Eric left this morning about 7:15, and he won’t be back until Wednesday evening sometime.  I don’t like business trips!  And it’s even worse because I have nothing to do this week but sit in the house and grade.  Oh well…I guess I’ll just have to think of fun things to do to get myself out of the house!

The weekend was pretty good.  We watched the movie Sahara (Matthew McConaughey) on Friday night and had popcorn.  It was very relaxing, which I really needed.  On Saturday, we got a lot of little errands done.  Eric finished our taxes, we ran to the mall (which was Christmas-time crazy), we got my new toys, and finally emptied the recyclables out of the trunk of my car.  Then we spent the afternoon figuring out my new toys before going to hear the Columbus Symphony on Saturday night.   They were performing Mozart’s Requiem, and this was the last part of Eric’s Christmas gift.  So now I guess Christmas is officially over!

Today I have to grade.  If I just get started, then I’ll be that much closer to being done.  I may also do some other errands to break up the day.  I do have to run somewhere to get milk…I’m totally out and I actually prefer eating my cereal with milk most of the time.  I know…that’s just crazy…but hey, what can I say! 

Who says that grown-ups don’t like getting new toys?

This weekend, I got a new cell phone (same number).  It’s super cool!  My old one was VERY old, but I had milked it so that Eric and I could get a family plan.  Then we realized that family plans didn’t really help us save any money, so I milked it for almost a year for no reason.  Anyway…my phone was so old that I think it sort of surprised the guy who helped us at the Verizon store!

Anyway, I walked out with a super new, super high-tech phone (which was on a major promotion) and a bluetooth headset to go with it.  Funny thing is…I didn’t really think anything of the bluetooth thingy, but it came with a package deal that included some other accessories I did want.  BUT, when we got it home and Eric started getting it all figured out and set up (boy am I glad to have him!), it turns out that bluetooth is TOTALLY cool, and I will get quite addicted very quickly!

So I got a new phone, but even more fun (though not so immediately fun) is that Eric ordered a new laptop for me.  Mine is about 6 years old and just not that great anymore.  It tends to just shut down on me at inopportune moments (thank God for autorecovery in Word and WordPerfect!).  Of course, that won’t come for a week or so, but it’s fun to know it’s coming.

So…I got lots of fun toys this weekend!

So today is the last day before Spring Break.  PRAISE JESUS!  I have to give a test at noon to my Basic English class, and then I’m just hanging out in my office while my students drop off their portfolios.  They’re supposed to have them in by 3:00.  One girl sent me her paper to look over one last time at 10:50 last night.  I don’t exactly know how much help I’ll be with this little time left before the paper is due…but hey…that’s not really my problem, huh?

I finally got my ironing done yesterday.  I also ran errands and went to the grocery store.  Eric got home about 3:00, so after he relaxed a bit, he finished installing a remote keyless entry system on my car (he started it last weekend, but couldn’t finish it).  So now I can unlock my car before I get there!  Then after dinner, we went up to the mall to exchange a pair of glasses that we got him a few weeks ago.

So…anyway, I guess I should finish getting ready and then head to CU for the day.  Such fun, such fun!

Not much to say today, really.  We had our ministries at church last night.  Actually, the drama stuff seemed to go really well.  Eric was definitely ready to go home at 9:00 though!

Today I have a number of errands and such to do.  I’m glad since I barely left the house on Tuesday…today I’ll barely be home!  I have a meeting with our pastor at 11:00.  I need to go grocery shopping.  I also need to run to the bank and drop off our recyclables.  I have some other, more optional, errands as well, but we’ll see if those get done during the day today!

Okay…I think that’s all…I’ll post again if I think of anything important!

It’s just crazy how fast time goes…how are we two months into the year already?

I got our mortgage stuff figured out yesterday…boy is it
confusing!  I’m glad Eric deals with it most of the time.  I
didn’t get my ironing done, but at least the clothes are clean.  I
also did get a lot of other things (small group newsletter, drama
ministry prep, etc.) done.  I also made 3 different kinds of
cookies in the afternoon since we were totally out!  I ususally
make a bunch and freeze them so that they’re there when Eric wants
one.  Well…he wanted one on Monday night and there were none to
be found.  So now that problem is rectified!

Today will be a low-key day.  My comp classes are optional days so
my students have time to work on their papers.  I go to the
classroom for at least a little while to help anyone who wants to ask
me questions.  And Basic is just a review for Friday’s test. 
Such fun, huh?

Sorry for all the disappointment I caused yesterday.   Really that comment was just for Kim anyway since she keeps bringing it up, and she didn’t even see it!  Oh well…

This week is an easy one for me, thankfully.  My students are working on revising and pulling together their midterm portfolios, so I can grade those over break.  See…I actually do work over break!  But it’s easier to grade those when I have time to spare, and now that Eric will be on a short business trip (Monday-Wednesday) during my spring break, I won’t have anything to do except grade!

Anyway, since they are working on revision, etc., I give them lots of class time and just make myself available to help them (which they don’t much take advantage of really…their loss!).  But that also means that my time is less stressed this week.  So that’s always nice.

Today, I’m fussing with our mortgage payments.  We refinanced in the fall and our new company sold our mortgages. Unfortunately, the new people haven’t sent us statements or the payment info we need (and our payments are due tomorrow!).  So I’m calling people and searching online to get it all taken care of…such a pain!  When I’m done, though, I have some errands to run, my kitchen to clean, some papers to read for students, and…you guessed it: Laundry! (I never washed the dress clothes the last time I did laundry, so those loads are still waiting for me. )  And I also have some prep work to do for ministry tomorrow.  So I’m just having a marvelous day, as you can tell! 

I’m on my way to chapel, but I thought I’d share the happy news. 
(No Kim, I’m not pregnant!)  My space heater was not broken after
all.  It turns out that the plug it was in is no longer active
(apparently the pop I heard was the outlet, not the space
heater).  Someone has been in to check it, but it’s still not
fixed.  But that’s not a problem because I can still use my space
heater!!!!

Let us all “rejoice with those who rejoice”!

OHHH NOOOO!  My space heater just broke!  It just went “pop”
and stopped.  Now my office will be cold all the time and I won’t
be able to fight it!  AHHHH!

It’s Friday!  It’s been a long week, and I’m pretty tired. 
But thankfully, I don’t have a lot of stuff to do this weekend while
we’re out at the farm.  I might be able to relax for a
while.  And my cold is almost gone, so I’ll even feel good while
we’re there!  And to top it all off, we will get to sleep in the
double bed for the weekend, too.  I mean, does it get any better
than all of that!

Of course, I still have the rest of today to get through…peer group
workshops in comp and regular class in Basic English.  We also
have a department meeting at 10:00, but that shouldn’t be too
bad.  I have most of my grading caught up, too, so during my
between-class hours, I won’t have to rush.

Thankfully, we don’t have to leave immediately this evening,
though.  Eric forgot to tell me that we weren’t trying to make it
to the farm for dinner, so I was rushing around trying to get laundry
and travel prep done unnecessarily.  Oh well…at least he did
eventually share (and I did get most of the laundry done), so it
shouldn’t take too long to get ready and leave tonight.  Learning
to communicate is such fun…

Sorry this is so late, but this is really the first time I’ve been in front of a computer all day.  I babysat Kelly & Holly for Debbie while she went to MOPS this morning, so I had to leave at my normal time for Cedarville.  My mom actually relieved me for an hour so I could go to a dept. meeting at ten, then I went back and stayed until Deb got home.  Then I lunch with my mom and came back to Columbus.  I decided to run errands before going home, so I went and picked up my contacts (they came in last week), got my car washed (it was getting gross!), and picked up my dry cleaning (ready on Monday).  Now I’m home!

Tonight I have to clean my house and do laundry – all of it!  We are leaving for the farm (my in-law’s dairy farm) as soon as possible tomorrow night and staying until Sunday afternoon.  But we are hosting small group on Sunday night, so the house has to be cleaned before we leave.  And I need to do laundry or we’ll run out of clothes before the next day I’ll have time to do it!  So…my evening will be full.

Thankfully, I am feeling better.  I seem to have these “speed colds” anymore.  They last about a week and I get a sore throat, head cold, cough, and chest congestion one right after the other.  Then they’re all gone and I don’t get sick again for a long while.  So, there’s still a bit of a cough/chest thing left, but mostly I’m MUCH better.  Also, my grandpa seems to have come through surgery well.  He has his first PT appointment tomorrow morning, so my dad (whose still up there) is waiting to take him to that before he comes home.  So hopefully, the news from that will be good.