Back to Life. Back to Reality.

(Thank you for the lyrics, Soul II Soul.) You guys are welcome for the trip back to Junior High.

Today was a MON-DAY, people. After about 5 hours of consulting, I was like, "Here's the thing. Just write a paragraph, ok? Then write another one and another one and another one until you have a complete essay. I'm going to get some coffee. I'll check back in with you later."

I'm just going to be honest with you. This is what happens when I have several days off. And, no, I'm not talking about the dirty dishes. We always have those around. I'm talking about the sheer volume of very large Sonic drinks. The sad thing is (1) these don't include G's, and (2) these aren't even close to all of mine.

Also? I think this is my favorite pic from SPRING BREAK. I'm not a fan of candid shots, but this is such a good memory. The Russkie and I were giving each other a hard time and neither of us knew that Her American Hubs was taking a picture. Pretty cool.

We finally made a trip to the grocery store. Unfortunately not until after I was forced to scrounge through the cabinets for an unsatisfying dinner of tortilla chip crumbs and a low-fat, low-cal, microscopic container of mac&cheese. Thank God for the King Soopers. That's all I'm sayin'.

Here's hoping I can survive class tomorrow.

All Good Things Must End (<---but that's ok)

Oh, peeps. SPRING BREAK has come to an end. Today will be spent prepping class material and getting ready for a tutoring session tonight. Also? There will be a colossal trip to the grocery store at some point. Frankly, I could just load up on 95 cases of Diet Dr. Pepper and that would be fine.  We are fitting in a bike ride for good measure - before the snow comes later this week.

Yesterday was another glorious day of hiking.

We went to Lory State Park up in Ft. Collins. The weather and landscape sucked as usual.  We did about 4.5 miles before hopping into the Jeep and heading into the historic downtown area for some afternoon cocktails vegetables and water.

It was a wee bit windy.

It's hard to believe that once school starts up tomorrow, we'll only have about a month and a half until we're out for summer. I don't want to think about the number of papers I'll have to write (and grade) between now and then. BUT. That also means that within a few weeks I'll have my fall schedule planned and will be able to concentrate on more yard work and - cross your fingers and toes - selling the VA house. At which point we'll finally be able to contemplate another vacation.

Time to get all academic again. I'll pay you $1,000 to plan the rest of the semester for me.

Spring Break Day 7

All of my productivity of late has merely been a distraction until I could go hiking all weekend.

Starting today.

I met up with The Russkie and Her American Hubs for the best breakfast ever (besides Boulder Cafe). Hello, goat cheese and spinach omelet topped with fresh arugula!   

We hiked a four mile loop overlooking part of Golden. As you can see, the weather sucked. I actually got sunburned. Gotta love CO. I'll have you know that while we were scaling the mountain, I kept my mouth shut about all things Russian. I didn't want to "accidentally" find myself shoved off the side. I kept The Russkie happy until we were safely at the bottom.

We photo bombed The American Hubs's selfie accidentally! This picture cracks me up. Knowing him, he took it this way on purpose, but notice how we're yapping away in the background, completely oblivious! I think we were talking about Cold Stone Creamery at this point. Since we talked about it for about an hour straight.

On my way home I stopped at Sonic for the biggest Diet Dr. Pepper they serve. I'm out of it at the house and it's just way too much effort to go to the store. So I'm nursing it carefully because it's gotta last all night.

More hiking tomorrow!

Back to Emma.

Spring Break Day 6 (+ B&A)

The yard work is done! It's all up to Mother Nature, now. Come on, weeds. Come on, grass.

The garden area is all prepped for flowers, though I won't get any until probably May. Random snow storms, etc. Remember how bright blue those boards used to be? Look how the sunlight has dulled them over the months. Guess who needs to buy some more spray paint?! (G is filling out the divorce papers as I type this.)

Now my muscles are primed for a couple of days of hiking. Bring it on. Remember how it was snowing most of the day yesterday? This morning we were back outside in shorts. I. Heart. Denver.

Also? We finished the pseudo-gallery wall in the side room.

Before

 After

Before

After

The pictures add a lot of color (and a lot of good memories) to the room. It's nice that this random side room is starting to come together. Thanks to the glider, I spend a LOT of time in here reading, which means that eventually G comes in with his book, too.

And then we put the rabbit tube on the floor, and this one joins us, begrudgingly. She likes to be with us without being close to us. Lest we find out that there's a happy little bun bun underneath that surly frown.

Don't tell her, but I think her secret's out.

Spring Break Day 5

And then, it snowed.

We've been sleeping with the windows cracked at night, and the temperature dropped to the 30's. It was a total miracle I was able to get out of bed at all yesterday. Yard work was totally out of the question, so I had no choice but to read all day. In my pj's. Consequently, I finished a novella for the Fem Thought class (The Awakening by Kate Chopin) and started the next Austen book (Emma).

In between loads of laundry, I basically spent the day like this:

Look at all her fur on that pillow. Lutessa (<-- our latest nickname) is molting and there's hair everywhere. She looks like she has the mange.

Other than trying frantically to get ahead on school work, I did manage to be a bit productive yesterday. We bought new glasses to replace the completely mismatched and broken set we've had for, oh, about 12 years. I cleaned our new set and it looks like real adults live here now. With dishes and glasses that actually, like, go together.

Then there was more reading. The bowl in the background? It's from pie. The Pie. I've been eating it every day for breakfast. Whoever decided to combine cherries with white peaches is a complete genius.

I'm down to just one tutoring appointment each week. Consequently I feel like I have all the time in the world. Now that I'm not constantly lesson planning or driving somewhere, the house is cleaner, the laundry gets done, some actual cooking gets done, and the treadmill gets used!

OK, peeps. It's back to yard work today. And planning for classes. I've loafed long enough.

Spring Break Day 4 (+ Book Review)

Well today was every bit as interesting as yesterday. Which is to say I did so much yard work that I can't really lift my arms to type this. Or to eat. Or to fix my hair, as you will soon see.

Most of the front yard went from this:

To this:

The top soil we bought last night didn't go very far, so guess what? That's right! I had to bribe G with Chili's when he got off work, then it was...back to Home Depot.

When I say "bribe G with Chili's" that's code for chugging down copious amounts of liquid dinner while he enjoys his burger or whatever. Like my yard hair? It's the same as my Africa trip hair (see blog home picture at the top). It's called no bangs in my face or I'll rip my own hair out.

 

And then...12 bags of dirt and a small start on the mulch. G's expression says it all.

 

OK, Book Review!

I'm late to the party yet again for this one, but in my defense, when books/movies/stories get super popular, I'm usually less interested in them until the hubbub dies down. I'm cool like that.

But! This book is every bit as awesome and unbelievable as everyone says.

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand

All I can say about this book is that it's truly stranger than fiction. If this had been just a story - and not the truth - I would have read it and been disappointed because it's so unrealistic. But, knowing that it's all true, and Louie Zamperini actually survived all of this craziness is insane.

The writing is descriptive and suspenseful and intimate. I felt like I knew the characters (well, people) and was going through these WWII events with them. Louie was a trouble maker raised in nowhere, California, with his Italian family. He ended up running (like, the sport, not running from the law) and made it into Hitler's Berlin Olympics. Shortly after that, he joined the Army Air Corps in WWII, got shot down in the Pacific, survived the crash and then survived on the sea for over forty days, fighting off sharks almost nonstop from his raft. Sharks. On his raft. Fighting them off as they tried to climb on. Or surf on, or whatever sharks do. Only to survive and be found by the Japanese. He ended up in POW camps for years before the war ended.

Un. Believable.

Between reading this and doing the yard work, I'm completely exhausted. (<---- though it did score me some wife points as I nonchalantly rattled off airplane facts and war info to G. He listens to me much more closely when I talk about B-29's and stuff.)

Must go eat pie.

Read the book, though. It's good.

Spring Break Day 3

Hello from Day 3 of SPRING BREAK!!!!!!

Today was nonstop excitement. It started with a dentist appointment and culminated in hours of yard work and a trip to Home Depot! Woo Hoo!

We are annoyed to no end by our front yard. See how the grass just ends and there are all kinds of brick and gravel in a strip before the street? Yeah, we have no idea why it's there. Grass won't grow but weeds will, the gravel gets everywhere, and the brick slabs just look tacky. So guess what I started on today?

Btw, this camera angle makes our house and yard (and neighborhood) look WAY bigger than they are.

 

It will take a season or two for the dirt to disappear under weeds and grass. At this point we don't really care what comes first, as long as it's green. I spent a few hours getting most of the brick up, prying up a major (and ineffective!) weed barrier sheet that's buried under about 6 inches of gravel, and starting to tear out the landscaping metal barrier thingy-s.

Here's the strip of the yard (about 1/5 total) that I finished today. Tomorrow I'm going to spread top soil over it and tackle the next strip.

You can see how much crap is underneath everything. It takes forever to pull up, and since my body isn't used to moving, like, at all, this is a major work out for me. Hold on while I go eat some pie.

When G got home, we ran to Home Depot for top soil, or, you know, dirt. I was whining and complaining about having to spend money on dirt for Pete's sake and G goes, "Well, at least it's dirt cheap!"

BUH DUM DUM! Haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

He's here all week, ladies and gentlemen!

And in case you're wondering, our genius bunny has taken to chewing on the mortar. The vet says it's actually good for her teeth. I guess no one is concerned about our decor.

OK, I must go lay down for about 10 hours and let my poor muscles figure out what the heck is going on. Before I go back to it tomorrow.

Spring Break Day 2

Please hum the following tune to yourself while you read this: We Are the Champions.

The Austen paper is done and done! I finished it and emailed it in first thing this morning!

We'll keep on writing til the end.

We spent the morning reading, drinking copious amounts of coffee, and working on our side room gallery wall (B & A coming soon!).

Some of G's family were briefly in town on their way to the mountains for a week of skiing, so we met up for lunch. I got all fancy with my hair (read: hadn't washed it in days) and put it in a side bun. It turned out pretty well! My hair never looks good, so I had to snap a pic.

Drinking red wine in the middle of the day is magnificent.

Following it up with a 2-hour bike ride is a bit much. My poor head. But the weather has been beyond amazing lately and we must take advantage. We still need to be mentally prepared for random snow storms until like June, so these early spring days must be enjoyed.

At one point, G mumbled, "My butt is numb." I was like, I wish mine was! Yikes, it's been a while. It doesn't matter how cushy the seat is, after about 15 minutes I can feel all my butt bones and it's so unpleasant.

Because it feels so springy dingy, I baked another pie. This one was cherry and white peach. Frikkin' amazing.

Time to - get ready for it - read for fun!!!!

Spring Break Day 1

Hello from Day #1 of SPRING BREAK!!!!

And what a day it has been! (<---- not really)

Today was a mixture of errands and paper writing. Neither of which was fun. I'm currently sipping on my third Diet Dr. Pepper of the day.

I've FINALLY made it to the conclusion! Hallelujah! My plan is to finish it tonight, review it tomorrow morning, and email that puppy in! (At which point I'll have to start on a paper re-write for my Feminist Thought class but, hey, one thing at a time.)

In case you were wondering, Lucy laid around all day.

I love how she kicks that back foot out. To make more room for her fat tum tum.

Most of the afternoon was spent working on the bleepity bleep paper while G was nerding it up with his nerd friends. When he got back tonight, we took a walk. Now that the weather is beyond fantastic all the time, we're starting up our evening strolls.

Oh! But I forgot to tell you the best part! I started a book for fun. GASP. You'll hear about it soon.

Back to Austen.