Amy's Here!

I made it through work today. I even got down to the post office and shipped out 19 bags of coffee to help with the DIP!

Then I got sidetracked and never posted this post (which I started last Friday)!

Amy and her family are here visiting. Isaac and Hannah are super shy and don't seem to want to talk to me much, but that's okay. I can't wait to be off work and on break! I am so freaking exhausted!

On the plus side, I did some good testing and got some report writing done today. I also got a meeting done. Then I came home and folded laundry, and tidied the house. I also cooked dinner. Oh, and I figured out how to reinstall several of my favorite video games! Yay, me!

Still Sickly

Well, I'm still feeling sickly, which is absolutely no fun. I got some report writing done today, which was nice. I also went to Remington's IEP meeting. He's been acting out a lot at school, but it was really nice to see how they also saw all the positive things about him as well.

Recovering

I'm starting to recover from being sick. I'm still coughing, but the crazy sore throat has gone away, which is a huge plus!

Today, I got a lot of testing finished. I also got the presents for the Michigan relatives sent off, which is awesome! I picked up a few things at the grocery store, and I grabbed the new Lemoncello book from the library.

This evening, we watched The Santa Clause, which is my all time favorite Christmas movie!

Quick Recap

Today was absolutely insane at work! I did testing with a kid during 1st, 2nd, and Core/Choice. Then We had the earthquake drill, followed by a very long MDR meeting. Then I did more testing during 4th. I also did testing during 5th and 6th. In between, I finished the MDR paperwork and finished writing up a report - both of these also had to be translated into Spanish, which is a bit more time consuming.

Then it was home. I finished up dinner. Then Present-Teffie decided to be nice to Future-Teffie and clean the house. So, the house is nice and shiny now (although I still have to finish up the dinner dishes and hang some laundry up to dry).

So Far Behind

I am so far behind on my word count that it's not even funny! I'm feeling very overwhelmed and not at all sure where to go or what to do with my novel. So, I'm going to take it one step at a time. I am currently steeping myself a nice, hot cup of Castiel's Butt. I will write my words for today (1,667 words). Then I will pause and re-evaluate where I am at.

10:38am I finished my first 1,667 words. That means I am no further behind today than I was yesterday! Yay! I also spent 15 minutes cleaning the house. I started a load of laundry, and the laundry room is clean. I tidied up the kitchen (although the counters and floors still need to be tackled). I also picked up the soda cans that were lying around the house! Now I'm making myself another cup of tea (This Makes Me Very Happy), and then it's time for another 1,667 words.

Around noon I finished another 1.667 words, which takes care of yesterday's word count. Then Ari wanted to watch TV for a while. So, I started doing some meal prep and worked a little on cleaning the house.

I've definitely gotten more caught up. I've written over 7,000 words so far today. However, that means that I need to do over 6,700 words every day for the next four days if I want to make the 50,000 word goal. With work, that is highly unlikely. So, I need to pound out as many words as I can before going to sleep tonight.

I was hoping to get the house cleaned today, but that is looking distinctly unlikely thanks to my writing needs. Still, if I can get another 5,000 words today, that will be very helpful. I'd like another 10,000, but that just may not be possible.

Thanksgiving

Today was Thanksgiving. We went to my mom's for the day. She made her usual fabulous Thanksgiving dinner! We played a couple of games, and had some good conversations. Afterwards, we went home and I made a plan for what to do with the remaining time in this weekend. It's quite an ambitious plan, but I'm hopeful that I can get the entire thing taken care of!

Tracking

I started tracking my food intake today. I'm using one of the cool notebooks I got in the NaNo swap! Work was decent, although I didn't get everything done that I had been aiming for.

Now, I need to work on catching up some with my writing. I need to get at least 5,000 words written today. It's very easy to get distracted, though. I think for today i just want to focus on getting my 1,667 words written.

The Final Countdown

Last day of work before the four day weekend. I had some good meetings. I got work done. I'm ready for next week...after four days of relaxing, first!

Sorta Good, Sorta Not

Today was a mixed bag.

The Good
   My morning meeting when very smoothly.
   My afternoon meeting went very smoothly.
   I got some paperwork dealt with.

The Bad
   My kid I'm testing got moved two days early.
   I had to deal with Dr. DM.
   My right leg (knee and foot) are killing me.
   Remington's behavior seems to be getting worse.
   I am sooo behind in my paperwork at work.
   I feel nauseous.
   The house is a mess.
   I'm exhausted and don't feel like writing.

Productivity Rocks!

Last night, I created a to do list for today. There's honestly nothing unusual about that. I would estimate that I make a daily to do list at least 75% of the time. Now, actually completing said list is a whole other thing entirely. However, today I did it!

To start with, I went for a 2 mile walk and then got ready for work. I got dinner in the crockpot, and packed up my snacks and lunch. At work, I had a meeting, which I was prepared for and it went very smoothly. Next, I did the first chunk of paperwork that I had on my list, the one I absolutely had to finish. I then headed downtown to run a couple errands (pick up meds, drop off the rent check), and then do some testing. When I got back to the office, I ate and then worked on the next batch of paperwork. I got a good chunk done, and realized that I needed to do another test for this paperwork to be accurate. So, I scheduled that, while also shouting with joy because my new test kit had finally arrived! Yay! The last work thing I had to do was another meeting, and this one went very smoothly as well.

After arriving home, I got in another 2 mile walk (although Strava insisted that it was 1.9 miles when I went to upload the picture). Then I ran and picked Siera up from school. I got her some fast food to apologize because I was very late picking her up! We ate our food while watching an episode of Supernatural together.

I finished out the day by writing my words and tidying the house. I worked on birthday postcards and Christmas cards. I watched Dancing with the Stars. Then I got ready for bed.

Writing Day

Today has been deemed a writing day. Which means, of course, that my brain is coming up with all sorts of lovely ways to procrastinate. Such as, starting a blog post for the day! I'm really hoping to get some good work done today, but I do find just sitting and writing to be extremely difficult. Especially when the house is messy, dinner needs to be started, laundry needs to be done, etc... Not that I particularly enjoy doing those things, but when they need to be done I end up feeling a bit guilty that I'm writing instead of working on those things.

To start off my morning, I took a long relaxing bath. I used my last Guardian of the Forest bath bomb, and brought all my Lush products out to play! Then I dressed in warm, comfy clothes and made a cup of tea (forever nuts by DAVIDsTEA - which was sent to me by one of my NaNo partners, Judith, who lives in Ontario). It's currently sitting in front of me cooling. So, Now I am going to go and work on beating the Lambre I am battling on 4TheWords. 500 words will send this monster packing!

* * * And, I have beaten Lambre! I'm feeling the creative juices start to flow again, which is awesome! I'm currently battling Nochio. 300 words beats this monster, and hopefully gets me wood to craft another torch with. I need to find one more marionette if I'm going to complete that side quest, and I think it's hiding in the one place I haven't yet lit up with a torch!

* * * I beat Nochio and got the wood I needed. I crafted another torch, but only found another Lambre. There is a ladder I hadn't seen previously, and climbing down it leads to another part of the dungeon which requires another torch. I think that I need to battle another Lambre to get the items needed to create this next torch. I'm going to take a short break, first, though and tidy for about five minutes.

* * * Did five minutes working on the dishes in the kitchen. Then I defeated another Lambre. I got the wire I need, but I'm still short on wood. I'm going to battle another Nochio and see if that gets me the wood I need for that next torch.

* * * Another Nochio defeated, another torch crafted. I have found the final marionette, but it will take considerably more effort than any of the previous ones. The Wiwaz requires 1,667 words to defeat it. I can do this, but I definitely need to take a short break before attempting this one!

* * * Yay! The Wizwaz has been defeated! One quest has been completed! I really ought to go fight the big baddie, but I'm feeling like waiting on it and going for finishing up some of the smaller quests first. With that in mind, I'm going to start dinner, eat lunch, and then see about conquering a Lupo with 750 words!

* * * I ate a nice, healthy lunch (except for the NaNo candy bar from Judith). I made Ari her lunch as well. Then I started the chili for tonight's dinner and packaged the rest of the meat. I finished cleaning the kitchen (except for the floor). Now I'm going to conquer a Lupo!

* * * One Lupo conquered! Definitely took longer this time, though. I let myself get distracted a lot. I think it was primarily because my story started wandering off in an unanticipated direction. It's not totally off track, but it's still a bit not where I wanted it to be. Oh, well. It did this last year, too, and I ended up with a decent novel by the end of it all!

* * * I finished cleaning the kitchen and cleaned the laundry room. I started a load of Ari's laundry, and finished folding the laundry in the basket. Then I made a cup of DAVIDsTEA. This time, I made the buzz.

* * * Another Nochio was beaten. This tea smells earthier. It has something in it that makes my tongue feel a little numb. Not sure what it might be. Okay, the plan is to finish my tea, clean for 15 minutes, eat a bar of chocolate while reading Black Widow, and then tackle the Dark Magician and write 1800 words to beat him.

* * * I did everything I had planned. Then I started the Dark Magician battle. I took a break in the middle to bake the cornbread muffins for dinner, and another break to eat dinner of course. I was tempted to work on cleaning up the kitchen afterwards, but I know that's just my brain trying to procrastinate. Instead, I made a cup of the caramel shortbread tea from DAVIDsTEA and am now over halfway through the Dark Magician battle. Time to jump back into the fray.

* * * I finished battling the Dark Magician. I am now all caught up in terms of my word count. Now it's time to clean the kitchen, prep for tomorrow, and watch some TV with my sweet wife!

Oddly...She Should Sleep More

I started the day off strong. I got a lot of laundry done, and was powering through cleaning the house. I took a break to run a few errands, and when I returned my wife was up. I have now discovered that once she gets up, my brain takes that as a cue that it is time to stop working on things. I'm not sure if that's due to the lack of time I get to spend with her normally, or if it's because once she's up I can no longer surprise her with any additional progress. It's very odd, though.

Grinding Onwards

So, this weekend was Samara's wedding. It was a very lovely affair, and I met some very nice people. Today it was back to the grind. The construction crew was pounding on my wall for a good portion of the day. Then none of the kids I sent for showed up like they were supposed to! Hopefully, tomorrow goes more smoothly.

PSAT Schedule

Today was the day for the PSATs at work. That meant a very weird and different schedule. As a result, testing was a great big nope! Instead, I got a bunch of report writing done. I also chatted with Brandon about a student he had worked with in the past. It was nice getting to chat with him. Perhaps I can set up a day when me, him, Cece, and Aaron can get together for drinks or something!

Sore Legs and Insane Brain

Well, my legs are sore because I've earned two medals in the past week. On Thursday I earned the Eternal Glory 4 Miler and on Sunday I earned the Platform 9 3/4 K. Tomorrow, I am planning on earning the Adipose 5K medal. This is important, because I have another medal on its way here, and then two more coming at the beginning of next month.

My brain is going insane due to the sheer amount of work that I need to accomplish before the end of this month. I really think I might need to log some extra time in the office this week.

I also need to do some serious prep work for NaNoWriMo. I need to have my house super clean. I need to get caught up on the laundry. I need to finish the first draft of Matroyshka and finish revising Switched. Then I need to get caught up on all of my HEX classes and get some work done on my HOL classes as well. I also need to figure out what I'm doing about my NCSP certification. Finally, I need to plan out meals and snack for November, create a shopping list, and get as much prep done as possible. Oh, and I need to create a workout plan and a writing plan that I can stick to during November. Finally, I have to get things settled down at work. That is a definite must. Oh, and I still have like, 70 books checked out from the library that I need to read ASAP.

October 1, 2017

Well, today is going to be very busy. I have a lot of time intensive stuff on my to do list. I need to clean the house, do the laundry, prep dinners for the month, and bake breakfast cookies. Hopefully, I will have time to work on my own stuff as well.

I ended up getting the chicken marinades prepped, and a little bit of the laundry taken care of. I also got some reading done, and watched Kingsman again.

Day 4: 9/4/17

Today was a pretty typical day. I cleaned the house. I did some laundry. I also did some food prep for this week. I'm posting this early because Ari has to use the computer for an online orientation for her new Amazon job.

Day 3: 9/3/17

Today I worked on cleaning the house. I also enrolled in five classes at my Hogwarts website. I got to work on my Transfiguration homework. Ari and I also went shopping and managed to ensure that we will not be eating last month's leftover chicken this week! Woohoo!

Day 2: 9/2/17

I did a lot of errands today. I opened a new bank account. I got Siera's violin fixed. I picked up a couple books from the used book store. Then we headed out of town. Ari got new boots, and we stopped at Uncle Ike's to pick up some C-juice. Finally, we stopped at the mall for new bras for me, a tea infuser, and Lush stuff.

We kept having trouble with the truck overheating a refusing to start up again.

Day 1: 9/1/17

I went in to work today. I got some stuff wrapped up and set up a meeting for next week. The parent I came in for showed up around 10am and signed/filled in the paperwork I needed completed. 

After work, Mom picked me up and drove me home. I got myself and the kids ready, and then she picked us up again. We stopped off at the library so I could return some books and pick up some of the ones that Remington had placed on hold.

Then it was off to Lake Wilderness. Mom and I played several games before heading back home. Once at home, I watched some TV, read a book, and played a board game with Remington. 

I made dinner, but Oz was still hungry after eating. We ended up getting Jack in the Box, which scotched my diet plans for the day. Still, tomorrow is a new day with no more eating fast food!

BLI

Today was a relatively decent day. I got up around 5:30am. I managed to get the house cleaned up before leaving to go to the Boundless Learning Institute. Once there, I attended some very interesting lectures and workshops. At noon, my mom picked me up and drove me over to the high school.

Once there, I met a student and did some testing with them. We managed to get through all of the testing, which was awesome! Then I walked home.

The rest of the day I felt kind of sick, but I still managed to go to bed with the house looking pretty darn good!

Starters and Shopping

Today was a Saturday. This meant that Oz worked the morning shift at FedEx, but she had the evening off. I woke up at 8am, when Alexa set my alarm ringing. The morning was spent primarily getting ready and helping Oz change the starter in the truck (basically I handed her tools when she needed them)!

After that, we left to do our errands for the day. First, we stopped at a couple of car dealerships. We found the one we want to get our next car at. We need to save up a couple thousand dollars and then we can get the other half of the car financed. This place does in-house financing with 0% interest. It definitely sounds like the best option for us.

From there, we headed over to IKEA. Parking and lines were a nightmare as usual, but we had a quick lunch (we love their meatballs and they are reasonably priced), and we picked up some much needed silverware. Next was a quick stop at the mall to pick up some bath bombs from Lush. We also went to the Apple store and priced the cost of fixing the cracked screen on Oz's iPhone.

After the mall, we headed over to Winco. Grocery shopping was relatively quick and painless. Then a stop at Safeway to get soda and we headed back home. Tiana's boyfriend was there when we got back. They had been hanging out in the back yard, and Siera had been keeping an eye on them (with strict instructions to call me if they left the yard or if he came in the house).

Tiana's boyfriend immediately jumped up and hauled all of the groceries into the house for me. He stayed for a while, and Oz, Tiana, her boyfriend, and I played a few rounds of Spades. Then Oz drove the boyfriend home, and I did a bit of reading. Now it's off to bed!

Basically Recovered

So, I have basically recovered, both physically and in terms of housework.

Physically, I had an endoscopy on Monday. They put be under and shoved a camera down my throat, through my stomach, and into my upper intestines. Afterwards, I was very groggy and had quite the scratchy throat. Thankfully, that is entirely gone now!

In terms of housework, last week was Gishwhes. I tend to fall down on the housework during Gish week, and this year was no exception! So, I spent the last few days getting caught up in that area. I feel like it's back to normal, which is not perfect but is getting better!

Happy Birthday, Oz!

Today was Ozwynn's birthday. It was another scorching hot day, and I ended up not getting as much laundry done as I should have, simply because of the heat!

Later in the afternoon, we went out and paid the rent. Then we went out to dinner at Red Robin (yummy!). After that, it was a quick stop at WalMart, Winco, and Safeway to pick up groceries and a few other items.

We got a new water filter, which is amazing! Now I can stop buying bottled water!

Work and Reading

Today I went in to work and got some paperwork done in preparation for the start of the school year. I still have more to do, but I am hoping that I can get it all finished up quickly when I return on the 21st.

Then I ended up spending the remainder of the day finishing the Miss Peregrine series and reading a couple of other books.

Hot and Sweaty

Wednesday was a very hot day. The nice thing about the NW is that it cools off a lot each night, so mornings aren't too terrible. I got a lot of my housework done in the morning. Then the repair guy showed up and fixed Tiana and Siera's bedroom doors, the kitchen drawers, and replaced the toilet seat that had fallen off. After that, it was so hot I ended up taking a nap and then playing video games the rest of the day.

After dinner, Oz and I went to WalMart. I was able to pick up a few household items, plus I got a new tea kettle (nothing fancy, just a super basic one), a bulletin board and white board for my desk area, and some new cross stitch needles! We also picked up some ice cream because it was so hot. I got a box of peach/black tea juice bars, and I limited myself to only one when we got home!

NW Trek

So, yesterday was a pretty decent day. I woke up early and got most of my housework stuff done. Then my mom came by and picked up the girls and I. We went out to NW Trek for the day. We saw a lot of the animals. On the tram ride, we got to see a baby fawn and seven baby bison. Siera was over the moon! After that, we came home and the two younger kids went over to my mom's house to swim in their pool and eat hamburgers.

Food-wise, I did really good until after dinner. I ate a breakfast cookie in the morning. For lunch, I had a super-yummy salad with chicken on it, as well as an apple. Dinner was Thai Coconut chicken with some veg. The chicken marinade recipe was a hit, so I think I will be making that more often! After dinner, I ended up having some pickles and then ate a bowl of popcorn (although I did put on far less butter than I normally do).

Boring

Today was a pretty boring day. We went grocery shopping. I did some house cleaning. We watched Divergent.

MoPOP

Today was a good day. I got all the housework finished in the morning, and then my mom and I took the kids into Seattle. We had all three of my munchkins, plus their cousins who live in the area. We started by letting the kids play on the amazing playground that's at the Seattle Center. Then we went into the Museum of Pop Culture. The kids enjoyed the entire experience.

After the museum, the kids played on the playground for a bit more. Siera and I went back to the car so she could rest her injured leg. Then we went home.

Routine

Today was a pretty routine day. I went to work and got some more report writing done. I also played a few video games after I got home. That's pretty much it.

Reboot and Catch-up

Clearly, my initial attempt at 30 consecutive days of blogging did not go well. The reminder was a good idea, but it fell a bit flat when I was out of the house when it went off. So, for this reboot, I will begin by catching up with what transpired last week.

Autumn was originally scheduled to arrive on Monday morning, but bad weather in Chicago caused that to be pushed to Tuesday. Tiana and I had doctor's appointments in the morning, so Ozwynn went and picked her up alone. The day was spent hanging out at the house, as Ozwynn also had a doctor's appointment later that day.

Wednesday, we packed up the kids (and their friend Amber) and headed to Long Beach. Everyone played in the ocean and in the sand. When we started to get numb from the cold water, we headed in to town and walked up and down the little shopping area. Then we climbed back in the car and drove to Cape Disappointment. The intent was to visit the lighthouse, but the road was closed. It was very disappointing, which both Autumn and I found to be awesome!

After that, Ozwynn suggested we head down to Oregon since we were so close already. We went to Fort Stevens, and the kids were able to play on the old fort structures. Then it was time for a quick jaunt over to the Astoria Column. We climbed to the top of the column and were rewarded with a gorgeous view!

By now, everyone was very hungry, so we headed to the Twisted Fish Steakhouse in Seaside, OR. It's definitely a pricier restaurant, but the food was amazing! After dinner, we walked down to the beach and let the kids dip their feet in the ocean before heading back to the car and driving home.

Thursday was another stay at home day. I had a previously scheduled conference on high-functioning autism that my boss had already paid for. It was an excellent conference, and the speaker was very good.

Friday, we headed out to NW Trek. The original plan was to go there, then lunch, then the Point Defiance Zoo. However, the kids were a bit cranky and Remington had a meltdown at NW Trek. I actually ended up sitting in the car with him while everyone else finished looking at the animals. We did stop for lunch, but then we headed home. Later in the day, Autumn, Ozwynn, and I headed to the store and stopped for dinner at Mazatlan.

Saturday, we went in to Seattle. We started my going to MoPOP (the Museum of Pop Culture). Then we took the monorail to Pike Place Market. We ate lunch at the market and then browsed a few shops. We also went down to the waterfront. Although the market is huge, we didn't stay very long. Between the crowds and the noise, people were quickly getting overstimulated. So, we headed home again.

The kids then went to my parents' house to spend the night. The adults ate dinner at Jackson's and headed to WalMart to pick up a few things. On the way home, the car began acting weird and by the time we got home it was dead.

Sunday, Ozwynn, Autumn, and I took the pick-up truck and drove to Port Angeles to see Sam and Chris. We walked around the waterfront there, and then ate lunch at a yummy BBQ place. On the return drive home, we took the ferry from Bremerton to Seattle.

Monday, Autumn flew home. We also took the car in to the Kia dealership, because Ozwynn couldn't figure out exactly what was wrong with it. Turns out, there's a lot wrong with it. So, the car didn't get fixed, and now we're looking at the possibility of having only one car for a while.

Tuesday I stayed at home and worked on housework and laundry. I also did a lot of webcomic reading, and some video game playing.

Wednesday I started by finishing up cleaning my house. It's nice to have it tidy once again. Then I headed into work and got some more Educational Histories written up for the upcoming school year.

A Day of Many Adventures

Today, we headed out to take Autumn to the Pacific Ocean. Our first stop was Long Beach, WA. Everyone played in the water and sand.

Autumn Arrives

That's right! Our friend, Autumn, has arrived for a week long visit. Several doctor appointments also transpired.

A New Beginning

One of my DayZero goals is to write a blog post every day for 30 consecutive days. Past attempts at this have all fallen short, not because I dislike writing the posts, but mainly because I struggle with remembering to do it. This time I have told Siri to remind me to write a post every day.

Last week, we got our new iPhones. After struggling along for several months with 8GB Samsung On5 Notes where the OS took up most of those 8GB, we had finally had enough. We broke down and got the iPhone 7 (256GB). The difference is incredible, and I will never again venture from the Apple fold!

Autumn was supposed to be arriving today from Mississippi to spend a week here in the much-less humid lushness of Washington State! Unfortunately, her plane was cancelled due to lousy weather in Chicago (I swear, that city ruins everything...even when I live nowhere near it). She was able to get on another flight for tomorrow, but it's still a bummer.

I had originally planned on getting up at 4:30 this morning, but I accidentally set my alarm for 4:30pm instead of 4:30am. In an interesting twist, I woke up naturally at 5:15am, which is still much earlier than usual for me. That was when I found out that Autumn's flight had been cancelled. Instead of going back to bed, I got up and put on my running gear. Then I went out and did Week 1 Day 1 of my Zombies!5K app. I pushed myself, even though it hurt (the good, sore kind of hurt)!

After that, I got myself ready for the day and got Remington off to school. Then I went with Ozwynn to her therapy appointment. That went very well, but by the time we returned home I was exhausted. I think the long car ride helped lull me to sleep. I tried to stay up and active, but I could not keep my eyes open. I ended up taking a 4 hour nap instead.

When I did get up, I ended up doing a half hour of gaming alternated with 15 minutes of cleaning for the rest of the day. I felt productive without being too overwhelmed.

Welcome!

Welcome, to my new blog! This is mostly going to be a running diary, but I may throw in the occasional review as well.

Today was a good day. We had a staff meeting at work in the morning. Then I got the info I need to start dealing with the paperwork for a suspension. Around 9am, I started working with a student. We did a ton of testing and finished up about 12:30pm. Then it was a little more paperwork before heading home.

Home was pretty typical. Went for a walk. Watched a few episodes of The Big Bang Theory. Cleaned the house. While I was sweeping the kitchen floor, Remington came in, took the broom from me, and finished sweeping. That was definitely cool!