In the last month, I've found THREE grey hairs on my head.
One for each year of grad school.

48 days. 

I bought a coloring book and colored pencils this weekend.
And not just any colored pencils. I bought the Crayola 24 pack.

I don't know what your school supply shopping was like as a kid, but my mom never let me buy the big packs of crayons or colored pencils. She thought it was excessive. And I agree, as a kid you really don't need to lug a giant pack of pens/pencils/crayons/etc around.

HOWEVER...

It was pretty damn exciting to color with red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, peach, yellow, golden yellow, jade green, yellow-green, green, aqua-green, light blue, sky blue, blue, violet, pink, magenta, mahogany, tan, light brown, brown, gray, black and white.

Classes start again on Wednesday.
Only a few more months of madness left.

I just finished reading I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith. I loved the movie. I loved the book.

Things that have changed my life...

-God
-The CatGenie

Yippee!

It's my birthday month!

Last night I had a dream that I was on my way to class, and my old boss saw me on campus and dragged me into the office to make me work. Apparently everyone had called in sick and she was desperate for coverage. I told her that I didn't have access to the computers anymore, and I had a final to get to, but she refused to let me leave. And then she wouldn't let me work since I didn't have access anymore. So I had to sit in the conference room and just wait until the work day was over.

Worst dream ever.

If you're wondering what the best part of my day has been thus far, look no further. (Thanks Monica!)

Fun facts!

This day in history...

President Abraham Lincoln died, nine hours after being shot the night before by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theater in Washington. Andrew Johnson became the nation’s 17th president. (April 15, 1865)

The British luxury liner RMS Titanic sank in the North Atlantic off Newfoundland, less than three hours after striking an iceberg; some 1,500 people died. (April 15, 1912)

Jackie Robinson, baseball’s first black major league player, made his official debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers on opening day. The Dodgers defeated the Boston Braves, 5-3. (April 15, 1947)

For more click HERE :)

I haven't watched a movie for more than two weeks.
I miss watching movies.

I haven't read a book for fun since Christmas.
I really miss reading.

I'm home sick today. I woke up with no voice... and you know... when you work in customer service, it's a little difficult to talk on the phone all day without being able to speak.

As much as I wanted to take advantage of being sick by sleeping and relaxing all day, I'm instead working on my final paper for my community college class. My wrist has been bothering me again, so I'm trying to type while wearing a brace - which makes everything take twice as long!

Anyways, my hope is to at least make a dent in my paper by noon so I can get a good nap in at some point. I know if I don't rest at least a little bit today, I'm not going to feel any better tomorrow. And I have WAY too much to do at work to stay home again.

I left work at 1:00 today to write a paper that's due tomorrow.
Which I hadn't started.
Which I still haven't finished.
Whoops...

As part of my procrastination, I started painting our bedroom. Our new bed comes tomorrow and I got all excited/motivated to paint. Of course, I got 1/2 of the room done and realized there was no way I could finish what I had started if I was going to finish my paper tonight.

But the 1/2 I finished looks awesome. We chose a bright white with a little bit of gray undertones.

Anyways... back to paper writing. And watching Ice Dancing...

I have been loving the Olympics this year.

Jon and I have stayed up past 11 every night this week watching them. Tonight, we vowed to leave the TV off and get caught up on some lost sleep.

I'm missing the men's figure skating final, which I'm super bummed about. However, it's 8:30 and I'm in bed, and I'm really pumped about that. I have a big paper to write tomorrow, and I'd rather be fully awake while doing it.

I finished my mystery puzzle last night.
My sleuthing skills were not that awesome. I couldn't figure out whodunnit until I read the solution. Oh well.

My boss gave me a puzzle on Friday. Hopefully I be able to start it today, but it depends of how far I get on the paper I have to write by Wednesday.

I spent most of the morning reading for class. And now I'm taking a break for lunch. Back to reading as soon as I finish though, I have a ton to do. Taking three classes may or may not have been a stupid idea. At least I'm over 1/3 of the way through the quarter.

Current Obsession:

This is a kick-ass MYSTERY PUZZLE!

Here's how it works: First, you read story, which ends in a mystery. In this case, a turn of the century diamond miner in Africa is murdered. Then, it's a whodunnit PUZZLE! Actually, it's two puzzles. The first one is a before scene, the second one is after. But here's the kicker, there are NO pictures of the puzzle, AND the two puzzles are MIXED together!

So you put the two puzzles together, and then you have to SOLVE the mystery based off the clues in the puzzle.

It's pretty much the most COOLEST puzzle ever.

As of 5:30 tomorrow, I have 48 hours completely FREE.
YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!! (fist pump, fist pump)

I made it through my classes this weekend.

And, I LOVE the professor and topics of the course. So even though I'm exhausted, I didn't mind giving up most of my weekend.

Jon and I went out for dinner tonight, and I think I talked his ear off about the history of community colleges and the running start program in Washington.

My goal for tomorrow is to spend at least 30 minutes outside. Jon and I will probably go for a run, but if not, I still need to get fresh air. I've been spending way too much time inside office and classroom buildings.

I usually don't write resolutions.

This year is different.

2010 is my year of discipline.

I will be disciplined with the following three things:

1. Our budget
2. My bible reading
   
3. Taking care of my body
   

I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Random tidbits...

1. Christmas shopping = DONE!
2. The 12k Jon and I have been training for is this Sunday. I'm nervous/excited.
   
3. 3 days of work left until Christmas Vacation!
   
4. Josh is coming in to town tomorrow. (Which reminds me that I should probably clean our house today...)
   
5. My car is dying. The truck is dead. Oh the joys of car ownership. Thankfully, my brother kicks ass and is going to help get the Honda fixed.
   
6. Our office is moving in the next couple weeks. Same building, different arrangement. Everything smells like paint and plaster right now.
   
7. My boss told me that I'm awesome (in so many words) today, so that was a nice little bonus to a rather crappy week. Maybe she reads my blog and knew I was having a bad week. Doubtful.
   
8. Jon and I are going to Victoria, B.C. for Christmas with my family. I'm more excited about going to Port Angeles (to catch the ferry). Oh Twilight, what have you done to me?
   
9. Currently reading The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and loving it.
   
10. Can't wait for break so I can do lots of puzzles!

I cannot believe how cold it is today. My office is freezing. I've been wearing my down jacket around inside, and my hands and lips are still slightly blue.

I cannot wait to get home and put on sweat pants and sit down with a hot drink in front of the fire. Ah, the life.

Proctored the SATS this morning.
Had my first cheater.

I think I feel worse about this then he will when he find out his scores have been canceled...

Things I am currently thinking about...

• Lunch. I wish I still had a suburban so I could take naps in my car during lunch. I miss that. Although it's 30 degrees outside right now, so sleeping in my car might be a bad idea.
• Water. I drink A TON of water every day. Usually somewhere between 8-16 cups. Unfortunately, this means I have to pee every 15 minutes. Not very convenient when I'm supposed to be manning the front desk.
• Girls Night. I'm going out with some ladies from my grad program tonight. I've spent time with all of them off campus, but never all together and just for fun. It's nice to feel like I've actually made some good friends here. Somehow, it seems easier to make friends in grad school then it did in undergrad. Maybe it's just me.
• Christmas. I'm really stressed about all the traveling Jon and I have to do at Christmas this year. It's expensive, time consuming, burdensome, and I feel bad leaving our cats home alone with no heat for days at a time. I wish we had our own family so we'd have an excuse to make everyone come to us. Maybe in a few years. Well, hopefully in a few years.
• No Working. I never thought I'd say this... but I don't want to work. Really. I hate it. I feel like my life is slipping away and before I know it I'm going to be 45 and wonder what happened to all that time. Working is exhasuting. I'm tired of having bags under my eyes, only having time to work out on nights I don't end up working late or having class, I hate feeling like I can never clean the house or do repairs because it cuts in to my time with Jon. I am a much happier person when I'm not working. I hate feeling deflated and exhausted all the time. But alas... working is a necessity of life. I'm just hoping that Jon will eventually be able to provide what we need so I can get away with a less demanding job. Or no job at all.