Visit from the Veggie Fairy

This morning I opened the front door and I found FOUR bags of veggies on the front porch! I'd been home all morning but somehow my Uncle Gary had snuck them up to the house and left them. I'm very excited about eating it all and must look up many recipes this afternoon.

School is quickly approaching and although I've committed I can't say that I'm very pleased with the continued lack of information. I continue to email my adviser to no avail. I won't get any account access until about a week before school. To top it all off, the requirements of my degree are still a complete mystery to me! I emailed a friend who said even it I'm not in shows, I must audition for them all. Fine, no problem. But then she said that since I'm in a "production" aka slave labor class, that the department can require me to do crew for the shows. What?! So if I don't want to do a musical, because, say I'm not a musical theater major, than I am banned from going elsewhere to perform because they can require me to work backstage. Wow. I have loved the crews I've worked with but it's not something I'm good at and not something I have any interest in. Peeved.

Tonight I'll go see The Producers at RVC. Should be pretty lovely.

Next week is National Night Out at RVC and then exploring in Lake Geneva. I'd gone when I was little but nothing recently enough for me to remember. We drove through a few weeks ago but didn't have time to explore. Finally, I'll wrap up the week on Saturday with some mud volleyball. Love it :)

Off to recipe search!

I've committed

I bought a tshirt. Now I know this might not seem like a big deal to most. It cost around $13. Big honkin' deal. BUT, it means that I've committed to Rockford College. I went in yesterday to check on some things (updates to my schedule and bill) and headed over to the bookstore to see if they had my books in. They did, all 16 of them, so I got the ISBNs and prepared to head home but got distracted by the rest of the store on my way out. I really do love going to school. I like like learning. I like reading. It's just all of the other stuff that goes with it that bums me out. So, I made the decision to commit. Tadah!

I picked my first zucchini this morning. It's gigantic! I don't know what I'll make with it but I'm pretty stoked it exists!

The last few days have been lovely. I couldn't have asked for a better week to have right after I'd become "funemployed" last week.

I was kept busy through the week with little things. I went to a Mary Kay facial fiesta at the Hilton on Monday and then followed up to help out a friend with tea at Megs on Tuesday. On Wednesday I went in to RVC and chatted with most of the people I miss and hunted for my paycheck. I also had lunch with mom which is always nice :) Thursday I watched Jenzie for Jaime so she could go to a family garage sale. The garage sale didn't go very well but babysitting was great. She's SUCH a cutie! Finally, Friday Kirk was a doll and fixed my brakes and Nick's bumper. He's lovely :)

On Saturday we had a Harry Potter marathon! We missed movie 2 because of time but it was so much fun! I made TONS of food! Bruschetta, zucchini bread, butterbeer, licorice wands, good vs. evil cookies... ugh. I'm still full! Luckily we got a small break in the form of going to Chris and Erin's to say Happy Birthday to my future brother-in-law. Delicious cupcakes to be had by all and a lovely visit.

Then came Sunday which just happened to be MY brother's birthday! We woke up and I made peanut butter/chocolate chip pancakes (per request) which were much tastier than I thought they would be. We followed up with a trip to US Cellular to get new phones (Nick's, of course, is the fanciest). Then we headed back to finish up the marathon as we simply could stay up no longer the day before. After, we went to Showplace 14 to view the new HP. I really, really liked it although I'd heard some complaints. Who knows. Maybe I'm just too easy to please. We finally finished up with a meal at Chilis.

All in all a very lovely time was had by all. I got Nick a hot banana pepper plant. It's a bit of a "different" kind of gift but I knew he'd like it since he'd seen one at the beginning on the season and thought about buying it. Mom and I also got him, and Kirk, tickets to see the Mythbusters chat that's coming to town on Kirk's birthday in October. They were both super excited, which is how we know we did an awesome job! No myths will be busted but Keri Byron will be there and you can just imagine how both boys feel about her!

Today we're heading north to Kenosha in search of cheese and sausage. Fairly random but it should prove to be an entertaining day!

Summer - Take 2

So I finally finished my absolutely last teaching assignment on Friday and boy, did it feel good! I didn't get to pass all of my students which was slightly upsetting but I know I did my best and did everything I could so I just have to let it go. Now I just sit back and wait for my last two checks to come. This assignment was really such a blessing. I know I've made a difference, which is something I feel like I need to do when I'm working, and I'll be able to make it through the rest of the summer on what I got paid. Life. Is. Good.

So my 'second summer' officially started at 3:00 on Friday and so far it's amazing. On Friday night I was with Kirk. We had a delicious dinner at Olive Garden followed by a viewing of The Taking of Pelham 123. Then we finished up with dessert at Chili's. Who doesn't love chocolate molten cake? Saturday morning we continued the fun with breakfast at Chris and Erin's. The Apple Puff pancakes were so good! Then the girls, including Miss Ophelia, went to the farmer's market and coffee shop down the road a bit while the boys put together the newly arrived bunk beds. I stopped at home for a bit after that and then Kirk, Nick and I were off to the Paramore/No Doubt concert. I love Gwen Stefani. She's just crazy talented and I'm SO happy the band is getting back together. Yay! So the show was amazing. If it keeps going this way, I think my head might explode from pure awesomeness.

I'm just feeling truly blessed and taken care of right now. I have an amazing family and group of friends and I'm feeling secure at the moment, which is not always something I have the luxury of feeling. I know that I'm being watched and guided and helped from a certain somewhere upstairs and I just hope that I can continue to be as grateful as I am right now, even if things change. I have a habit of falling into a slump when things aren't going my way and that's something I'd like to change because I do recognize how fortunate I am in a lot of ways.

Anyway, off to enjoy some family time and possibly more sleep!

I love Betty White

I was watching My Life on the D List last night and Kathy Griffin made her mom write a bucket list and then proceeded to fulfill her wishes. It was so sweet. And it really made me appreciate the women in my life. Her mom, Maggie, wanted to meet Betty White so that was part of it. That woman is fantastic. She reminded me so much of my Grandma. And it made me very thankful that I have the mother that I do. She's fantastic and I so hope that I can do something like that for her in the future.

I'm within my last teaching week. This class is younger than it's supposed to be and very rambunctious. I already feel tired. BUT it's the last week and I just need to get them through. Hopefully the internet will be up today so we can catch up on what we're supposed to be working on!

I went to pickup tickets for The Producer's at RVC last week and talked to Tom a little about the upcoming Studio season. If Noel has correctly relayed that I have no actual requirements to do theater at RC then I just might audition at RVC through the year. There's just not a whole lot they can offer me there. I'm feeling like any excitement about starting school there has died which is very sad, especially because it feels like I'm postponing a huge part of my life in order to attend school and get my degree. I think nothing would make me happier than to win the lottery just so I didn't have to go and I could figure out another way to do all this. Sad.