I made it to the weekend! What a rough week. I hope I never develop another ear infection; it's been really awful, but it's finally starting to improve. This morning when Gregg left for work, I went back to bed and slept an additional three hours. I guess I needed the extra rest.
All of my plants survived the cold snap quite well. I covered everything with old towels, plastic, and large, overturned plastic pots. It looked weird but it seemed to do the trick. I may have to re-cover everything tonight and tomorrow night, but according to the long range forecast I should be good after that (at least for another week).
Yes, it all looked funny, but it got the job done!
In other news, I did our taxes today. That's a chore I dread every year, but it wasn't too bad. It only took about 3 hours and now that's off my mind for another year. We're getting a decent little refund back, due to the fact I have extra taken out of each paycheck to cover all Gregg's self employment income from his aquarium gigs. Better to have too much taken and get a refund than have a nasty surprise (a big tax bill) at tax time. About half of the refund will go to some house repairs we've been needing to do, and the rest will go into savings.
My birthday is coming up next week! I'm planning to have Marla and Martina over on Saturday to help me celebrate. Gregg will get off work early, and Marla's husband will probably stop by with their little girl for a while. I'd love to invite Martina's husband, Will, but he works on Saturday evenings. There will be food, cake, and drinks. I'm excited for all that because I'm still staying faithful to my diet. I've lost 19 pounds since the beginning of January! A day to treat myself (and see my friends!) will be a nice break for my birthday! One of my gifts to myself this year is a new pair of walking shoes. My old ones are worn out, and a nice new pair should help inspire me to walk further and more often. I hope so.
The school year is winding down. When I go back to work on Monday, we'll be in our final quarter of this year. I can't believe we're only 9-10 weeks away from being done. And there's a week of spring break in there that doesn't count (at Easter). On Friday we had a professional development day in the district, so students had the day off. Besides one hour long virtual training session for clerical staff at 8am, I had the rest of the day to catch up on work before getting off a half hour earlier than usual. The teachers were in the library all day listening to presentations be our principal's mentor. And speaking of our principal: she announced to the teachers on Friday morning that she's been diagnosed with breast cancer. She said she begins treatment next week. I have no idea what this means for our school for the remainder of this year.
It's always something, this year. Thank goodness it will be over at the end of May!
Enjoy your birthday in a big way! 19 pounds is impressive, good for you.
ReplyDeleteThank you Joanne.
DeleteHoly cow, your school is one drama unfolding after another. I am glad that your ear is better. Happy Birthday, Jennifer.
ReplyDelete"One drama unfolding after another" pretty much sums it up! Thanks Debby.
DeleteA big congrats on the weight loss!!! Less baggage is always good. And another congrats on the Tax Refund. I"ve always had extra taken out, it's better to save it with the government then to spend it on something frivolous.
ReplyDeleteThanks Dave. I really don't FEEL like I've lost that much weight, but so says the scale. I remember in my 20's when I got down to my lowest ever adult weight (and went running every morning which blows my mind now!) I still felt like a fat kid no matter what the mirror and the scale showed me. Maybe it's that way for everyone who spends most of their life overweight?
DeleteBravo, well done on all accounts - ear infection getting better, survival of your garden plants, getting your tax done and the refund, 19 pounds less, new walking shoes and your plans for next Saturday!
ReplyDeleteMy own birthday plans are for Saturday, too, as mid-week is just too much for me right now as well as for my guests. I'll keep it low key and small, too, with just a group of six of us going for a meal at the nearby Italian restaurant (Mum can walk there, so nobody needs a lift or has to drink soft drinks only).
My birthday present to myself is a new computer. The old one is 15+ years old, and it shows... Also, the OS can not be upgraded anymore, which means I can not play my favourite games any longer. Today (Sunday), I am going to backup data on the old one and maybe start setting up the new one - it's been sitting in its unopened box in my bedroom for a few days already.
PS: You could re-use the covers for Halloween decorations in your garden, painting ghostly faces on them :-D
DeleteI wish we could have some Harry Potter flue powder and combine our birthday parties into one big one! Wouldn't that be fun! Congrats on the new computer. That's an excellent birthday present!
DeleteTat (19) is a lot of pounds! Enjoy your birthday celebration. So glad the ear pain is easing.
ReplyDeleteThe ear pain is still with me a little bit, but it's SO much better and I'm grateful. Thank you Mitchell!
DeleteWow! Jennifer! You should be so proud of yourself!
ReplyDeleteAnd you saved your tomatoes.
I, too, wonder what your principal's diagnosis will mean for your school.
Happy almost birthday! I am so glad you were born.
I still have quite a bit of weight to lose, so even though I'm happy with the pounds I've lost, I can't help but worry that I'm going to screw up and ruin it all. I'm hoping to lose 60 pounds total. We'll see.
DeleteThe principal...I just don't know what to think. Cancer treatment is hard. She may have to go out on FMLA, although some people manage to work while undergoing cancer treatment.
Thank you for the birthday wish!
!9 pounds- that's a huge achievement. Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteYou reminded me that our family needs to get going on our taxes. Even though we have someone do the calculating for us, I'm the one who has to remind everyone to download T4s, etc. It's a headache.
Your garden's going to thrive after all your nurturing. My garden remains buried under a thick layer of snow. I'm so eager for signs of spring.
I'm sorry you still have snow! But take heart--spring is working its way up to you! It won't be long now.
DeleteYou are doing a great job of taking care of yourself and your garden. Glad the ear is improving. I am sorry to hear about your principal and hope her treatments go smoothly.
ReplyDeleteIt will be great to celebrate you as you are such a terrific, hard-working, friendly, thoughtful, caring person, Jennifer! Wishing you the very best in the coming year...
So glad to hear your ear pain is on the way out! I have a bunch of old bed sheets that I keep specifically for early frosts in September to cover things like tomato plants. -Jenn
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine days and days of earache. Thank heaven the end is in sight.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of in sight- I'd loved to have seen your yard, but I'm sure your plants thank you.
It's great to get those taxes done. And I love professional development days when the support staff get to just catch up on work! Happy upcoming birthday!
ReplyDeleteHaving lived in the midwest I smiled instantly recognizing those wrap around garden tricks.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear of your ear infection. I hope this finds you on the mend. There's never a dull moment in a school, that's for sure. Congratulations on the weight loss and Happy Birthday!
ReplyDeleteI am glad to hear that you are over the worst of the earache. I had almost forgotten that you share your birthday with my wife and Meike in Ludwigsburg shares her birthday with my late brother Simon (22nd). Too many Aries folk for my liking! Libra is the best star sign.
ReplyDelete