Temporary Relief

At 6:30 this evening my Spring Break started…finally.  I can’t even describe how much I have been looking forward to this break.  The last two weeks have just been killer.  On top of all of my “normal” work, I’ve had two presentations, a short essay, an annotated bibliography, a prospectus, a reading group meeting, essays to grade, a midterm to prepare and then give, and those same midterms to grade.  I’ve been so non-stop busy during the week, that my brain feels like complete mush by the weekend.  All I could do was keep in mind the light at the end of the tunnel: Spring Break.

And at this point I don’t even have idealistic visions of getting ahead over the break; I just want to catch up! I don’t have any major plans, and that’s okay with me; lounging around in my pajamas sounds heavenly. Plus I’m going to get to hang out with my friends (without having to talk about work), spend time with Dave, and go on long walks on beautiful days with Potter. And I really do have to get some things done.

But for tonight, I’m not thinking about any of it.  I’m just enjoying Lost, the fattening but oh so good pizza we ordered, and the start of hanging around in my pajamas.  It feels good.

Girl Time

I have definitely taken advantage of my last two free weekdays. Last night my friend Amanda and I went to a wine tasting at a very cool little wine store here called the Wine Warehouse. It was a night featuring Rose wines, and they were very good…all 12 of them! I certainly got to taste an array. And one of my profs was there, so it was nice to be able to hob nob with him. It was good times (and good wines!).

Unfortunately, this morning I had a wake-up call in the form of the insanely boring beginning of the year TA meeting. Afterwards, though, my friend Emily (who just got back from Dallas, her hometown) and I hit the town. We started with lunch at Gordo’s, a Cuban place, and then went shopping at our favorite little boutiques, including a stop at a handmade Brittle store as well as a drop in to Lofty Pursuits, where I finally picked up Seafarers of Catan for Dave and I. Woohoo! We should be playing that tonight; I’ll let you know how it goes! Then, unwilling to cease the fun, Emily and I went to the movies to see Becoming Jane. It was good, though not great. My movie experience was marred by pessimism at the likely truth of the story. I think it’s a stretch. But it’s a nice story; probably one Jane would be proud of!

Now I’m home and planning on being lazy tonight. The rest of my weekend should be a mix of rest and productivity, gearing up for the first week of school. I really need to rest up for this!

Lazy 4th

Well, this has by far been the laziest 4th of July I’ve spent in a long time. I think because it’s on a Wednesday both Dave and I have been more concerned with relaxing and enjoying our mid-week break. But now that it’s dark and I can hear the fireworks going ogg all around us, I wish we’d gone to Tom Brown Park, where they have the local big firework display. We though about it, but there is a free concert (Trace Adkins). And though that’s great for some people, not only do I not care to hear Trace Adkins but the place will be crazy packed with people who DO want to hear him. So we’d have to get there before the concert to be able to get a parking space and that would make for a rather long, not-relaxing day. But now I’m watching the fireworks on TV from New York, so I guess that’ll do for today.

On the plus side, it has been very nice getting to hang out with Dave so much in the middle of the week. We went to the pool, took Potter to the dog park, and grilled some very tasty steaks (oh, and I totally kicked his tail at Settlers of Catan!). So, all-in-all, not such a bad day.

I also have a tendency to think about my Dad a lot on the 4th. This is the holiday I most associate with my Dad. He was always somehow involved in a fireworks production and always made it fun, getting my sisters and I to practice our “oohs and aahs.” But I think that’s a good thing. I’m so busy these days that I don’t stop and think about how lucky I am these days: how lucky I was to have such a great childhood and great parents and sisters. Though I’m in no hurry to have kids, this will definitely be a holiday that I will love celebrating them (chorus of “oohs and aahs” and all).

Oh, and Potter has been sporting his 4th of July gear today. I’ll post a pic soon.

Hope you all have had a great 4th. And whether or not you’re a big supporter of our present government, I hope you’ve all taken a moment to be greatful for the men and women brave enough to fight for us. This is the first 4th that those people have been more personal to me and I’m certainly thankful for them (and their wives). So, happy 4th everybody!

What happened to summer vacation?

Well all, it’s been a surprisingly busy week. I thought I’d just be unpacking and getting settled, probably doing some “fun reading,” but unfortunately for me I had to start class a little early…boo! I got an e-mail from the professor of my first summer class (which doesn’t start until this upcoming Thursday) that assigned us homework for the first night. And this was not a little amount of homework by any means! I have to have a novel, a play, and about 100 pages of an anthology read. Eek! So, being the studious gal I am, I headed to the local bookstore to get my books. Of course, they only had two of the ten or eleven requested for the class even ordered, so I had to go the Amazon.com route (after checking Tally’s Borders and Barnes and Nobles and finding only some of the books I needed), which is fine, except now I won’t even be able to start half of my reading assignment until Monday. So, it looks like my short but relaxing summer break is over.

But it is still definitely summer. It’s been in the 90s all week and I really don’t remember the last time it rained. There’s a chance of thunderstorms tonight and Dave and I are honestly hoping for it. We could use a little rain.

The other great thing about it being summer is that people are coming to visit us. Yay! Ben and Beth are coming at the end of this month and my sister, Jessica, and Dave’s whole family will be here in July. I’ll go visit Michelle and her family at some point (probably this month) and my Mom is hoping to visit sometime this summer. I can’t wait for the flood of visitors! There’s really nothing better:)

Until then, I’ll just be reading, cleaning, and unpacking. Oh, and of course playing with Potter, who (as you can see in the picture) is still adorable. He has an appointment to be “fixed” a week from Wednesday and I feel awfully guilty about it. So pray that it goes well, and that I don’t feel like an emasculating meanie but rather the doggy-population saving woman I am;)

Lazy Days

Just a quick blog to update on the brussels sprouts (see the dinner I made above). For the first time ever I think, Dave enjoyed a vegetable more than me. Don’t get me wrong, they weren’t bad. They were WAY better than when I had them steamed. But, to me, they taste like tangy broccoli. And though Dave isn’t a real fan of broccoli, he actually liked the brussels sprouts! Who knew? So if you want to try brussels sprouts, I recommend the caramelized kinds; we’ll definitely have them again. You can go here to the the recipe for the whole meal: http://tlc.discovery.com/fansites/takehomechef/recipes/episode160_02.html

Today’s Potter picture is of him on his temporary doggie bed (okay, it’s really just a pillow with one of Dave’s old pillow cases on it). We ordered him a fancy doggie bed with his name on it from LL Bean and I can’t wait for it to get here. But in the meantime, Potter loves his pillow. We put it out because we wanted someplace for him to sleep while we were in the living room because sometimes he would go back to his crate (in our bedroom) to nap. The weird thing is that the second I laid the pillow on the floor, he seemed to know what it was for and claimed it as his own. Weird, huh?

As always, I have a long to-do list today and will probably only get about half of it done. I always have such great plans over Spring Break…I wonder why I seem to never get them all done?:)