simple pleasures...

...are enjoying yummy peppermint hot chocolate while at work, and streaming christmas music over the internet. (peppermint hot chocolate shown, christmas music not shown)

:D happy birthday to my momma too! love you! :D

how you, bien?

i've been pleasantly busy since returning to the sweltering heat of southern california. i say sweltering, not blistering because it's been very humid and hot here the past week. i was listening to the radio today on my way to work and npr was reporting on the upcoming flu season. hmm yeah, i guess summer is about over for other parts of the country. we still have until mid-october before we see any turning leaves. (not soon enough!!!) still, one must remain optimistic; i heard el nino is going to push a lot of rain our way later this year. :)

i've started running in the mornings again. i run around the city park near our house, it has lots of shady trees and wild bunnies. very nice. i'm at two laps around the park now and i hope to push to three laps sometime next week. i got the inspiration to run again after examining my sweet chicago calves. there's just something about walking for five days around a beautiful city that brings out that muscle definition i've missed for so long.

michael starts school next week, so we've been putting his room together. he's in the journalism room now, (this is his first year teaching journalism) and hopefully this is his last room move for a long time. we've already hung his maps and salvador dali posters, he just needs to organize his office and create a student work wall. i'm back at working in the church two days a week and am unsure about subbing in the school district this year. i don't expect to get a lot of work because of the current budget, but we'll see...

i've also been planning my fall garden. most of my summer flowers are spent and my vegetable garden is slowing its production, but my peppers and tomatoes are still going strong and begging to be picked. i've decided to plant pumpkins this year, i have the perfect sunny corner for them. i've also decided on bachelor buttons, alyssums and pansies for the front flower beds. i'm going to try forget-me-nots also, but it may still be too hot. i've been neglecting my plants lately for the most part due to the green june beetle breeding season. they've infested my peach tree with their pheromones and erratic flying. i don't know about you, but i don't enjoy sharing the same yard as huge lusty beetles. so, while my flowers have paled in the heat, my weeds have been flourishing wonderfully!

civil duty leftovers.

I'M SORRY! whenever i get lazy with posting on my blog, i always feel an apology is required. i myself get a little tiffed when others don't blog as often as I would like. in my early blogging days i decided to blog twice a week (at least!) but now i know life sometimes gets in the way of things, or more in my case, life sometimes isn't very interesting to blog about that often and i should just deal. sigh. anyway there, whew! got that out of the way...

i actually do have something interesting to share, this week i was on a jury for the first time. it was cool to experience court life, see how our city's jurisdiction works and of course, to have an excuse to have lunch downtown is fine too. (there's a nice coffee bean & tealeaf on mission boulevard that overlooks a commons area, it's great for people watching!) the case i was on was about a man convicted of possessing a manufactured weapon while in a state prison. we found him guilty. the case was only two days long, which i prefer because working as a substitute i'm considered temporary and don't get compensated. i'm looking forward to being called again though, it's very worthwhile.

well, my lunch break is over. i'm at the church today so i've been feasting on chips and salsa left from last night's study class. time to print the bulletin for sunday. :)

wonderful.

it is 10:55am, the morning fog has not yet burned off and i am looking out my office window at trees and rosebushes...

what a wonderful morning it is. :)

networking and note taking.

this morning i created a facebook account, much to the delight of my sister. so far i've found it very addicting and have been adding friends and updating like crazy all morning. dang. that's exactly why i didn't want a facebook account in the first place. i try to keep my online network addictions to a minimum, (which is why i've ignored my youtube and goodreads.com accounts) so my total now is three: myspace, facebook and blogger... (unless you count flickr, which i don't because i use it only to store my photos and that totally does not count.) i do admit that i've found facebook to be more mature than myspace and i have not yet been asked if i would like to know what my kissing score is or if i would like to buy rihanna's latest ringtone.

i'm happy to say that i am the new church secretary for our parish! i start wednesday and am only working two days a week but it's a paid position, something i didn't know when i volunteered but am happy about none the less. thanks so much erin, you carry one heckuva recommendation! i was also all set to start substitute work again this morning but did not receive any calls. i'll take it as a sign that i should use my time to clean the house instead, (something that really needs doing) that is if i can ever successfully will myself away from the computer.

a cloudy high.

i did NOT want to come to work today. i had decided this last night, today was to be my catch-up day on housework and errands. i was only going to work today if the IT department requested me, and guess what? they did all right. oooooooh! i had plans, dangit! i was going to give joey a tea tree oil bath because he's so itchy from shedding so much. i was going to go out and run in the morning and start my day all energized. i was going to pick up my paycheck and deposit it at the bank. i was going to water and prune my plants and perhaps transplant my unchangeable avocado seeds into pots. i was going to vacuum and sweep the floors, wash the clothes and maybe try to tackle organizing the pantry. i was actually looking forward to all this!

these days i have to try and work as much as i can though because it's the end of the school year. once the schools close for the summer there won't be a lot of work for substitutes and there's such a competition for the jobs left. so grudgingly, i got out of bed and got ready for work. once i kissed michael goodbye and he pedaled out the door, i was determinded to be in a bad mood today. not a mean spirited mood, just a bad one. this didn't last long however because once i walked out to my car with my coffee and noticed how cloudy it was, it started to sprinkle on my head. funny how a cloudy chilly morning would make most people groan, but instead it cheers me up. there's just something about cloudy chilly mornings, they make me wish i had kids that i could walk to school and we could jump in the puddles along the way with our boots. (i daydream a lot) i couldn't help but smile at the misty rain today. so, maybe today will turn out to be an okay day after all. maybe i'll finally get my day off, tomorrow. ;)