A quick update before my department meeting this morning:

Yesterday was productive, and I didn’t end up stressed at the end of it!  I was pretty tired, but that is to be expected from all the running around I’ve been doing. 

I spent the morning back in Cedarville watching my nieces while Deb went to the moms’ activity at church.  The girls both have colds, so Deb didn’t want them in the nursery.  We watched TV and movies, and the girls “did” my hair and makeup.  They played dress-up, too.  I was so sorry I didn’t have my camera because they were definitely “Xanga-worthy”!  Kelly looked like a neat little Snow White in her dress, shoes and a crown, and Holly had on Kelly’s pink Sleeping Beauty (which she called Cinderella).  Of course, her dress up shoes were too big for her, the dress was too long (so she kept walking on the hem), and her “crown” was from the Ariel costume and was upside down so that it looked like a yellow visor instead of a crown.  So funny…so cute!

I drove home and worked in the afternoon.  I got a lot of things done that I needed to do, including a trip to the grocery and tidying up my house for our weekend.  A group of girls from the church will be staying in our house this weekend for the Revolve Tour that is this weekend in Columbus.  After Friday’s events, they’ll sleep on our floor, go back to the Tour on Saturday, and sleep on our floor again on Saturday night.  I don’t have to do much more than provide the floor and breakfast, so it should be fine. 

After dinner, Eric mowed the grass while I helped a friend prepare to take the writing section of the GRE.  Then when he went home, we drove over to Karen’s to let the puppy out for them.  Eric took his new camera and got some cute pics of the dog.  I did the playing and letting out.   Then we went home and I did a couple more little things before crashing into bed. 

I’m so glad it’s Friday!!

Yesterday, I was very productive, but I totally understand Kimberly’s concern about surviving the next three months.  I have way too much to do and not nearly enough time to do it all.   At least, that’s how it seems when I focus on the to-do lists (yes, plural).  Of course, as long as I keep reminding myself to pray about it all and focus on Jesus, then I am able to choose to relax.  At least so far…

Anyway, things I got done yesterday (not in chronological order):

• Almost all the laundry (even folding and putting away!).  I still have to finish the ironing clothes…and iron them, of course!
• Cleaned up the kitchen (more than once) and made crock-pot lasagna for dinner.  That turned out yummy!
• Watered some of the lawn for Eric.
• Read the drafts of the first paper for Comp (thankfully, the first paper is short!).
• Read all 45 submissions waiting for me from Basic English.  I discovered that if I read them in groups by topic, I can move through them much faster!
• Had an impromptu meeting at the Church about Christmas, the upcoming Worship Arts retreat, and all that we have to do there this Fall.
• Ran to Meijer to get a few things
• Finished the day by sitting down, ignoring the rest of the laundry and the dinner dishes, drinking some tea (made by my fabulous husband!), and watching Eureka.   Good relaxing time…how nice!

Today is classes and activities at the church tonight.  Such fun, such fun!  And to think, at the end of July, I was starting to get bored!

EDIT 10:50 am:
Crockpot Lasagna recipe (I actually modified somebody else’s recipe, but it worked well)
1 lb meat (I use It. sausage, but any ground meat will do)
1 jar (@24 oz) spaghetti sauce (or the equivalent amount of tomato sauce, seasoned to your preferences)
1/3 c. water
1 sm. (15 oz.) ricotta or cottage cheese
1-2 c mozzarella cheese (grated)
other ingredients (optional)
6-8 uncooked lasagna noodles

Brown the meat.  Break the noodles (don’t cook them) and arrange them in a layer on the bottom of a greased (or lined) crockpot.  Cover with half the meat.  Mix the sauce and water and pour half over meat.  Cover with ricotta, mozzarella, and other ingredients if desired.  Break the rest of the noodles and place on top, then repeat layers.  Finish with mozzarella on top.  Cook on low for 4 hours (or until noodles are cooked). 
END EDIT

Same song…

I’m starting to sound like a broken record, I think, so I’ll try to think of something to say today other than that I’m tired and I have a long to-do list.

Let’s see…

• Karen called me yesterday to chat, and she had dreamed the night before that I was trying to kill her.  Thankfully, Dr. Brown (CU’s prez) saved her in a flying car.  I thought the whole thing was very funny!
• My grad class was somewhat less than exciting yesterday.  I had serious trouble paying attention during the last 45 minutes.  Along those lines…
• Having already done graduate work before, I think I see a major difference between the true first-years (ie, straight from undergrad) and those who are going back to school for something.  They ask questions that, for the most part, seem somewhat obvious to me. 
• My prof has a funny way of responding to people’s comments in class.  She begins almost every response with “Right…” which began to sound to me like her way of giving positive feedback, even if she didn’t really agree entirely with what the student said. 
• I’m still learning everyone’s names, but we have a lot of duplicate names: 2 Elizabeth, 2 Emily, 2 Sarah, 2 Laura, plus a Chris/Christine pair.  The rest of us (Mandy, Shannah, Yvonne, Jill, Kelly, and Mike) are just weird, I guess.
• I actually gave a grammar lecture in Basic yesterday.  I had explained the 4 sentence types (simple, compound, complex, compound-complex) to a number of individuals, and a number more were failing the exercises for that topic, so, since the computers were acting up, I did a whole-class explanation and then let them go early.  They liked that part best.

Okay, so that’s about all I’ve got this morning.  Sorry for the boring post.  Happy Tuesday!

EDIT (10:35 am):  I am really starting to get frustrated because I can no longer access the online program for Basic English this morning. I’ve gotten on, but then I lost it.  Now, though the internet works for everything else, but times out before accessing that.  This could be bad if no one (like my students) can get on.  Argh!!!  END EDIT

EDIT (10:41 am): Apparently, whining on Xanga really works because my website let me in on the first try this time.  Yay for Xanga! END EDIT

I’m starting with Xanga again this morning…aren’t you all so proud of me?!?

The weekend was both productive and relaxing.  I did get some things done, but not as much as I had to do.  Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to accustom myself to not completely emptying my to-do list for a while.  *sigh*  

Friday night, we watched Jet Li’s Fearless, watched some television and went to bed. Saturday was spent mostly on grad work.  Eric and I went grocery shopping in the evening and watched Ocean’s Eleven in hi-def when we got home, but that was about it.  Sunday afternoon, though I should’ve done school work, I didn’t.  I worked on the Christmas program script and started to read Basic homework, but Eric started to watch Stranger than Fiction, a movie which I truly .  So I ended up watching that, making snickerdoodles and chocolate chip cookies, and watching more television before going to bed. 

Anyway, today is classes and then grad school again.  I did actually make it out the door on time this morning (I did most of my planning/getting ready last night…that helped!), so maybe, just maybe, I’m starting to get the hang of this new routine.  We shall see…we shall see…

Just a quick Friday morning post before I get too far into my day. 

• I don’t have a department meeting today at 10:00, so I can get some work done in my office.  How nice!

• I made ham and mac ‘n’ cheese for the couple with a new baby last night (with rolls and garden green beans, too).  It was a good choice, I think, because the two little girls were very happy about that idea.  We chatted with Nikki briefly, and then came home.

• Eric got home about 2:00 yesterday afternoon.  That is very early for him and a nice surprise for me!  It was a fun, together afternoon.  In the evening, we ran around some, first at the camera store and then to an art store.  What a nice day with my husband!

• We have no plans for the weekend really.  I should work on grad school stuff.  I might do a bit of laundry.  We’ll have to see.   Anyway, happy Friday!

It’s Thursday.  The week is flying by!

Random Thursday thoughts:

• I’m making a meal tonight for a couple in the orchestra who had their third girl on the weekend.  I’m still not sure what to make.  Any recommendations?
• Last night, Eric discovered large black ants wandering around our kitchen.  Yuck!  I’m not sure where they got in, but I will be spraying to keep them out!
• School is starting to feel do-able again.  I think I’m finally starting to get the hang of Basic English.  Classes yesterday went very well even though we’re still learning new things about the program and such.  Grad school is still a bit unknown, but I really need to get some work done for Monday (we didn’t have class on Labor Day).
• So I guess popcorn is now dangerous to one’s health.  I always use the air popper, though, so I’m not worried.
• I really need to start my to-do list now.  Happy Thursday!

But I thought I’d take a quick minute to update. 

I don’t really have much to tell, I guess.  I did the dishes and a load of jeans yesterday.  I graded some of my students’ class work.  I worked on church projects a bit.  I got my car washed and then cleaned out the insides really well.  It looks SO pretty today!  After dinner, Eric and I goofed off (he played with his new camera some more), and we watched Eureka.  I that show!

The most exciting part of my day so far was that there was an accident on 72 this morning just above Clifton that stopped traffic for a while.  I turned around and drove back to Springfield because I was almost out of gas, and by the time I got done with that, they had finished clearing the cars, I guess.  So I was about 20 minutes later than I expected to be, but it all worked out.

Anyway…today is a normal class day, and once I start them, the day just flies by…which means it’ll be 3:00 before you know it!  Gotta run!

I feel like it’s been weeks since I was on Xanga last.  Of course, I’m pretty sure I actually used about 3 of the “days ordained for me” for every 24 hours I survived last week, so that would make at least 3 weeks in one, if not more! 

But I survived.  I’m at least above water now, so that’s good.  It’s going to be a long, full semester for sure, but with God’s help, I will make it.   (Note to self: I need God’s help even during weeks when I’m not drowning…how easily I forget this fact. )

Anyway, the weekend was both busy and uneventful…it came in spurts.  I was pretty burned out and beat.  So was Eric.  So he played a lot with his new camera, and I let myself be photographed all weekend (I’m his favorite subject, I’ve been told.   At least I beat out the ceiling fan!). 

Saturday was a work day.  We did household projects.  Eric worked outside, and I worked inside, and we made 2-3 trips to Home Depot.  I cleaned the floors, the kitchen, and the bathrooms.  I even dusted!  Then we both just crashed for the evening.  Sunday was church, then relaxing for most of the afternoon.  I did have to go to the grocery store, so we did that and then kicked back some more.

On Monday, Eric’s family came over for a cookout.  Mostly they wanted to show off Alan’s new truck (the younger BIL).  So everyone oohed and aahed over all the new toys that everyone had, we grilled brats and burgers and had sweet corn from the farm.  They left about 3:15 to head home to do the milking, and Eric played with a computer program that fixes digital pictures and I goofed off.  I was so tired, I couldn’t even focus!  We watched a movie (Open Season) and went to bed very early.  Love that!

I also love that I didn’t have to drive CU today.  I’m still pretty blah today…but that means I’ll get lots of other things done that I need to work on, right?  Well…we’ll see!

Home today…and so very glad for that!  I slept in a bit this morning.  I might get my oil changed today, but we’ll see how that goes.  I do need to buy more coffee filters, so Eric will continue to have his daily coffee fix.

Yesterday, I gave a test in Basic English (don’t ask…long story), but now the books are in at the bookstore (they didn’t buy enough originally, causing me no end of frustration), so we can really start class on Friday.  Finally!  Only a week late.   Composition seemed to go well, and I caught up with my grading in Comp while giving the test in Basic.  So that was nice.  I had a meeting at 3:00 (I’m going to be a reader for a guy’s dissertation that he’s writing this year, checking his grammar and APA stuff, etc.).  Then I chatted with Mom briefly before heading home.  Last night I went to church with Eric to get some drama work done, then we watched MythBusters when we got home.  Then to bed!

Here is my list of things I need to do (they won’t all get done today):

• Chores
• Clean the kitchen (it’s a mess!)
• Clean the bathrooms
• Finish the laundry
• Iron
• Vacuum floors
• Grad Work
• Read assigned article (I printed it yesterday!)
• Do assignment for article (look up all 70+ sources to see where I could find them)
• School Work
• Grade Comp homework
• Write up a page describing their projects this term
• Prep Friday’s lecture
• Read submissions in Basic
• Start process to change proficiency tests for next year
• Church Work
• Continue work on Harvest Celebration Skit (I was working on that last night)
• Get back to work on Christmas program preparations
• Other

Still running like a madwoman…

But I think there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.  Yesterday was continuous.  Productive, though not as much as I’d wanted to get done did, in fact, get done.  But the important stuff was accomplished, I guess.  Or some of it, at least!

I went to a women’s event at church last night.  I usually avoid such gatherings as too “girly” for my tastes, but I had agreed to help out a month ago, so I sucked it up and went.  I didn’t want to go.  I was running late.  I was not in the mood to be sociable.  But I went.  And…I had a good time.  I ended up sitting with a lady who is a lot like me (very dry sense of humor), and we laughed and laughed and laughed.  I think I needed that.  The speaker was good, too.  She has a form of muscular dystrophy which will eventually take her life, and she reminded us that our circumstances should not ruin our attitude, that we can be thankful instead of complaining, and that God doesn’t make mistakes.  I think I needed the reminder…

Anyway, today is shaping up to be insanely long and busy again, but hopefully, I’ll be able to have a better attitude than yesterday.  After all, with God, anything is possible, right?!