1.  I should be studying.  

2.  First midterm is tomorrow (Lifecycle II), followed immediately by a dance practical.  (If you know me at all, you won’t be surprised to hear I’m actually a bit nervous about the second one.)

3.  Midterm three is on Friday morning, and midterm four is first-thing Monday morning.  Oh, and we’re still getting a BOAT-LOAD of new and totally UNMEMORIZABLE information for that class right now.  So yeah, that one Monday morning has me shaking in my boots.  There is not enough time between now and then to study for it, much less when I have OTHER tests for which to study.

4.  There is a pumpkin cookie downstairs calling my name (Andrew gobbled the other two I brought home from class), but I’ve already brushed my teeth.  VICTORY.

5.  Blogging has been almost non-existent this semester.  I apologize.

6.  It’s project time again!  Just got the new (to me) twin bed for our extra bedroom, and picked out paint samples last night at Lowe’s.  New bedding arrived in the mail yesterday.  It is all I can do to NOT start sanding that bed frame before midterms are over.

7.  Speaking of projects, MUCH work has been done on the garage.  It’s like a new building!  I’m sure I’ll share pictures at some point…

8.  My ‘non-school’ to-do list is growing…and there is nothing I can do about it.  Yet again, I failed to: go to the post-office, sharpen my knives, give Hadrian his flea/tick preventative, clean my make-up brushes, pay our Village taxes and write an article.  Sigh.  

9.  I should be studying.

10.  Or practicing that silly dance I have to do tomorrow…

  

…because there are just too many things to cover individually.

1. First week of school went well. Other than having to get up at the crack of dawn to get to the gym, I really like my schedule. Starting at 8 a.m. gets me a better parking spot and, on two days a week, finished at or before noon. You can see a list of all the classes I’m taking on my ‘Back to School’ page. Now that I’m a junior and in the Coordinated Program, I really feel like I belong and enjoy being part of a group like ours. I’m sure I’ll blog more about my classes soon.

2. We have a new addition to our house: a Larkin premium rocking chair from Mrs. Nye. I’ve been wanting one for the porch to provide extra seating out here, but I tell you what–its cherry finish will look REALLY nice in our fourth bedroom once I get it furnished and set up. It almost makes me want a baby. Almost.

3. I’m officially addicted to open-water swimming. Seriously, where has this been my whole life!? I drove out to Sunset Bay again early yesterday morning to meet people to swim and we did about a mile and a half in some relatively choppy water. SO MUCH FUN. I think we’ll be able to go out through September, although I’m starting to wonder if getting a wet suit is in my future…

4. The kitties love the porch almost as much as I do. They’ll be sad when we have to close the doors once it gets cold.

5. Some of my house plants need some major TLC. My pothos (I have a couple) are doing great, but my peace lily and my wandering jew (I’m a little conflicted about the name–we’ll just call her ‘Stella’ from now on) are looking a bit sad. In fact, my peace Lilly’s name is, in fact, Droopy. I think some repotting and new locations are in order. I’m also planning on getting some spider plants (although I can hardly stand the name) for the office, too. Honestly, this house just doesn’t have a lot of window space for plants, so it makes it hard to have bright-light lovers here. I will persevere!

6. I picked green beans yesterday. The farm from which we get our CSA invites us to come pick our own of certain things, and right now it’s green and wax beans. I blanched and shocked and froze SEVEN pounds, and I still have a bunch more. (I’ll admit though, seven pounds sounds like a ton, but it really isn’t.)

7. Andrew and friends worked on the garage yesterday. They hoisted some giant boards up into the loft for the new floor and got the new frame in for the new door. It’s coming right along!

8. I had my first ‘pumpkin’ drink of the season Friday, despite wanting to hold off until cooler weather. Something about Dunkin’s Pumpkin White Chocolate flavor in my I Ed coffee just got me…

9. I went sailing on Wednesday! SO MUCH FUN. (Are you seeing a pattern here? This girl really likes the water!) I wasn’t much help on deck, but I’d really like to learn. I think sailing lessons for Andrew and me are in order…

10. I’ve definitely become a nail polish addict. Just painted my fingers Essie’s ‘the girls are out’ (I think), and I love it paired with that bright green on my toes. It’s still summer until it gets cold!

1. I’m not sure why I can’t seem to get my act together. I feel like I’ve been running around like a crazy person for two months straight! Two months of overeating (celebrations galore) and almost no real routine have totally thrown me all out of whack.

2. We’ve had a lot going on around here…

3. I tilled the side bed in the backyard and transplanted some hostas the deer have ready munched to smithereens. I know they’ll come back nicely next year!

4. We went to a Counting Crows and Wallflowers concert. Talk about throw back to high school! It rained, and aren’t really ‘concert people’ anyway, but I’m glad we went.

5. We celebrated the 4th of July. The parade (on the 3rd) ran down our street, and then we hosted a small ‘BBQ’ at our place on the 4th. BBQ is somewhat misleading; we served cold-meat sandwiches and sides as we are currently grill-less.

6. Our dear friends, the Diercks, visited from Ohio. Dave, Jen and Aiden (and baby girl on the way!) spent almost four days with us, filled with lots of movie-watching and couch-sitting…just like old times. We did sneak in some Main Street-walking and Nye house-visiting (where our friends were immediately treated like family and fed strawberry shortcakes, pie and cookies), as well as some babysitting so Jen and Dave could go to dinner.

7. My online class is going well. Let’s just say the professor asked if he could use my first paper as an example for the rest of the class.

8. I’ve been making it to kickbox and Pilates-yoga regularly at the gym, as well as running a couple times a week, but this girl still feels like a fatty. Must be all that dessert I’m consuming…

9. Our other dear friends, the Wilhelms, arrive Friday morning and I just can’t wait! We’re planning to take Emily and Dan to Penn State for Arts Fest on Saturday and I can barely contain myself! Showing them the place Andrew and I hold so near and dear just thrills me to no end. Friday, come soon!

10. Speaking of Penn State…Andrew finally framed and hung the photographs we bought at Arts Fest LAST YEAR.

His awesome frame job was worth the wait, but seriously, I was more than ready to get this project done!