91

Yep. 91 Flippin' Degrees on February 23rd. I'll have to start my griping about the hot weather earlier than usual, I guess. grump grump grump!!

Quartet is going well.

Himself is doing well.

My job is still a lot of work (for which I'm thankful...)

Passed my chorus audition last week, so now I've got to start paying money.
It is exciting as we're going to Nashville for the Sweet Adelines International Contest in October... and I know that most of the fun is in the journey ~

"It is good to have an end to journey toward,
but it is the journey that matters in the end."

I spent a lot of yesterday looking up vocal education stuff to work on with quartet.
I now need to do some actual singing...

Going to attend an arranging workshop on April 4th, here in town -- and there are a number of chorus members who want to come and learn more about arranging and barbershop chords etc... so time to brush up on my theory!

I can hardly move in my craft studio/office -- so need to clear some surfaces!

Today I cleared off most of the kitchen table.
I'm not Catholic, and don't know anything about Lent except you give something up. Usually until Easter, but I'm hoping my list will continue for a lot longer than that.

I'm giving up: Fast Food Drive Thrus... this has become a wallet-reducing habit. If I need to eat fast food (cuz face it, sometimes it happens), I have to GO INSIDE.

I'm giving up: TV Reruns... I can't tell you how long I've sat in front of the boob tube watching stuff I've seen before (or worse, shows I can't stand). No More. I've also written a list of the 7 shows (7 hours a week) of tv watching that I'm allowing myself. This is one of the reasons I end up staying up so late (even having fallen asleep in front of the tv, I still sit there instead of going to bed!!)

I'm giving up: Eating in front of the telly. (which is why I cleared off much of the kitchen table.) Usually after the meal I just sit there for another couple of hours, rather than getting up and cleaning up and going and doing something more productive. Getting up from the table is different that getting up from my reclining couch! Easier.

did I mention we turned on the cooler today?!!

The Cost of Everything...!

Our Cable bill is increasing - $2 for basic and $3 for expanded... so today I'll be calling and just go back to basic.

I'll miss HGTV... but that's about all I watch. And himself and I watch reruns of Friends & a lot of Two and-a-half Men. Really we'll just be missing a lot of reruns.

So now I'm thinking I *REALLY* need to get to the gym more so I can watch those shows I'll miss on the 4 Dish Network tv's there...

30 minutes yesterday on the elliptical -- just happy I got there!

I went later than usual and while it was still light outside, it is a lot creepier than when there are more people in the gym. I like the gym less crowded inside, but appreciate the crowd when I go to leave and get in my car.

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One of my local friends who is also an awesome blogger (and yes, you have an inspiring ministry!) is moving :-( If I ever get to North Carolina, however, I'll have a ton of people I can catch up with (Hi SadTomato!!), some relatives, and this caffeinated singer-dancer-sewing gal!

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The weather has been a lot cooler (more humid, but I don't mind 85 degrees and humidity!), so I've been in a better mental state... cooling down at night is such a huge thing that helps my whole state of mind.

The pool has been FULL of bugs, and the flying ants aka termites have been mating like crazy... lots of them dead in my pool, but some of them were at work inside my office... atop the curtain rod... yeah -- little tiny winged insects squirming and wriggling... just disgusting... so we sprayed RAID flying insect bug spray, and the next day my desk was full of dead winged insects.

Lovely.

COLD!!!!

Today is Freakin' Cold - yesterday it rained pretty much all day -- I had some great Volunteer Management Training -- went home early and went to a crop where I punched tons of Sizzix Birthday dies for Craft Class today -- am still in my pj's, with pants on and my robe, drinking coffee and procrastinating getting the rest of the stuff ready for class.

Himself was upset that there is a tiny imperfection in the cover of the console in the two-seater couch, so he made me call Sam Levitz and get a new one -- he was hoping they'd offer a price reduction, but since he didn't talk to them and I'm not the haggler/negotiator, we're getting a brand new couch delivered today.

We have to finish clearing out the guest/himself's room and set up the double bed and make it presentable for guests -- I'm so excited that we're going to have 6 people staying with us for a weekend -- it'll be crowded but I think we'll all have fun. Family from Oklahoma and California coming for the Open House a week from today. :D

oh, and I'm enjoying triple chunk brownie from Betty Crocker for breakfast with my coffee. yum!

Dog Days of August

It is hot. hot. hot. hot. And I've been grumpy. Crabby. Whiney. Negative. and Tired.

Seriously nasty weather. The storms have been cool -- but out walking at 6:15 am this morning with himself and it was just humid, hot, and miserable. The gnats are everywhere. In the spa two nights ago I still couldn't escape the fat mosquito who bit my hand. Stupid mosquito.

So I've not written because I've been working lots -- and just coming home and couch potato-ing. I've not cooked, I've not done dishes. I did some laundry, and vacuumed floors and some light dusting (mom in town...).

As of September 1st I'll be full time salary at Tucson Girls Chorus (yay!) -- so I'll be paid for the hours I've been working. Not a huge amount of money, but it should help us get a mortgage.

We're looking slowly into mortgage options -- Quicken Loans I was not impressed with. They'll gouge ( as in "an act of extortion; swindle.") you in closing costs -- like over $5,000.00. Himself looked at that and said, "I think NOT!" So I've got some recommendations from friends and hopefully will have a chance to make a call or two before I go in to work today.

My quartet is doing really well. We're hoping to sing for the chorus next week and get this audition out of our hair - then we can start learning Christmas music :-) That will make me feel cooler, right?

Rascal is great -- such a love of a dog. He is squirmy/scary with strangers still... so am thinking in November we'll get him a private dog tutor (that's not the real word, but you get the idea -- someone to come to our house and work with us -- because you know it has little to do with the dog, this dog training thing!! ;-).

Going to be helping with the SAI Youth In Harmony day-long festival on September 8th -- 7:30 am to 7:00 pm!! Yikes! I believe in the cause, and I think it will be fun...

Planning to scrap this weekend -- and friends have invited us over for dinner on Sunday evening, maybe some poker. We both have Monday off (yay! Salary = paid vacation days for me... OH!! and I get the week between Christmas and New Year's off - paid - AND it doesn't come out of my 'vacation time' -- how cool is that?!?!!?!?!?) Monday will probably be slob around the house day. :D I may venture to the craft stores for sales with coupon in hand... but I really don't need a thing.

So -- with my first big paycheck:
I'm going to get a massage. I'm going to have a pedicure. I'm going to hire some kind of help with the house. All these thoughts make me smile.

'K - going back to sleep for awhile now.

Happy Friday the 13th

It's raining!! Usually I sleep with the door cracked open, and this morning it was closed because it was really windy last night and it creaking back and forth would've driven me nuts... anyway -- I heard what sounded like rain, and thought "No one -- not ONE radio person said there even MIGHT be rain... !" Not that I'm complaining about rain -- we love here in the desert!! And it wasn't driving rain... more like spitting -- refreshing.

I'm grumpy today -- trying hard to come out of it -- went to bed at 9:30 or 10:00 and meant to be in bed by 8pm... luckily I hadn't gone to sleep 'cuz my cell rang at 9:03 with a panicked musical director on the other end... but all is well.

I'm loving my new job, but don't have time to say much! Off to work!!

Edited for grammar.