kapachino

Category: around here

  • A Good Night’s Sleep

    Since I worked so late on Tuesday I didn’t get to sleep until many hours later than my usual bedtime. The consequence of such a circumstance is that I found myself reaching for my sleep mask when it started getting light in the morning, and didn’t wake up until around 11 a.m. Then I felt fuzzy around the edges all day long. That was yesterday.

    After getting a lot of nothing accomplished during the day, David and I went to church because we help lead the youth group. On our way home I was feeling a little sleepy again. David rolled his eyes and told me, “I feel bad for you when you get home after a 16-hour shift, but not after you slept in until 11 and had the whole day off.” I tried to explain to him how I thrive on routine and one whacked out sleep cycle ruins me for the next few days, but he wasn’t buying it. I figured I’d crawl in bed when I got home.

    But when I got home something of a second wind came upon me, which isn’t that surprising considering I had only been awake for ten hours. For one reason or another (mostly my schedule) David and I don’t get a lot of chances to just unwind and relax together in the evenings, so I decided to take advantage of this chance. I changed into my lounge pants (that I had only taken off a few hours earlier), settled myself on the couch near David, and we enjoyed a comfortable silence while he worked on his computer and I browsed on mine.

    After a little while he put on a movie. I wasn’t really interested in it, so I didn’t pay much attention. But after a short amount of time I noticed him nodding off out of the corner of my eye. I love it when I catch him falling asleep. I can tell the exact moment it happens by the change in his breathing. There is something so sweet and vulnerable about him during those times, and it makes me want to grab onto him and never let go.

    While I was thinking these thoughts a sudden little snore escaped him, and he immediately sat up straight, looked right at me, and smiled sheepishly. We both laughed, and my heart swelled with so much love that I thought it would burst. Then we put away our things, brushed our teeth, and crawled into bed, together, to fall asleep, together, a rare treat. I laid down next to him and he said, “Closer” and I moved closer. Cleo burrowed herself underneath the blankets and stretched out next to me on the other side, pushing me into him. We slept like that, the three of us, all night long.

  • Rainy Day

    Today has looked like this:

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    Hard to capture in a photo how grey and rainy it is, but it is.

    So I took off my running shoes and spent the morning reading blogs. Then I made some Christmas cards:

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    And when I finished with that I unabashedly read for a few hours, switching off chapters between these two books:

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    And spent some time cuddling with these girls:

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    And that’s about all the day was good for, which is okay by me.

    Tonight David and I are going over to Scott & Vanessa’s house (David’s brother and his wife) for the first of our dinner exchanges. We decided to formalize these since we had pretty much been doing it anyway. On Thursday they will come over and I’ll cook for the four of us.

    How was your Monday?

  • Random Lazy Day

    Yesterday was awesome. I got eleven hours of sleep and didn’t change out of my PJ’s until around 5:30 p.m. when I decided to get off my bum and go for a run.It was a perfect way to spend the first day of fall, especially considering the weather was cool and rainy.

    What did I do, you ask? Well, for starters I caught up on lots of blog reading. I coveted a professional design for my own, thought about and rejected paying for one, and instead placed this book on reserve at the library:

    186275 cover.indd

    I ventured further out into the blogging community by browsing the links of people I follow, and added lots of new subscriptions to my Google Reader. I also joined BlogHer, although I’m really not sure what to do with that now. I’m still finding my way around in 20sb, and I’ve sent out all these friend requests that haven’t been accepted yet and it’s making me all insecure. I feel like junior high all over again!

    Anyway, apart from blogging stuff I also did a tiny bit of online shopping. I took advantage of a coupon from Old Navy and ordered a few sweaters for fall. I may not be happy about the passing of summer, but I do love autumn clothing. I usually don’t go for Old Navy clothes because they don’t last, but I have a couple sweaters from there and they have held up rather well. This is what I picked up:

    greysweater

    greensweater

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    And this because I had to get my order over $100 for the coupon to take effect, and hopefully it will inspire me to take up yoga again:

    yogamat

    Another big part of my day was Dancing With The Stars. I watched the men dance DVR’ed in the morning, and the women dance live. I’m not going to be blogging about it regularly or anything, but here are my first impressions.

    Men

    My personal favorites: Mark Dacascos because of his personality and potential, and Louie Vito. Are not Louie and Chelsie adorable?

    mark-dacascos-and-lacey-schwimmer-Dancing-with-the-stars-season-9chelsie-hightower-and-louie-vito-dancing-with-the-stars-season-91

    I think that Aaron Carter is probably the best dancer, but I don’t really like him that much. Michael Irvin’s rivalry with Jerry Rice was pretty funny, but my husband tells me that the rivalry is quite one-sided; Michael Irvin is probably just jealous of Jerry Rice.

    Women

    My personal favorites: Natalie Coughlin and Melissa Joan Hart, probably because they both seem like sweet girl-next-door types that I can relate to. Natalie is gorgeous (I would LOVE to have legs like that) and has more potential than Melissa, though.

    natalie-coughlin-and-alec-mazo-dancing-with-the-stars-season-9melissa-joan-hart-mark-ballas-dancing-with-the-stars-season-9

    The judges sure seemed to like Joanna Krupa, which is fine because I like Derek Hough as a pro. Kelly Osbourne was also a nice surprise.

    Other than the above Very Important Things, I also scheduled an appointment to have my hair cut and colored, researched flights to Scotland to visit my good friend Megan, and did some chores.

    Thus ended my lazy day, and now I head off to work for a 12-hour shift. I’m rested and mentally prepared, knowing that I have tomorrow off again!

  • The End Of The Summer

    I’m gathering that most people are ready for summer to end. It’s been a hot one, it’s true. People are ready for cooler weather, sweaters and boots, school supplies, football, the leaves changing colors, the smell of autumn in the air, holidays, new TV shows, and the colors of fall.

    Some of those things have already arrived, but today autumn officially begins.

    I’m enjoying most of the things that come along with the new season, but I can’t help but mourn the passing of summer. It’s my favorite season. To me it’s nostalgia, warm nights, tank tops and sandals, barbecues, swimming, bright colors, road trips, fresh fruit, romance, fishing in the ocean with my husband, and everything green.

    This song by Dar Williams haunts me at this time of year, and I want to share it with you.

    Listen to that and tell me that you’re not a little bit sad about summer ending.

    Summer ends and we wonder who we are…

  • A Typical Mid-Week Day Off

    6:35 a.m. – David’s first alarm goes off. I nudge him, he presses snooze.

    6:44 a.m. – David’s first alarm goes off again. I nudge him, he presses snooze again.

    6:45 a.m. – David’s second alarm goes off. I nudge him, he presses snooze.

    6:49 a.m. – David’s third alarm goes off. I nudge him, he presses snooze.

    6:53 a.m. – David’s first alarm goes off again. I nudge him, he presses snooze again.

    6:54 a.m. – David’s second alarm goes off again. I nudge him, he presses snooze again.

    6:57 a.m. – David’s fourth alarm goes off. I nudge him, he presses snooze.

    6:58 a.m. – David’s third alarm goes off again. I nudge him, he presses snooze.

    …this goes on with five separate alarms, until…

    7:30 a.m. – I wake up to the sound of our dog Cleo vomiting at the foot of our bed. David decides to finally get up and get ready for work.

    7:45 a.m. – Brush my teeth, make David’s lunch, and see him out to his car.

    8:00 a.m. – Eat my breakfast of champions, Honey Bunches of Oats with skim milk, while perusing the Internet.

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    This is where the magic happens.

    9:01 a.m. – Leave to go on a bike ride. Listen to Kyla Roma’s mix tape #2, which is excellent. I think I’m doing pretty well on my bike until some old dude passes me. He does have some rockin’ calves though.

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    10:40 a.m. – Arrive home. Shower, shave, and generally groom myself. This is a necessity at this point.

    11:20 a.m. – Prepare for my errands by packaging some books and writing my grocery list.

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    That last item was REALLY hard to find.

    12:10 p.m. – Go to the post office to mail a few books for paperbackswap.com and bookmooch.com, and to the grocery store.

    1:30 p.m. – Pull into my garage and hear a sizzling sound followed by the engine of my truck steaming. Notice that my it is leaking some sort of fluid in large quantities. Call my husband, then my dad, decide to attempt driving it to the shop. Put the groceries away first, though.

    2:00 p.m. – Arrive at Starlite Auto, just barely. It was a bumpy ride. Mechanic tells me I should find a ride home because my truck will probably be there awhile.

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    I get nostalgic thinking that this may have been my last ride with Bubba.

    2:15 p.m. – My dad picks me up and takes me home. Thanks Dad!

    2:30 p.m. – Back to my previous plans. I begin cleaning the house like a madwoman. Declutter, do dishes, start laundry, sweep, vacuum, wipe and disinfect.

    4:40 p.m. – I make a sandwich and begin perusing the Internet once again.

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    A lightly toasted bagel, light mayo, honey mustard, slice of cheese, three slices of honey ham. Perfection.

    6:10 p.m. – My father-in-law brings me Chick-fil-a! Yes, I do eat it even though I have just eaten a sandwich a little over an hour ago. Oops.

    7:25 p.m. – David comes home and has a present for me!

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    I promptly realize that I have forgotten all the steps to solving it that I knew only a few days ago.

    7:30 p.m. – We go to my parents’ house to retrieve my truck. They picked it up from the shop for me before closing because they live right down the street. Turns out it was only a blown radiator hose and was fixed for a mere $65! So Bubba and I can continue tempting fate.

    7:50 p.m. – Back at home, I type some blog posts while David watches college football.

    9:30 p.m. – I shut down the computer, brush my teeth, pet the dogs, and climb into bed. David tucks me in. I will soon read a few pages before falling asleep. I reflect on the day: I exercised, cleaned the house, did my necessary errands, and dealt with a broken truck. I would have liked to walk the dogs and read more, but that’s okay. I feel rested and ready to tackle work in the morning. I’m calling today a success!