks have been alright. My mom and little sister (Laura) came to visit a couple/few weekends ago, and that was a lot of fun. We spent the time shopping, watching a couple movies, and playing board games. Laura brought her "Just Dance 3" (Wii) game with her. It was pretty fun, and after doing a couple dances, I thought, "wow, this could make a pretty decent workout."  So I was pleasantly (and only slightly) surprised that she forgot to take it with her when she left.

I have, therefore, been playing "Just Dance" as my workout. It's pretty fun, highlighted by the fact that I can do it in the privacy of my own apartment where no one can see me dancing like a fool.

That's about all that's been new lately.

Yesterday was Valentin's Day. Adam has been doing training this week, meaning his schedule's been off. He was supposed to work until 6pm yesterday - stinky! Buuuuut ... he got off a little early, and walked through the door just before 6 o'clock with a bouquet of purple tulips and all the fixin's to make chicken fettuccine alfredo. Dinner, being made by Adam, was of course delicious! 

My flowers :)

I also had a little surprise for him. I saw this idea on Pinterest to use a deck of cards and make a "52 Reasons why I love you" ... thing. ... Gifty thing. My original plan was to make this for Adam's stocking last Christmas, but I'm glad I didn't - it made the perfect gift yesterday.

It happened to fit perfectly in an empty tea box I had, so I tied it up with some ribbon and a simple little homemade card.

Here's a few of the reasons I had.

I thought it would be easier to type them up than write them by hand. That was only slightly true. It was a little difficult to judge whether, when printed and cut out, they would actually fit on the cards. A couple (like the one on the top right) came close, but they did all fit. *insert sight of relief*

I "distressed" (in other words, scratched up...) the cards using my nail file (yay improvisation! ... and cramped hands), and used small ink pads to add the color around the edges.

Neither of us are overly mushy, so I did my best to keep this project as un-Valentine's-cheesy as possible. So some of the things I wrote were fun and cute, others were a little more serious. I also used teal, orange, and purple for the font colors, matted on brown, and edged with red and bronze. No frilly pink and red hearts for us :)

That brings us up to date. 

Squirt has been eating like a cow lately. (for those who don't know, he's our little turtle - pictured on the top of the left side bar) We think he's going through another growth spurt. He's definitely gotten "fatter" - meaning his shell is thicker - and it's about the size of my palm. We put him on our kitchen scale and he weighs 2.3 ounces. I don't want him grow much more - I want him to stay little :/

I hope everyone - those who are single, those in a couple, and those away from the ones they love - had a good Valentine's day! 

Harry Potter Valentine's :) 
I thought these were cute - click on the image to enlarge it, so you can read them!
(Ron's is my favorite)

"Up Around the Bend"

I couldn't quite decide which New Year's Resolution to write about this week. I don't really have much to say about any one in particular, so I'm just going comment on each of them.

New Year's Resolution #1

Work out 3-5 days/week

I'm doing pretty well at this one. Last week, I worked out three days. I would like to up that this week. My goal is to get to five days a week. I impressed myself with my last workout. I was surprised how much I could do, if I just pushed myself a little. It's made me realize that I haven't been nearly as hard on myself as I could be. So I'm going to continue to push myself, curious as to exactly how much I can actually do.

New Year's Resolution #2

Blog at least once a week

Well you tell me, have I been doing this? ;)

New Year's Resolution #3

Eat Healthier

I love how vague I made this one. Overall, I have been eating healthier than I have in the past - especially during this past holiday season (Halloween - New Years is my fattest time of the year, as I'm sure it is for many people).  My biggest problem is sugar, and I've been doing well at limiting the amount I have every day. A certain someone made this harder when she gave me a giant box of Snickers for my birthday. But I've successfully hidden them away and only allow myself one a week, max.

New Year's Resolution #4

Read at least one new book every month

I'm actually ahead on this one. I've knocked out both my January and February reads this month. Once I finished Out of Oz, I was anxious to move on for a couple reasons. I've been wanting to read The Hunger Games, and couldn't wait to start. I've also been wanting to re-read Harry Potter, and decided I could fit it in between my new books if I got through The Hunger Games quickly. 

I really liked The Hunger Games. I just finished the series today, and would love to comment on them, but I'm afraid of giving anything away to those who want to read them and/or watch the movies. Just know that if you haven't read them, you should. Recommended.

New Year's Resolution #5

Write down at least one thing everyday that I'm thankful for

I'll admit that this one is a lot harder than I thought it'd be. I bought this really nice, cute journal to write in - filling in each day with blessings rather than agendas. I thought at first that I should write in it each night before I went to bed, but this has proved to be difficult. Some days I just don't feel like being thankful. Now I'm beginning to wonder if writing in the morning would be easier, and what a better way to start off my day?

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In other news, Adam has started doing P90X. He's also doing the nutrition plan/meal plans. We went shopping for them the other night and discovered all kinds of things ... like jicama ... and miso ... and where in the store they stock tofu.

My mom and little sister are coming to see me this weekend, and I can't wait to have some girl-time. I get far too little of it these days, especially since our only friends in this area, Nick and Brittney, moved to Colorado. Of course my older sisters are welcome to come too, but Bethany's probably working, and Kathie's probably busy being super-mom. No offense meant, she is a pretty awesome super-mom.

...Oh, you're probably wondering about the title of this post. I couldn't think of anything clever, so I just put the name of the last song playing on my Pandora list when I was writing this. Thank you, CCR. Thanks for the music.

Working Out and Reading On

New Year's Resolution #1

Work out 3-5 days a week

I'll admit, I failed pretty miserably at this one the first two weeks of the new year. Nevertheless, I haven't totally given up on this goal.  I'm not one to admit defeat easily.  I worked out on Monday this week and completely intended to do the same Tuesday and Wednesday.  Ah me, ever full of "good intentions" ... it's the execution of those intentions that I have problems with ...

Still not admitting defeat.  Personally, I feel a little justified in skipping Tuesday and Wednesday. 1 - I still have 3 days left this week in which to fulfill my goal of "3-5" days/week, and 2 - Adam had the past couple days off. Since he works third shift, we don't often sleep in bed together. I therefore wanted to prolong this as long as I could. (I suppose I should clarify that I will only work out early in the morning - when no one else is in the gym. Extremely self-conscious, am I.)

Anyway, I do enjoy working out. It gives me a reason to get up out of bed, gives my body something active to do, and makes me feel great.  When I had my yearly check-up a couple weeks ago, my doctor did tell me that I should work out 5 days a week if I want it to do me any good. And I really, truly do. I am so very out of shape and being so makes me feel sluggish, weak, and achy. None of which I enjoy.

On another note, I have finished Out of Oz and it ended just about as well as it could.  It had a perfect blend of tied-up loose ends and some left (realistically) unanswered.  There was also just enough mystery to leave the fate of the characters to the reader's imagination. Love love love.

Without waiting for February to commence, I have immediately dug into The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I'm loving it so far ... but more on that later :)

"Out of Oz"

New Year's Resolution #4

(Yes, I know I'm going out of order)

Read at least one new book every month.

The book of choice for this month is Out of Oz by Gregory Maguire. It's the fourth and final book in the The Wicked Years series. 

I first read Wicked my sophomore year of college. I then continued to read the sequel, Son of a Witch and was less than intrigued. 

I didn't love the books the first time I read them, but decided to give them a second try. When I reread them, I was amazed by how much I had missed the first time.  These books are so steeped in symbolism and imagery that I needed gillyweed to swim through it all. How I missed this the first time, I don't know, but I was amazed. And I hoped and prayed that there would be a third book. If for no other reason than that Son of a Witch finished with no less than a dozen or so loose ends.

And there eventually was a third. A Lion Among Men did not disappoint. But with the closure of the book, there were still many loose ends and just enough of a cliff-hanger to make waiting for the next book pure torture. 

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Picture it. Black Friday 2011. I was shopping with my mother-in-law at Meijer. We were casually meandering down the book aisle - she was looking for a certain book for one of her sons, I was browsing the titles. When my eye was caught by the name "Gregory Maguire." The name of the book: Out of Oz. Having been shopping since midnight, it took a moment before my brain clicked. ... The new book! The one I had been waiting for! This was it! I was ecstatic, mesmerized, reluctant to put it down. When my awesome MIL snatched it out of my hand and threw it in the cart. Yeah, she is awesome. Anyway...

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Before Christmas, I began re-reading the first three books for a good refresher. I finally finished about 5 days ago (yes, I am a slow reader) and began the last book.  I'm about half-way through and cannot wait to finish. I'm struggling between feelings of hope (that all the loose ends and questions will finally be tied up and answered) and fear (that it will end with as many loose ends as it began).

On a personal note, I would not recommend the Wicked books to everyone. In fact, I would not recommend them to most people. They're pretty dark, pretty vulgar, and have a few pretty obscene scenes.

If you haven't seen the musical, it is none of the above. I highly recommend it. If you have seen the musical, and therefore want to read the books, be forewarned. When they created the musical, I'm pretty sure they just took a few of the main characters, one of the main plot lines, and watered everything down a good deal. And then proceeded to tell their own story. Not to knock the musical, I actually rather enjoy it. I just can't even compare the two. I get depressed when I try.

To conclude, with the help of my new Kindle - aptly named Glinda (and all the awesome free books on it), I already have a reading list lined up for the rest of the year:

The Hunger Games (Collins)

Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)

The Brothers Karamazov (Dostoyevsky)

Dubliners (Joyce)

Bleak House (Dickens)

Frankenstein (Shelley)

Grimm's Fairy Stories (Grimm and Grimm)

The Last of the Mohicans (Cooper)

Walden (Thoreau)

Little Women (Alcott)

Gone With the Wind (Mitchell)

Laundry Room Reflections

2012. 


The new year is upon us and it's that time of year when (basically) everyone makes all sorts of new promises and resolutions that they're never going to keep. 


But it's a tradition, so why the heck not?


Here's my list of resolutions that I "only half intend to keep this time - just like last year" (from New Year's Eve by Five Iron Frenzy - seriously, if you've never listened to that song, you need to).


1. work out 3-5 days a week (wow, 3 days into 2012 and already failing at this one)


2. blog at least once a week (this is my first post since July...)


3. eat healthier (just vague enough that I may, technically, accomplish this one)


4. read one new book every month (this would be easier if I wasn't so avid about re-reading the books I already love)


5. write down one thing every day that I am thankful for (I actually bought a planner that I'm using specifically for this purpose - we'll see how long this lasts)


Despite my cynicism, I am actually quite excited about the prospect of blogging again, I'm loving the new planner I bought (I splurged on a really nice/cute one), and I really do need to exercise more and eat healthier.  Always the eternal optimist - I know I'll probably fail, but it's a new year, so why not at least try?


Another thought on New Years:


I know everyone gets reved up about the new year - it's a new beginning, a chance to start over and get things right, blah blah blah. ... but isn't EVERY day a new beginning? Isn't every morning a chance to start over and "get things right this time?'  Why wait around for a new year for your life to begin/again? If you don't like the way things are going, get up off your butt and do something about it. Now. Not 362 days from now. 


Just a thought.


As I am sitting in the laundry room.


Waiting for my clothes to finish.