I'm in VA for the week, and already it's been great! I listened to a good book on the drive down, had sunshine and rolling green hills, not too much annoying traffic, and get here in good time. I love the warm weather, though I could do without the humidity. My cat is being infinitely patient with the little ones, who haven't really interacted with pets before. Here's to another wonderful day!

Splendid Sunday

Wow, it's been a month since I blogged last. I can sum that month up in: school work, exhaustion, pain, physical therapy, walks, resting, more school work, doctor's appointments, more school work, rest, and a little bit of fun thrown in to keep me sane.

Now for the wonderful day that was today!

Woke up feeling mildly good for the first time in a while. Decided I wanted something warm and sweet for breakfast, so settled on cinnamon muffins (yummy cinnamon taste of cinnamon rolls without all the work). While they're baking, I wash the dishes and make an icing for the top of the muffins. Eat a muffin - they're pretty terrible and pretty burnt on the sides :(. Decide to meet a friend for coffee and remember an important lesson from Gilmore Girls - muffin tops are the best part of the muffin! I decide to frost just the tops of muffins, so there's about 1/3 icing, 2/3 muffin. It worked perfectly! Have a wonderful time outside in the sunshine drinking coffee, eating muffin tops, and sharing conversation. Wander back to my apartment to soak up more sun while petting a cat and chatting. Later, decide it's time for lunch and head to Five Guys for bacon burgers, fries, and fountain soda, along with more sun. Head home for some rest, including watching HILARIOUS videos on YouTube. It was nice to laugh so hard for so long. Decide to attempt another baking adventure and start on some blondies (brownies that are butterscotchy rather than chocolatey). In the middle of the process realize that the nausea I'm having is due to forgetting my morning meds - bleh. Fortunately, watching a Princess and the Frog with a friend, a cat, and a heating pad makes the nausea go away, and the blondies are pretty darn tasty. Laugh far more than the movie probably intended and thoroughly enjoyed picking out the various Disney movies that were mimicked in this one. Followed by the world's most efficient trip to Wegman's and a delightful cold dinner to balance out all the baked goods and greasy foods of the day :). Overall a thoroughly enjoyable day, and it's not even over!

A good sort of Monday

Today involved...

sleeping until woken by coughing (not fun, though it ended a stressful dream)

getting a good morning call from my mom (very nice)

not having to rush to get ready for my early class

sitting in the sunshine while reading a book

discovering the mildewy smell in my apartment (turns out my humidifier mildews in just a few days), and cleaning it all out (tiring, but fulfilling)

watching a lot of TV episodes online

getting the good news that Netflix can now be watching on my Wii!

having pretty fast response on a help question for my math software

a pretty walk with friends in the sunshine, past many flowers and the closest waterfall

cuddling with my new favorite cat in the world, much of the day

a surprise package from the parents :)

and now time for dinner!

Ella!

"Honey, there's no such thing as crazy. There's just degrees of interesting."

I particularly enjoyed this line from the new book I'm reading. And I'm particularly enjoying lying in the sunshine, reading a book, with my new cat curled up and purring with me.

Ella is the sweetest, most cuddly cat I've ever met, and she's warming up to her new home splendidly. She came home with me from the SPCA yesterday afternoon, and she's already playing, eating (a lot!), and cuddling with me when she's not playing with me. It's delightful. She doesn't meow really at all, unless it's the middle of the night... I woke up last night thinking a child was crying, when in fact it was Ella. And it was especially startling that her meow sounds a whole lot like my name... it probably had something to do with the fact that I was half asleep and trying to figure out why a child was crying in my apartment, but still. She has incredibly soft fur, the cutest tiger stripes, and her eyes change color. She wasn't really happy with the flash of the camera, for the picture, but she has big round eyes that are sometimes brown, sometimes green, sometimes hazel, and sometimes almost orange.

I must say I'm a little scared, given my previous cat experience, but here's to hoping she doesn't go crazy on me.

Two updates in one day? This is unheard of!

I just want to put out there in the cosmos that my memory and being on top of things seems to be disappearing these days. For the first time in my life, I'm not entirely on top of everything. I can't rely on simply remembering everything and not having something fall behind. This evening, as I was trying to catch up, I realized just how much I hadn't done, and yet I'm exhausted after doing a tiny sliver of it. I feel like I've bit off more than I can chew with keeping up with school, doctor's appointments, friends and family, taking time for myself and my health, and the other commitments that I had before this semester and the illness happened. Send prayers and good thoughts please.

And if I forget to do something, please be patient with me.

A personal health day

Today, I took a personal health day. Having not gone to sleep until after midnight, and waking up many times due to my cold, I slept until almost 11 am this morning, since I turned off my alarm. After deciding not to go back to the Health Center to see a doctor again, I realized that the rest of the week would be worthless unless I took today to recuperate from the last week and all the traveling of the weekend.

After breakfast around lunch time, I headed out to take a walk outside, as the sun was finally out. It was a beautiful day, and I found a new trail that ran across what I think becomes the Cascadilla Creek. The walk was wonderful, the sounds of the wind were incredible, and the view of the river/creek in the sunshine and the landscape were wonderful.

Then I headed over to the SPCA to play with the cats. I spent over an hour and a half just petting and playing and getting to know the cats they have there. It was absolutely delightful, and I'm getting closer to choosing a new cat. I'm going to visit a couple more times before finally deciding!

After playing with kittens and cats, I got delicious food at Wegmans and now I'm attempting to get some work done for my teaching class. I hope tomorrow will be filled with mathematical productivity!

spring break!

This break has been wonderful! First of all, it was sunny and in the 70s on Friday - Sunday, and that alone would make the break fantastic in my book. But then, I also got to do a lot of fun stuff with great people!

However, it seems I was having too much fun, and yesterday afternoon brought a cold to slow me down. I'm trusting that prayers and lots of medications and some rest will make me feel better so I can still enjoy myself for the rest of the break.

Am I in a movie?

This morning, when I came into my office, I looked up at the window and saw what looked like fur... Turns out, there was a kitten outside my window! Then, after the kitten ran away (apparently I'm scary) there was a rabbit just beyond it! Plus, on my walk in, I saw the tiniest chipmunk I've ever seen. I felt like I was in a movie for 2 year olds - here are the baby animals of the world... Yay for furry creatures outside my window :).