I’m in a venting mood today.  So here’s another list for you…

Things that really annoy me:

1. Bad drivers: including truckers who drive too fast, people who
   multitask instead of drive, and drivers who do not know the
   right-of-way laws.
2. People who want to rant about what they see as problems, but don’t really want to solve them.
3. Poor communication between people all trying to accomplish the same goal.
4. People who get in my way in the grocery store.
5. Never being able to find good shoes in my size.
6. The fact that I always seem to run out of gas at the most
   inopportune time of the week (like when I’m already running late or
   when I’m almost home on Friday night).
7. How the radio always overplays the good songs until I stop liking them.
8. Seeing someone being a snob, a jerk, or purposely embarassing someone else.
9. When I forget something important that I was supposed to do or say.
10. When somone else’s issues double my workload.

Okay…I feel better now.  On a much lighter note…I was very productive yesterday.  Here’s what I accomplished:

1. I rearranged and cleaned both rooms upstairs, and I how they turned out!
2. I sorted numerous stacks of paper around my house.
3. I organized the recyclables that had been overflowing around my house.
4. I got on Xanga a lot!
5. I helped on a video project at church.
6. I stopped by Karen’s house to drop off newspapers for the puppy’s use. 
7. I watched a Planet Earth we had TiVo’d with Eric. 
8. I read a book before bed. 

Wow…I guess it was a good day!!

Ten things I want to do before I die:

1. Travel through Europe (all of it!).
2. Publish at least one book.
3. Have children.
4. Make a movie.
5. Go back to Australia.
6. Buy a whole new wardrobe at once.
7. Own a dog.
8. Go on a cruise somewhere.
9. Learn a foreign language fluently.
10. Find a place that sells cute shoes in my size.

Random information about my life:

• I am back in my office today for the first time in a week.  I am already caught up on the things I needed to do.
• Yesterday I read all the papers that had been turned in to me
  even though I didn’t need to have half of them read until Friday. 
  I’m an over-achiever.
• I still have 5 papers to read, only one of which has actually
  been turned in.  I hate having to send demanding emails just to
  have a student get a paper in (and they’re well past late, now!). 
  
• I have a meeting at 10:00 (I think) to discuss my grammar class.  Such fun!
• Yesterday, Eric and I moved my bookshelf when he got home from
  work.  Now I have to re-organize my upstairs again.  I seem
  to do that a lot!
• I finished a book yesterday and started another one.
• The rain felt really cold this morning.  I’m ready for spring to come back quickly now!
• I can’t think of anything else even remotely interesting to tell you. 

It’s finally going to start warming up.  That makes me happy!

Yesterday wasn’t terribly exciting.  I went to WalMart and Meijer.  I had lunch.  I moved the books off a bookshelf so that Eric can move the bookshelf.  I read some papers and sent some email.  See…nothing exciting.

Eric and I watched a movie (The Sentinel) last night.  It was pretty good.  Then we watched the first episodes of a new comedy improv show called “Thank God You’re Here.”  The first episode was funny.  The second was less, so we went to bed about 10:30 instead of watching the whole thing.  Good thing, too, because we were both getting tired!

Today I have some work to do.  I have to finish reading papers.  And this morning, I have to do the filming for a video for church (actually, I do the directing, Mandy does the actual filming!).  And other than that, I have options, so we’ll see what I get done!

So, I purposely watched the Today Show’s segment on what foods can help you lower cholesterol, but I don’t think it will do a lot for me.  Not surprisingly, they recommend a low-fat, high-fiber diet with lots of veggies, nuts, and fish.  Other than the fish, I do all of that.  I guess my genetics are the real culprit, and I don’t have much hope other than medication.  *sigh*

The weekend was very busy.  We left on Friday night and headed to the farm.  We chatted with the family for a while after they got home from church (Methodists do services on Thursday, Friday, and a Sunrise service on Sunday besides the normal Easter service).  On Saturday, we worked around with my MIL, helping her tear apart her computer room and put it back together with the new desk and furniture she had bought.  Eric assembled the furniture and Pam & I worked on the room.  It gave us something to do, and now she doesn’t have to worry about it.  So it was a good idea, I think.

We also went to Pearl where they make cheese.  There is NOTHING in the world as good as fresh made cheese like Pearl’s.  When we got home, we hung out for a while before going over to Eric’s uncle’s house and having pizza with the entire Hogue clan.  We got home about 10:30.

Church was busy, too.  Eric had to be there by 7:20.  I got there for the 8:30 service.  Then they had breakfast for the choir/orchestra because they had to be there for all three services.  I helped serve the breakfast and then ate, then I helped clean up during the third service.  I got home about 12:30.  We relaxed for the afternoon, and then headed to Cedarville for dinner at Mom’s house.  It was a good evening.  The girls were too cute (as always, of course!).  Unfortunately, I have no pictures because Ryan still has our camera.  Oh well…

Happy Good Friday, everyone! 

What a strange greeting that is, now that I think about it.  Today is the day of the crucifixion, yet we remember it with “Happy Good Friday”?  We are a strange, messed-up people!  But regardless, it’s nice to have a holiday weekend that actually isn’t completely blown out of proportion by more ‘secular’ activities.

Anyway, yesterday was pretty productive.  I got the laundry done (even put away!).  I got my haircut, cleaned the kitchen, did some writing, and went to my dr.’s appointment.  Wow…I thought I did more than that.  Oh well, I guess that’s plenty!

Today I’m going to get my oil changed and get ready for a trip to the farm.  Maybe I’ll move some furniture, too, but we’ll see!

Today is Thursday.  Easter Break is messing up my perception of days this week (yesterday felt like Friday since it was my last day of work for the week).  I have to remember that it’s Thursday, though, because I can’t forget to put the garbage out and go to a quick dr.’s appointment!  I’m sure I’ll be fine now that I’ve written it on Xanga.

Yesterday was classes.  I had no extra meetings, and I had short classes since I was mostly collecting papers.  Karen and my dad were both home at lunch today; my dad was sick, and Karen had been to the dentist.  So it was almost a party at lunchtime which was fun (especially because Karen brought the puppy!).  Anyway, after classes, I left for home about 3:30.  Of course, I had to stop for gas and a couple of groceries, so it still took me a bit to get home, but it was still earlier than on Monday!

Last night, I made Greek food for dinner and then Eric went to orchestra.  I was going to work on the computer, but I found the Narnia movie on a high-def channel and got sucked into it.  So I knitted while I watched that movie.  It was very relaxing!

I have some time this morning, so I thought I’d post first thing.  That way, I don’t end up swamped when I get to my office, with no time to Xanga at all!

Yesterday was gorgeous!  Today is cold and windy.  I like Spring much better than winter!  But I’m sure that this brief bit of cold will make me appreciate the warm weather even more (sigh), so I’ll try to be patient with it.

I had a meeting at the church in the morning yesterday, and got home about 11:30.  I cleaned up the kitchen and ran the dishwasher and then after lunch, I went over to Karen’s for a while. We chatted and played with the puppy and had a good time.  Then I came home and ironed.

Eric and I went to the mall last night.  We had Panera (it was yummy!) and then wandered around for a bit.  I am looking for a dressy, spring-weight coat to wear with my work/church clothes.  I’d like a 3/4 length trench coat in some shade of tan, but I can’t find one anywhere.  I guess I’m just going to have to look online.

We got home about 8:15 and watched Planet Earth in high-definition (we’d recorded it since small group is during the same time as Planet Earth is on Sunday night).  Then we goofed off for a bit and headed to bed.  So that was the (non) exciting day that I had yesterday!

So I’ll try to re-cap the weekend quickly (and in no particular order): 

• We hung out. 
• Eric worked on the media center computer.  There were a couple of quick trips to MicroCenter.
• I read the paper (both days) and a book by a new author (Wendell Berry).
• We watched the movie Click (with Adam Sandler).
• We cleaned the house.
• We hosted small group on Sunday night.  We gave away some of our old furniture (which we got for free) to a couple who are trying to fill their new house.  It was a happy goodbye!  And everyone was VERY impressed with the new tv and Eric’s computer-ing skills. 
• We had dinner with Karen & Erik on Sat. night to see the new puppy.  She is terribly cute (the puppy, I mean), and we were also there for the end of the Buckeye game.

Okay, those were the highlights, I think.  The days were pretty full, actually, and we got a lot accomplished.  Yesterday was a crazy busy day with meetings, classes and more meetings.  I didn’t get home until almost 6:00 and found Eric mowing the grass for the first time this year.  We had dinner, and then Eric worked on the computer more (he fixed three “problems” he’s been having) while I had trouble focusing on any one things (I had a slight headache).  So I played a game, worked on knitting and writing a bit (5-10 minutes each), and read for rest of the evening.  Nothing very exciting, I guess…oh well!

I’m on my way to class, but I wanted to let you all know that I’m still
alive.  The weekend was busy (more info later), but good. 
Friday I was busy from 9:30-almost 5:00, thus no posting.  And
today is another of those days.  Meetings are such fun, aren’t
they?!?

Okay…off to teach about commas!