What I've been doing...

• Attempting to recover from the painfully early class (I know I've been bitching a lot about it, but 10 weeks of sleep deprivation can really get to you!) & get into the groove of a new schedule. The term ended a little over a week ago, we had four days off, and then the spring term started. Needless to say, the past week & a half has been crazy/busy (our grades were due the day after classes ended!); on a positive note, my earliest class this term begins at 10:00 and one of my freshman comp classes was canceled (less papers for me to grade!).
  
  
• Planning a mini-trip to Texas for a conference. Actually, I haven't been doing quite enough planning considering that I'm scheduled to leave this Wednesday at 8:00AM and other than my plane ticket & hotel reservations, I have nothing else prepared. I still have to think about packing - well, first I have to pull out some warmer weather clothes from storage (it was in the 30s and snowing here over the weekend!). I do, however, have one blogger meet-up in the works (obviously, this is more important than packing!)... if you live in the Austin-area/are attending the conference and are interested in meeting up, shoot me an email (I'll be there Wednesday morning to late Friday afternoon).
  
  
• Planning a big trip to New York (!!!). M and I are taking a six-day trip to NY for his 40th birthday (mid-April). We were going to travel to London, but with the lay-off, the trip had to be downsized. Yes, he's still looking for a job... yes, it's probably irresponsible to take a trip when he doesn't have a job, but fuck it. It's his 40th birthday, the trip already had to be downsized, and in the ten years we've been together, we've never gone on vacation together. Neither of us have been to NY before and we're both very excited (we're staying here). If you have any suggestions about things we must do and/or restaurants we must check out, please let me know!
  
  
• Spending too much money (see previous bullet): trip + various concert tickets (including Lilith Fair! Yay!). I'm also considering getting tickets to see Sting this summer. Have any of you seen him before? Is it worth the money?
  
  
• Exercising! As I mentioned in my last post, I've finally gotten back into my workout groove. I'm doing a combination of circuit boxing, zumba, kettlebell, and kickboxing classes 4-5 days a week (classes are an hour & I usually do two classes each day). It takes up a lot of time, but I must admit that I feel damn good. :)

Three good things

1. The $4.99 bouquet of tulips is back! Oh, Trader Joe's, how I love you. Not only do you have fantastic, cheap food; you also provide me with my favorite flowers/a little bit of spring to chase the winter blahs away at a very affordable price.


2. Doggies!! Diana and I went to the IKC Dog Show last weekend... and I fell in love with the cutest French Bulldog. Seriously, how bloody adorable is he? (And yes, I contemplated sticking him in my bag and running.) :)

Diana is a fan of the big slobbery dogs, whereas I tend to prefer the little yappy ones...

However, even my yappy-dog lovin' heart wouldn't be able to resist this fluffy beast. I just wanted to give him a big squishy hug!


3. I've lost 14 lbs over the last six weeks. I haven't mentioned much about my workouts in awhile and that's mostly because I had stalled and lost my motivation. However, I'm working out at a new place now and have my exercise mojo back (more about this in a future post). I was sidelined for almost two weeks (strained hamstring); thankfully, I was able to return this week (yay!). I'm not at 100% quite yet, but it feels go good to be back out there!

Countdown

We have a little less than two weeks left of the current term, which means I only have three more sessions of the heinously early class. Woo-hoo! :)  Then it's on to spring break (a measly four days) and then the spring term begins... one that will not include the painfully early class (I'm letting an adjunct teach it next term). Woo-hoo for me again! :)