Spring Break

This week has been my first spring break vacation since I was a kid. It feels wonderful to have so much time off around every major holiday. Once school starts back on Monday we have exactly 8 weeks left in this school year, and then I'm off for the entire summer! Not only that, but I will have finished my first year at this job. I'll be signing my contract for next year sometime in May. It's crazy how time flies!

It's been a really productive week at home. Since we owe a big tax bill mid-month, we're being thrifty and trying to avoid too much unnecessary spending until it's paid. I purposely avoided doing anything that would cost money during my break, and chose to concentrate on spring cleaning and various household chores. Gregg was off on Easter Sunday and the next day, and we got the biggest chore done that had been weighing on our minds for months--changing three of our aquariums and switching the fish in some of them. It was a huge task that involved two 120 gallon tanks, one 90 gallon tank, a 40 gallon tank, and probably 100 pounds of (former) live rock for aquascaping. Our African cichlids, dozens of small bristle nose catfish, and a large blood parrot cichlid all had to be moved lock, stock and barrel. Fortunately, Gregg is an expert and it all went smoothly, it just took a lot of time. The newly set up tanks look great and the fish have all adjusted beautifully--and it's such a relief to have it done!

When Gregg went back to work on Tuesday I spent several hours each day for the rest of the week doing house cleaning and chores that I normally don't get to. I cleaned and organized the kitchen cabinets and shelves as well as some of the bedroom dresser drawers and one closet. I brought out a step stool one day and cleaned ceiling fan blades, windows, and anything else that's normally out of reach. I repaired (glued) three broken tiles in the main shower, dragged Marco's cage outside to give it a really good pressure wash/cleaning, and replaced the blinds beside his cage that he had chewed on and ruined. I mopped and vacuumed and did some badly needed shopping trips.

There are still a couple of small chores I'd like to do today and tomorrow, but for the most part, I'm done. This afternoon and tomorrow are it for my break and I want to relax some, too. I have been reading two new books this week, one because it's a book club selection for this month and the other because it looked interesting to me:

It's been crazy reading both at the same time: one is set in ancient Rome, the other in a future dystopian post-apocalyptic America. How's that for a contrast?

In other news, I found a house on the local real estate websites that stole my heart. We're looking to buy a house later this year if we can find the right one, and this one is so close: a big wraparound porch, large rooms with original hardwood floors from the 1930's when it was built, two fireplaces, large bedrooms one of which opens up onto a second floor balcony overlooking the backyard...and speaking of the backyard, it's almost a half acre lot with a privacy fence surrounding it. I love it, and when I showed it to Gregg, he loved it. He said, "I wish we could move in tomorrow." But then he pointed out two or three reasons why it would be impractical for us, despite being reasonably affordable. And he's right...there are two key problems with the house and there's no getting around it. But still. It's the first house I've gotten really excited about after looking at hundreds and hundreds of listings. I wish we could schedule a viewing and have a look at it, but I'm afraid I'll like it even more if I see it in person. It's probably best forgotten.

That's been my spring break...a lot of cleaning, daydreaming about a home of my own soon, and two books to carry me away. Not bad...not bad at all!

What have you been up to this week?