weekend recap.

we had a fun weekend here in the FoFandee household: a little relaxing, a little productiveness, and lots of sunshine and high temps. let's recap, shall we? 

on Friday morning, Mr. Ronin had his 9 month wellness check up. Sean left work for a bit to come with us to the appointment. little dude is super healthy and remaining steady in the 25th percentile for his age. he now weighs 18lbs 14oz and is 28 inches long - such a long and lanky boy! I didn't really have any questions for our pediatrician this month, so the appointment went pretty quickly. he did have to get one vaccine (hepB), which was NOT fun, obviously. he screamed bloody murder, but luckily, I had a nice big bottle ready for him afterward. 

oh, and I haven't even taken his 9 month photos yet, because this squirmy seal will NOT stay on his back. he screams bloody murder when I change his diaper or try to get him dressed, so laying on his back for photos is not really an option right now, haha. little punk.

since the weather was so nice, we spent the rest of the afternoon out on the patio. Sean came home from work and grilled some pork chops and after dinner, it was time to start the sleep learning. the program we're following noted that it would probably take an hour for him to fall asleep on the first night, and while it doesn't sound like a long time, hearing a baby cry for an hour is absolutely heartbreaking. I will elaborate more on our experience so far, but it's going surprisingly well! 

on Saturday, we spent a majority of the day doing typical cleaning around the house, and then we met up with Sean's parent's to enjoy some crabs & cold beer in Annapolis. the crabs were huge and heavy, but Ronin was kinda sick of being a highchair after a while, so we took turns holding him while the other ate. 

I hosted our monthly book club meeting at my house on Sunday. although there were only 6 of us, we had a great time just chatting (barely about the book, ha!) and enjoying some yummy food. after the ladies left, we headed out to Target to pick up a few a bunch of things, including another bathing suit for the mister and some paper goods for his birthday party. no pictures from Sunday, but it was a nice day. :) 

hope your weekend was fun! we've been having some great weather here in Maryland, albeit, a bit on the HOT side. that just means we get some early pool days! woohoo! 

that time karma bit me in the ass. oh, and sleep training.

remember last week when I mentioned that Sean was sick again and that he was being a big baby? 

yeah. that was dumb. Friday morning I woke up feeling congested and by Saturday, I had a fever of 101.4 that was kicking my ass. you know what sucks worse than being sick? being sick while you're trying to transition your kid (who is ALSO sick) to his crib at nine (!!!!) months old. 

we're following a modified version of the SleepEasy Solution, since they have a good plan on moving baby from your bed to his own. we're stretching the whole "sleep with baby in his room and soothe as you normally would" thing for a whole week (they recommend 2-4 nights) since Ronin is older and is aware of his surroundings. we'll start the actual sleep learning program this weekend.

we began the transition on Friday night, and Sean started off by sleeping on the floor in the nursery right next to the crib. Ronin was only asleep for an hour or so before he leaked out of his cloth diaper (ugh, SO frustrating) and we had to put him in a disposable and change his jams. and then Sean ended up coming downstairs to our bed at about 2AM because his back was killing him. naturally, when Ronin woke up crying, it was Mama to the rescue. so now I'm sleeping on the floor next to the crib, but he still didn't want to sleep. he would be passed out, but as soon as I laid him down, he'd wake up and stand up in his crib. finally, I pulled him out of the crib and onto the floor with me and we both fell asleep... until the fever crept up on me and I went from comfortable to freezing in about 20 seconds. we spent the last few hours of night one all huddled up in our bed downstairs. well, I guess I was the only one huddling since I was the one with the chills. Friday night was a shit show. 

1) yay, he's sleeping! IN HIS CRIB! 2) well shit. 3) aw, best Dad ever...
4) not pictured: my fevered ass bundled up on the floor with a baby on my chest.

Saturday, we wised up and moved an air mattress up to the nursery so we could avoid sore backs by sleeping on the floor. I went ahead and volunteered to take the second night of wake ups, even though I was exhausted and still feeling like total shit from the virus. we had our first wake up at about 10:00 or so, but he was quick to get back to sleep. he woke up a few more times and was to the point of standing up and not laying back down by about 4:30, so I brought him to the air mattress with me and he slept until around 7:00. 

Sean took nursery duty on Sunday night. we actually stayed up later than usual and watched the first two episodes of the North America special on the Discovery Channel. Ronin didn't have his first wake up until close to midnight, woohoo! Sean went up to comfort him and I was SO relieved and excited to get a good night's sleep. except Sean brought Ronin down to our bed at almost 5:00 - apparently he couldn't get Ronin to sleep with him on the air mattress and he was coughing a lot. so once again... Mama to the rescue... even though I didn't go to sleep until about 1AM. I finally got him to fall back asleep at around 6, only to have him wake up for good at 6:45. eff. my. life. 

so needless to say, we had an early bedtime of 7:00 tonight. we're going to take turns sleeping in there with him this week and then we'll put him in his crib awake and start sleep training on Friday evening. 

I wish liquor stores had loyalty programs for frequent customers. #beerme

my first mother's day.

since my mother passed in 2003, I haven't had a reason to celebrate Mother's Day. meaning that Sunday was the first time I'd even acknowledged the holiday in 10 years.

and even though I didn't really "get the day off" from motherhood, I still had a pretty fantastic day. I got to sleep in a little bit and I received an amazing gift from Sean & Ronin. they got me a sweet little personalized necklace. it has two silver discs and a little peridot (August birthstone) gem - one disc says "you are my sunshine" and the other disc says "ronin." I just need to find a better chain for it - can't wait to wear it!

we didn't really do anything special for the day - we just kinda laid low and did some housework. my dad stopped by later on in the day to drop off some fresh Maryland rockfish that he'd caught. he also schooled my ass on my veggie garden that I put in a few weeks ago - apparently my plants are WAY too close together. so I guess I'll be transplanting some of them next weekend, haha. 

I did, however, get to spend an hour or so outside on the patio planting all my new flowers into containers. I'd been collecting pots and planters for a few months, and on Saturday, I finally went to our local nursery to pick out some annuals. 

I'm pretty excited to watch as those pots get more and more full and start to overflow with gorgeous blooms. 

Ronin and I also got to nap together, which is one of my absolute FAVORITE things to do. 

all in all, it was the perfect first Mother's Day. I got to spend the whole day with my mini and that's all I wanted. it's incredible how full my heart feels when I so much as think about him. he has taught me so much about myself in a mere 8.5 months. being a mom is taxing and difficult some days, but it's also so rewarding. it is the only career that requires you to be completely selfless, to put yourself second and your family first. I knew it would be hard, but I didn't realize just how heartwarming it would be to be a mother. 

I now have a new appreciation for everything my mom did for us and it makes me miss her that much more. I want to wrap my arms around her and tell her what an amazing mother she was, and how lucky we were to have her.  I just want to tell her, "I get it now." and I do. I totally get it. the feeling of your heart walking outside of your body. the desire to educate them and raise them to be good people. the worry and fear that comes with the realization that you can't always keep them safe from the world's evil. the want... no, the NEED... to be a better person for your child. I get it. and I love every minute of it. 

thanks for makin' me a mama, dude. 

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend, and to those of you that are moms - I hope your Mother's Day was as wonderful as mine was. 

our long weekend (in photos).

we had such a great weekend! Sean took off work on Thursday and Friday to get some things done around the house since the weather was supposed to be perfect. 

on Thursday, we spent most of the day outside - he cut the grass and dug out my garden bed while I hung out with Ronin on the patio and built our raised bed for fruits and veggies. we've had this thing in our garage since the fall of 2011. I wanted to plant vegetables last year, but since I was pregnant, I knew that I wouldn't have the energy to tend to the garden, so we put it off until this year. I was pretty proud of myself for putting it together solo... even if it did take me a few hours since I was working with an 8 month old's schedule. ;)

raised garden bed

outdoor rug

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Friday was spent cleaning around the house and finishing some indoor projects. we did get out of the house to go to lunch with Sean's dad and run to Target for a few things. we had lunch at Gordon Biersch, so a beer was necessary. I mean, when is it not?

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I co-hosted a baby shower on Saturday for one of my friends and it was SO much fun. we've been planning for months and I've been busy with DIYing a lot of the decor for the past few weeks. it was a wonderful day, and baby Tucker is surrounded by love already. 

also? it felt amazing to get all dolled up for once. and to be baby free for an entire afternoon, ha!

striped dress
nude heels

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today was a productive day around the house. Sean finished painting the trim and touch ups in the nursery (yes, the nursery. the room where Ronin is supposed to be sleeping. he is 8 months old and we're finally finishing it) in the morning, and then he took over baby duty while I got the fruits & vegetables planted. I had to run out for more soil, but once I had enough, it only took me maybe 2 hours to get everything planted. I chose veggies based on what we would actually eat and what seems to do well in our area (according to recommendations from friends & family). I planted cucumber, yellow squash, zucchini, string beans, bell peppers (yellow, orange, and red), tomatoes, strawberries, and cantaloupe. can't wait to see how they do! 

oh, and I celebrated Cinco de Mayo by drinking beer while gardening. naturally. 

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I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! I'll be back this week with a post detailing the DIY baby shower decor (hopefully) and a Mother's Day wishlist. 

recent happenings...

here's what I've been up to lately 

(besides being buried in school work - tonight is my last class! WOO!)... 

please excuse the quality of these photos - all cell phone pics. 

replicating some Dali artwork, circa 1923

cooking the most delicious baked ziti known to man, topped with MY VERY OWN fresh basil

[recipe here]

acing physics exams

creating holiday decor & handmade ornaments 

painted ornament tutorial here

"ribbon" ornament is just strips of curled scrapbook paper 

and the scalloped felt tree was a huge pain in the ass

cuddling with a cute Rhys

drawing my iron reindeer that sits on the bookshelf

painting my nails a very festive green for only $0.99 

spending time with this adorable guy

so yeah... that pretty much sums up why I haven't been around. 

have you been doing any holiday decorating? 

have you been cuddling babies as cute as Rhys? (doubtful)

Happy Monday! 

currently

I will be back in full force soon. I have two weeks left of school (which also entails 50ish sketches to complete, 2 physics exams, and a 10 minute presentation on rainbows) until winter break. 


until then, I'll do fun little memes like this, haha. 


saw this over at Sometimes Sweet today and decided to play along. 

Obsessing over: Christmas decor. I keep finding ideas on Pinterest and wanting to recreate every single fucking tree, ornament, and wreath out there. so far I've made a crap load of ornaments, some wall art, and a yarn "tree" out of a cone, but I have supplies for even more projects. 


oh and also? Bikram yoga. it's incredibly challenging, but I love it and I'm pretty certain it will change my life. 

Working on: not failing my second physics exam of the semester, which is mostly the sound portion of this light & sound course. once I get through tonight, I will be working on completing my 100 sketches for my drawing class, and then the weekend will consist of rainbow research. OH, and I'm also in the process of getting a stray kitty at my work adopted through a rescue organization, which is proving to be a lot more work than I anticipated. 

Thinking about: what I'm going to do with my free time once this semester is over. HA! and also how I need to sit down and make a supply list for all my DIY Christmas gifts. 

Anticipating: registering for spring semester courses (which will be my first time taking ID instruction in several years), Sean's 29th birthday (we're celebrating out with friends AND I'm cooking dinner for him & his family... eeks!), Christmas, our 5th annual Secret Santa party, and many many more events that we have coming up. 

Listening to: sirens. I work in the ghetto, so it's pretty much all I hear during the day. and typical office chatter. 

Drinking: water, as always. 

Wishing: that it would stop raining so I can have a non-hellish commute to school after work. AND that I could find a good home for little stray kitty before the weather gets too cold... otherwise we'll be fostering him until we can. =/


Happy Tuesday! 

fill in the blank Friday!

ahhh! I've been MIA for a little while - things are wrapping up with school in the next few weeks, which means I've been swamped with end of semester projects and presentations. in the next three weeks, I have 2 major art pieces to complete, a lab for physics, two exams for physics, and a 10 minute long presentation for physics.

but I did just get some awesome news - I emailed the head of the interior/architecture design department at my school to inquire about some courses that I should be waived from completing, since I took similar courses when I started the program yeaaaars ago. turns out, I am exempt from taking 3 of the remaining 13 courses in my program, which means I'm THAT much closer to finishing my degree and moving on to a university. needless to say, I'm ecstatic.

I'm going to have to put my career on the back burner for a few semesters unfortunately and work part time, but I put this degree on hold for many years because I had to work and pay my bills, and I refuse to do it again. I'm at the perfect time in my life to finish this up, so I'm going to take advantage of it now.

ANYWAY. onto the blanks! play along with Lauren over here. 

1.   A nervous habit I have is     picking at my nails. I used to bite my nails like crazy, but now that they're grown out, I pick at them when I'm nervous. I also get real fidgety. 

2.   Something that makes me sad is   thinking about the upcoming month of January... in two months (to the day), my mom will be gone for 9 years. crazy. the winter always reminds me of visiting her in the hospital.

3.  Today I am thankful for    the fact that I have a job in which I can work from home on the days that I will need to be in class next semester. I don't know if I'd be able to finish this program if not for the flexibility that my job provides. 

4. My favorite room in my house is    my living room. my couch is, hands down, the best thing Sean & I ever invested in. 

5.  I can't stand    a lot of things. I'm in too great of a mood today to be negative. 

6.  If I had an extra $100 to spend on whatever I wanted today I would    probably spend the entire thing on wine at Kaley's launch party tonight, haha. 

7.  The last person I hung out with was    Sean, when I got home from class last night. 

weekend recap (with cell phone pictures!)

Friday Night:

Sean & I met up with our awesome friends Kaycie & Adam and grabbed lunch at a local Irish place before heading into Baltimore. we had some drinks at Howl at the Moon and then cabbed over to Meyerhoff Symphony Hall to see this excellent fellow perform stand up comedy. 

and THEN I laughed so hard that I couldn't feel my face and I'm pretty sure I urinated a little in my pants. if you ever have the opportunity to see Louis CK's stand up, fucking DO IT. 

after the show was over, we headed back to Howl for some more drinks and good times all around. lots of dancing, singing, and people watching. and then Taco Bell for the drunk ride home. nom. 

Saturday:

clean clean clean clean clean clean. I cleaned my house from the minute I woke up until I had to leave for my cousin's sweet 16th birthday party in preparation for the Scentsy party I was hosting Sunday. I scrubbed baseboards, mopped floors, rearranged kitchen appliances, and hung up fun cork boards in the kitchen. 

cousin Sammy turned 16 years old. CRAZY! she's so beautiful and free spirited. love her to death. we had pizza and cake to celebrate. it's always wonderful to spend time with my mom's side of the family. 

when I returned home from the party (at about 9:30PM), I did a little more cleaning/straightening up and then convinced Sean to help me build our IKEA dining table that's been sitting in the kitchen (in the box) for MONTHS. 

I also decided that there was no way I could put together IKEA furniture without wine. this may or may not have had anything to do with the mistake we made while building, causing us to backtrack juuuuust a little bit to fix it. woops. the table only took us about 2 hours to put together, and that was mostly because we had to use a screwdriver because the drill battery was dead as a door nail. 

yes, I've already broken out the Christmas pajama pants. don't judge me. 

oh well. we got her done, and she is beautiful! there are two additional leaves to expand her to seat 8, but 4 is perfect for now. now I just need to figure out how to decorate a dining room table. 

Sunday:

got up super early since I STILL had more cleaning to do. I wanted the house to be absolutely spotless, so it got the deep clean that it so badly needed. finally got out to the grocery store and back to the house about 30 minutes before people started to arrive. 

the next couple hours went something like this: eat, drink wine, cuddle baby, gossip/girl talk, check the score of the Skins game, cuddle baby, drink more wine, show off Bear's amazing balancing skillz, drink more wine, eat, smell Scentsy, drink beer. 

it was a great time for sure. now that the house is completely cleaned, we will be having people over more often, fo sho. after everyone left, we cleaned up and parked our butts in front of the TV for the remainder of the evening. I vaguely remember falling asleep while watching Homeland last night. 

WHEW! so it was a great weekend for the Quinns and now it's back to reality... I've got a week full of work, school, a vet appointment for Miss Mama Cat, and a visit with a friend who recently decided to take in and foster her own mama cat and 4 wittle babies! eeeeks, can't wait to meet them! 

I hope you all had a FANTASTIC weekend like I did. 

oh, and tell me what you're reading right now. 

I haven't picked up a book in WEEKS and I really need to get back on the wagon soon. it's killing me! 

Bear says HAPPY MONDAY!

ketchup

I just now switched to the new template for Blogger, and ya'll? this shit is weird.

how do you pronounce the word "ketchup?" it's "cat-sup" or "catch-up?"

uhhh, so things have been pretty busy lately. lots of school work. my drawing class is a lot harder than I thought it would be, honestly. I guess I'm just not used to creating "realistic" art... I'm more of an abstract girl myself. I'd rather slap some paint together or do more graphic art than draw a flower or a self portrait, both of which I had to do yesterday.

I finally had dinner last week with my wonderful wedding photographer and friend, Jen. it's always so much fun to get together and catch up on what we're reading, our pets, families, and the like. I'm sure the wait staff at Four Seasons hates us because we sit there for 30 minutes gossiping before we even order our meal. oh, and for anyone who thinks that I read a lot? ... Jen has read 100 books this year! she is crazy! ;)

I've recently discovered Mio Liquid Water Enhancer. it's possibly the best thing to ever happen to me. I'm currently drinking the shit out of the peach tea flavor. and no, they didn't give me free stuff to say that. I wish.

I just finished reading Left Neglected by Lisa Genova. it's about a busy woman (think powerhouse professional, mom to three, and doting wife) who suffers brain damage following a car accident - she is no longer aware of the term "left" - meaning her left hand, someone else's left hand, the left side of a building, etc. it was an excellent read... full of witty snark and exploratory emotion.

one of my very best friends is moving to NYC in February. I am very, very, VERY excited for her and her fiance, who has been waiting for this opportunity for a very long time. they both deserve all the success in the world, and right now, that success lands them in the big city. but on the other hand, I'm so sad that I won't be able to just come over on a whim and play games with them on Friday nights. selfishly, I think it will be very hard to handle for both Sean and I. I'm going to miss them both VERY much, but I'm so proud of both of them for making this huge step towards their future. I know it's not for forever, but damnit, I love my friends.

my other best friend, Kaley, is going to give birth any day now. Mr. Rhys is scheduled for eviction on Friday, but we're keeping fingers and toes crossed that he makes it here on his own before then. either way, he'll be here for the weekend! I'm so thrilled to finally be able to meet his little face. I know it's going to be hard having a toddler AND a newborn, but Kaley is superwoman, so I know if anyone can make it work, it's her.

we semi-cleaned the garage over Labor Day weekend. basically, we got rid of all the junk that we could, loaded up the truck, and then realized that the dump is not open on Sundays. sooooo we took our load (that sounds so dirty) to the dumpster at my work and then came home and pushed everything out of the middle of the garage. it's not done by ANY means, but it's an improvement, fo sho.

once we get some storage solutions figured out, everything will have it's own place and we'll be able to really organize. for now, this'll have to do.

and yes, Kaley, those are your beach chairs. promise to get them back to you before next summer. :)


Happy Tuesday! 

come on, Irene

I know, I know.
it's Eileen. 
I can't help it... it's stuck in my head and it just so happened to work with our lovely little hurricane.




so, here's my recap on that nasty bitch that hit the east coast over the weekend.


first, let me make this clear: I was scared. I've never experienced a hurricane before, and even though Irene was set to be a mere CAT 1, my mind immediately reverted to the tales of Isabel, which hit in 2003 (which, by the way, was lessened to a tropical storm by the time it hit Maryland, yet still completely flooded Baltimore and Annapolis and caused more then $800 million in damages) and left my town under water.


now... if I didn't own a home a mile away from the Chesapeake Bay, there's a good chance I wouldn't have been worried. if I didn't live on a peninsula, I probably would have brushed it off as "just a little rain and wind." but the fact of the matter is that I DO live on a peninsula in the Bay, and there is only one way in and out of my town, and I live on a crawlspace that is prone to flooding with more than 6 hours of steady rainfall. so yeah, I was freaked.


oh. in case you think I'm exaggerating... this is where I live:

when the severity of the storm became clear through weather reports on Thursday, I made the decision that being TOO prepared was better than not being prepared enough. so after work on Friday, we went over to Home Depot (along with the rest of the citizens of Maryland in it's entirety) to look for sand bags to place around our doorways. no such luck. so we then headed home to prepare the house by rounding up candles and flashlights. I also packed an overnight bag for us, in the case that we did get flash flooding and had to evacuate quickly.


the next morning we woke to grey eerie looking skies. I woke up before Sean did (must have been the anxiety, I'm sure), and took care of some exterior things, like moving the loose trash cans to the garage and cleaning up anything that would blow around in the wind. one of our neighbors stopped by and told us that he wasn't planning on sandbagging, and informed me that it would take a 9' storm surge for the Bay water to reach our house, which was a HUGE relief. he said that the one thing he was worried about was the tree situation, since the winds of 50mph+ would be strong enough to knock them onto his house. thankfully, we only have one tree near our house, and it faces the garage and not the main part of our home.


we took what we knew would be our last hot showers, and because we still knew that there was a very real possibility of being without power for a week, we took our chances and drove up to the store to get some supplies, even though we knew it'd be a madhouse. we picked up some water bottles, a few games and a deck of cards, and nonperishable food items to get us through. after filling the truck with gas and taking out some cash (for if we needed to go to the store and their credit card machines were down), we headed back home to hunker down for the storm.


I put our packed bag and some cat food out in the truck in case we needed to leave. I filled the bathtub with water to flush the toilet when we lost electricity, and then we parked ourselves on the couch and watched the coverage of the storm on the news. the storm ended up taking a slight turn east, which was great for us, but not so great for those north or east of us. the rain started at about 11AM and the winds began really picking up around 2-3PM in our area. we watched the storm progress throughout the day/evening and the power flickered on and off for a few hours. just as we finished eating our grilled cheese sandwiches for dinner at 7:30, we lost power for good.

we already had our head flashlights and candles ready, so we promptly got to work with an intense game of Phase 10, followed by a game of rummy, and some devouring of Little Debbie cupcakes. the winds got stronger, which was pretty scary to hear once the sun went down and it was pitch black outside. before it got dark, we did see that our neighbor's tree was knocked over before the brunt of the storm even hit us. around 10ish, we laid in bed and read for a while... Sean fell asleep first, but I was too riled up to sleep, especially knowing that the worst of the storm wasn't expected to hit us until about midnight. I finally fell asleep around 1 after a thorough checking around the house, discovering that we had no trees or flooding yet.

terrible cell phone self portrait. 

I woke up a couple times throughout the night listening to the wind whipping around the house and the sound of the rain, but overall I slept through pretty well. I woke up right as the sun was coming up and walked around the house to make sure there were no damages. looking out the windows, I could just see branches and leaves everywhere, and a only little standing water, which was a relief. after walking around outside, I realized how lucky we were. not one branch hit our home, and although our crawlspace flooded with about 12" of water (which was expected), we were very fortunate in that it didn't make it's way into the house or the garage.


we opened all our windows on Sunday to keep the house ventilated and drove around the see what kind of damage other areas suffered. right down our street, there was a HUGE pile of trees sitting on a power line, so we knew the source of our power outage. luckily the main roads were clear, but there were several smaller back roads that were closed due to flooding and downed trees/wire. after having lunch, we went to my brother's house to pick up a generator for the fridge. my only concern about losing power was having our food spoil. after we got that all hooked up, we headed over to my dad's house (who, amazingly, didn't lose power at ALL) to take hot showers and have dinner with family.


having no electricity has not made Bear feel different at all. he's still doing mostly this. 

we finally got our power back this morning around 3AM, and I feel lucky that we even got it back that soon. there are still thousands of people without electricity right now, and hundreds that are dealing with insurance claims and damages to their homes. BGE is estimating that mostly everyone in our area will be restored power by Saturday. compared to the photos I've seen of the northeast, we made out pretty well. I'm grateful that we were as prepared as we were and that we remained safe.


sheesh. I know, that was really long, but I really wanted to make sure I documented our Irene experience thoroughly in order to remember it. it's a shame that it occurred at night, or I'd have pictures to show everyone. even though Irene was not as forceful as the weathermen predicted she would be, she still did a LOT of damage!


ANYWAY. did you experience Irene's wrath at all?

tidbits & updates [long post]

grrrr, I caught a chest cold at some point in the last week or so and have been at home in bed for the last 2 days. thankfully, I'm feeling MUCH better and am back at work today. woo! so... now for some updates on what's going on lately... 




SCHOOL
I started fall semester courses last night. I will be taking classes on campus this semester for the first time in 5 years. I'll be at school three evenings a week... Monday nights (Drawing I) from 6-9:45 and Tuesday/Thursday nights (Physics... barf) from 7-8:15. Sean is taking classes on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, and he also has season tickets to Ravens home games, which means that we'll really only see each other and spend time together on Friday and Saturday nights until December. super sad face about that. 


I'm really nervous about the physics class. in high school, the highest level of science that I took was biology, because it wasn't a requirement to take anything further... which means that I never took chemistry or physics or any of that. the instruction is on light & sound, which makes total sense for my degree, but I hope it's not as scary as it sounds. 


the drawing class, on the other hand, is going to be a lot of fun. I went and got all my supplies last night, which included a couple 18x24 size drawing and newsprint pads, a bunch of different kinds of charcoal and graphite pencils, and other tools such as erasers and a portfolio to carry everything in. I wish I would have held onto all my supplies from years ago, and I would have saved a lot of money, haha. the main project in the course is the homework portion, in which we have to do 7-8 drawings a week in our sketch books, totaling up to 100 drawings at the end of the semester... which means my social life can pretty much be thrown out the window. I think it'll be interesting to see how the quality of the work changes from now until December. 




READING 
thanks to vacation, I've been on a roll with getting through my to-read list. I just finished Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah over the weekend, and can't wait to review it. while at the beach, I also finished Uglies by Scott Westerfeld, and am now reading the second book in the series, called Pretties. I'm glad I scaled back my goal for the Good Reads Challenge, because I'm right on track. I'm extremely proud of myself for reading so many books thus far, and I have no doubt that I'll reach my goal of 35 by the end of the year. 


here's a list of what I've read so far this year... 


1. Water for Elephants - Sara Gruen
2. A Scattered Life - Karen McQuestion
3. The Help - Kathryn Stockett
4. Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins
5. Catching Fire - Suzanne Collins
6. Mockingjay - Suzanne Collins
7. 19 Minutes - Jodi Picoult
8. Something Borrowed - Emily Giffin 
9. Something Blue - Emily Giffin
10. Baby Proof - Emily Giffin
11. Matched - Ally Condie
12. Delirium - Lauren Oliver
13. Love The One You're With - Emily Giffin
14. Dead Reckoning - Charlaine Harris
15. If I Stay - Gayle Forman
16. Where She Went - Gayle Forman
17. Homer's Odyssey: A Fearless Feline Tale, or How I Learned about Love and Life with a Blind Wonder Cat  - Gwen Cooper
18. The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner - Stephanie Meyer
19. The Book Thief - Markus Zusak
20. Lies That Chelsea Handler Told Me - Chelsea Handler
21. Uglies - Scott Westerfeld
22. Firefly Lane - Kristin Hannah 



KITTIES
Skillet went to his new home on Friday night. I'm going to be honest. I may or may not have cried a little bit. he was that poor little sick cat that, at one point, was being medicated for three different illnesses and had to be quarantined in my bathroom. he grew to be such a little lovebug, and therefore, I grew VERY attached to him. and while I'm very happy to sleep past 5AM without a little purring, I miss him SO much. I know that his new mama will take good care of him, and I look forward to getting updates and watching him grow. 


the other kitties are doing well, with the exception of Pheobe, who is still on eye drops for a little conjunctivitis that she received via Skillet. her eyes are looking much better than they were last week, so she should be off the meds soon. Bear seems to be ecstatic that Skillet is out of the house, and relieved that he is no longer the object of playful torture from a little kitten. 




HOUSE
not a whole lot of updates on the home front. the table we bought from IKEA is still in a box waiting to be put together, which will have to happen soon since I'll need the space for art stuffs. we did finally order roman shades for the windows in the kitchen and dining room, and since they were all custom sizes, they took 7 weeks to arrive. they showed up at our door last week, so hopefully we'll have time to install them this weekend. 


I also want to take time in the next few weeks to get more things on the walls. I have a mirror and a few prints that I bought a looooong time ago that I want to hang in the living room. photographing the gallery wall in the entry wall is on my to-do list as well... especially since the frames actually have prints and photos in them now. 


now that we're not constantly taking care of kittens, we should be able to get quite a lot done inside. what I NEED to do is make myself a list of things that need to be completed in each room and start attacking one room at a time. I'll put "list making" on the to-do list. ;)




HEALTH
as of the 12th of August, I am 10 months smoke-free, and it feels AMAZING! I honestly don't even think about smoking anymore, unless I smell it, and in that case, I think nothing but "GROSS." I still can't believe that I was a pack-a-day smoker for so long, and that it completely ruled my life for years and years. 


I'm still eating pretty healthy... not perfect, but much better than I did a year ago. we eat at home most nights, but will treat ourselves to a meal out about once a week/every two weeks. I very rarely eat fast food anymore, and it upsets my stomach if I do have a craving for a greasy burger. when we eat at home, we eat mostly quick meals like breakfast (eggs, bacon, toast), pasta (usually salad, ravioli, garlic bread), or chicken (marinated chicken with fresh/steamed veggies). we have a bunch of regular recipes that we stand by during the week and usually introduce new things on the weekends. I drink 1 cup of coffee and 1 20oz soda everyday, and other than that, it's water ALL day long. occasionally I'll have a cup of sleepytime tea at night. 


with both of us in school, I'm not sure how dinners are going to work. I brought a sandwich for dinner tonight, but I know that's going to get old pretty fast. if anyone has any easy to-go dinner ideas that don't require heat, they'd be much appreciated! 


as far as exercise goes, I'm sad to say that it's pretty much non-existent. I do work up a sweat doing things around the house, and I've been pretty busy running errands on weekends, but I'd hardly call either of those things true exercise. although because I'm eating healthier and not being AS sedentary as I was before I started my workout program, I've maintained my weight... so while I've not lost any, I haven't gained any either. 


so even though I still eat fast food once in a blue moon, and I'm not working out as much as I should be, I FEEL great, which is the most important thing. instead of coming home and sitting on my ass most nights, I try to do things around the house or stimulate my brain with words instead of mindless TV. don't get me wrong, I still watch TV at night, but I feel much more active in taking care of my home, and my mind and body are grateful for it. 




EARTHQUAKE
this just happened. please never ever let me feel one again. at first I thought a military plane was flying over (I work right outside of DC and next door to Andrew's Air Force Base), but then I realized that I didn't actually hear the plane, and that the floor was shaking. and then my desk... and then the walls. and I looked outside, and the cars in the parking lot looked as if they were bobbing along in a body of water. my heart is still pounding and I may or may not have peed myself a little bit. 






ummm. so I guess that's it, I think. I figured I'd write up a little post for you guys full of updates, since it seems pretty rare that I actually dive into those subjects here lately. I'm sure you'll be hearing MUCH more about school though, since it's sure to rule my life for the next few months!


on a completely unrelated note... is anyone else ready for fall weather? I'm ready to decorate my house in warm colors, and I'm excited for boots and hoodies! 


Happy Tuesday!