Nothing After Nine

I'm currently reading Happier at Home by Gretchen Rubin for my book club's May pick.  I really enjoyed Rubin's previous book, The Happiness Project, and while I'm just not loving this one so much, it has me thinking about resolutions.  Basically, in both books Gretchen creates small resolutions each month designed to make her life overall more organized and happy.  Reading things like this always gets me thinking about my own life and ways I can improve.  I'm planning on taking a look back at my 2014 goals and starting smaller monthly goals with the start of next month, but I wanted to share one of my current "resolution" practices that I'm really loving.

Source: Amazon

Last year, a teacher friend and I were talking about how hard it can be to turn your brain off at night sometimes.  She shared with me a new-for-her policy: Nothing After Nine.  Basically, every night at nine pm, you began to power down.  Get off the computer, turn off the TV, put away any school work or other projects.  At 9pm, it's time to relax, get things in order for the next day, and get ready for bed.  At first I thought, "That's way too early!  I can't drop everything at 9!"  But then I realized that most of the things I'm doing after 9 aren't even productive things--usually it's facebook, pinterest, or watching another episode of Pretty Little Liars or some other Netflix trash.  I love sleep, and I need a good night's sleep to be prepared for school, so I decided to give Nothing After Nine a shot.

Way too plugged in.
Yup, that's Food Network on my TV that I'm watching during intermission for a Hawks playoffs game (on my laptop on the coffee table) while working on school work on my school laptop...

For the last year or so, I've been practicing Nothing After Nine on and off, but mostly on.  It's become a wonderful habit and nightly routine for me.  On week nights, at nine pm I tear myself away from the computer and turn off the tv.  I do any leftover dishes sitting in the sink, take a shower, pack my workout bag for the next day, and pick out something to wear for school.  If I'm feeling really ambitious, I even pack my lunch, but those days are few and far between.  Then, I lay down and read.  I find that sticking to this routine has two wonderful benefits (besides the fact that my dishes stay under control!) I make time each day to read, and I can go to sleep relaxed.

Only screen I need after nine--my kindle :)

Some days that I fall out of the routine and end up working out after nine, or blogging, or watching tv.  Those days, when I turn off the lights, I'll find myself tossing and turning, my mind still racing at 100 miles per hour.  A good night's sleep is almost impossible.  So for me, I think Nothing After Nine is here to stay!  At least most weeknights :)

What "resolutions" and routines do you practice on a daily basis?

Wordless Wednesday: The only cure to a LOOOONG and exhausting day at school...

Three Things Thursday

OR I am a lazy bum.

Seriously, my body is in for a rude awakening when I have to go back to school on Monday.  This has been the laziest week ever.  Today I actually attempted to be productive and ended up falling asleep mid-grading.  Sad, but very true.  Anyways...

ONE

I am driving out to "the country" aka non-suburbs tomorrow to visit one of my besties at grad school.  While I am dreading the (corn field filled) drive, I am looking so forward to seeing her.  One of the saddest parts about getting older is the distance it puts between you and the people you grew up with.  I am so lucky to have so many people from my childhood and teens still in my life.

Me & L

TWO

I have the tendancy to get a little bit sleeeepy on drives over an hour (this drive is 4...), so I'm in the middle of making a playlist to hopefully keep me awake.  I realized I have the tendency to put the same songs on pretty much every playlist.  This one is a mix of what I'm currently loving plus some old favorites.  Ex. My Girl is on almost every playlist I have.  It's probably my all time favorite song. :)

Taken out of my car window on a drive there a few years ago...picture this x 4 hours...

THREE

I'm realizing that Spring Break is almost over and my big plans to "be productive" and get "ahead of the game" have failed miserably.  In terms of planning, I've only gotten as far as checking out some picture books on the American Revolution from the library and glanced at my math manual...oops.  That's what Sunday's for, I guess?  Oh well. :)  It was a necessary break!

PS: Make sure you stop by the fabulous Fit Crafty English Teacher's blog--she's giving away some pretty sweet stuff!

PPS: In the midst of my grading procrastination, I decided to make a 30 before 30 list this week.  Take a look! :) What are some of the things on your "bucket list"?

Saturday Love

I love Saturdays that, like today, are filled with....

This shopping bag is embarrassingly full...

...shopping.  :)  I have to admit, one of my favorite Saturday activities is shopping.  Double win because my favorite store had a 30% off entire your purchase event today.  I always get a little credit card happy when the spring and summer clothes make their debut...even though it was still chilly here today, part of me must have decided that buying warm weather clothes will make spring come that much sooner.  Project for tomorrow = choose at least 2 items to return because I definitely got carried away!

...reading.  :)  I gave myself the gift of uninterrupted time with an amazing book today.  Tonight is book club night, and I somehow found myself with 200 pages left to read when I got up this morning!  Spending 4 hours reading today was...perfect.  Even better that the book, The Help, was...fabulous.  Review to come.

...sipping something yummy.  :)  I spent 2 hours at Starbucks this evening plowing through the final hundred pages of the book.  When I ordered my soy latte, I was pleasantly surprised to find that all beverage orders came with a free mini-dessert today!  Afternoon sweet munchie?  Yes please!  This red velvet whoopie pie was lovely.

I'm so happy my Saturday was filled with all of those things, and not with...

...grading and planning.  This is my untouched school bag, which will be waiting for me tomorrow... :-/

Until then, I am looking forward to a delightful evening of book discussion, home-made pizza (shut the front door, I actually cooked.  And something that is not PBJ or oatmeal!! MIRACLE.), movie, and girl time.  Bliss.

How did you spend your Saturday?
What are your Saturday night plans?

And all seems right with the world...

Remember my February Stresses, about which I wrote a grumbley "letter" directed towards Mr. Principal on here, largely to prevent myself from accidentally blurting all of these out to his face?

Well, perhaps they have met their temporary cure...SNOW DAY.

Hallelujah.

While part of me wants to spend the day in bed relaxing, I know that the best idea would be to use the day to get on top of my work, calm myself down by actually checking a few things off my to-do list, and make sure I feel ready for conferences + the coming few weeks.  That way I can really relax this weekend.

On the agenda for tomorrow:

• Sleep in relatively late (this morning I woke up wide awake and STARVING at 3:45.  And actually stayed up.  I'm not looking to make this a habit...)
• Catch up on grading
• Outline my next science unit; plan preliminary lessons
• Plan some ISAT prep lessons for the next few weeks
• Type up notes for conferences (I typically make a 2-column list with a few strengths and challenges for each kid, and review periodically throughout the night.  Obviously I already know all of these things, but when you are seeing family after family for 7+ hours in a row, it helps to have a little cheat sheet sometimes!)
• Run (My Tuesday run did not happen today!  I decided I should probably trek home after school instead of risk getting snowed in at the gym!  I definitely made the right choice--my 8 mile local drive took almost an HOUR!  And at one point my little prius almost blew off the road!  I love my car, but let's be real.  It's not built for snowmagedon...)

And with that, I'm off to curl up on the couch in front of the fire and watch some food network.  :)

Good Morning!

So I had grand plans to get up this morning to get my cross-training out of the way before the gym is super crowded.  But...sleeping in won me over instead.  :) Actually, I didn't get very much sleep because I was up WAY too late last night watching my new guilty pleasure show on netflix instant...

Source

I know.  I KNOW.  I should be embarrassed.  And trust me, I am.  Between reading Twilight last month and getting hooked on this show this past week, I'm a little concerned that all my entertainment standards have deteroirated.  If you have never seen this show, IT'S BAD.  BAD.  Bad acting, bad plots, bad bad bad.  But you know me...it doesn't take long for my addictive personality to grab onto some new guilty pleasure!  Anyways, not only did I stay up late watching this, but when I woke up way too early this morning (darn you school for tricking my body into thinking it needs to be up early...), instead of trying to go back to sleep I put on another episode.  Or two... :-/  Permission to judge.

Anyways, I am so glad it's the weekend.  Did anyone else's week just DRAG?  I feel like I have been really cranky at school these days.  I feel really bad about this, but my patience has just been a little short.  I've been feeling enormous amounts of pressure coming from so many directions at school (including from myself) lately, and it's just taking a lot out of me.  My kids have been having trouble listening to and following directions, and to be honest it's pissing me off.  I am DONE repeating myself.  I had a stern talk with them yesterday and told them that they better shape up next week, or we're starting a no-nonsense policy of immediate consequences for not listening to directions the first time.  

I will just be so happy when February/early March is over for the following reasons:

• Conferences
• Report Cards
• State Testing
• My race (not that I'm not looking forward to it, but it's going to be IMMENSELY stressful to miss 2 days of school for travel right before testing, and I know I'm going to be a stressed out mess that week!)

Plus I'm pretty sure I have an observation coming up that my principal has yet to mention...

I'm looking forward to a relaxing day today.  There is school work to be done, but I'm also hoping to swim, read, and maybe even get a massage.  I'm also looking forward to a movie night with a girlfriend tonight, and hopefully an early bed time...I'm attempting 9 miles tomorrow morning!  eeee!  I skipped my long run last week because of my leg pain, and while I'm a little sore still, I'm going to try it.  I felt some twinges of pain during Thursday's run, but they felt worse at the beginning than the end, so I'm not as worried about screwing up the injury.  The doc did say it's normal to feel pain even after a stress fracture has healed, just as long as it's bearable and not getting increasingly worse.  Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Winter Wonders, cont.

Wonderful Moments from the Past Few Days

• A much needed haircut
• An outside run (well, run/obstacle course/adventure...nothing like running dodging icy patches!)
• Christmas Eve mass
• Celebrating Christmas with my family
• An afternoon of family board games
• Yoga
• Finishing a good book

NOT wonderful was my Sunday long run.  Somehow I had the brilliant idea to eat a bowl of HEARTY lentil soup 2 hours before the run...you'd think that would be enough time to digest, but you would be wrong.  There is NOTHING like running on the treadmill contemplating throwing up in your towel, I tell ya...but I made it through and everything stayed in my tummy.  

Am thinking about heading into school tomorrow to start getting my act together...but maybe not...can't seem to find motivation to open my school bag either... ;)

Yummy food and a Blackhawks win = Wonderful Wednesday

During the school year, Wednesdays are a LONG day for me.  I have staff development after school, then rush straight to my autism therapy job.  When I get home, I am exhausted.  Today was an equally packed Wednesday--but a wonderful one nonetheless!

Wonderful Highlights:

1. Lunch with my special teacher friend Miss R and our wonderful friend Mrs. H!  We absolutely gorged ourselves on delicious food and cupcakes at a favorite cafe.

2. Gathering with family and friends to watch a Blackhawks game!  Hockey is the ONLY sport that can hold my interest, and definitely the only sport I understand the rules to.  Definitely a wonderful part of the day.  :)

I'm wondering just how long I can get away with neglecting my grading pile...hmmm...at least this week, right?

Confessions

Confession #1: I'll admit it...I went into school today.  :(  I guess I really can't stay away from that place for too long!

My lonely car in the snowy parking lot...

Confession #2: I actually LOVE going into school on days off.  Wait, let me explain before you form judgments...I do NOT love spending time at school during breaks, but I love how quiet it is when I do go in.  I can sit and file in peace, I am not at all rushed or having to watch the clock, I don't have to worry about hogging the copier or waiting in line...I can simply get me work done peacefully and head out when I feel like it!  

This afternoon I just stopped in briefly.  Mostly, I needed to pick up my class fish, Fighty, and save him from impending death by starvation.  While there, I inevitable found other things to occupy my time!  I purposely didn't bring my grading or computer, because then I'd really settle in for the long haul!  Today I just hung up some more ISAT signs on the ever-growing clothes line (pictures to come), filed transparencies and handouts from the past two weeks, and started copying ISAT reading practice passages.  GROSS.  It's that time of year, though!  And I know I will greatly appreciate having taken the time to copy them now when we are back in the thick of things in 2 weeks!  I will probably go in again once or twice next week to move desks, continue copying, and do my plans for the next week or so. Plenty of time still, though!!

Confession #3: While at school, I gathered all of the leftover candy that had been brought for the Holiday Party and put it in the candy rewards jar.  But not before I picked out all of the mini dark chocolate candy bars and put them in MY personal candy stash....*evil laugh*  That's totally ethical, right?

Yum.

Of course, I made time for some wonderful things today!  The best part was definitely hanging out lazily with my brother at the gym today.  My brother lives in Florida with his wife, and the two of them are visiting for the holiday.  I brought them both to the gym with me as guests today, and after my brother and I finished working out (his wife is WAY more hard-core than us!!), we decided to reward ourselves with an HOUR of lounging in the club hot tub and chatting.  It was wonderful to spend some time just the two of us, and SO unbelievably relaxing!!  At one point I noticed that the sign by the hot tub warned against spending more than five minutes in the tub...oops!  Oh well!

Wonderful.

A lot of people have asked me recently what I'm doing over winter break.  My response is usually a blank stare.  What am I doing?  RELAXING, duh!!!  No, I'm not traveling somewhere warm and exotic.  I have no exciting plans to visit far-away family.  My goals are very simple.  First, relax.  Second, catch up on school work.  And third, and perhaps most important, do something wonderful every single day.

What kinds of things might those be?  Let me illustrate:

Friday:  My wonderful thing was catching up with my two best friends/roommates from college.  No, we didn't do anything fabulous.  Just went out for drinks and conversation.  But it was wonderful to see them both!

Saturday:  Saturday's wonderful things included staying in bed until noon--unfortunately I was awake at 7:45, but I THOROUGHLY enjoyed the lazy time to read, watch a movie on my laptop, and catch up on reading some blogs--simply bliss.  Another wonderful part of the day was enjoying a 45 minute swim (my first time in the pool after a LONG hiatus!  I forgot how much I adore swimming!), and some evening shopping.

Sunday: Wonderful moments included a cookie exchange party (YUM--nothing says winter break like a midday cookie meal!!!) and a FABULOUS nighttime long run.

Monday: Today was simply wonderful.  Featured on the wonderful menu were manis and pedis with the wonderful Miss R and a relaxing evening yoga class.

My toes mostly look dry and icky in this picture, but I promise that they are FAR more wonderful now than they were pre-pedicure!  Thank you, wonderful manicurist!

Winter break always FLIES by.  I am determined to savor every moment this year.  Yes, there will be some school work (mostly because a wonderful gift to myself will be having everything ready to go when we get back to school!), but there will be lots of NON-SCHOOL WORK happening too. :)

What wonderful things do you have planned this winter?

Weekend Wonders, or How I Finally Caved and Read (& liked!) Twilight

This weekend, I rediscovered the joy of getting all too caught up in a book.  Maybe rediscovered isn't the right word, as this certinaly isn't an infrequent activity for me.  See, when I LOVE a book, it literally consumes me.  I cannot put it down.  I'll stay up far too late to read, read it during plan time at school, even get up early to read.  Confession: When the 7th Harry Potter came out, I brought it in the car with me.  And read it.  At red lights.  While driving to work.

Another Confession:  The book I was obsessed with this weekend was...Twilight.  I know.  My English major/minor friends are cringing...Honestly, at first the book didn't appeal to me--I've never been a fan of vampires or any other horror film creatures.  I don't believe in ghost stories.  But after enough friends had talked about it over the past few years, I decided to go for it.  (It's the next topic of discussion for my little book club too)  Annnd., as expected, the writing is horrendous.  Honestly.  When I think of some of the AMAZING young adult books I've read lately, it's unfortunate to see such poor writing.  And the romance is a little too obsessive for my taste--especially in YA books, I'm a big fan of strong female leads, and Bella certainly isn't one.  I've never been one to find female characters who feel they can't survive without their leading man appealing...or females in real life, to tell you the truth!

But all of that criticism aside, I could not put this book down.  I read it in bed in the morning, at the gym, on the couch, in the car (NOT while driving!!), you name it.  I finally finished it last night (after staying up past my bedtime), and cannot wait to get my hands on the second book.  I honestly cannot tell you what captivated me so much about this book!  I really don't know myself.  But I do know that I was, like Bella, very curious about mysterious Edward, and NEEDED to know what happened next throughout the book.  I'm sure I will devour the other three books just as quickly.

Anyways, my wonderful Saturday afternoon was filled with this:

 Reading on the couch

Enjoying the snowy view from the window

Munching an amazing lunch of PB & banana toast + my first hot chocolate of the year 

(what a perfect day for it!)

Sunday I attempted my first Snow Run, and I'm not sure I will be attempting another one any time soon!!  Since I am subjected to the tread mill during the week, I decided that I might as well run outside Sunday morning for my Long Run and enjoy some sun (freezing cold or not).  Here is a recap of the run:

Number of miles run: 4 (with MUCH walking due to a still sore tibia and insane freezing winds)

Number of layers worn at start of run: 3

Number of layers I had to stop home and take off: 1

Number of tissues used (darn runny nose!): 8

Number of complete wipe-outs due to icy sidewalks: 1

Number of times I cursed myself for deciding that trekking through ice and snow would be an ideal way to start my Sunday: too many to count!!!

All that aside, feeling at the end of the run: Bliss (and relief!)

My tibia is still a little sore (I'm not sure it appreciated the extra uneven surface brought on by packed, frozen snow on the streets/sidewalks!), but I'm hoping it calms down in time to run again tomorrow...on the treadmill this time!

Wine + Chocolate + Shoes = BLISS

Friday nights I usually want to just curl up in a ball on the couch, totally drained from the long week.  However, I think my abundance of rest Monday-Wednesday this week left me with an abundance of extra energy Friday!  That, and having a good, productive, happy day at school.  That might have something to do with the fact that only 19 kids showed up...yes, 5 absences.  I love my kids, but that small group was amazing.  Wish I could have 19 kids every day!

Too pretty to eat...well, almost...

I decided to take advantage of my bundle of energy and went out for wine and chocolate with Miss R.  Amazingly, there is a fantastic little cafe/lounge not too far away that sells the most beautiful hand-painted truffles paired with a glass of vino.  Hold me.  The company was wonderful, the conversation lovely, and the chocolate and wine...bliss.

But wait, it gets even better.  Halfway through my glass of wine, I realized a DSW shoe store was just across the parking lot, still open.  Obviously a quick walk through the massive shoe store was in order before heading home!  Which means of course, buying a pair...when you see red patent leather flats on the clearance shelf, you do not think twice.  You just buy!!

The weekend is off to a wonderful start.  Now, I'm off to school to help out at Family Movie Night.  When I heard they were showing Toy Story 3, I immediately signed up.  I'm kind of a Toy Story fan... :)  Have a great Saturday!

Sweet Sunday

I have been L A Z Y this weekend!!!  After being up so early for GOTR yesterday, when I made it home from a lunch date I had with my aunt after the race, I pretty much collapsed on the couch and bummed around all evening.  Then, I slept super late this morning (emerging from bed only for PB toast...).  Needless to say, I feel REFRESHED, albeit LAZY.  And now I am off to Corner Bakery to grab lunch and settle in with my lesson plans.  I don't get anything done at home, and I feel like trying a new school work location (usually I like working at Caribou).  Also on the agenda today is return shoes I impulse bought last weekend, restock on my favorite food items at Trader Joe's, and stop at the library.  Let's hope that I get all of those things checked off my to-do list so I can start the week relaxed and ready to go.

All kids accounted for, and I remembered that darn backpack too!

After all my worrying the past few weeks, we finally had the unannounced fire drill!  And get this--the kids were in PE.  I still had to wander outside to meet them, but so much for my worrying a "blocked exit"!  We made it outside, I remembered the emergency folder and backpack, and the kids were perfectly well behaved waiting in line.  Some of them were a little nervous that it was real because it was unannounced, but no big deal.  If you ask me, it's good that they can take it seriously!  While no kids were pulled from my line today, I did have the foresight to enlist a student as the class monitor of sorts--his job is to line up last, make sure the door is closed, grab the backpack if I forget, and keep an eye on the line to see if anyone "leaves it" as I worded it, i.e. is pulled by the principal or a firefighter!

Another week almost over, and with no sick days at that.  I have to say, I have been exhausted pretty much 100% of the time this week.  I am pretty excited for the weekend...BTW I had a GREAT post-observation meeting today--will update on that later...it's time to fill out the kiddos' Weekly Reports, throw together a math lesson plan for tomorrow, and relax with some Grey's. :)

My Sleepy Afternoon

I had great intentions for this afternoon.  Honestly, I did.  I had three separate to-do lists.  I was going to be SO productive because the house was quiet tonight.  It was going to be FANTASTIC.  Really, it was.

Miss Teacher's Great Plan for Being Productive this evening:

• great student reading response prompts
• since that's the last reading grade i'm taking for the trimester, enter it into my online grade book, obtain my trimester average reading grades, and plug them into the report card
• fill in report card indicators for reading
• grade math test
• ditto on math grades
• respond the the journal letters my new student wrote me about her old homes in Georgia, and (get this!!) Dubai!!  
• buy Cookie Crisp for tomorrow's division lesson
• short run

Miss Teacher's Actual Evening:

• Ran to store to get cookie crisp and walked home (BAM.  two tasks completed in one.  promising start!)
• Ate PBJ and a yogurt/cereal bowl (nothing says LAZY like this kind of dinner...but seriously not only was I lazy, but I was STARVING when I made it home!!!  There was no way I would have been able to make it long enough to actually cook something!)
• Fell asleep on the couch from 6:30-8 (this started out as, "I'm a little cold, I'll just get under the blanket...well, I might as well lay down to be cozier...well, why not rest my eyes...")
• Woke up, decided that NOW I was going to be productive
• Naturally, changed into comfy pants and relocated to my BED under ANOTHER BLANKET with my grading.  Because of course this is the perfect place for productive work...
• Fell asleep from 9-11.  (during which time I had a disturbing dream that I decided to be part of a "survey" at the mall that involved me drinking BLOOD.  just a tablespoon, but ew.  and hello, unsafe???  I was very worried in the dream but for some reason did it anyways.  I did not taste as I expected, in case you were wondering...)

In summary, this day was one big epic fail of productivity.  I blame the time change.  I now want to do NOTHING after 5 ever.   Let's home this day isn't indicitive of either my entire winter or even the rest of the week.  With report cards due Monday and an observation tomorrow morning, let's hope I get my act together!!!

Updates from Teacherville

• Made it through conferences (5 families didn't show up...i will never understand how a parent cannot be bothered to come to school and discuss his or her child's progress.  seriously.)
• Enjoyed a quiet Friday morning at school getting plans done and copies made
• Saw Waiting for Superman--don't worry, this deserves its own blogpost...we'll save that for another time...
• Looking forward to a relaxing weekend with NO GRADING!!!!!!!
• Excited to spending the day babysitting and watching the blackhawks :)

Happy Weekend!

Sweet Saturday

It seems that fall has FINALLY arrived!  This week we had two days of 90 degree weather and a whole bunch of humidity.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a summer girl at heart, but this was a bit ridiculous.  This morning I was happy to put on jeans, a tshirt, and a light jacket, and to step outside without my hair immediately frizzing and sweat ruining my makeup (the little of it that I bother putting on in the first place). While I would have liked nothing more than to sleep in, I dragged my sleepy booty outta bed bright and early to meet teacher buddy and basically soul sister teacher Miss R for a yummy breakfast at Corner Bakery.

Okay folks, here it is.  As much as sometimes it bugs the heck outta me to talk about school on the weekends with friends, sometimes it is just SO WONDERFUL to compare notes with someone who COMPLETELY understands what you are going through at your job.  Miss R and I teach in two very different schools with two very different sets of challenges, yet we just GET each other.  A bowl of swiss oatmeal & fruit, hazelnut coffee, and good conversation was the perfect start to this fall day.  Then, since I was already up I figured I might as well be productive, and did a Trader Joe's run, stopped at the library, dropped off dry cleaning, got my car washed at one of the local elementary schools, stopped in walgreens, and got a pedicure.  Phew!

Now, I'm about to curl up with a brand new playlist on my ipod, a plate of soy nugs and bbq sauce from Trader Joe's (because even vegetarians need chicken nuggets sometimes!), and a big ol' pile of grading.  tje former two make the later one just barely tolerable. ;)

Other projects for the weekend: figure out some revising lessons to teach next week in Writing Workshop (something that should be somewhat of a challenge since I forgot my writing mini-lesson books at school...oops!), respond to my students' journal entries, and begin thinking about some expository mini-lessons for October.  I just ordered Ralph Fletcher's Craft: Nonfiction book from amazon, and I've got my fingers crossed that it will bring me lots of ideas and information!!

Happy Saturday!

Sweet relaxing..

Sometimes, no matter what happened during the school day, it is absolutely NECESSARY to leave by 3:30 on Friday to grab drinks with teachers.  NECESSARY.  Such a good idea for one of the last summery days of the year... :)

Mmmmm Weekends :)

Things I Love:

• Not setting the alarm 
• Laying in bed as long as possible blogging and browsing the internet
• Lesson plans & grading at Caribou--nothing like a latte and some good music to make planning a little more enjoyable
• Afternoon naps
• And most of all...3 day weekends :)

Just enjoying some relaxing with old friends this weekend...a necessary thing after 2 weeks of school down! :)

Annnd I'm caught up on sleep...

Let me recap the past 2 days...sleep, sleep, reading, sleep, movie watching, reading, more sleep, more movies...

Today alone I watched 3 movies IN A ROW on the couch while eating caramel corn.  I guess my insomnia/lack of appetite is cured.  The antidote?  Sweet winter break :)