hoping the best for Florida today, seems like west coast is getting the worst. hang in there DW!! boy what a week, hurricane in TX, the earthquake in Mexico, the deferred action no longer deferred, and Florida today. yikes. I thought is was Spring that came roaring like a lion, not fall. I hope everyone had a nice 4 day week. last week, my 3rd of classes, seems to have a nice rythm going to each class already . This was my calm before the storm weekend with nothing to grade. I have a paper coming in from 2 classes tomorrow and then a paper from 3 classes on Thursday, so my goal of course is to get the Monday due papers graded and done before Thursday so I'll have only those over the weekend. we shall see. :P.
Personally I'm making some great changes this school year. Last week was my first full week of crossfit, M,W, and F. I was going to do thursday too but the instructor said it would be better to begin with 3 days a week. okay. I went swimming after work Thursday instead which was wonderful. and boy I've never slept better! whew. Another change is I've been fostering a stray cat all summer. found it under a bush as a little kitten from who knows where back in late April. I ignored it a few days hoping it would find its way back home, then I fed it some lunch meat a few days in a row, and then finally just bought some cat food. It was too afraid to go anyhwere near me, but it became hungry enough that it would have to come near to each and then I would touch it. little by little petting it while it ate etc etc. blah blah it came to trust me and I've had it all summer. My vet friend came over and shoved some de-worming med down its throat and rubbed some stuff on its back from a syringe for fleas. Last weekend she gave me a crate so I can take it to a local cheap clinic to have it neutered and shots done. She told me to get it microchipped also but that's where I draw the line since I hope to get rid of the cat and hopefully find someone to adopt it. Not sure how that will happen since it only trusts me to pet it and pick it up and such, but I figure if it's hungry enough it will get used to anyone else.
another good change is I logged out of my tumblr account a month ago and have no idea what my password is and haven't bothered signing back in. I made a decision this last summer to cut back on porn and adult video. It's been pretty great. I find myself more confident, at peace, and looking at people in the eye more. imagine that! there are plenty of religious reasons, but you can also find plenty of secular reasoning on youtube about how porn over hypes man's natural sex drive. I'm not saying I don't enjoy a few google image searches now and then, but overall. less distraction and more freedom woot woot! btw, the cat is a big distraction also is why I don't plan to keep it if possible.
Other changes? well all summer I've tried to get rid of stuff around the house. One big victory is I threw out a bunch of magazines. Outside magazine, Traveler, many gardening magazines. tons of other ones I've kept forever, but at some point when you live in a house for 15 years, it becomes apparent that, no, you're never going to go back and read any of them or share anything with anybody or need to go back and find any reference etc! ha. in the back room I had grocery sacks full of folded grocery sacks. threw those away too. alas! when I taught at public school, I'd always save grocery sacks and bring them to school to show kids how to cover there textbooks. We live in such a throw away society today that I don't even know if kids still cover textbooks. ha. I'm still working on getting things reduced though.
I've failed on one big goal for this year, it was bible verse memory. I'd planned it saying well after spring break, then well during this summer, and now summer is over. sigh. but I'll get to it. I've had some great encouragement personally from listening to a CD that my sister sent me while I was overseas in 2008. from a Men's Conference here in OKC. about 30 different workshops recorded on it that I've been listening to, now on the second round. whenever I'm in my truck. This semester I'm trying to focus more on work and give 100%. not leaving every day at 3 to make it to the gym has been very helpful. I sort of was coasting the last couple years doing the same ole things. This year I'm trying to shake it up and be more intentional. Being more intentional in anything you do is a good thing!
I'll also admit I listen to Michael Buckley's videos every now and then. ha he's a life coach and will go on and on about his followers problems etc. His big mantra and inspiration for people is: Thoughts create Feelings create Actions create Results. So it's intriguing how he tells people to change their thinking. Especially people who feel down or angry at someone or upset with their body/self. etc.. He stop saying "I'm a victim because" and move on! anyway ..
Another new hobby which I may have already mentioned on here is watching fish tank videos. I'm a follower of King of DIY, Rachel, Dustin's Fishtank. and Lr Bretz. They are fun to watch because they are people that love their hobby and love sharing their hobby.
I was going to go see Close Encounters of the THird King on the big screen this weekend, but yesterday night I decided I'd rather come home and relax than go out to the movies. I do have plans this Thursday to see a documentary about the screen writer of Blade Runner. and the at museum downtown is showing next weekend Solaris, the original Russian versioIn, not the George Clooney English one.
I stayed in Friday night after going by Taco Bell after cross fit. next Lowes for about 30 stackable pavers, then came home and messed around in the yard and then chilling inside watching aforementioned videos. Saturday was glorious and I was out early weeding some beds and digging up a new one. Had lunch with my mom and sister at the local pizza place, then walked around with them at a flew market nearby. Later I I drove over to see S and B.- then went by this cool store that they both have been on my back about going to shop at. ha. they keep telling me "you'll love it. Have you been yet?" etc... so I finally went to Blue Seven on north May and Grand! it's a great place. lots of hipster trendy wear including a denim room and a made in OK room. I found two Levi's long sleeve plaid shirts that I HAD to have of course, so they were right. I found somehting. alas! the thing is Levi's is a brand that had a great slim fit and goes down my wait narrowly and the sleeve are long enough etc. perfect size Large! yay! the best thing was there was some art on the back wall that I recognized immediately, the artist I've known since he was a baby, the nephew of a girl I "dated" during and after high school for a while. I also bought the ties below online this weekend. and I got some shoes in the mail that I blogged about. they are awesome!
Resting up indoors and cooling off just now. I was outside after lunch re setting the pavers where I made a retaining wall last night, but re did today with a level, and also with sand and pebbles underneath as a base and for drainage. this week I'll till in amendments into the soil before getting anything planted in the new bed. I was going to drop by an open house and see B (he's a realtor) but I was too hto and sweaty and couldn't cool down in time to dress and go over before 4. also it was kinda far. ha S went in to work today and invited me over for spaghetti with both of them later, but I have church at 6 and Betty counts on my to sit next to her. looking forward to seeing what I get back from students this week and how they've responded to my instruction. have a good week all!