Snow Day

We are having a proper winter here in NoVA this year...The snow days have come fast and furious, and often in a very timely manner. Luckily, I can mostly get out of the house, because for the last few days, DeAnna's other transient boarder (:P) has been driving me a bit nuts. Linda has decided this week, not sure why, that she needs to order me around, and tell me that everything I do is wrong. To add insult to injury, she does it at the top of her voice-which is loud at normal volume-and will not be reasonably responded to...consequently, my best option is to leave the house as much as possible-which is, I think, at least partly her goal. Not entirely sure how to best handle this; just praying for grace.

In other news, I'm immensely behind on my grading-thankful for a snow day to catch up...now if only I do! As for Paris, Liz and I are GOING!! We are staying in a very modest hotel, in the 10th arrondissement, which has been described online as "gritty", "on the edge of urban renewal, but not quite making it", "bohemian", and " a safe enough place, but not recommended to walk alone after dark"...sounds great, huh? Well, who cares-it's Paris! We will be within walking distance of almost all major sights to see. My heart and soul wants to visit the Louvre, Versailles, the Champs-Elysees, and Montmartre. I'm very excited to get a last-hurrah with Liz before we part ways...this way, "We'll always have Paris"!

In still other news, the savings is going rather slowly for Sydney, but hopefully it will pick up here soon. January was a bit of a loss, due to lots and LOTS of trips to the doctor for the horrid bronchitis I dealt with for weeks, and weeks, and weeks...The good news is that I've got lots of tutoring at the moment, which definitely helps keep the bank savings from getting smaller. Now if I can only get them to grow!

Paris in the Springtime!

There is a possibility that I might be going to Paris for Spring Break. YES-that's Paris, FRANCE!!!

In other (related) news~ just met a lady from Queensland who tells me that Sydney is ridiculously expensive. Cutting back on my Starbucks now...and going on a diet. I think I'm going to try to get my daily food intake down to breakfast and high tea instead of lunch and dinner. I also need to save more money!

Boy names

My friend just named her son Ezra. After this school year, I am officially in love with the name Atticus. That is all.

Shout Out

To Jessie Penick! Thanks for reading, my friend!

Love ya!

Australia

So I'm moving to Oz next year. At least that's the plan. I'm currently formulating the Big Story. More to follow...

Spring Break

I slept until 12:15 today. I can't remember the last time I did that. I also exercised-can't recall the last time I did that, either. :P This week is going to be full of firsts-in-awhile: I also haven't had a week to myself in a long, LONG time...maybe not ever.

The sky is so spring-ish today. Huge, fluffy clouds of varying shades of grayness are racing across a clear blue sky, now full and dark, now clear and bright. We never get weather like this in Virginia-it makes me homesick for Ohio. We also don't get the beautiful flowering trees that Virginia has, so I shouldn't complain too much. Spring comes earlier here, and seems to stay a bit longer. I LOVE springtime.

I have a list a mile long to accomplish this week. (Of course.) However, it isn't even mostly a work list, which is unusual. It's only partly a work list-actually, almost more of an errands list, with things like "take vacuum to repair shop" and "wash car" on it. My other things to do include stuff like "study Spanish", "get a pedicure", "cook meals at home instead of eating out", "go see the cherry blossoms", "catch up my Bible studying", etc, etc. (Note: the list did NOT include sleeping past noon!) I set up a daily schedule for myself that we'll just see if I remotely follow. It's practice for my summer break, I think. It goes something like this:

hour 1: exercise
hour 2: shower, etc
hour 3: read (this includes Bible study)
hour 4: practice something (this includes things like piano, Spanish, French, writing)
*lunch* (in the soup and salad vein of things)
hour 5: work
hour 6: go (this would be the sightseeing category)
hour 7: pamper (mani/pedi, bubble bath, haircut)

-obviously these "hours" are subject to some flexibility-

*dinner* (in the home-cooked meal vein of things)
maybe a movie or reading in the evening, and then early to bed.

Doesn't that sound both fun and productive???

:)


(short hiatus...)

I just bought tickets for Montiicello tomorrow. I feel touristy!

New Year

Happy New Year! (Lora and Jill)

I have great expectations for 2009-for me, and for my friends (hear, hear for great jobs, and blessings to you both!).

As ever, I'm list-making like a madwoman. I started with my project list for the year. I figure with ten projects, that's about one a month, with a little wiggle room. So, for purposes of accountability, here they are:

• cover bedroom chair and ottoman
• albumize photos once and for all
• organize, electronicize and file music (backup, too)
• get permanent Christmas storage containers
• sew one wearable original piece of clothing
• downsize-books, keepsakes, pantry
• make a personal cookbook
• get filing system under control
• get a coordinating headboard
• get a roll-away bed. (This is to stimulate visitors...hint, hint!)

I have a new year's resolutions list, but at the moment, it's still in my head. My big projects there are to make activity a part of my daily routine (so far, I'm actually doing ok), drink more water, go to bed earlier, and eat more veggies. Well. There's some spiritual growth stuff on that list, too-but it's still being mulled over. :)

That's about it for now. I am trying to accomplish most of my list for the weekend, and blogging was on it, so that's one more thing I can cross off the list! Woohoo! I'm off to clean my floors... Ugh.

Looking forward

It's been a rough autumn. I'm looking forward to a new start in a new year. Hoping for good things ahead!

By the way, I did get to do one cool thing this fall-I got to visit the *Real* Tiffany & Co in New York City. It was kind of incredible.

Happy Christmastime to you, and God bless you in the new year.