So, during my Birthday Week Scotty has been away on test. It is coincidentally my last week of summer break, which means I have run out of things to do. Rather than sit on my duff all day long and likely bring out the box of wine too early, I decided to go visit the family. I went home on Monday and just returned this morning (Thursday). I had such a great time, as I always do, when I go home. My mom is great because although she works from home, she made sure that she took time each day to entertain me. She was the wise one that told me that even though I am home during the summer, I need to make a point to leave the house at least once each day. Boy was she right! The days that I didn’t have an errand to run were long and endless days. So, while I was in Yorba Linda visiting we went and got some goodies at Celebrations (our favorite ‘Hallmark’ type store). Mom bought me my new favorite Lolita glass (surely to be pictured on an upcoming blog). We also got one of the best pedicures I have ever received. Please, I understand my toes are long and my feet are thrashed, but the point of the pic was to see my fabulous polish job! When I get a pedicure I don’t believe in getting the standard red or pink, I like to go a little crazy. This time called for yellow- a good end-to-the-summer color! Last night we went to our favorite family restaurant, The Ranch Enchilada. Just like I remember, great burritos and great chips and salsa- does anything else matter?! This morning I headed home with two very tired pugs and finished up my Masters project. I ended up fixing everything to perfection and headed for the print shop around noon. I originally thought that I shouldn’t look through the project once it was printed because I might find something that was not just right, but I decided to just check my graphs. Everything turned out GREAT! I then went home to a clean house (thanks Elodia!) and sleeping pugs. Today was a quiet day, but quite productive.

So, I go back to work tomorrow accomplishing my most important goal of the summer: finishing my project. While I didn’t finish every goal, I can proudly say that I did all of the important things and I’m SO thankful that I have a supporting husband who didn’t once get resentful for getting up each morning to go to work while I got to stay home. I couldn’t have done it without his support. Well, I could have done it, but maybe now with a sweet smile on my face!

Moral of the Blog- I’ll miss you summer, but thanks for the rejuvenation!!

-Tiff
P.S. Scotty has some great stories from his test, so stay tuned for some good video and great commentary (by yours truly!).

Every woman knows that the week preceding her birthday is considered her Birthday Week. Funny thing, my husband woke me up this morning and said Happy Birthday Week, Babe! Yes, love him! So let me tell you how we celebrated the first of seven days celebrating my birth. This morning Scotty IMed (instant messaged) me asking me what time I would be home from my movie date with mom-in-law (we saw The Time Traveler’s Wife, which was…different). He then tells me that he is coming home early and to plan something great, something that I would want to do…. he said to take advantage of it because it won’t happen often. I told him that it was short notice and I was heading to a movie and had no time to plan. So I go to the movie, head home, and call Scotty to tell him that we are probably home bound as I have not made any fun plans. He tells me he has planned the afternoon/date night and to be ready to go when he gets home. Awesome, I love surprises!!! He gets home around 2:30, we gather our things and head out the door- Not knowing where I am going, I am just excited to go play. Well, we head for the train station, which means all kinds of fun! We end up taking the train to Old Town of San Diego, which we have been to before. We get there around 3:45 and head out to explore. We end up stumbling upon a Haunted Museum- The Whaley House. I had a great experience and Scotty was, well, supportive! We then headed to one of our favorite Mexican food restaurants- Fred’s. We had some margaritas and great food and then headed home. On our way home we decided to stop in Solana Beach to stop at a random place for a cocktail. We stopped in at TideWater and had a quick drink and now we getting ready to end the night watching our new favorite show- Dexter. What a husband I snagged!!!

Moral of the Blog- Happy Birthday Week to Me

-Tiff

I can’t believe I am admitting to this, but I had a great experience at Wal-Mart today. No, not Wal-Mart, but Super Wal-Mart! I heard a radio commercial saying that families can save up to $3,400 a year if they shop at Wal-Mart. I thought, hey, it’s summer, we’re broke let’s give it a try. I have been in the regular Wal-Mart close by and hated my experience- in fact, I vowed never to return. The store is unorganized, kids screaming every where, no room to maneuver the isles, and constant risk of running into students. No good! This Wal-Mart was amazing though! It was so big and had its very own grocery store. And the radio commercial was right, I can save money!! I was able to get Target-like items and grocery items in one stop. I still can’t believe that I love Wal-Mart, but I sense that this is the budding of a beautiful relationship.

Moral of the Blog- Being a snob is expensive!

Yesterday morning began as any other had this summer. On this day, however, we decided to go for a run. We were all into running for a while so our routine was concrete. Well, we have not been on our game lately and took a few weeks off running consistently. So we ran and came home around 6:00. I made Scotty’s breakfast and headed for the shower because I had an appointment to get some moles removed. I leisurely head out the door and arrive at my appointment about 15 minutes early. Since the procedure was a little more painful than expected I treated myself to El Pollo Loco for lunch- yum! I walk in the door salivating for my burrito and smell a weird stench. I approach the top of the staircase and see some poopy on the floor. Not a big deal, but I thought to myself ‘who didn’t poop this morning?’ You know who didn’t poop- BOTH Jinx and Kooper because I NEVER took them out! I guess by 1:00 they had had enough and couldn’t hold it in any longer. I immediately apologized and run them for the door- I even threw my burrito on the counter risking my much anticipated lunch! Kooper immediately squats for what felt like a 5 minute release. Jinx on the other hand didn’t pee until the final few bushes. I immediately know what this means- she peed in the house. Of course she chose to use the carpet while Kooper chose to poop on the hardwood floor- do I deserve this experience to be an easy one? No, and I own that!

Moral of the Blog- It’s not time to have kids!

Tiff

Well the days of summer seem to be winding down, which is met with mixed feelings for me. I go back to work one week from this Friday. Why we are starting on a Friday is a question mark for me and probably every other teacher, but oh well! It’s only Monday and I am starting to think that it just might be time to go back to work. This is good, I think. It’s better to be ready to go back than to go back kicking and screaming. I have been fortunate enough to have had the past two months to work on my schooling with little to no interruptions. It turns out that I am not as done with school as I thought/planned for. Why can’t universities be more straight forward? It seems like when you see the light at the end of the tunnel something else comes up to block your view! It appears that I have two more classes that I could be in right now but didn’t realize I needed to take them until it was too late to enroll for the current class. So… I have a month off.
There is always unforeseen things in life, so as we have to do, we just deal with it!

Moral of the Blog- Enjoy the final days of summer (or any vacation days) because you just never know the next time you will have free time to be bored! And with the economy the way it is, unless you are a teacher you DON’T want time off (because it means you have no job)!!