Friday

 We've made it another week! What a week, huh?

It hasn't been as hot this week and it's been a little easier to keep my plants alive.

On Monday, I had made one of the premade lasagnas from Trader Joe's.  The guy that works there said they always sell out super fast.  I didn't eat before I went to practice, but wanted to make sure the kids had food.  Only one kid got food and Buster decided to eat the rest of it.  Alli and I didn't get a dinner that night and I wanted to see why they sell out so fast.

I ran Roller Derby practice on Monday night.  We did a lot of endurance type things and fun games.  It was a good night and I always appreciate good attitudes.

I received an award for a paper I wrote in Ecology and Environmental Science.  They thought my lesson plan/activity on the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico was wonderful.  I might need to include it in my Ecology unit now.

On Wednesdays, I've been going to my friends skate fit class and love it!  I'm going to be sad when school starts again, but she said she's going to try for more evening class times.

Peyton acquired yet another car.  He is going to keep this one though.  He wanted to take me for a ride and we loaded the dogs up and went around the neighborhood.  Down the main street from our house, we saw a huge bird in the road.  It was a vulture.  I had to get a picture of it because it reminded me of a Facebook post that I saw.  Someone didn't know that vultures lived in Kansas.  Vultures are a vital part to any ecosystem.

Thursday was my once a month payday.  First thing, I paid all my bills for the month.  It was a little  to get used to, getting paid only once a month, but now it's not that bad.  I just pay all my bills and know how much I have for the rest of the month.  They paid out my unused PTO and I had extra duty pay from a weekend leadership camp that I was a chaperone on.

I did some shopping, because I like shopping.  Haha.  I picked up a dress that I will probably wear on the first day of school.  

I did some work on lesson plans.  I rather have them ready to go then wait for the last minute.  (In case, I do get Environmental Science sprung on me).  This is how Draco feels when he sees me working..

I hope everyone has a happy weekend!

Monthly Musings :: Summer Travel

 

Linking up with Holly for the Monthly Musings.

1.  Favorite Summer Destinations:  anywhere!  I love exploring and going to new places, I also love going places I have been before.  I love going to Lake Sammamish in Washington and to the beaches in Destin, Florida.  

2.  Warm or Cold?:  Both!  The summer we went to Alaska was the best!  I loved the weather and enjoyed the colder weather because I knew back home it was crazy hot!  I love hot places too, especially places with less humidity than Kansas.

3.  This summer I have done a few shorter trips:  One to Denver, which I flew there and one for a conference at the Lake of the Ozarks, but I squeezed some vacaying stuff in also.  I am going to go to western Kansas for a long weekend and I want to either go to NW Arkansas or an Oklahoma trip.  I haven't decided yet.  

4.  Ocean, Lake or Mountains?:  All of the above! 

5. Best travel tips to share?  I always give myself plenty of a time cushion, especially when flying.  I rather arrive early, then late.  Be prepared when traveling by car, don't forget to pack that cooler and extras you might need!

6. Vacation Budget Tips?  Not sure....I guess shop around for coupons and deals on tickets and things.  I like to see what free things are offered and outdoor adventure type things.

7. Overpacker or underpacker:  Definitely an overpacker, but never on purpose!  I just can't make up my mind of clothing choices sometimes!

8. Vacation planned in advance or last minute adventures?  I want to do both, but mostly mine are planned way in advanced.  I like to research and come up with a logical plan!

9. Group vacations or immediate family only:  I like to stay with friends, but the traveling part, I do alone.  I like family vacations, but I really enjoy solo vacations!  lol

10.  I do not travel with our pets.  My dog is a ball of anxiety and I cannot even imagine taking him on a road trip.  

Alli's Graduation :: 2022

 

Alli graduated in May of this year!  I am so proud of her!  We had a graduation party at Chicken N Pickle and it was so much fun!  All the family showed up and lots of friends!  We ate, socialized and played some pickleball.

Next year, she plans on doing her prerequisites for the Dental Hygienist program at Johnson County Community College.  After the spring semester, she can apply and take all the required testing to get into the program.  She already has a few of her classes done: Comp I and Comp 2 as well as Physics.  

My friend created her Senior Ad since the school messed up on it.  The yearbook sponsor forgot to have Alli's ad made, which now I see as a good thing after seeing the ads that were created for other Seniors.  

The morning of graduation, there was a huge storm.  Trees fell down and it was a disaster.  Our riser pipe for our electricity was bent and our house was only receiving about 20% of the electricity needed.  The only rooms in our house with electricity were my bedroom and the kitchen.  Alli had to get ready with minimal light, but it worked!  We did have electricity by the time we got home from dinner.  And the riser pipe is fixed.

Here are some pictures from Chicken N Pickle!

Hello Monday!

 Hello, hello!  How is your summer going?  It's been so hot and stormy around here.  It's better today though, Buster will actually go outside and not fight it.  

I love having the summer off.  I don't feel super productive, but why does one always need to be productive?  :) 

I have three more papers to write to finish up my Masters.  This has seriously taken so long, but everyone moves at their own pace and I took a few years off.  I plan on finishing them up this week and being done.  I get a pay raise once my transcript is finalized, that's the end goal, right?

This weekend was the final House team game for Fountain City Roller Derby.  My team came in third.  I feel like I played my best game ever and my team did amazing.  I cannot wait until the next House season.  We had a huge crowd come out to support the league.  All-Gender games start in July.  I am on a new team, the Regulators.  I look forward to getting to know everyone and having fun.  I am still a part of training and I've taken on a few more volunteer duties, like recruiting volunteers for games and writing the newsletter.  

How was your weekend?

Hello Monday!

 Hello Monday!  Spring Break is here!  What did I spend my first day doing?  Mostly sleeping and resting....but I have a good excuse!  I got back around midnight from a five day trip as a chaperone to the East Coast.  It was an Ivy League college tour + New York Sight Seeing.  We started in Boston and ended up in New York.

It was exhausting, but so much fun.  I have a few takeaways that I will post later.  Here are a few pictures I took.  

Yale is better than Harvard.

Unlocked achievement: Driving through NYC in a snow/sleet storm.

Also: visiting Liberty Island in a snow/sleet storm.

I hope everyone has a happy Monday!

2022 Goals + Meal Plan

 Whew!  A little late on the goals, right?  I'm trying to be more meaningful with things this year.  It's less stressful.

• FINALLY finish my Masters Degree.  Remember, everyone's journey is different and it's okay that it has taken longer than expected.
• Read 30 books.  Sounds like a decent goal and they are all going to be from my Unread Shelf Project stack.  These books are the ones in the bookshelf closest to my bed.
• Bedroom Remodel
• Pull up carpet and install nice flooring.  I haven't decided what I want just yet.
• Paint the walls.
• New lighting, cause what is in here is the worse and there aren't even light bulbs to replace the burnt out ones.  Like, I literally can't find them.
• New bed.
• Refinish wardrobe and bookshelf.
• Closet organizer system.
• Get rid of stuff.  I have too much.  I don't want it.
• Travel.  Hopefully, we will make it to Japan (crossing fingers).  I want to travel all through New Mexico.  I would like to go to Seattle for my graduation ceremony.
• Enjoy things.  If I don't enjoy the things, I won't do them.

That's all I've got.

Meal Plan for our week:

• Sunday:  Chicken Fried Steak, Potatoes and Garlic Bread
• Monday: Ham & Cheese Sliders
• Tuesday:  Chicken Tikka Masala, Jasmine Rice and Naan.
• Wednesday:  Fast Food - cause there is a lot planned for the night.
• Thursday:  Baked Chili & Cheese Hot Dogs with Tator Tots
• Friday:  Soup & Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
• Saturday: Tacos

Next week I only have two things planned: Hamburgers and Ziti Pasta.  Does anyone have any meal ideas to share?  

Hello, Monday! :: One

 Hello, Monday!  

Whew!  I woke up to the most unusual dream.  I had a dream that I was in a old house, but no longer lived there, and I look up to see my car being driven down the road at a high rate of speed.  I have a tracker on my car and the person drives to Wisconsin and I follow them.  I live in Kansas.  I'm not sure how I followed them since my car was being driven by a thief.  I had to look it up and it means (amongst other things) that it can be a sign of a conflict of interest.  I will lend that to agreeing to come to a meeting this evening for a group that has given me a bit of emotional drama and I don't want anything to do with them any longer.  I spent two years in leadership for the group and honestly, it was miserable.  I dedicated so much time and energy to making things run correctly and was treated like crap.  Okay, done with the heavy stuff.

It's a day off!  I made a list of things to get done and I've started checking items off.  

I finished my Cellular and Molecular Biology class.  I spent so much time studying for the final exam and I'm pleased with the results.  It doesn't give you the exact number of items you missed, but my guess is 1 on the cell cycle portion and 2-3 on the other two sections.  This is my last objective exam for the Masters program and I'm jumping for joy!

I am working on my Zoology class and set a deadline to be done with the tasks by the end of this week.  After that, I only have an Ecology class, Methods class and my Teacher Performance Assessment.  I will be done at the end of March, which is perfect.  My license renewal is in May.  And with this.....I get a 4k pay raise!  

I purchased and adorable mask.  An avacato.  I love it.  All the masks she makes are triple layered.

I did leave the house yesterday and someone plowed my street!  What!  I was shocked. I live off an easement, which is off an unmaintained city street.  I think my neighbor next door did it.  He moved out last Friday and they picked up the trailer full of stuff yesterday.  He hasn't even put his house up for sale or anything.  His girlfriend moved in a few months ago and they are expecting.  He told me a while back that he planned on moving, I just thought he would go through the normal processes of selling the house first, lol.  It is a small house and not made for a growing family.

This upcoming week is fairly busy.  What do you all have coming up?

Happy Saturday!

 Just like happy Friday, but a day later.

I am ecstatic for a three day weekend, aren't we all?  I'm not doing much because it snowed and I don't want to attempt to get my car up the hill at the moment.  I will wait until Sunday to deal with that.  Meanwhile, my backyard looks like Narnia.

It started last night when I was on my way home from Weston Wine Company, which is about a 40 minute drive (when there is no snow) from my house.  I think it took me about an hour last night.  It wasn't bad starting out, but as I got closer to home, the highways got slicker.

I went to a Tarot 101 class there and I learned so much.  Did you know Tarot started out as a card game for rich people in the 1500s??  There are directions somewhere on YouTube on how to play the card game.  I am going to look it up sometime.  The class was super interesting.  We got a deck of cards.  I am up to four Tarot decks now.  Weston Wine Company is also themed like Harry Potter at the moment, so I had to try some Butterbeer and a Butter Beer Sorting House cupcake.  Both were delicious.

The Card I pulled for today is very fitting, considering the weather and not wanting to go anywhere.  

Wednesday evening was our first team scrimmage!  It started off shaky, but ended up going well.  It was so much fun.  My toe stop broke though, I will need to order new ones.  I couldn't figure out why I couldn't get up without tumbling over.  Haha.

Thursday evening, we had a basketball game.  We lost.  This loss is weird though.  One player scored all the points except for 12.  We scored 38 from a variety of players.  We lost to the one player.  This happened last time we played them also. 

Some of my favorite things this week:

Native Deodorant.  It smells so good!

The cat shaming calendar on my desk at work:

And pictures of my baby animals: