Excellent Friday

Today was a much appreciated, and so far very productive, flex Friday.  The kitchen has been thoroughly cleaned, the master bedroom has been tidied, I’ve walked to the grocery store for a few things, and I’ve made pizza dough for dinner tonight.

In addition to those things, I’ve also moved my desk space from the guest room to the master bedroom.  Since the guest room will soon become a nursery/guest room, I’ve been organizing and moving my creative supplies to make room for baby things.

The space in the master before:

The desk in the guest room:

The desk now in the master:

The master now:

I was a little worried things would be cluttered feeling, but overall I think it turned out quite cozy.  Most of my supplies are going to be kept in the guest room closet, so that helps.  Space is limited, especially with a baby on the way, and I am glad to be able to keep my creative space.

The rest of the afternoon I hope to spend working in the guest room – why is it when I’m supposed to be cleaning and decluttering that things end up more messy?  Aw well, I’m getting close to organized (or at least as close as I’m going to get at this point – it’s a never-ending battle, really) and soon we’ll be able to do the fun stuff in there!

Happy Admin Day!

One of the detectives gave me this comic strip. I don't really wish to see my supervisors body floating anywhere, but I still appreciate the basic premise and humor of the conversation.

I'm glad to be an "administrative professional" and consider it an opportunity to serve others, even if the tasks I complete are usually something my coworkers could totally do themselves... and even though it's not particularly inspiring.

There is a great possibility that this will be my last "Administrative Professionals Day" for quite some time, maybe even forever depending on what I decide to do after hopefully taking time off with baby.

My division took me out to lunch today in honor of the "holiday" and I am thankful for such a good group of people to work with. They respect me for all I do and although I think the tasks are usually small and quite insignificant, I'm grateful for the appreciation. They say I can't be replaced and I would say right back that what I've got here in this job can't be replaced either.

Easter Weekend

Casey and I had a wonderful Easter weekend.  It can be hard to be away from family, but we do our best to make the most of it and the time we have just for the two of us… especially since we’ll soon be three!

On Saturday, Casey played a round of golf in the morning and I did a little shoe looking (no buying because I didn’t really find much) and then we met for lunch at Panera Bread.  When we got home, he brought forth a little Easter gift for me: a beautiful gardenia shrub for our balcony.  I don’t know how he does it, because I never told him, but it’s a perfect gift because I’ve been wanting flowers for that space.

He worked most of Saturday afternoon while I did some beginning preparations for baby in the guest room – decluttering and such.  On Saturday night, we had pizza and watched some stuff on the DVR list.

On Sunday morning, we got up for the early Sonrise Service.  It was a great service this year and I loved that they kept it a praise service like the early service is on “normal” Sundays.

After church, I made a delicious breakfast.  Casey had sausage, eggs, and chocolate chip pancakes.  I had bacon, eggs, and strawberry pancakes.

Unfortunately, Casey had to work some more on Sunday afternoon.  While he did that, I continued my efforts in the guest room and also took an afternoon nap.  When I woke up, I made pig cake and then took a walk to the grocery store for some salad stuff, which we had for dinner along with some grilled BBQ chicken.

Although Casey had to work a lot, we’re used to that these days and we’ve gotten really good at just relaxing and enjoying each other when he’s not working. He really is one of my favorite people to spend time with and for that I am so thankful.

Tie A Yellow Ribbon

The sign says “Welcome Home Mike.”  I have no idea who Mike is, but I love the gesture his loved ones have made along the route I take home.

God bless our troops and those who serve others far away from home.  May they make it home safely to their families.

Schizo Rejuvenation

This spring has been back and forth and all around in regards to weather.  One day it’s sunny, eighty, and too hot to handle, the next it’s forty, rainy, and gloomy as can be, followed by another day in the mid-sixties with just the right amount of sunshine and a beautiful spring breeze.

I suppose a good balance of rain and sunshine are critical to the renewal that occurs in springtime, though rainy days seem to outnumber the sunny.  Whatever the actual ratio, the grass is getting greener and the buds of trees are slowly but surely spreading into leaves.  Some of the flowering trees and early daffodils have lost their luster, but other flowering trees are just blossoming and tulips and other flowers are making their debut.

Although the dark rainy days are kind of a bummer, I love when they are accompanied by thunderstorms, and I am glad for their ability to bring forth such colors and life.  Not only do they rejuvenate, they also make the beautiful sunny days more appreciated… and I’m sure when I’m hugely pregnant and it’s 100 degrees outside in a few months, I’ll be wishing for a cool spring rain to wash away the uncomfortable heat.

Monday Ramblings

My sister came to hang out with me this weekend; a pit stop on her way to Colorado for the summer.  We didn’t do anything very exciting, but I am glad she was able to come and spend some time with me before she headed off to her western happy place.  After I dropped her off this morning, I cried in the car.  I tried to blame it on my hormones, but Mom said it’s just because we love her so much and I agreed… though the hormones didn’t help.

It was around 85 degrees here in NoVa today.  For some reason, the past two Mondays have been this way.  Let’s just hope tomorrow isn’t like last Tuesday, when it was rainy and cold.  Though a little cooler wouldn’t be a bad thing in my opinion.  I mean, I’m already baking.

I have 27 recordings to transcribe before Friday.  Importing them this afternoon and seeing how many there were didn’t make me a happy camper.  Then I got started and the quality is horrible, which makes it really frustrating and annoying to work on them.  You could say dictation is my least favorite part of my job… because it is.

In conclusion, I’m glad this Monday is over.  It was hot, there was crying, and although playing FreeCell was getting kind of old, I think I prefer that to transcribing jail phone calls.

Favorite Tree

One thing I’ll miss if Casey and I ever get to move back north are the flowering trees here in NoVa.  Especially the one in front of my work building.  It’s one of my faves.

Easy Photo Project

Casey was a bit disappointed with the beach photos I chose for above the couch, so I planned a photo wall to include pictures from our various Caribbean vacations.  I have been wanting to fill this space by the guest bathroom for awhile and planned to do a photo arrangement like this.  What photos to use had been undecided until I thought of this idea.

He loves palm trees and the blue of the ocean in the Caribbean, so I made sure to choose pictures that included those things, as well as those that represent some of the most memorable parts of our trips.

From top left, clockwise: At a waterfall in St. Lucia, on the horseback tour in St. Lucia, on the beach in St. Lucia (bride and groom flip flops), a palm tree view from our room in the Bahamas, on a scooter in the Bahamas, and a palm tree photo Casey took in the Dominican Republic.

The black frames are from Walmart (2/$3, I think) and the white frames are from Ikea (2/$2.99).  I used 3M frame stickies and set up the arrangement with paper and tape before hanging to achieve the best spacing.

Casey said he likes the pictures and I think he appreciates me taking him into consideration… especially when it doesn’t involve putting more holes in the wall.

Sunday Night Lights

I stayed up way past my bedtime last night watching an awesome lightning storm.

The pictures, of course, do not do the streaks justice- my camera is pretty nice, but not long distance lightning catching nice.

They all came out blurry and were often doubled by the camera… or maybe the camera magically “sees” things we can’t.

Either way, it was a captivating.  I’ve loved watching lightning storms since I was a kid and it just never gets old.