Changes and two dinners.

Today wasn't super productive, at least wedding-wise. It was a boilermaker, weather wise, so I tried and was actually successful in getting my run in before it was too hot (yes!). Mike was at work and my grandmother was at an appointment when I realized my car keys were locked in my car (don't ask why) and I needed wanted to go buy a quick lunch and then meet her at my aunt's house. The reasoning behind this intricate schedule today is that my grandmother is having the tile in her kitchen re-done (hence the "changes").  

Demolition derby...in our kitchen.

With the noise of sledge-hammering the old counters (shed a tear, they're all I've ever known here) and the heat, we decided to go to my aunt's quiet house with a pool to let the dogs relax a bit (the tile guys really stressed them out!) and me splash around a bit. 

So, despite getting in my run before the heat, I had to ride my bike under the hot sun to go to Mike's work to pick up the spare key. A run and bike ride before noon.

The 1970s were hiding behind the old tiles.

We relaxed all afternoon and I swam and it was great. Mike and I did yoga later in the evening and it was also great.

I kind of love how bright and cheery 30 years ago was.

Since the kitchen is out all week we decided to try to eat healthy since we're eating out (hence needing the store-bought lunch earlier today!) we had planned to go to this "lighter-fare" restaurant which I'm so-so on for dinner tonight. I realized tonight that I'd NEVER be able to go on a diet. I may be able to eat diety-light-salady stuff for lunch just fine, but I guess I'm just one of those people who must have something delicious, cheesy, possibly meaty, and warm for dinner. Mike is not like this at all and can have salad or something equally boring for for any meal of the day. Maybe I just need the warm carress of comfort food at the end of the day? So, after a disappointing dinner #1, Mike took me to In 'n Out and waited with me and then watched me eat my almost 800 extra calories worth of dinner #2; I'm not a counter, but in California now the restaurants have to post them and I sometimes can't help but notice, not that it ever stops me! That was my last official day of Spring. Tomorrow on the agenda: welcome Summer!

xoxo, natty ♥
PS how cute is google's manga-styled (??) theme today? 

The answer is: super cute!

Happy Dad's Day, Dad!

Happy Father's Day to all those wonderful dads in our lives; you mean so much to your children, biological, adopted and any sort of father in between. I wish a great day to my own dad especially.

He's a wonderfully sweet and sensitive man.

He loves his kids and family fiercely...and enjoys a good swing in the backyard ;)

He surprises me at work. He is an EXTREMELY hard, dedicated and loyal worker. He makes a mean BBQ rib. 
He's my dad and I love him.
Thank you Dad, so much.
Amen.
xoxo, natty ♥

Blegh.

I guess you shouldn't post when you're exhausted and can't formulate your thoughts well...I keep thinking about re-writing last night's post, but a blog is a blog, so in the vein of keeping it real, there it stays.
We're enjoying a lazy Saturday morning and gearing up for a run later today and a friend's party tonight.
We also tasted our cake pops for the wedding last night, they were very good!!
More on the weekend tomorrow!
xoxo, natty ♥

Ruminations.

This is what I attempted to write in the car on the way home last night and this is what made me car sick. I should' have known better but it was night and dark out so I thought I could be "ok"; I was wrond woh woh. Anyway, this is a brief thought that's been bouncing around in my head for a bit.
Nice. Critical. I can be both. I've never heard anyone describe me as the latter, which is a good thing, I guess. Perhaps the critical is merely a self description. As a teacher it's my job to correct mistakes in writing and speaking and I sometimes worry that I can be too aware of errors I see and that's when I start to wonder if I"m too critical. If it weren't part of my job then maybe I wouldn't be worrying about it. What also bothers me is that feel as though I'm too critical in my real life. I may not express this criticism, so it's mostly in my head which is probably why I"m hyper aware of this part of my personality. Some people might call this trait by another name, a name with more positive connotations such as "detail-oriented" or "thorough", so I suppose it might all be in the spin. Why am I even writing about this? In my self-induced frenzy of thinking I'm overly critical I want to try and be nicer.
I was running a few days ago and passed many people in my run. Usually when I pass someone I look down or away, I might give a small smile but not a direct look. I think that as young girls we're urged to not make eye contact with strangers, especially men, and this must have carried through to being an adult. It's not as though I run in a place where I feel unsafe, I'm generally on city streets with many people and cars around in our familiar neighborhood. Maybe I don't want to extend myself because it's too involved and it's easier to focus on myself and continue on my way not thinking about or worrying about anyone else. If I were to "get involved", even though it's just a glance and a smile, I'd have to get involved with everyone I run past. I would be overwhelmed with all of the people around me, I couldn't focus all of my attention and energies on myself, I wouldn't be able to be entirely selfish. I could also be worried to be vulnerable. When I break that mask of the serious young woman, I've let a wall down, I'm more available. What happens if I'm rejected? If someone doesn't smile back or even look back? Will someone think less of me, that I'm not as "cool" as I'm trying to look? Now that it's written out for the whole world to see, not a dang thing would happen in those situations. I would keep going and probably that other person would soon forget about me and vice-versa; life would go on. So what do I have to lose?
On this day earlier this week (or was it last week already?!), though, I smiled more directly at a few people; it felt great! The person smiled back and we both went on our way. I didn't make a life-long committment to any person or persons, I didn't lose my concentration or my focus and I wasn't bogged down by "all the people" out there. I actually felt good, not an instant spike in energy or something like that, but buoyed a bit and it took no extra energy; I put myself "out-there" and benefited from it. What I thought about during the rest of that run was how I'd like to be nice, less critical (especially of myself), more often. Even just "little things" like putting the grocery cart back to where it belongs instead of just propped up on a curb in the parking lot fall into my idea of being nicer. Conversely, if I'm not as nice as I wish to be at times (hey, it happens), I don't want to beat up myself, I want to let it go and accept that I can't be perfect all the time.
If you're still reading- thanks! This was longer and heavier than usual (and not as well written or organized as I'd like, but that's not new), but something I'd been thinking of and want to remember later down the line.
On a lighter note here are two pictures to end the post and evening.
On another run this week I ran past this sign and literally did a double take.

We thought this was HILARIOUS but thought we'd do a google image search for "possum" to see if either of these two pictures show up and sure enough, there they were, so, there's a prankster out in the neighborhood. Cat/possum jokester: we dig your sense of humor.

Like I said, we were in the city last night for a fundraiser for this new organization.
It was chillllllly since we were right on the bay, but it was fun and beautiful.

That's all for now, happy weekend y'all :)
xoxo, natty ♥

Yuck.

It's still Thursday in Hawaii so this counts as Thursday's post.
We went to the city (San Francisco) tonight for a BBQ. I tried typing on my phone while Mikey drove home = I.am.carsick.
Goodnight.
xoxo, natty ♥

Galletas.

That means "cookies" in the Spanish. 
Monday night I made the dough for shortbread cookies. I tried to roll it out but it needed more butter. By virtue of being shortbread cookies, more butter was adding to an already high amount of butter in said dough, but butter is always better. I was using her recipe, by the way. Quick de-railing, a while back I needed some plain cookies and had kind of been thinking of sugar cookies, they being a nice back drop for accoutrement like Nutella. I was perusing PW's cookie recipes since her recipe collection is a go-to one for me and my mind saw "s" and "cookie" so these I made only several months later to realize that they weren't even sugar cookies but they sure are delicious! Yesterday morning I took the dough out of the fridge and tried to roll it out but it was cold, so I worked it a bit with my hands and then it was good but it turned out to be a BOOGER (only figuratively) of a dough to roll. It might have been the extra butter, who knows, but I had a horrible hard time getting the stuff not to stick on the rolling pin and the board I was rolling onto. 

Trouble

It was worth it though because oh-my-gawsh these were DECADENT, buttery, crispy, dreamy...all of the above. 

Getting ready!

They were SO good! 

Then I bagged them up

and we used them as bribes around the neighborhood for signatures of our neighbors so we can get hitched and party it up in their street. The wedding will actually be in the backyard but who's counting? We are so blessed to live with such great people. I already knew most people on the block and that they're so awesome, but our neighbors were so kind and interested last night that I was able to reaffirm my belief that people are good, patient and kind. What a fun way to announce something!
I also made another batch while I had the Kitchen Aid going 

Nom nom nom!

and I thought I'd try to make them hearts too, which wasn't so easy since they're drop-cookies; some came out ♥-like

and others, blob-like.

The post on niceness is tomorrow, get excited.

xoxo, natty ♥

I had a feeling.

I had a feeling that this would be a busy week and I was right, even though it's only Tuesday. I realize that during the school year I do so much every day and that one or two committed things a day would be no big thang, but during vacation, it's a lot! 
I baked this morning, cookies, to be specific. I'll explain the cookies tomorrow or Thursday maybe. I went to the dentist (clean bill of periodontal health, yo) and met a friend for some coffee and catching up. We grilled burgers and went house-to-house to get signatures for our block party and we're going to bed, that's all there is to it and until tomorrow =)


xoxo, natty ♥

We partied...

too hard! The blog birthday festivities took their toll on me which is why, like a bad, bad girl, I didn't post yesterday. This is supposed to be my month of daily posting! I hate losing accountability! Ah!


OK, I'm over it; this is yesterday's post y'all, and it's a doozy of a short one.


More to come later in today's post.
xoxo, natty ♥

PS
you do really know that there was no blog party? That's just an excuse I made up to cover up what I really did on Monday - ¡nada nada limonada!

¡feliz cumpleaños!

That's "happy birthday"...to you, little blog!

(Very Random) Source HERE

A year ago today I started this thang and I'm very glad with what it's come to be, a place for me to write down little things. I read my first few posts several weeks ago just for fun and this is what we were up in June 2010:
* the world cup was happening; what fun!
* some friends from Texas had just visited and some friends from Pennsylvania were visiting.
* I had started summer school
* we were about to move to my grandmother's house
* things were good!
Today:
* the NBA finals are coming to an end
* I'm not doing summer school but I am planning a wedding ♥
* we still live with my grandmother
* we're so excited to celebrate in a matter of weeks with our fabulous friends
Also, in the greater San Jose area:

Source: mercurynews.com

It's been a great year and I'm so glad I started this kind of on a whim and look forward to many more posts!
To come later this week: that stuff on being nicer and I'm going to start one of those blog things where you do a special thing on a certain day of the week. It might be short lived, but it could also be something fun to try.
Have a great Sunday night!
xoxo, natty ♥

Being nicer...next time.

I had a great day today. I slept in, ran and went to an end of the year BBQ hosted by a coworker. A few other coworkers and I carpooled since it was a ways out and we had a blast. It's so nice to foster community outside of the physical walls of our school community.


I thought a lot on my run today about being nicer and more deliberate and how that's something I want to focus on, but I haven't the time to write more beyond that tonight, hence the title of this blog; next time or in the next few days I'll be able to ruminate and put thoughts together on paper online.


Mike got home which is what made the day extra great. I really missed him but I'm so glad that he had an awesome trip with his brother.


That's all for now, we're both just home from the airport and tired.


Happy weekend!
xoxo, natty ♥

Things I love to do and things I don't love to do.

First of all, I decided to get things festive around here. I honestly love holidays and decorating for them but without a little home to call our own {for now!}, I kind of have to let my yearnings subside. In cyberspace though, I am a home blog owner so let the kitschy knickknacks pile up! On a more serious note, I think that Independence Days are great; it's a chance to ponder what independence of any variety entails and also to think back on and be grateful for our fore-bearers and their foresight (ha, I said it!) so the bloggy-blog reflects that for now. I had some formatting trouble with the header and the width of the whole page, but oh-well.
Today I did things, as the title mentions, that I love to do and things that I don't heart so much.
Things that I don't like to do that I did today:
*picked up a prescription: the pharmacy line is always as slow as frozen molasses.
*got my brows done: if left to their own devices, my eyebrows would span from eyelashes to hairline. This may be an exaggeration, but not by much. My friend Monica first took me to the place I like to go to. It's an Indian grocery store in the Santa Clara/Sunnyvale/El Camino area. Yes, I said grocery store. They have a side room where women do threading. You can read about the process here. I ♥ threading because it's not hot, scented wax that might aggravate my skin (it certainly isn't completely pain-free, though!). I keep driving out to this grocery store despite the trafficky 15 minutes it takes me because it doesn't annoy my skin and because it's the best deal in town; $8 for brows! Threading has seen some popularity in recent years, popping up in mall kiosks and beauty salons but it's waaaaay more than my $8 and these grocery store ladies are good so I'll keep going back. I don't like the drive or the little pinpricks of threading out hair, but it's near my pharmacy which was where I was today anyway and I feel just great after so there I went.

Things I did that I like to do:
*went to the farmers market downtown & bought fresh/local fruits and veggies and Thai BBQ sticks for lunch
*went shopping briefly with a friend...that's you Audrey!
*ate Vietnamese food for dinner (grilled pork with rice noodles-yummy!)
*watched an old repeat of Law & Order SVU...I always want to say SUV, ha!
*took Guinness around the block
*caught up with a couple of other good friends ☺

The things I like list is longer than the other list; woo hoo!

Mikey Mike comes home tomorrow and the wedding planning continues; I'm really excited <3


xoxo, natty ♥

PS my mom and I found her a cute and colorful dress, nice enough for a wedding and casual enough for a backyard; now for the shoes!

A book and a snack.

This is what I did tonight after Guinness and I had our constitutional around the block:

Annie's cheddar snack mix = ♥

An ooooold favorite, checked out from San Jose Library way too many times.

It was great.
Goodnight!
xoxo, natty ♥

Yippee!

Some warmth has finally arrived to our parts, but being so close to the water (SF Bay and the Pacific), things are always subject change so I'm greatly enjoying this.

Today I did some wedding planning, most specifically a plan of what the table centerpieces will look like. I would like for our reception tables to be themed and so far I'm having a great time putting together things for each theme. Ideally I'll put the stuff for each table in a bag or box for easy assembly and clean up, whomever is helping us can just unpack each bag/box of stuff onto a table.

Over the years I've gotten good at collecting things I realized today, not necessarily collections but just crap (arguably so to some, I realize). It's mostly older home ware, Pyrex and vintage cookie plates and vases. The upside to this, ahem...habit, is that I've got a great supply of centerpiece decorations to choose from! I can use the bowls and vases to hold things in, obviously, and the other tchotchkes fit in to my various themes. This sounds a bit jumbled, but trust me, it works!

The great thing is that it's forcing me to organize a bit. Does anyone else have as much stuff as I do? I never know what to do with all of the notes and greeting cards and little mementos that I get. If I were better organized, I could pare things down so that I could have a neat little box for the different phases in my life, like a high school box or fun kitchen stuff box {we're not living in our own place yet}. Since we moved last year I kind of started this and 'box' is more like a big rubbermaid tub , but this way things are contained, easy to find and unpack in the future.

So I'll get some more tubs since I have a few already half full and when the wedding is over then I can disassemble the centerpieces into their respective boxes or donate what we probably don't need anymore. I don't want to sound as though I'm not sentimental, I'm too so much so considering all the stuff I hold on to. I'm finding things from when I was in grade school, not much, but there still is some and I'm just so blown away by how many things we accumulate. When I would visit Mike in El Salvador while he was living with pretty poor people, they often had as much stuff packed into their homes as they could, which means it must be only human to gather and gather and it's not just unique to US culture?? So I'm inspired to live more minimally but it's going to take some digging out to begin. More than some, actually. Wish us luck and watch out Goodwill donation stations!

I grilled a lovely late spring dinner for me and my grandmother, including my first go at grilled fruit! We had some bitter apricots and I thought the heat might help to bring out the natural sugars. It didn't, but it looked kind of pretty

Don't worry, the fence is being repainted soon.

I tried out this contraption that a coworker lent me, it's for making baby cupcakes in a short amount of time, though if you do a full box of cake mix, it will take as much time as baking a whole cake in the oven, but baby cupcakes are cuter so yay! ***UPDATE***After getting the hang of it, this is quicker...

Cupcake machine.

Spooning...

Baby-caking...

Trying to be ready...

My only complaint is that the little buggers were sticking like crazy, so I used some cooking spray which helped a bit. It was fun to try, though I probably wouldn't buy it.

Crumbly mess =(

***UPDATE*** I wrote this while "baking" and figured through trial and error that my "babycakes" were not baby enough, they were too big, so with a bit less batter and the spray, they came out awesomely!!

Mo' bettah =)

Of course, everything's even better with chocolate frosting.

I'm going mother of the bride dress shopping with my mom tomorrow and then later seeing a friend; vacation is wonderful!

Trying-to-be-artistic side of house and cat shot.

xoxo, natty ♥

I forgot something!

On Sunday night I said that the weekend was a good start to my summer, but I forgot to mention one very important thing lacking from this weekend that would have made it perfect. I missed out on an event, a weekend-long event with friends. Mikey and I both went to Macalester College, a small liberal arts school in St. Paul, Minnesota (I know, a Californian and an Arizonan meet in the frozen tundra, go figure). The college celebrates reunion every summer and this was our fifth. I feel as though most people focus on the tenth or twentieth, and I'm looking forward to those for sure (although for the sake of my youthful appearance I hope that they don't approach too quickly), but I don't get to see my friends too often and it would have been so nice to hang out with a couple of lovely ladies (you know who you are!) in our old stomping grounds. I have been back since we graduated, but even that was a few years ago and we didn't check out campus too much and I would love to just wander around. It would have been fabulous to go, but with grading and graduation I just couldn't swing it so tenth anniversary here we come!

Other than that, I'm pretty tired tonight and don't think I have much to post. I cleaned and organized and cleaned some more at work today and got home after 7. We had an end of year lunch at work and there was a taco truck; it was delicious! Mike and I had been thinking of having one for the wedding and now I'm kind of sold =) I'll need to go in to work at least one more time to take care of some technology to-dos, but I'm a free woman until Costa Rica. Free, except for the wedding planning, but that's a labor of love ♥. Apart from the nuptial-nesting (do you like my alliteration?) this freedom means running, reading books that I've already read three or four times (I've talked about this habit of mine I think...), watching movies that I've seen several times, maybe reading new books, maybe some of that scrap-booking I mentioned yesterday...the possibilities are kind of limitless! I have not quite realized it yet, though. It takes some time for summer to sink in, for my jaw to unclench (that's where I hold my tension, where do you hold yours?) and school year to fade away. I'll drink to that =)

Anyway, I have no pictures from the day, but imagine yummy tacos and lots of dust from cleaning out shelves in my classroom!


xoxo, natty ♥

My eyes hurt.

I've graded and written thank you notes and did some running today. I have about three more things to grade in the morning, grades need to be done by 10-ish and then there's a work lunch and then...it's over!

Mine eyes are exhausted, though, from the grading, entering grades on the computer, running in the blustery weather purgatory that we are still in and the note writing. Many things got done, though, and that is great.


Before the grading, I put together a scrapbook page to frame. It's for a coworker in our department who's leaving...hopefully she's not reading this right now! We're giving it to her in the morning, so I should be "ok" ;). I've never really done scrapbooking, except for a little book for mr. Mikey before he left for the Peace Corps, but that was a while ago (four years ago, actually; I can't believe how time flies...). I think that it's something I might like because all of the pretty little notions and gadgets and colorful stickers and paper patterns really appeal to me. However, I have a job and it's expensive, soooo...Although I had previously told myself that it might be something to start when we have kiddos...but then I realized that maybe I could start with our wedding since that's kind of like the beginning and it would be neat to show our children that stuff, but we'll see. Anyway, here's how it came out:

 I "swirled" out the name for privacy; psychedelic!

I liked doing it a lot and could enjoy doing more. I realize it might look a bit blank. Not to worry, the big squares are where we're putting pictures of her and the little shapes are for people to write notes. The sunflowers are because the foundress of the order of nuns that founded our school talked quite a bit about sunflowers so they're very prevalent on campus, both figuratively and literally. I was impeded a bit, though, by this contraption:

It's supposed to deposit adhesive to things. It's like one of those hand-held white-out dispensers. I bought a refill, though, which is only the front half of the dispenser so when I tried to use it the tape that had the adhesive on it had nowhere to go and it just got baaaaad:

I'm up late again (yes, 11 is late to me), despite what I posted yesterday about trying to sleep earlier, but the work is just about over and earlier bed-times and full-on wedding planning can soon commence!


G'night y'all☺
xoxo, natty ♥

Big-box-home-shopping & eating.

There's not much to report today. I slept in, ran five miles, went to a graduation party for a student of mine and then my aunt and I went to Ikea for something like four hours.


I stayed up far too late last night reading so I let myself sleep in. As soon as finals week hit I started my preferred summer schedule, staying up later than I should, incurring red and tired eyes, and sleeping in past nine. I would like to be a bit more responsible, though, and try to sleep a bit earlier and wake a bit earlier as well. Here's to hoping and trying!

The five miles was longer than I had run since the half way back at the end of April. I have been hobbling about in three mile spurts here and there since then. The busy pace of the end of the school year hasn't helped my running. As the creepy looking little runner girl on the below right reminds us, my next marathon isn't for 5 months, 4 weeks and 1 day from now, but I'm thinking about it. I'm going to do a 17 or 18 week training plan, so I have some leeway as to when I begin, but the plan does not start at zero, so I'd like to get up my miles before then. I'd also like to go to Boston, but that's another post. Anyway, the five felt great, despite the muggy yet cool weather.


I am always happy to go to student graduation parties. It's really neat to get to know families a bit more and since the actual graduation is such an abrupt time to bid farewell, a party the next day is much more relaxed and I'm able to chat with students and be nosy about their future plans without feeling like there are many others that I want to catch before they leave.


My dear auntie and I love wandering around Ikea. I know that some people just loathe the place, but I am not one of them. We started with dinner which was supposed to be my picture of the day, but I was too hungry to take any shots before I ate, so oh well. I did, though, have a mini princess cake for dessert! We wandered after we ate until closing. The little fake rooms & bright colors are my favorite part; they're partly inspirational but mostly just eye candy for me. The different colors and textures everywhere really appeal to my optic nerves. I didn't walk away with much tonight, a neat book on different fabric and furniture uses, an Ikea publication actually, and some storage items. Also, I took away many ideas for wedding centerpieces; I'm (foolishly) planning on making my own, non-identical decorated centerpieces, small plants will probably be involved, but I'm thinking of interesting/funky things I collect and compile according to a theme per table...I may have mentioned this in an earlier post, but I'm pretty tuckered right now and don't compelled to look back. After some research and more formal planning I'll go back and get the fun stuff for my reception's tables. I did snap a picture for my dad, though, since it had his name on it.

Very affordable...

This weekend was a great start to my summer vacation, though I still have some loose ends to tie up tomorrow and Monday. Let's hope it warms up a bit so that the weather can match my more relaxed attitude ;)
xoxo, natty ♥

We went back!

My dad and I, that is! we couldn't stay away from the yuumy food. The frigid weather we could have done without, but oh well. Clouds and June sun behind them, however, provide a beautiful type of lighting. As do Greek colored patio flags.

Here's someone when I woke up this morning, on clean laundry of course (that laundry might be on it's 3rd day of being fresh out of the dryer...might).

I'm kind of in the home stretch, grading wise, woo hoo! I'm also wondering if I could make June a 365 in 30 sort of month. A 365 blog is when the blogger commits to blogging once a day for a year, 365 days, hence the 365 blog. Now with a wedding coming up and the school year, I'm not quite sure I could muster up a 365, but a 30, as in all 30 days of June, I just might be able to handle. We shall see if I can continue past June, or even finish June (ha!). I'm leaving the country in July for a week so that might be the first roadblock between me and a 365, but crazier things have happened.
Nighty night!

xoxo, natty ♥

Greek...and it's pouring out.

Last night: we ate.

We ate lamb with lemon.

We ate pastitsio...kind of like a Greek lasagne/shepards pie mix...SO.GOOD.

We topped it off with loukoumades...heaven. You'll have to look them up HERE to know more.

We also tried on a faux-fur scarf/wrap.

Today: it rains. It's June 4th. Thanks for nothing, June, after all I wrote about you? All of those nice things I said of you?

Pay no attention to the children toys.

I finally let the cat in.

I'm about to dig into some more grading but wanted to get this up. I had wanted to last night, actually, but I'm also trying to limit screen time right before/in bed and I got home kind of late.
Alsoooooo, at the end of my run yesterday, as I was walking the last half block or so as cool down, I enjoyed a neighbor's sidewalk planter box. She's a brave woman since her sidewalk is like a teenage wasteland a path for students to and from their learning at the close-by high school and middle school. The fruits, er, veggies of her labor are developing quite nicely. Enjoy these and happy weekend!

Squash blossoms are ever-so-yummy fried up...it sounds weird, but trust me.

Artichoke!

More blossoms...

xoxo, natty ♥


PS Mike comes home in a week ♥

Pretty...

A student of mine gave me this beautiful necklace today. 

She wrote me a very sincere note to go along with it. Of all student things I've ever received, the notes speak to me the most and are very meaningful to me. This necklace was made by a woman in a community in India and my ever so wise student connected the strength and wisdom of this woman to little old me, an accolade of which I am undeserving, to say the least, but I put it on as soon as I opened it and felt the strength of the woman who made it, which is good enough for me. As I noticed it throughout the day, I was reminded of how I can so easily beat up on myself as a teacher and feel as though I'm not doing a good enough job. It's so easy for me to think that way, especially in the middle of a busy grading period or at the end of the school year when assignments and tests and quizzes pile up. I so often forget that I am strong and wise and that I shouldn't forget the confidence I know lurks within me.

I could write more and more eloquently, but it's late and we had baccalaureate mass and then hanging out afterward. I got through the hardest part of my grading today, but I'm nowhere near finished. I am, however, going to enjoy the Greek festival tomorrow night (despite the predicted thunderstorms for the next bazillion days...woe is I) , graduation on Saturday and some well deserved sleeping in...hopefully with some running thrown in here and there. I'm also still on my internet diet, though writing doesn't count, I decided today.


Buenas noches ☺
xoxo, natty ♥

PS
Lebron sucks! Beat the Heat! Go Dallas!

June 1st

Mid-week randoms:

The weather gods continue to frown upon us here in San Jo, but I am grateful that it's not extreme and my heart feels for all those who have been affected so harshly this spring.

My attempt at gardening this year...look at their growth in a bit over a week! Tomatoes & strawbabies ☺

I found a delightful new place to stuff my face get quick food, L & L Hawaiian BBQ! I'm able to experiment since my mr is out of town and he has some strong preferences, so this was a first for me. They even have the Dole whip fro-yo, but not the pineapple juice so it's not quite a float (I think you must know the tiki-tiki room at nirvana Disneyland to get that reference). Though it was a bit salty, my dinner was delicious and I felt nostalgic for the islands while waiting for my food since they had Hawaiian music playing.


I love June. I mentioned it HERE, last June, and I'll reiterate it, this is the best month. There's the most sunlight and school's out (for summer...forever...) and it should be warming up. Oh well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad. 

In an effort to really appreciate June, and July and August, for that matter, I'm thinking of a few things. On some random blog I read the author's thoughts on how June has always been a time of renewal for her rather than January. It made perfect sense, since for our formative years we are on a school schedule and when June rolls around, it is a time of change. The school year finishes, we are able to do things that we can't necessarily do on an academic schedule and there seems to be a bit more freedom all around.

As a teacher, I'm lucky since I've never not had this schedule. I always feel slightly energized thinking about how I can make next school year better and how I can start over again and not do the things that I wish I hadn't this school year. I love that sense of renewal but had never quite placed those feelings together with this time of year. 

In that vein, I can be a bit more deliberate about my "resolutions" this year, or rather, the things I want to do now that my life is more open than even just a week ago (although as I write this, my grading is still not quite over...). I'd like to be more available to life around me so I'm going to try to limit my internet time to an hour a day. I chose an hour arbitrarily. 

I'm using my phone stopwatch and so far today have clocked 37 minutes. This isn't necessarily one hour of screen time, so I can still write in a word processor and work stuff won't count, neither will serious wedding planning that involves a computer. Not-serious wedding planning would be the likes of trolling theknot.com looking at things I don't need to look at, serious would be looking at prices for our rentals, etc.. I've recently thought about how much time I can easily spend looking up various things or reading odds and ends articles and it's keeping me from what's around me. I still want to continue blogging, that's another thing that I'd like to commit to this summer, but blogging doesn't translate to useless internet time.


I also have wedding stuff up the wazoo to attend to. We're going down a somewhat do-it-yourself route which is great and feels cheaper and is definitely more personal, but time consuming for certain...though it is a labor of love ♥. Fabric bunting, invitations, centerpieces and more await me.


Reading is something else I need to attend to. Since living with mr m, I find I use my spare time to do things together with him rather than read. It's great since we get to be together, but I miss being absorbed in a book or even a magazine; and fyi, I lean heavily towards the fiction genre ☺.


There's more, plenty more, that I want to do this summer, but I only have 12 minutes and 10 seconds left to be online so I'll leave it as this: I want to savor these light filled months and enjoy my time together with my husband to be before we tie our knot...and sleep in a lot!


xoxo, natty ♥