Summer Vacation Positivity!

So last time (a long, long time ago) I said I wasn't feeling like doing this. After that one, I stopped for a long time. I've actually been doing pretty well overall, and a lot of good things have happened, so I felt like celebrating that today. I am in the middle of a period of two weeks off, going back to work in a week (to a new awesome job!)

I am proud of:

• getting the job I really wanted!
• taking on a challenge at work and conquering it.
• making progress with moving into a new house.
• moving on from something that really wasn't doing me any good anymore, although it was bittersweet to actually say goodbye.
• keeping up with the dishes at the new place (always a challenge for me!)

I enjoyed:

• starting to live at the new place (a very nice house).
• making devious plots in a game I play with awesome people (our favorite plot will go into action today and I'm excited about it!)
• being silly with my boyfriend.
• trips and visits with boyfriend and/or family.
• re-reading The Hobbit in anticipation of the movie version.

I love:

• bookshelves.
• my boyfriend.
• my kitty.
• biiiiig windows. :D
• cool people.

Take care, all. :)

Weekend Positivity

I don't really feel like doing this lately. I'm not sure why. I'm not cured of negativity yet, so I should probably keep at it... =P

Part of the problem is that I got home very late last Sunday and didn't want to do it, and then was very busy through the week and didn't want to do it, and now that I broke my streak I have been tempted to use that as an excuse to stop for a while. But I shan't.

I am proud of:

• keeping up with the dishes.
• still keeping up with emails.
• writing exams I'm proud of, if a little too close to the deadline for comfort.
• grading said exams extremely quickly.
• taking initiative to do a couple of things I have been putting off.

I enjoyed:

• time spent with (and sometimes adjacent to) my boyfriend.
• cuddling with the cat.
• watching silly tv shows.
• playing on my phone.
• talking to friends.

I love:

• my boyfriend.
• online shopping.
• language.
• my cat.
• comfy things like pillows and beds.

Take care, all. :)

Weekend Positivity

I am actually starting this on Sunday night, as planned. I am already impressed, you should be too. =P


**Not finished until a few hours into Monday, but hey, still before I went to bed.

I am proud of:

• keeping up with the dishes, even through baking adventures.
• keeping up with emails again (it's more difficult than it sounds, and important).
• beginning a "go through my crap and get rid of stuff" project.
• making a pretty apple pie people enjoyed.
• 79 days free of that negative influence I mentioned quitting a while back.

I enjoyed:

• making apple pie.
• time with adorable kids.
• time with my favorite person.
• having Friday off.
• playing Words with Friends.

I love:

• my boyfriend.
• my kitty.
• my new giant whiteboard compass.
• teaching.
• chocolate.

Take care, all. :)

Holiday Weekend Positivity

Yes, this is Tuesday, but as far as I'm concerned it's late Monday night, and I had Monday off so it's still the weekend. So there!

I am proud of:

• keeping up with dishes relatively well.
• making it through a first week of classes intact.
• keeping up with emails so far.
• adding things to my task list to keep myself on track with everything I need to do.
• sticking with a "no kisses" policy that seems to have kept me from getting my boyfriend's illness, although it's been very difficult.

I enjoyed:

• watching tv and cuddling.
• having four days off.
• finishing the main quest in Skyrim (bittersweet though).
• receiving a new GREEN chair in the mail.
• making and eating brownies.

I love:

• my boyfriend.
• chocolate.
• days off.
• my cat, even with her tendency to snuggle when she's done something bad.
• my awesome electric kettle, and tea.

Take care, all. :)

Weekend Positivity

I missed two weeks this time. One of them was xmas so I can hardly be blamed for that, and the other I was far away from home visiting family, so I didn't really feel like posting. I won't feel guilty about it, as long as it doesn't keep me from getting back into the habit...so back to it now!

I am proud of:

• exercising.
• doing laundry.
• cleaning out my closet of things I don't wear.
• staying relatively calm when I almost wrecked my second cheesecake, and asking for help.
• keeping up with the dishes.

I enjoyed:

• time with family.
• wii.
• finishing Night Watch. <3
• listening to my new car stereo on my loooong car trips.
• making a cheesecake with a candy cane on it:

I love:

• my new electric kettle.
• my boyfriend.
• my cat.
• my bed.
• being home, the place where all those other wonderful things I love are conveniently gathered!

Take care, all! :)

Post-Weekend Positivity

I have learned that when I accidentally delete the "Weekend Blog" entry from my task list, I forget to do it. The extreme busyness may have had something to do with it, too.

I am proud of:

• keeping up with the dishes again.
• getting my finals graded by Sunday afternoon, when grades weren't due until Tuesday night.
• getting all my grades wrapped up Monday, a day early.
• enjoying a somewhat awkward (well, everything is awkward for me) social situation.
• putting off Skyrim until everything necessary was done.

I enjoyed:

• getting thank-yous from students. :)
• playing silly games.
• xmas shopping for little things from Lush (eagerly awaiting their delivery now!).
• sleeeeeeeeeep.
• baking a cheesecake with a santa hat on it:

I love:

• my boyfriend.
• sharing things I bake with people.
• hugs.
• my cat.
• vacation!

Take care, all, and have a great holiday time (or mundane-but-awesome week if you don't celebrate anything nowish)! :)

Post-Weekend Positivity

I am a day late. This past week has been ramping up pretty dramatically into finals week. This coming week (up through next Tuesday) will be ridiculously busy with grading, and then I will get some time off.

I am proud of:

• finishing the online course (with 100%)!
• keeping my room pretty clean.
• keeping up with the dishes.
• expressing myself during a fight and ending it productively.
• planning out my class time effectively to cover remaining material (done now).

I enjoyed:

• playing Skyrim.
• seeing students' finished projects, many of which are quite cool.
• sleeping quite a lot (I have been ill, so it was good for me).
• talking to friends.
• being silly at home.

I love:

• my boyfriend.
• brownies.
• my cat.
• bed.
• Elder Scrolls III-V.

Take care, all. :)

Weekend Positivity

This week was pretty normal. Not much to say about it, really. I am still not sure if blogging positives has ultimately helped me, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

I am proud of:

• doing all the online course stuff super early this week.
• cleaning my room today before playing a game.
• keeping up with the dishes.
• maintaining my distance from the aforementioned negative influence.
• asking for things I wanted (and getting them, huzzah).

I enjoyed:

• covering some fun material in class.
• playing a silly game and a not-so-silly game.
• having a fairly clean apartment.
• playing with my cat.
• sharing ridiculous in-jokes.

I love:

• my boyfriend.
• brownies.
• my cat.
• comfy soft surfaces.
• hugs.

Take care, all. :)

Weekend Positivity

Absurdly busy in a different way this time...I only worked one day this week but there was a ton of stuff to do anyway, between grading, cleaning, and Thanksgiving. I am a day late, but I'm going to use Monday-Sunday as usual and save today's stuff for next weekend's post if I need it.

I am proud of:

• getting the remaining exams from the previous week graded early.
• keeping up with the online course again, doing the majority of the work early.
• giving the whole apartment a proper cleaning.
• refraining from playing Skyrim until I had proper time for it.
• clearing up a frustrating misunderstanding without getting too panicky over it (I borrowed my boyfriend's rational thinking a little bit to do so).

I enjoyed:

• getting $14 cute low-heeled pumps that fit (I have been looking for something like this for a year or more, so yay).
• putting 7 hours into Skyrim when I finally had a day to myself.
• time with family people.
• time off and time to myself.
• waking up without alarms for several days in a row.

I love:

• my boyfriend.
• Skyrimmmmmm.
• my wonderful kitty.
• Diet Dr. Pepper Cherry (for $2.50/12-pack :D)
• sleep.

Take care, all. :)

Weekend Positivity

This week has been absurdly busy, but I am still managing to post this.

I am proud of:

• getting yet more homework grading done on time, when I had an excuse I could have used to avoid it.
• copying all four exams this week a day ahead of time.
• getting exams graded on time or early...two more to go, I hope to finish tomorrow (which would be very early).
• keeping up with the online class despite the hectic week of four exams.
• staying away from the negative influence again, despite being very tempted not to.

I enjoyed:

• socializing.
• teaching cool topics.
• dinners out.
• winning a difficult game of Words with Friends.
• watching The Sing Off and being silly.

I love:

• my cat.
• Fresca.
• Elder Scrolls games, although I am waiting to really play this one.
• the prospect of time off this week!
• my boyfriend.

Take care, all. :)

Weekend Positivity

Here we go again. I am even starting this prior to midnight, go me! (Finishing prior to midnight is, of course, a different story).

I am proud of:

• getting a bunch of grading done on time.
• keeping up with the class I'm taking (full credit so far).
• writing an exam early.
• doing the dishes.
• staying away from the aforementioned negative influence for a full week (and counting).

I enjoyed:

• playing with my nutso kitty.
• watching tv shows (good, bad, and mediocre).
• ticklish silliness.
• dinner out at a burger place.
• nice weekend sleep.

I love:

• my boyfriend.
• fall weather.
• sleep.
• my cat.
• music.

Take care, all. :)

Weekend Positivity

Hey, look, second week in a row! It is bedtime, but I'm getting this done first.

I am proud of:

• sticking with the mix-my-meals-up idea (this time it was just a different side item, but it's still different).
• continuing to keep my room relatively clean.
• keeping up with the dishes fairly well again (I've been making it a point to do them weekly at least).
• making a decision to spend some time away from unhealthy influences.
• inquiring about a class I wanted to take and when offered the opportunity to take it immediately, accepting!

I enjoyed:

• hugs.
• getting slung over a shoulder for what I think was the first time ever (in my adult life).
• Halloween, although we only got two trick-or-treaters, and they came together...
• playing with my cat.
• reading/finishing another book! Night Watch is up next. I hear it is quite good.

I love:

• life.
• my boyfriend.
• my cat.
• bed.
• my glasses, oddly enough. I was scared to get any at first but after 6 months I can honestly say I have grown to love them.

Take care, all. :)

Weekend Positivity

It's been two weeks, dammit...I should get a little better at this reliability thing. Ah well, that will not stop me from doing it now! Also, I saw this lyric this week and loved it: "even if your grades are bad, it doesn't mean you're failing." (from a new Amanda Palmer song detailed in this post) Trying to post weekly falls into this idea, too. I will keep trying, even though I do not appear to be very good at it, and it doesn't mean I fail! :p

I am proud of:

• trying another new restaurant thing, huzzah (Olive Garden's stuffed rigatoni with chicken...yum)...also trying a new place altogether, Jimmy John's.
• keeping up with the dishes.
• keeping my room pretty clean.
• assembling a bookshelf I've had hanging around for a while.
• giving my opinion on an issue where others disagreed.

I enjoyed:

• not having to curve any exams I wrote recently (yay me for writing good exams, yay students for doing well on them).
• yummy dinners out.
• dinner from a wok!
• cooking with fresh garlic for the first (and later second) time.
• tickling and other silliness.

I love:

• my boyfriend.
• my cat.
• the character Sam Vimes from Discworld.
• Amanda Palmer.
• elf ears.

Take care, all. :)

Challenge!

Now presenting a new feature...Challenges for People Who Think These Things Are Challenging. Whether or not that's honestly catchy, here we go.

I am formally challenging myself (and anyone else who may care to join in) to do the following:

Each time you order a meal from a restaurant, try something you have not ordered recently.

I find this hard, because I often find one thing I like and I end up in a rut, ordering it every time, because...I know it will be fine, I know it won't be too spicy, I can withstand judgment about it because I have had it before and I am confident in my (repeated) decision, I know I won't have to order something else instead or eat something more later because it's too awful to eat, etc.

So I have been making an effort to try new things. I decided to formalize it here so I don't start slacking off, but I have been doing pretty well! I have tried:

• Panera Bread's Turkey Artichoke Panini. Good, although not as pretty as the picture. I would(will!) definitely order this again.
• Taco Bell's Original Chicken Flatbread Sandwich. Iffy, way less appetizing than the picture, and too spicy for me. Not again, but at least I tried!
• Buffalo Wild Wings' Southwest Chicken Queso Wrap. Tasty, looked good, but too spicy for me. I would consider ordering this again, if I'm feeling particularly brave about spices. I think I enjoyed the experience of trying it more than eating my usual order there, which is cool.

Now for the technicalities...I am not requiring the entire meal to be new to me, but at least one part must be (the Panera sandwich mentioned above was had with a soup I often eat). I won't be applying this philosophy to pizza, because I have tried other things on pizzas and there aren't a lot of options. I also won't apply this to "I want a chocolate shake!" late-night fast food runs, because getting something other than a chocolate shake defeats the whole idea there. Otherwise, it's on. :P

Weekend Positivity

I'm going to stop making sweeping declarations of "never again will I miss a week!" because that only sets me up for guilt and disappointment. Instead I will try to make posts, and be happy about it when I do, and okay about it when I don't (but I will try to pick it up the next week when I miss one!)

It's been about four weeks, so as usual I'm turning on easy mode and letting myself use that whole span of time for material.

I am proud of:

• picking up an opportunity for extra money.
  
• putting sincere effort into a job application, and getting it in a week before the deadline!
  
• cleaning my room.
  
• keeping up with the dishes for a while (not including right now, but I'm going to fix that soon!) Edited to add: caught up again!
  
• starting and using a task list (in my smartphone, woo).
  

I enjoyed:

• more Discworld!
  
• being allowed to take pictures from a new spot.
  
• going interesting places with cool people.
  
• making brownies for the first time in a while.
  
• the return of silly fall tv series (including the sing-off!)
  

I love:

• my boyfriend.
  
• my kitty.
  
• teaching.
  
• chocolate.
  
• reading.
  

Take care, all. :)

Weekend Positivity

Okay, the past month has been pretty insane. Work started back up again, and I went out of town for three weekends in a row (hence the lapse)...but I was here this past weekend so I'm calling this a late one from then, and I will do another come this weekend.

This basically covers a whole month...I think that will make it harder to do, but here goes!

I am proud of:

• going out of my comfort zone to try new things.
  
• spending a lot of time away from home and not getting too freaked out about it.
  
• taking another difficult assignment.
  
• restarting the diet and having a good first week thus far.
  
• opening a savings account.
  

I enjoyed:

• birthday Panera and cheesecake.
  
• time spent with an adorable 3 year old.
  
• weekend "camping" trips.
  
• playing with my camera.
  
• reading plenty of Pratchett.
  

I love:

• books.
  
• my boyfriend.
  
• getting mail.
  
• my cat.
  
• teaching.
  

Take care, all. :)

Weekend Positivity

There was a week hiatus. Honestly, I totally forgot while I was on a trip to see my family. I'm back now, and posting really late at night/early in the morning because my sleep schedule is a little messy. Thus, this will stand for two weeks instead of one this time.

I am proud of:

• going on a couple of bike rides (for the first time in years).
  
• getting my grading done super fast.
  
• seeing everyone I wanted to see while I was visiting family.
  
• keeping my sanity during 8 days away from home, sleeping on couches.
  
• doing a decent amount of dishes.
  

I enjoyed:

• seeing several friends I hadn't seen in a while.
  
• ice cream (I think I went to dairy queen 3 times during my trip...) and hanging out at target (4 times).
• nice emails from students.
  
• meeting a friend's new baby.
  
• coming home again.
  

I love:

• scrabble.
  
• friends.
  
• my boyfriend.
  
• my cat.
  
• personal space and a real bed.
  

Take care, all. :)

Weekend Positivity

Forgot again until the last moment, so I am firing this off before I head to bed.

I am proud of:

• cleaning the bathroom.
  
• doing some dishes and some much-needed laundry.
  
• reorganizing my closet and cleaning my office.
  
• going to my dentist appointment, and having no cavities or lost fillings, huzzah!
  
• managing to have breakdownless PMS.
  

I enjoyed:

• the last of the chocolate cheesecake.
  
• playing couples' cranium.
  
• reading some Neil Gaiman short stories.
  
• an argument on the internet wherein logic won.
  
• boyfriend time.
  

I love:

• my boyfriend.
  
• strawberry frozen fruit bars.
  
• my kitty.
  
• air conditioning.
  
• clean spaces and clean things.
  

Take care, all. :)

Weekend Positivity

Extremely tired after a sorta messy sleep schedule this weekend, so I'm going to bed early tonight...after finishing this of course!

I am proud of:

• doing all my laundry.
  
• putting all my laundry away the same weekend I did it!
  
• grading an exam very quickly.
  
• expressing my wants better than usual.
  
• making a dentist appointment (for tomorrow, eep).
  

I enjoyed:

• chocolate cheesecake (still).
  
• weekend events with my boyfriend.
  
• smiling so much my cheeks hurt.
  
• reading most of a book in one day.
  
• getting a visit from the stationery fairy (free notepads, pens, and pencils, woo!).
  

I love:

• my boyfriend.
  
• my cat.
  
• getting things done.
  
• kisses.
  
• discworld.
  

Take care, all. :)

Weekend Positivity

I'm starting this before midnight on Sunday. This is impressive, trust me!

I am proud of:

• doing dishes.
  
• cleaning some of the apartment.
  
• talking totally honestly about why I got upset.
  
• taking notes for the first time in a while.
  
• baking a rather pretty cheesecake!
  

I enjoyed:

• a comforting post-breakdown midnight milkshake.
  
• baking.
  
• getting to eat what I baked.
  
• kissing.
  
• playing computer games.
  

I love:

• my boyfriend.
  
• chocolate, in almost any form (and I had many this week! :D).
  
• cuddling.
  
• baking.
  
• my cat.
  

Take care, all. :)