Victory...

...over procrastination. I started the actual work on my latest project tonight. More details later. Now I need to get something warm to drink and get an hour of grading in before bedtime. Then maybe I can actually be awake tomorrow!

Oh, and two tests and a quiz to write.

Holy cow!

Some folks may remember that I posted a while back that I was getting new boots from Sodhoppers, an online company. I sent the cast Priority Mail late last week (I think Thursday). Today I got an email from them, and I expected it to be a notice that they'd received my cast and would have the boots done in 3 weeks, just like their website guarantees.

Instead, it's just letting me know that the boots are DONE and will be in the mail tomorrow.

I can't wait to see them :).

Mmmmmm...

So, sharing my latest favorite dessert. As a warning, I don't measure anything when I cook. If it weren't for the fact that the scoop in the oats is a 1/2 c. measure, I wouldn't know how much of that it was, either.

1/2 c. rolled oats (not quick oats)
cinnamon
butter
Splenda brown sugar mix
frozen sliced peaches

In a good sized microwaveable bowl, combine the oats, a large amount of cinnamon (I like lots, probly use at least half a teaspoon), a couple of chunks of Splenda brown sugar mix (maybe 2-3 tablespoons), and a decent chunk of butter (oh, the butter... it's the only butter left in my diet. A tablespoon or so). Nuke it in the microwave until the butter is melted. Add a layer of frozen sliced peaches, probably half a cup or so. Mix and nuke again until it's bubbly hot all the way through. This is based on one of my favorite desserts that my mom used to make when I was a kid. I have that recipe around here, somewhere, too.

Lots of fiber, at least one serving of fruit, not too much added sugar. I know the butter is ebil, but it's the only butter left. Everything else is heart smart whatever spread or olive oil.

Random thoughts

It's odd how I almost never had the desire to cook dinner before I started working full time. When I was home all day, I didn't even think about cooking 99% of the time. Now that I'm working full time, and get home 5ish every day, I find myself stopping by the grocery store 3 days out of 4 in a week, and cooking dinner after I walk in. Tonight was tacos and mexican rice. Monday it was turkey soup with cranberry-cornbread stuffing. Very strange.

Another strange thought: I got a random text message the other day. Before I shrug it off and assume it's a wrong number, I want to ask if anyone living in Long Beach that has a NexTel cell phone messaged me. If you did, I don't have your number in my phone, so let me know who you are.

Rain, rain, go away

I wish it would quit raining. I really don't like rain... I hate the dark dreariness of it, and getting my feet wet, and the damp makes my legs hurt. AND it might cause dance practice to be cancelled.

Like I always say, there's a reason I moved to a desert, and it WASN'T for the rain!

Life goes on and on and on and on ...

Thanks for the get well wishes, folks. I wish I HAD time to rest. It's the beginning of a new semester, and it's like a new school year. They rearranged the master schedule, and although the majority of my students are still in my classes, they're all jumbled around. Every student got a new schedule, so I guess somehow that translated into "Pretend you've never been in a classroom". And on top of that, my voice is mostly gone due to this stupid cold/flu/guck. So I can't even just yell.


Grrr.

Ugh, sick.

I slept all weekend and am still feeling ick. My head has been draining for 3 days, causing a sore throat, and now it's back to head congestion. I have a whole set of quizzes and tests (120 of the first, 25 of the second) to grade from last Friday, and I haven't even started them yet.

I think they're gonna wait another day.

I have failed :(

I failed the "not a girly girl" test that TPTB decided to set for me today. I had a flat on the freeway on my way to work this morning. I got out the spare, took off the hubcap, got out the jack, .... could not BUDGE the lug nuts. I practically STOOD on the wrench. *sigh*

Luckily, one of the freeway guys changed my tire for me, even put air in the spare, which was also a little flat. It so rocks that someone had the idea to pay guys to drive tow trucks around the freeways during rush hour to help people. Free, even. Very cool.

Sometimes it's odd...

Sometimes it's odd how just hearing the opening bars of a song can put a smile on my face. This morning I retrieved Liver, Let Die from my DVD player and put it in my car stereo this morning, and today it was South Australia. It's mysterious how the volume goes up to about 22 and the CD player just gets stuck on it, too. It happened 3 different times today ;).

I am proud of myself!

In a way that is very not like me, I have actually accomplished something I set out to do in the time I allotted to do it. For weeks now, I've been meaning to straighten up and organize my sewing room. Since I don't think anyone on tribe (besides Bruce) has actually seen my sewing room, let me attempt to describe its former state.

Imagine if you will a relatively small bedroom. It's the smallest one in the house, and I think measures about 10'x10'. It's pretty much used only for storing material and ironing, since the actual sewing is done downstairs at my dining room table (which I think is actually bigger than my whole sewing room). I'm a fabric junkie, and am prone to starting projects or buying material for projects and then never actually completing them, so the room is stuffed with pieces of material, mostly uncut but nicely folded. Every year at Thanksgiving all of the assorted material everywhere in the house gets rounded up and piled in the sewing room because the family has Thanksgiving dinner here. Up until New Year's, the room was about a foot deep in piles of fabric and costumes. Then, while I was out of town, we had the heat/ac vents cleaned and the whole system evacuated and all that. My mom had to move all the stuff on the floor to one side so that the nice man could get to the vent.

So since then, up until this morning, there was about a 2' swath of clean floor from the door to the heat vent. The rest of the room was drifted about waist high (my waist) in piles of material, more costumes, and assorted other "this needs to be put out of the way" stuff. Somewhere in the room were a largeish table, an ironing board, and two of those cheap stacking plastic shelves (which long ago were full of fabric). Unfortunately, I didn't take any before pictures.

After breakfast, Bruce and I went to Lowe's and bought some nice 6' tall, 4' wide shelving units. Two of them, actually. I started cleaning and sorting until I had enough room to put one of them together, then filled the whole thing. I couldn't tell that anything had been put away, it was still that bad! I cleaned some more room up, got all the costume and faire stuff sorted and stuck in the closet, then we put the other shelf together.

6 hours of work and two GIANT bags of trash later, all of the material in my sewing room is on a shelf, and mostly sorted. You can walk all the way around the shelf units (which are making an island in the middle of the room; there was nowhere else to put them) if you're small. There's not much elbow room. I found the table and cleared an amazing amount of 4 to 10 inch scraps of stuff off of it, and found about 10 pairs of pants waiting to be shortened. I found the ironing board then buried it under all of the stuff that needs alterations or mending. In the process of all this, I found a couple of items which I no longer have a use for, but someone else might:

a pair of mostly put together mariner pants. Natural canvas, sized between "damn that's big" and "fits anyone over the age of 18 and over 5'8" tall" They need the waist casing folded over and elastic or a drawstring, hem, and trim. If anyone is interested, let me know and I'll get more exact measurements. They were supposed to be for Bruce, but I made them huuuuuuuge in the waist and hips so that he wouldn't split the seat out of them. The reason they were never finished is that I cut two pair at the same time, and then we quit the group. Also suitable for Sea Dog types.

a bag with many, many holey faire socks. All colors, clean with some wear. Most have smallish holes in the heel, some have larger holes. I don't know why I saved them, but I figure before I throw them away I should see if someone wants them.

I also started making a list of what I need to make for faire this year:
a new bodice (I've gained 20 lbs since September, and none of my old bodices fit, even the ones that were always too big for me before)
at least one chemise for me (I found the linen I bought for the purpose several years ago, and fondled it some more. It's gorgeous stuff)
jerkin and pants for Bruce

I also have a surprise project planned, but it concerns someone that may read my blog, so I won't mention any details until it's more firmly detailed and approved.

Short version: yay me!