Thanksgiving Week

Monday, November 25, 2014

Well today I got up and went to work out this morning. I did some interval training with some light running.  I have to tell you I am tired of watching X-Men at the gym in the cardio-theater.  This is the third day in the row that I have been and this is the third day in a row they have showed X-Men.  They are only suppose to show it one day but the gym I go to says their gym members want it shown two days in a row.  Ummm….day three people!!!  Time to change!!!  I guess I should be happy it allowed me to watch the time more closely for the intervals I was working on.

I came home to get cleaned up and begin working on the PhD.  This is going to be a long week with this whole "beastie" hanging over me.  I got comments back from my chairman on October 23 but really have not had any time to do anything with it until now.  As I got started with it again, I feel like I am making the same changes that I made last time.  I keep having to tell myself this is just a test of perseverance but my lord, I almost wish there was just a big test to take and be done.  Wait….I did that big test 4 years ago - COMPS!!  Ugh!!  I am so ready to be done!!!!!   So I spent the day going through and making corrections to chapters 1 and 3.  I also double checked all the references to be sure they were correct and be sure that I had a variety of them in the paper.  I will spend Wednesday with Chapter 2 - AGAIN!!!! Then onto chapter 4 to clean it up.  We will have to see how it goes but this could be the death of me!!!

My floor right now.

Yes, a little unorganized.

Monday night I did play with the kitties some.  They are so cute but poor Squeak, she does not deal well with Husky's kittiness. She gets so irritated when Husky pounces on her and Squeak just beats on her a bit and off Husky goes running.  Squeak is just older and wants to hang out and sleep next to me but Husky just wants to PLAY!!!!  It is really funny to watch them.

This is after she was done driving Squeaky nutty. 

Poor Squeak - a kitten is messing up her routine. 

On Tuesday, I worked at school so that I could have a day in case I need an extra day to go back to SC to defend.  I worked on the 2 hour sexual harassment training that all managers have to take and was able to finish the class.  So..if you have any questions on what sexual harassment is or discrimination I can answer that for you.  Or at least identify and investigate enough to know if there is a claim and then get you to the right people for resolution.  After work, I went to get my hair done and I let Kadja play with the color a little.  Well, no, I did not go crazy but she did put some red in it and I can see the red in there.  She decided it would be good to go "fall" but it is really winter - right????  Anyway, it will be easy enough to put more blonde in it later but for now, it is a change.   Since I don't do selfies - I guess you might not get to see it unless you will see me in the next two months.  I left to go home and decided to go ahead and get my nails done today as well.  The shop that I go to has the nicest ladies in there and the two newer young ladies usually do my nails.  They asked me if I wanted to do something different this week and I told them I really did not care that I was so tired they could surprise me but nothing crazy on my hands.  The girl that worked on my feet is truly an artist and what I am about to show you, she did free hand.  She really is talented!!!  However, she got a little excited about the idea of winter and the holiday season.  However, the girls are planning a trip with their families to Big Bear (area on a mountain) in hopes to see snow.  Hence, maybe why my toes are the way they are. :)

Red tips, silver line, snowflake with silver glitter and she put in some bling!

Wednesday I spent the day working on "the beastie."  I have worked over chapter 1 and fixed as much of chapter 2 as I possibly can.  I have reworked chapter 3 and now need to put it down for a day before I pick it up again. I got in my workout as well and ran a few errands.  Then before you knew it the day was over.  My goodness, where does the time go when I have so much to do….????  However, I will say that I am also prepped and ready for my presentation at NSTA next Friday morning as well.  That is one thing off my plate that I no longer have to fret about.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Today I got up and watch the Thanksgiving Day parade as I ironed and vacuumed.  I also finished a few things for work including some items for Teacher Created Materials.  I hung around the apartment most of the morning and then went over to Keri's to eat dinner with her family and some friends.  We had a great time watching football and hanging out for a bit.  Keri did a fabulous job with cooking dinner!!!  Considering how much of a headache I had today due to the head cold that I have and cannot seem to get rid of, I hope that I was good company and conversation.  I have been doped up on Dayquil and Afrin for about two weeks now and it does not seem to be getting better.  I had plans to visit with some other friends today but figured that if I pushed it too much I would not be in good shape to write on Friday and be ready for work next week.  So, it was a relatively quiet day for me and one filled of joy for being with my friends and sadness as well.

Friday morning involved going to the gym early in the morning for a great workout and hanging out with a friend for breakfast.  It is always nice to catch up with people that I don't' see all the time but wish I got to spend more time with on a regular basis.  Time and schedules don't always allow us to see the people we want all the time but I always try to make time for the ones that I care about deeply.  With that in mind, I went to Michael's and Jessica's in the afternoon to hang out with them and the kids.  Jessica and I have been so busy and when we have been together it has been with loads of other people around so we have not had a chance to just talk.  That afternoon I spent time working on my PhD.  Ugh…. Is it done yet..??????….

The cats and I did get to hang out together a lot on Friday evening and they have decided to play with the cats that hang out on the patio.  It is funny to see them play through the screen.  They have been sticking pretty close to me the last few days and are sitting on me or sleeping with me all the time.  Maybe they just love me or they are just cold. LOL!!!

 Squeak likes her new bed.  She has not used it much but when she does she fits in it perfectly.  I really love when she curls up in the bottom of it and tries to bury herself.

On Saturday I watched the USC / Clemson game and needless to say, Husky tried to play also.  She was so cute as she tried to hit the players on the TV.  She kept hopping back up on the TV to play but I only recorded this little bit.  

I ate lunch at one of my favorite places in California on Friday.  If anyone comes to visit I will have to take you here.  They have the best sub sandwiches!!!  While it is a little bit of a drive from my apartment, it is so worth it and the company I had for lunch was one of my favorite people as well.  Another pretty fantastic things was the sub shop had the USC / Clemson game on so I got to watch the end of the 4th quarter and although my fighting chickens were not victorious it was still fun to see them play the kitties of Clemson.

I left lunch to head to work, yes on Thanksgiving Saturday.  I needed a change of scenery while I worked on the paper and there were a couple of things going on at school.  I was able to get some work done and I am 1/4th of the way through Chapter 4.  Only 1/4th….. ugh….. I think I can, I think I can….

I went to dinner with Ali after we left work.  She took me to a chinese restaurant called Dragon House. It was so good!  The food was great, the service was great and we were in the back room in the corner which allowed us to be able to talk and hear each other.  The great thing was being able to catch up before we all go back to work on Monday!   I am thankful I have such great people that I work with each day and we enjoy each others company outside of work.