Today's the end of my vacation--the only time all year that I have time to do more than catch up on sleep and laundry (given that my schedule is that I work a full time job, a part time job, and I go to school part time--I used to have more "fun" on my vacations when I "just" worked full-time; now it's just recovering from exhaustion). During my month off, I didn't manage to do anything like go to a movie or take a daytrip to Philly, but I did browse at the bookstore half a dozen times, and, more productively, I did a lot of cleaning and reorganizing at home, and I got myself started exercising regularly again and lost about 5 pounds. Those things feel good.

When I manage to get myself to the point where I "just" have one full-time job (ideally as of June 2009), I'll have to start planning for a "real" vacation--maybe in December of 2009. The last time I took a week off and traveled anywhere was my obligatory trip home two years ago. I can't even remember the last time I went anywhere for more than a weekend just for fun--it's been about 10 years.

Good thing I've only got a year and a half more on the "work full time and part time and go to school" plan. I'm beginning to get burned out.

*****
As for my last day of vacation--well, I spent the morning finishing the kitchen reorganization project, and making applesauce and braised cabbage (yesterday I made Chicken Cacciatore, so I have some food laid away for the week ahead) and the afternoon doing syllabi for one course. Tonight I really should finish the other syllabus, but I think I'm going to bed early, since we're expecting some amount of snow (2" to 5") and I'll have to dig out before the morning commute.

Here's how I spent my New Years Day: in the morning, I went over to my friend Anne's for tea and a chat. We made a plan to walk on Tuesday & Thursday mornings at 6 from now on. This is great because one thing I have learned about myself is that I am most consistent with my exercise when I make it a social commitment. Also Anne lives only half a mile away, which makes it easy. I lost my last walking buddy when I moved from the next town over. We kept up our walks for the first year after I moved, but it was a lot easier to skip a walk when we each had to drive 5 miles to meet, and eventually things fell apart when our schedules changed. Now I'm going to approach my next-door neighbor about walking, too--we'd briefly discussed it over the holiday. It will be twice as good to have *two* nearby walking buddies--get me out there twice as often!

When I went home and checked my email, I learned from my rabbi that an elderly couple in our congregation were both in the hospital today, and eager for visitors. I decided to go, since I can remember how much I appreciated visitors the time that I was hospitalized for 7 weeks. I ended up spending three hours visiting with the wife and just talking to the husband (who's in a different wing) over the phone. She ended up taking a trip down memory lane, and told me many stories from her younger years, which was fun since she's a person whom I didn't meetuntil she was 65 (she's 80 now). I was taken by her love for life and its pleasures. This is a woman who, after falling and breaking 8 ribs, did not want to miss the cioppino dinner that a friend was bringing over, so she had herself helped into a chair, laughed and talked through dinner (she said she was fine as long as she didn't move), took two Tylenol PM to get through the night, and then went to the hospital the next morning! She says she's glad that she did it as it has given her a good memory to savor during her stay. I hope I have as much lust for life when I am her age.

My boyfriend and I got together to celebrate the holiday last night. He brought over take-out Chinese and we exchanged gifts and watched a video. I got him a "Thera-cane," a device for doing self-massage and getting at one's "trigger points." We'd come across the device in a "Relax the Back" store in November, and he tried it in the store and said that it got out a tough knot. He's always complaining about pains in his back, shoulder and forearm (as a graphic designer, he spends too much time on the computer by necessity). I was so impressed with the device that I got one for myself and one for my mom, too. For my sister, I renewed a favorite magazine subscription of hers that I've been buying her for a few years now. As for what I got, well, Tom paid for the annual B.J.s Warehouse membership that we share, and he took home two of my dresser drawers that were broken to repair. (This is typical; I buy him things; he gives me gifts of help with home maintenance and repair that I cannot do on my own.) My mother sent me a check, and I told her that some of the recent clothes purchases and a book purchase I made earlier this month were "her gift" to me. My sister says that she has something for me, but, knowing her, I suspect that I'll receive it when next I visit her in L.A.

As for the big day itself, it was quiet. As I'm Jewish and don't really celebrate Christmas but rather "the holidays," spending the day alone was no big deal. I had originally planned to accompany my boyfriend to his parents, but he was concerned about some current family stresses and felt it might be better if I didn't come today. The day was sunny and relatively warm, so I spent a couple of hours finishing up some fall garden chores, another hour or so on the phone with my mother and sister out in California, and the rest of the time puttering about on the computer, making goals and plans for 2008 and tallying up my 2007 expenses. Now I'm about to sign off the computer and watch the second video that I rented yesterday.

So today was more like a lazy weekend day than like a holiday, but it's helping me renew my batteries after an exceptionally overybusy fall term.

I pulled out my winter boots a couple of weeks ago to find my two pairs not really usable. Both pairs are over 10 years old. The vibram sole on the dressier pair had just about collapsed, and the uppers are looking quite shabby. The uppers on my GoreTex insulated LL Bean boots are still in good shape even despite their age, but the sole has been worn down to be almost flat.

I am lucky enough to live near an LL Beans outlet, so I went there to figure out what to do for winter boots this year. I had thought about replacing the Bean boots, but I found a cheaper way around that--as I was in the checkout line, I spyed safety treads for ice fishing for $5. I bought those and put them on the Bean boots--they stay in place, unlike the much more expensive "YakTracks" that I had bought a few years ago. Now I have a way to shovel snow and pick at ice while having some traction, and it only cost $5. (I did buy some dressier snow boots for $60, too, to wear to work).

It looks like we're in for a bad winter, so it's good to have these purchases in hand early in the season.

Today I picked up my last set of papers to grade for the term. They were due yesterday, but with the ice storm we had, I didn't want to go out in the weather. (Neither did the students: half of them submitted their papers via email, and I had to spend half an hour printing them out.) Once I grade this set of 20 final essays and the 50 exams I gave on Wed., I'll be done for the term. I had hoped to finish today, but it will be sometime over the weekend.

A friend of mine was supposed to come down to visit me this weekend, but she postponed her visit for a month because of the storm that's supposed to hit the east coast starting tomorrow night, and her holiday plans that intervene after that. I'll look forward to seeing her, but we'll miss all the Christmas stuff. I live in Bethlehem, PA, and of course the town does Christmas up big time. It's fun to have a visitor for Christmas to share this with. Of course, I could go do some of it on my own, but it's just not as fun as having someone to share it with.

I'll look forward to getting my "nest" back in order over my winter break. The downstairs generally remains presentable, but piles of clutter build up here and there--in particular, a small desk I have in the living room has been unusable for months because of the piles of paper, and the top of the dog crate in the living room is my "active project" piling base and is getting to the paper-toppling phase.



Otherwise things look homey, especially with the bulbs I've been forcing: an amaryllis, paperwhites, and crocuses. With the bulbs and the two birdfeeders that sit out on the porch just beyond the windows in this picture, I have ample signs of life all winter long to cheer me up.

We had our first snow of the season yesterday, and that motivated me to get out and get some winter clothes shopping done. I stopped at the LLBeans outlet (we're lucky to have one!) in search of a coat that I thought I'd seen in their catalog, but to my chagrin (after having the salesclerk do a search and then finally going out to my car to get the catalog itself, the coat that I wanted turned out to be from Lands End. Oops! Beans does have a similar coat, and I tend to think the quality of their merchandise is superior, but I didn't like the colors offered, so I'll get the Lands End coat from Sears or from the catalog. I did buy 4 pair of SmartWool socks while I was there, and a matched red fleece scarf, mittens, and headband. I'm determined to get any shopping done before this holiday, as I traditionally avoid setting foot in the malls from Thanksgiving until after the New Years--I can't stand the crowds.

I've been saving up in my virtual "budget envelopes" for this clothing purchase for months, and I'm pleased that, after the LLBeans purchase today and the planned Lands End purchase tomorrow, I still have 39.50--just enough for the new fleece lined set of clogs that I spied at Beans today. For the past 6 years, I've been wearing the same old winter garb, and a secondhand winter coat passed on to me by my sister in a color that I wasn't really fond of, so it will be really nice to have new winter wear this season.

I'm a relatively new homeowner, and I'm completely clueless about home repair, home maintenance, etc. This will be my third winter in this house. The house is reasonably well insulated--I had it inspected before buying and there's good insulation in the attic. I was wondering though, about insulating the ceiling of the basement. I spend a lot of time sitting on my floor, and now that the weather's finally turned colder, I'm noticing how cool the living room floor is . I was wondering about putting some insulation in the ceiling so that the first floor floor stays warmer (and to perhaps reduce the heating gas bill--I pay about $1800 a year). Last year I put down rugs, but the dog ended peeing on them repeatedly, so I was thinking of trying to make the floor itself warmer. What kind of insulating material would I use and is this something that people do or is this an off-the-wall idea?

Because of the computer, an expensive week

grocery 159
dining 35
pets 272 (annual exams for 2 cats, with biannual shots)
dentist 190 (some of which will be reimbursed by insurance)
computer & accessories (keyboard protector, surge protector, VISTA book) ($150 expected back in rebate) 1040
Total spending: 1696

My computer is being "held hostage" in the shop over the holiday week (I completely forgot the 4th was a holiday, and they took the rest of the week off), so I haven't been able to log in except by going to the library.

Spending since 7/1

July 2
Grocery: 20.17

July 3
Drugstore: 18.96

July 4
Dining: 6.25
Video rental: 1.75
Total: 8.00 (nonessentials)

Then I've been in "holiday weekend" mode since this is the only weekend I have with no class commitments looming over me, so I've spent a bit the past few days.

July 5
Veterinarian: $10
Auto-fuel: $29.32
Total: $40.32

July 6
Dining: $11.00 (nonessential)

July 7
Clothing: $98.32 (a swim suit, a pair of summer clogs, a pair of water shoes, and a shirt) at the sale at LL Beans) (items worth $134 if not on sale, so I saved over 25%). Arguably nonessential, except possibly the swim suit (I discovered yesterday that the old one is unwearable) but I'll get good use out of it. Also tomorrow I'll spend $15 for an introductory kayaking class that Bean's offers. I do like living near one of their outlets!
Dining: $12.59
Total: 110.91

That's $209.36 of spending so far this month, $19 of which is clearly nonessential. But that's less than 10%, and I think the "extras" of the couple of meals out, the video rental (The Da Vinci Code), and tomorrow's kayaking trip will help give me a sense of having had a tiny bit of real vacation during this generally hard-working summer. Hopefully this little bit of getting off track will help me stay on better track the rest of the month.

Classes ended yesterday; now I just have two exams to administer and piles of papers and exams to grade, so that the academic year should wind up in about a week. I get a brief break of a week and then start teaching summer school (1 class) and taking classes (2, I think, presuming the two I want to take enroll enough students to run). I suppose if I don't take the two I'm planning on, I'll go over to the community college and enroll in more distance learning classes--but I'm hoping it doesn't come to that, as the (4-year) college classes are not only better, but, since I've worked there for more than two years, I get to take them for free, while registering for two community college classes will cost about $800.

I started Weight Watchers just over a week ago and lost over 5 pounds the first week. Maybe eating less will lower my food bill eventually, but at the moment, it really helps to buy things that are precooked or prepackaged in small servings, plus my consumption of fresh produce has increased, so the food bill remains high for now.

Finally sitting down to work (no holiday for me tomorrow...no college I ever taught at or went to ever had Labor Day off!) after spending the day doing chores:

swept/vaccuumed the floors

decluttered the dining room table

gave the bathrooms a good cleaning

cleaned the kitchen sink

made a crockpot dinner (ate tonight plus have 3 more portions for later this week)

pulled a bunch of weeds

mowed the lawn

bought 3 bright yellow chrysanthamum plants to replace the begonias and impatiens I bought the beginning of the summer, which are looking pretty spent

put up Redi-Shades over four more windows for more privacy along the sides/back of the house (I only put up shades in the front when I moved in 10 months ago). I'm hoping to buy some nice *real* bamboo or wood blinds for the dining room by the end of the year. I'll put up blinds (which I vastly prefer to curtains) gradually room by room. For $4 apiece, the paper Redi-Shades are a great value and actually look quite nice--my neighbor, who's only seen them from outside the house, complemented me on them once!

Also went to the gym and did a full body weight circuit and walked the dog 3 times today (total 1.75 miles, which is the furthest we've gone in a day since the weather heated up in June).

I only got five hours sleep last night. Hoping to put in a good 2-3 hours on class prep for Mon & Tues before bed.