Friday, October 28, 2011

It Has Been A While

I just realized that it has been a while since I last wrote here. I got caught up in school and some days there just is not time enough in the day to get here too. Speaking of school, it is going very well and I have a 100% in my class currently. Which makes me really happy. It seems that October has flown by and November is right on the horizon.

The weather has been great lately and nice and cool. Which makes me happy. The windows are open and there is a nice breeze coming in. The table is finished with the chairs and it is really nice! For now, I like it where it is and will most likely stay there. I am trying to train myself to eat at the table now, but I have not done so everyday for 6 years. I am pretty good at eating dinner at the table though.

I know that sounds strange. Well.. I have to run, school work to do. Ciao!

Friday, October 21, 2011

Birthday and School

Yesterday was my birthday and overall I had a great day. Got my new phone and it is great so far! Went to Red Lobster for dinner, it was wonderful. I enjoyed the quiet day and I did not do very much at all, which was nice.

School so far is great and I am all caught up with class. Actually, I am ahead of the game so far. I have an A in this class and on Monday I am moving into week 3 of my 5 week class. I am enjoying school so very much and I am glad.

I know this is short, but I gotta run for a bit. Ciao!

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Moving Day

Not out of the apartment or anything, but we moved the computer desk to make room for the table and chairs we got last February. I am pretty sure that there is another entry some place in this blog about it. Finally decided to move the computer desk to another area, Home Depot is supposed to put the table and chairs together tomorrow. After he gets it together and I get stuff set up, I will take pictures to show you.

Tomorrow is my birthday and my new phone will be here tomorrow as well. Yay! I got full point for the first week in class, which makes me happy. I am tired to day as it has been rainy and cold all day long. So, I am going to go snuggle under my blanket and watch TV for a while.

Ciao!

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

School News & Other Stuff

School is going well. So well that I got a 100% on my first  paper in class. Yay me! I have all my assignments and reading done for this week. My Discussion Question is not due until Thursday which happens to be my birthday as well. My goal for this week was to get my assignment due on my birthday done and posted before that. So I can take Thursday off. I am going to Red Lobster for dinner that night. So now that is checked off, I can relax some. I also have the assignment that is due at the end of week done as well. I am way ahead of the game for this week and I am happy.

For my birthday I am upgrading my phone. My birthday present to myself. I am getting the Samsung Admire. It will be my first smart phone and I am looking forward to it!!! I am so excited!! The weather here has been cool and today clear mostly. I am loving the fall weather! Well that is about it for now. Ciao!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

A Day for Relaxing

I missed church today because when I woke up my back hurt badly and I am  not saying that the pews are not comfortable, but I could hardly sit up on the side of the bed. I knew I would be very uncomfortable and would not concentrate on the message well, so I did not go. I am going to read my bible later.

I also woke up very tired today with a headache. Ugh. The weather is nice again and cool. The windows are back open and the air off. I am all kinds of happy now. Thursday is my birthday and I am going to Red Lobster for ‘Endless Shrimp’. I always get a coupon for my birthday from them for $5 off two adult entrees. I got a free dinner from Texas de Brazil, which is a Brazilian steak house. I have been wanting to try it, but it is usually about $40 a dinner, but it is all you can eat. With my free birthday dinner, we would only have to pay for one dinner and our drinks. So, that makes it worth it to me to try this place.

I had been to another Brazilian steak house, Gauchos before and while it was good, I did not really feel it was worth $36 a dinner. So, since this place is different, I am hoping that I like it better. I also got a Cold Stone Creamery email which is a buy one get one free for my birthday and I will definitely be using that!! I love Cold Stone a lot, but we don’t go often which is fine with me. I am a moderation kinda girl. Too much of a good thing is still too much in my book.

Today is a Humphrey Bogart marathon in my house. I watched Casablanca and I am watching To Have and Have Not now. I will watch The Big Sleep later and possibly The Maltese Falcon as well. I love Bogie. He is one of my favorites. They sure don’t make movies like that anymore. *sigh*. I think that is about it for now.

Ciao!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Birthdays and Such

My 37th birthday is next Thursday. I am still not sure how I feel about it. I usually get a ton of birthday emails from places where I have joined their email clubs and such. More than I can  honestly use every year. Most of them only give you seven days from your birthday to use them and they don’t send them out until the week of your birthday or so. Well, Bennigans sent my free birthday salad, sandwich, or burger offer a bit early, so we went last night and I used it. I also got a free birthday dessert there as well. I had a Monte Cristo and honestly, I know I say this every time, but I just don’t get how this sandwich works!

A Monte Cristo is ham, turkey, Swiss cheese (which I do not normally like), and American cheese on two slices of bread and then battered and deep fried. Topped with powdered sugar and you dip it into raspberry jam. It is so good! I know it sounds terrible when I write it all out, but it totally works!! Bennigans is the only place that I have found that does it right. Sadly, the closest one is in Plymouth now. So I only go a couple of times a year. Since the dinner and dessert were free, it was worth it to go. The dessert was brownie bottom pie. It is a brownie on the bottom, ice cream, hot fudge, whipped cream and a cherry. Then the whole thing is drizzled in a bit more hot fudge.

I know I want Endless Shrimp for my birthday and Red Lobster just sent me a coupon for $5 off two adult entrees, so I will be doing that on Thursday for my birthday. I get to see Will, who is my favorite sever there and his birthday is week after mine. So, I take him a birthday card.

School started and I am almost through the first week. Class is pretty good and easy for now. I like this class a lot. I am pretty much done for the week with the assignments, so I think I will get a little bit ahead and do some of the readings for next week this weekend. Tomorrow is church as usual. Today is pretty relaxed and I am just going to chill out a bit. I have a couple of discussion question posts to answer, but that is it. My paper that was due on Monday is done and turned in already, so I don’t have to worry about that. So far so good!!

Ciao!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

School and Stuff

I started school on Tuesday and so far it is good. I am enjoying being back in class and I am remembering what annoyed me so much from before. Nothing I can really do about the annoyances, so I will just go with  it for now. Get through this class and I will be okay. The class I am in now, everyone who goes to this school has to take it, so I am in class with people not in my degree program and even some who are not even in the bachelor degree program.

I have a headache right now, so I need to go. Ciao

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Shadows on the Sand, A Seaside Mystery

This is my first Gayle Roper book and I have to say that I was easily drawn into the story and characters. She writes really well and creates characters that are totally believable. I found myself rooting for Carrie and Greg from almost the beginning of the book. There are some twists and turns in the story and that is the hard part about reviewing mystery books, not giving those away!

Set in a small touristy town in New Jersey, these characters work hard and as it turns out look out for one another in ways that no one would have expected!! Seaside seems to be a magnet for runaways and people who in general need God. This book has a nice spiritual side, but it does not over shadow the story in anyway.

As in life, there are good and evil people in Seaside. Some of these are not always outsiders, but those who live next door to us everyday. In this book Greg is a former cop who is still grieving for his lost wife, daughter, and son. They were murdered in front of him, in his very own vehicle. He does not think that he is done mourning yet when Carry comes into his life and he falls in love with her. Carrie on the other hand has had a major crush on Greg for a while and she does not know how to go about turning her crush into love.

Shadows On The Sand by Gayle Roper (Chapter 1 Excerpt)

I got this book for the sole purpose of this review from Walterbrook Multnomah.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

Looking Up

This Sunday finds me at peace, just as I like. I am tired today but that was because I was up late and had to get up early for church. I have not had a nap, but since it is 6pm, don’t think I will get one either. *sigh* I have not been blogging a lot lately because I have been trying to get things in order for school to start on Tuesday.

Today in church Pastor Jeff preached on why as Christians we should believe in Hell. It was a good message, but honestly one I had not really heard preached before. Pastor Jeff told us that not many people preach about Hell anymore for fear of offending someone. It was an interesting message and I actually got a lot out of it.

In case, you don’t know, the Lions have a Monday Night Football game this week. It has been a long time since they got a Monday Night game. I think we will be doing deli tomorrow night for dinner because his cousin will come up to watch the game. I am not much into football but even I noticed how well the Lions are doing this season and I am very happy to see them finally moving in the right direction. Since I have been here, they have been really bad. This year finds them with a good coach, a good GM, and great players. All elements needed in winning.

So, here is to a good week. I will keep you posted on school.

Ciao!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Bipolar Weather and Five Days

The weather here in my little corner of Michigan has been rather bipolar lately. What I mean by that is during the day lately I have had to have the air conditioning on because it is warm outside. Because I live on the eighth floor of a building and the scientific principal of heat rises comes into play, it can be 10-15 degrees warmer where I live than at ground level. So taking this into account, if it is like 73 on the ground, it is 83-88 degrees here at my house. Which really sucked in the summer, let me tell  you. It works to my advantage in the winter though.

So, lately I have had to have the A/C on during the day and when the sun goes down, I turn it back off and open the windows again because the nights are great. Seriously, it is almost the middle of October, where is my fall temperatures? I miss them! I will share a quirk about me: I am such a die hard Florida girl that I will wear my flip flops until the first snow. I hate regular shoes so much. People up here think I am nuts, but I don’t really care.

School starts in five days. To say that I am looking forward to it is well, an understatement at best. I am a bit nervous though. I know I will be okay once I get into class and get stuff working again. I did not realize how burnt out I was on school until recently. It sort of came as a shock to me. But looking back it makes so much sense. I needed the break I took to decide if I wanted to continue or just quit. I needed time to recharge my batteries and do a little soul searching too. At first, I looked at this time off as a major punishment and did not how I would get through it. Now, I look back grateful for the time to be really sick and to just do some things for fun.

I have my passion for school back and it is nice to feel that way again. It has been a while since I felt this way. I am not sure when exactly I lost the passion for school, but it was totally gone. I got to do some things that I love during my time off. Things like read a book that is not a text book, cook more, try new recipes, just relax and be me for a while. I needed to do those things too. I always feel like there is not enough time in the day a lot of times. I think that I could possibly manage my time better which is one of my goals for my first class.

Getting back in to a routine for school will be challenging after not having to have a schedule for anything for so long. Instead of trying to make my day fit a defined schedule, I think I will see how my class unfolds first before I make my schedule for my day. It seems to work better when I do that. Since I got out of the review classes, I have three less classes to deal with or even think about. Yay! I do still have to take a statistics class, but I think I will be okay with that class. I just have to work harder.

Well, I am going to go! Ciao!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Letting Go

This blog entry is about something that I have been thinking about for a while, but never really did. In life, I know that some people will be in your life always and that some people float in and out. I don’t have a problem with that. I have a problem when someone who says they are there forever, decides that they are more important than you or anything else.

Let me back up a bit, I had a friend who I have known for a very long time. He and I have been back in touch for a while and things were fine. Now, you might remember the entry I did about PMS just a while back. If you don’t know big deal. Well, this person decided that I have been lying about that and was using it to just not speak to him. Which is entirely false.

So, it finally came to a head on Saturday when this person called me up and bitched me out and then hung up on me. That apparently was not enough because he then texted me about 11pm that night too. I let all of that go. I understood why he was upset and thought that if I let him cool down we could have a discussion. I was wrong it turns out.

On Sunday after church, I texted him and tried to tell him what was going on. He did not believe me. His right I suppose. He then texted me saying he did not believe me and I told him that I had not been talking to anybody. I turned off my Facebook chat and my IMs. He thought I had an attitude. Again, his right. I did not and if I came across as if I did, it was not intended. He did not believe that either. Ok, fine.

I basically told him that I hope he has a good life and finds what he is looking for. I was trying to end this on a decent note, but he wanted nothing to do with that. So, I had to turn off my phone. I sat and prayed last night about all of this and you know what? Sometimes, you have to be the one to let go. It is not easy and it is not fun, but right now it is for the best for me and my life. Maybe down the road somewhere we can be friends. Maybe not. I don’t know. I feel an inner peace that I have not  had for a while and I am enjoying it for now.

Ciao!

Sunday, October 2, 2011

An Unexpected Question

Today at church, I got an unexpected question asked of me. I have been going to this church for a bit, more than a handful of times. This morning while waiting for the services to start, I was chatting with Pastor Jeff. He asked me if I wanted to take a new member class at the church. Honestly, I had not really thought about becoming a member of the church, but I said yes and asked when it was.

Apparently they had just finished one the week before and they normally wait until they have several people wanting to take this class before they begin another, which makes total sense to me. So, he will let me know when it will be.

This class is only one Sunday, they meet before service and after the service as well. I am really surprised by his invitation for sure!! I am looking forward to it. Services today were great. I had asked God for help on dealing with a situation that has arisen in my life in the last couple of days and I don’t know how to deal with it. So, I asked. Now I am waiting for my answer.

Ciao!

Saturday, October 1, 2011

Holy Crap October!!

I can not believe it is October 1st already!! The weather is great though, it is cool bordering on cold with a nice breeze that sends a nice flow of cool air through the windows of the apartment. I love it because I can have the windows open all the time now and just close them as much or as little as needed. Sure is a wonderful break from summer!!!

Earlier they did a test of the tornado siren. Which since I have moved, it seems that I live closer to the siren now. Anyway, it is supposed to be tested at 1pm. It started going off and I looked at my computer clock and it was 12:57pm. I was kind of like, way to tell time there!!

Speaking of the tornado siren, I remember the first time I heard the darn thing after I moved up here. Since I got to Michigan about in the middle of October in 2005, I missed that test, so I think it was November that I heard it. Seriously, no one warned me that they actually test these things here. In Florida, there were no tornado sirens. I was dead asleep until the siren went off and it woke me out of a dead sleep. Scared the hell out of me because I had no idea what it was!! Boy was I mad when someone told me it was just a test of a tornado siren.

I start school in 10 days. I am so ready!! Since I tested out of the review classes, I am happy! Mainly because they would only cost me money and not do anything for my degree. I still have to take the composition class, which is fine, I actually get 3 credits for that towards my degree. So, I am willing to accept that class.

in 19 days it is my 37th birthday. Not sure how I feel about that yet. I will probably have more to say on the subject as it gets closer. I don’t know. Well, I am going to run.

Ciao!