Counting My April Blessings

I've learned that I can't keep up with a weekly blog post, so let's try counting my blessings monthly!

• Between the book club for In the Sanctuary of Outcasts, dinner at Spice Brick Oven Kitchen with college friends, and lunch at Mykonos Taverna with old book club friends, I had a lot of great "girls only" time!
• I spent a lot of quality time with my husband as well with a week-long trip to Tennessee, no more overtime at work every night, and only one Sunday working from home.  I've also gotten him addicted to Castle in time for the season finale in May *evil grin*
• Unfortunately, we've learned that Dave's new office is not far enough away to be considered a "hardship," which means we will not be able to rent out the townhouse if it doesn't sell.  The bright side is that home improvements are coming along slowly but surely (and within budget), and our realtor is optimistic that we may be able to sell for more than our appraisal value.
• Less than a month left of work for me!  May 17th is my last day, and then I become full-time housewife with the mission of getting our house on the market and sold as quickly as possible.  After four years working at the same school, I'm ready to graduate!
• After too many months of procrastination, I took my "To Finish" bag of knits to our monthly PINS group and wove in the ends of almost a dozen projects.  Now to motivate myself to hand wash them all...

Counting My Blessings #7

Yes, I realize it's been three weeks since I last posted.  I have no better excuse than I am a slacker, but I'm still thankful for all the blessings so far this month!

• With all of the chaos up in Boston following the bombings at the marathon earlier this week, I'm praying that the extended families of my BIL Robert and soon-to-be BIL Paul up in Boston are okay and thanking God that my family is safe and sound
• A relaxing week of vacation at a Bed & Breakfast in Gatlinburg spoiled me with no work, no chores, and lots of together time with my husband!
• A Friday night out with the girls last week to catch up with friends I haven't seen in a while
• Continued progress on getting the house ready to sell--the ceiling fans have now been swapped out, there's an epic case of spackle spots throughout the house (still motivating myself to prime and paint), and the new kitchen faucet is in the mail
• A resurgence of my former band geek thanks to the band director where I work asking faculty and staff to volunteer to play for the encore song at the spring concert next week; I thought it would be a fun way to end my (almost) four years as Donor Relations Coordinator before we move this summer

 

Green Acres Middle School Charger Band

Counting My Blessings #6

• Our book-less book group met up for our monthly lunch date last weekend.  This month we tried a German place that had a brunch menu worth drooling over.
• I read the first book toward my Pride and Prejudice Bicentenary Challenge goal, Wickham's Diary.  Of course it wasn't a book on my original challenge list, but it's still progress.  Not the greatest P&P spin-off, IMHO.
• I finished two knitting projects this week--detailed post to come later.  Both were supposed to be Christmas presents, but there's always a birthday or next Christmas for finally gifting them!
• One of my co-workers who has been out on medical leave since December will be back part-time next week.  It will be good to have her back--I've missed our morning tea time!
• As March comes to a close, Dave and I can be grateful that we both survived his first quarter project at work that required him to work insanely long hours during the week and every other weekend.  Hopefully by the end of next quarter, we'll be selling our house and preparing to move near his new office!

Georgia Peach and Pecan French Toast...
with whipped cream in a gravy boat!

Counting My Blessings #5

• It's been a long week of obnoxious work hours for Dave, but I am thankful he has a job and his big project at work is almost over.
• Tuesday we were both able to get a day off together.  Our plans?  We slept in, then had a big lunch at Mimi's Cafe!
• We had a contractor look at some of the cracks in our ceiling upstairs to get an estimate, and he advised us to wait till an interested purchaser has an inspection done.  Then he can take care of everything on the "fix list" at once, and the cracks may not even be an issue!
• I sped through the book club choice for March, A Grown Up Kind of Pretty, in three days.  After book club on Wednesday night, I got to stock up on new books for the next few months: In the Sanctuary of Outcasts, The Magician's Assistant, and The Dovekeepers.
• I'm finally healthy enough to be getting back on the treadmill again.  While not the most thrilling thing in the world, I'm just happy to have the energy to work out again and take advantage of that outlet for stress relief.
  

Dave texted me this picture while we were both home on Tuesday...

Counting My Blessings #4

1. Last weekend was an Alpha Gamma Delta reunion for our Theta Delta chapter's 30th Anniversary.  It was a great to catch up, meet new sisters, and relive college memories.
2. Dave and I are done with our taxes, and we're getting refunds this year (which will probably go to pay moving costs)
3. My sister's fiance started a new job this week, and a good friend's husband starts his new job next week.  Both have been unsuccessfully job searching for months, so this is wonderful news!
4. Habemus Papam!  Pope Francis is the first Pope from our hemisphere and the first Jesuit to be Bishop of Rome.  I look forward to seeing how he guides and inspires the Church during his pontificate.
5. We finally know where we're moving this summer!  Now that Dave's job has decided where their office is going, hopefully they'll narrow down when we're moving so we know when to put the house on the market...

Counting My Blessings #3

1. Dad taught me how to install light fixtures all by myself without electrocuting myself nor burning down the house!
2. Our vacation to the Eight Gables Inn in Gatlinburg is booked, so now I have something to look forward to next month (besides my last day of work).
3. Wednesday morning, there were occasional snow flurries on the way to work.  It was such a peaceful feeling, like I was inside of a snow globe as I drove.
4. Last night, Dave and I had an impromptu dessert date to spend a little time together since his work hours are getting more insane closer to the end of their project.  We shared fried cheesecake at Buffalo's Cafe... nom nom nom!
5. In light of the current "Sede Vacante" in Rome, this AWESOME video taught me a few new things and made me giggle more than once:

Counting My Blessings #2

This week has been a little crazy, but it's helped to be counting my blessings throughout the week to try to narrow down what will make the cut for the blog!

1. Dave didn't have to work last weekend (yipee!) because we had a family birthday party to attend for two of our nieces.  It was great to see everyone on his side of the family and to watch the girls having fun with their cousins.
2. Sunday was a monthly lunch date of a few friends from a now defunct book group (apparently we're a foodie group now).  There's nothing quite like stuffing yourself full of garlic knots and then laughing till your stomach hurts.
3. My hair appointment this week was long overdue.  It feels so good to have the cute Diane Lane haircut again!
4. Last night I attended the Thursday night cross stitch group for the first time in a few weeks.  My rear end was numb after a couple hours in those not-so-comfortable IHOP chairs, but it was nice to work on my project again.
5. My best friend's little girl turns 3 years old today!  It's hard living on the opposite side of the country, but through Facebook and text pictures, I'm still able to watch her grow up.  Happy birthday, Faith!

Aimee tries to make herself comfortable before
our lunch at Provino's.