Zooing expedition - the shopping

I only do fun shopping

Paper beads. They're very light, so they make good earrings.

A couple children's records from Half Price Books

I bought three new puzzles at The Learning Store

Leeks, plums, a honeydew melon, asparagus and cheese at Brennans

Rooibos Jasmine and Blueberry Torte from Fava Tea

Taffy, havarti cheese, portabello mushroom, napoleons, croissants, two kinds of watermelon juice, lemonade pom tea and ingredients for my spring food - cream cheese and olives on baguette with POM.

Zooing

the only thing more hilariously awesome than mating season in the zoo aviary is viewing mating season in company with large numbers of curious, voluble small children. Also, the young red panda was out and very active and I took lots of pictures specifically for my sister, who likes red pandas. and I saw a chipmunk. I like chipmunks. oh, and also - Sossy the baby snow leopard is not dead. I saw his foot move.

Ukranian eggs puzzle finally finished!

I don't know how long I've had this puzzle, but quite a long time. I almost made it once and then took so long I had to put it away to do something else. Move maybe, I don't remember. I finally finished it this time though! And now it's done and I'm never doing it again - it goes on the pile of "puzzles I'm getting rid of somehow"

It wasn't, ultimately, a very good puzzle - the picture was blurry and so it was difficult to actually match up the eggs.

Last piece of furniture

Truly. I will need nothing more. I'm sure. This is a tall table that sits in front of the window, with light from the lamps by the shelves at the right. There's a tall chair too. I intend for it to be my puzzle/beading table as both things need fairly close attention. Or maybe I just need new glasses.

Miniatures

I went with some friends to the Three Blind Mice miniature show. I bought a small selection of garden items, meant to be added to the unfinished greenhouse/conservatory scene. I still want a sort of white, wrought-iron looking table and something to put on the walls, but I'm not sure what...

Puzzling continues

Still working on the Ukranian eggs puzzle. You can see some of the eggs forming!

Vacation

 I'm having a vacation. I have a ton of stuff to do and want to make sure I get it all done and I'm feeling vaguely obsessive, which I do at times, and I'm sure you are all fascinated to see what I do on my time off so....

Saturday March 28

Batman came home from work
to watch over my desk

• I got up at 11:30. I rarely sleep in, because my allergies don't like it, but it's nice every once in a while. And, fyi, I am not one of those insane people who get up at 5am in the morning. I get up at 7, which is a decent, normal hour, and occasionally 8 when I am working late. I got up at unearthly hours for most of my childhood and feel that I have Paid My Dues.
• Listening to Kerry Greenwood's Queen of the Flowers as I potter about. I've been re-listening to all her books over the past couple months and I'm a little more than halfway through, as you can tell because I went alphabetically...
• I have vast piles of books and movies awaiting me, and so I am rereading paranormal romances and watching Justice League cartoons. And perhaps some Peg + Cat. Because I can.
• I suppose I should get at least something done today...laundry I think. Just the sheets and blankets, because that I can't leave in a basket for another day since I only have one set...hauling them up and down the stairs will count for exercise, since I don't want to put on enough clothes to go outside for a walk...

Sunday March 29

• I got up way earlier this morning. At 10:30. Thinking about doing things....but mostly staring out the window and futzing around on the computer. Still listening to Queen of the Flowers...cleaning out my closet. I don't understand how, when I rarely if ever shop for clothes and everything fits in a couple baskets, I still end up with clothes I don't want/need/use. A little more puzzling...
• I read Nina Kiriki Hoffman's Thresholds, which I bought several years ago. I have to be in the right mood for Hoffman and I rarely review them because I love them so much. I can't be objective about her books, especially when they're very emotional for me sometimes. Sigh of happiness.
• I really did try to do some more laundry, but somebody else was using the machine...I left my baskets down there and will try again later. Trimmed and cleaned up the plants, mostly lots of amaryllis, in my bedroom, vacuumed, and dusted the bedroom. Carefully of course, so as not to disturb too many of the spiders. Finished cleaning out my closet.
• Read Meeting, the second book in Nina Kiriki Hoffman's Magic Next Door series. At least, I hope it's going to be a series - this second one came out in 2011 but Hoffman doesn't seem to have a really conventional publishing schedule and while the book doesn't exactly end on a cliffhanger, it leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
• Somehow I always seem to get sick when I'm on vacation. It's kind of depressing. Actually, I've been sick pretty much nonstop since January. I'm kind of depressed right now. But I started the laundry anyways, since I'd already hauled it down there. Pretty much spent the rest of the afternoon/evening doing laundry and feeling miserable.

Monday, March 30

• I got up even earlier at 9:30 this morning (see, what I'm doing there?) actually I was awake much earlier - my upstairs neighbor leaves between 6:45 and 7am every morning and is sort of my alarm clock. But I didn't feel like getting out of bed, even though I could hear my amaryllis complaining that they were missing the early morning light with the blinds down.
• Fiddled with some blog things, chatted on Facebook, added some things to my to do list, and finally got the day started by putting away the laundry I did yesterday that was on my drying rack and getting started on the laundry still waiting in the basement, including library laundry (paint aprons)
• Wrote reviews of Hamster Princess, Sprout Street Neighbors, Owl Diaries, Maybelle goes to school.
• Finished the laundry and Queen of the Flowers. Moving on to Raisins and Almonds and working on the difficult bits of the puzzle.
• Wrote reviews for Where triplets go trouble follows, Rescue on the Oregon Trail
• Bought socks from Sock Dreams. My summer wardrobe is now complete.
• Did a sinkful of dishes.
• Reviewed Ms. Rapscott's Girls, Mr. Pants Slacks Camera, Action
• Wrote letters. This sounds rather Victorian, but I do try to write to a couple people very month, and I send my mom and sister tea or something small each month. This was for March. Technically it's still March.
• Finished my puzzle.
• Had a sudden urge to clean the bathroom, but ran out of steam halfway through. Oh well.
• Wrote some more letters.

Tuesday, March 31

• Got up at 8am, so full circle there. Actually, I would rather have stayed asleep but I gave up and got up. As long as I was awake and miserable I decided to make all the phone calls I had been putting off. Adulting. Sometimes I hate it.
• I put away the finished bird puzzle - it will go into the donations at the library, puzzles we usually take to the nursing homes, and pulled out the Ukranian eggs one I never finished. At least, I don't recall ever actually finishing it, although there were a lot of finished bits in the box.
• Cleaning off the stacks of books and papers on my desk. Wrote a bunch of mini reviews on http://flyingoffmybookshelf.blogspot.com/
• Finished cleaning the bathroom
• Writing more letters
• Two reviews for No Flying No Tights (neither of which is the one that's majorly overdue, but that's a whole series and I have some books left to finish. I'm finding it hard to concentrate on reading manga when I feel sick)
• Paid my rent before I forgot. Not that I ever have, but I live in fear that I will. Which is totally illogical, b/c the landlord lives down the hall and doesn't care if we're a few days late but...
• Cleaned most of the papers and stuff off my desk.
• Finished listening to Raisins and Almonds and put away the last of the laundry.
• Read (well, skimmed) Above the Dreamless Dead and five books for my book club next week - Heidi Heckelbeck, National Geographic Chapters Best Friends Forever, Deadly by Nicola Davies and Titanic Lost and Found. Started listening to Ruddy Gore by Kerry Greenwood
• My friend came over and we hung out for a while.

Wednesday, April 1

• I got up at 7, realized I really, really, really did not want to be awake and went back to bed until 10, which is something I hardly ever do. Like, I can't remember the last time I did it.
• Great April Fool's joke - I was supposed to go to Chicago to the museum with my friend and I'm going to see a doctor this afternoon instead. At least we still went on an outing together...It's not really funny I guess. I have been sick for most of the past year and even worse the past three months with the "good" weeks shrinking into days and disappearing. I listed all the things I have stopped doing because I'm sick so often and realized I really can't live like this and my friends and family have gotten together in a "make Jennifer go to the doctor" coalition, so I'm going, really for true this time and even taking my friend with me so I don't chicken out.
• Meanwhile, in an effort to distract my mind, I got the Thrive Thursday post up, worked some more on my puzzle, listening to Ruddy Gore, finished the last of the dishes, and stared out the window a lot. The weather is actually really nice and I'd love to go for a walk, but I feel too sick.
• I read a big stack of picture book, finished watching Stella and Sam Bunny Hop, then watched Guardians of the Galaxy, the whole thing not skipping and it was hilarious and awesome and not angsty and emotional at all so they have finally made a superhero movie Just For ME. And went to bed. That was my day. Very Exciting.

Thursday, April 2

• I got up around 9ish and it's raining! I am so, so happy. I love the rain and I love lying in bed
  
  listening to the rain, and walking in the rain. Fooooog. Also, my bulbs are coming up fairly well. I mean, there are a LOT more down there, but if only a few come up I'm doing good.
• Processed all the books I read last night - added to LibraryThing, added to order lists, decided which were getting full reviews and added some others to http://flyingoffmybookshelf.blogspot.com/
• I went out for brunch with my friend, then went to the post office and the comics store. I got lots of comics...Lumberjanes, Princeless, Avengers Assemble, Batman '66, Princess Ugg, and I picked up the library's comics as well. We agreed to try our Chicago trip again tomorrow.
• Cleared off the to be reviewed stack on my desk - 15 books total.
• Took a break from reviews to go on a walk and write up a list post for Sunday. I like lists.

Friday, April 3

• We went on our delayed Chicago trip today. We left at 8:30am and my friend drove us to the train station while I read Curse of the Were-Wiener aloud. Then we took the train and I finished Were-Wiener and moved on to Princess Hamster. When we got to Chicago, we had lunch at French Market. I collected tea from Bello Teas and macarons and my friend got us croque monsieurs, lobster sandwiches, and roasted red peppers and pita. I already knew I don't like pita, but the roasted peppers were good. I tried lobster and it was not for me. Sadly, we discovered the macarons looked a lot yummier than they tasted, although the lemon and raspberry ones were ok.
• Then we took a taxi over to the Field Museum. My friend is in charge of taxis because they are not a thing I like ever. We went primarily to the Field Museum to see the fairy tale house, which we saw and it was amazing. We wandered around a little after that, but it was absolutely crammed with kids on spring break and I don't do well in massive, teeming crowds (especially if there is simulated thunder every five seconds...) so we didn't stay more than a couple hours. We walked around outside a little, but there isn't really much there to see besides the museum (or if there is we didn't find it) so we took a taxi back to the French Market. We bought chocolate, caramel popcorn and strawberry hibiscus tea (me) and fancy cheese (my friend) and then took the train back home, during which I finished Princess Hamster and started Case of the Toxic Mutants.
• Then we went and had chinese food at our favorite local restaurant and read SLJ.

Saturday, April 4

• I woke up at 4am wondering what the heck that incessant tapping was. When I finally actually got up at 8:30 I realized that it was the cord to my blinds...I forgot that it taps against the window when it's open! Yay spring!
• Projects for today - grocery shopping, purchase of pie for tomorrow (because I don't feel like making one), packaging of treats for staff who I left behind with mounds of work, vacuuming, and hopefully make progress on the puzzle as I am feeling quilting urges and don't want to put it away half-finished again.
• I went grocery shopping, purchased my pie, packaged treats, worked on my puzzle, took a walk, and did dishes. I made significant inroads on my overdue review - about halfway done.
• I also finished my nonfiction book for book club, various other reading and movies, and listening to Ruddy Gore. Now on to The Castlemaine Murders.
• I got my PSLF paperwork back and....I forgot to check a box. Or, rather, my director did and neither of us noticed. *headdesk* now I have to do it all over again...(if you know how long it took me to work myself up to filling this out it would sound more traumatic)

Sunday, April 5

• Last day off...I wandered around in the morning watching movies and then went over to a friend's house for lunch (hence the pie) and didn't leave until 4pm.
• Finished my long overdue no flying no tights review! Yay!
• And that was my week of vacation.