Things I Love Thursday

Furniture - Mom, Jodi, and Mark came up on Saturday to drop off my mamasan chair and a pub table and stools for my place. Now that everything is rearranged, it's finally starting to feel like a place where people live.

Babysitting for Ivy - I seriously love this kid. We read books, played with toys, made monkey noises, I sang her songs, and the best part of the day was when she curled up in my arms and took a nap. There is absolutely nothing more precious than watching a child sleep. Except maybe when they laugh because you did something they find hilarious.

Three Day Weekends - That may have turned into four day weekends because of headaches but it was definitely nice to have the time off to relax, catch up on sleep and homework, and spend some time with my mammals.

New Laptop - Oh, new Dell, how I love you so. I have not owned a computer since mine died in June of 2010 and finally decided that homework was making it a necessity. So I got a new computer. It's so pretty and Windows 8 is fascinating and it's just so nice to have that freedom again that I don't have to spend all of my free time at the library trying to speed type papers.

Knife Skills - I have  been a foodie for several years now and gradually been collecting recipes, watching as many cooking shows as possible, and teaching myself how to cook all of the fantastic foods I love to eat. My knife skills have been seriously lacking. It's the one thing you just can't learn until someone stands in front of you with a knife and says "this is how you hold it, this is where every finger goes, this is the motion the knife should make while cutting, now I'm going to show you how to cut these various vegetables in different ways, and now I'm going to let you practice and come around and give you pointers on improving". Now I feel pretty darn comfortable with my knife skills, how to choose and sharpen my own knives, and I may have a little bit of a crush on cutie teacher, Chef Brian. 

Lego Harry Potter - I got an Xbox from my fabulous sister for Christmas. Previously, I owned nothing but different versions of SSX which is great but after you screw up your run for the tenth time in a row and want to throw the TV across the room, it's nice to have a low stress game to fall back on. Cue Lego Harry Potter. If you die, the pieces put themselves back together and there are no time limits so you have plenty of time to figure out puzzles without the constant need to start over because your time has elapsed. Love it!

Classes - They may be stressful and causing me a large amount of sleep deprivation during the week but I really enjoy classes. I have a couple of friends from my previous English class that are now in my Lit class and it's quite enjoyable to have someone to sit with, group up with, and walk to the train with every Tuesday night. My Developmental Psych class is one I've been looking forward to and it's great to be in a class where most people share your interests and a common background.

Great Friends - I wouldn't have been able to make it through this winter without some really amazing friends. Amelia is my life line and listens to my whining, crying, and ranting with patience and without judgment. Sarah and Tim let me blow off steam with their munchkin and listen to my problems and joys and give me a great sense of family. Zach and I have ridiculous late night conversations about Doctor Who and long Sunday afternoon Doctor Who marathons in the suburbs, it's nice having my old college friend back. Special props to Terri, Emily, Carolyn, Elise, John, Kendra, Ben, Mary Claire, Bekah, Sumner, Chris, Katie, mom, Elaine, Jarad, Alysia, Martha, and anyone else who has invited me out, made me feel welcome, sent me words of encouragement, or just listened to me bitch. I appreciate it more than I could possibly explain.

Exercise - I'm really enjoying my new active life. Yoga, running, archery, ab workouts, weight lifting, dancing, and thinking about starting judo. It's amazing how much better I feel than I did just three short years ago.

Grown-up Purchases - I know this is a little silly but it's been a really long time since I was able to get much of anything for myself that wasn't a necessity. In the first few months of this year I will have bought a brand new winter coat (the expensive one that I wanted not the cheap one because it was all I could afford), a laptop, a real Japanese futon with tatami mat to sleep upon, a Samsung Galaxy S3 for my new phone, and paid down a significant chunk on my credit card debt. It's a great feeling of relief to be able to get things like this accomplished.