2011, Week 16

The highlight of this week came on Saturday, when Rachel, Brodie and I drove down to Ennis to see the amazing fields of wildflowers - bluebonnets especially, but also indian paintbrush and pink primrose. They were gorgeous, the day was brilliant, the company was fun, and the photos were abundant and beautiful. We had such a great time. The rest of the week, I helped administer ERB tests to the middle school, directed the music portion of Cambridge's Maundy Thursday chapel service, and looked forward to the coming long Easter weekend.

2011, Week 15

I don't know that I've ever had a week that felt this long. And there's not really any good reason. Work wasn't any busier than normal, though we did have 8 faculty members out on Thursday and Friday so I had to find subs for all of their classes - whew! But for some reason, all day Tuesday I kept thinking it was Thursday, which means it took FOREVER for Friday to actually get here. I did accomplish quite a bit at work, I spent all weekend reading for the dissertation (I may actually be ready to start writing chapter 2 now), and Brodie and I took several long walks on the canals since the weather wasn't too hot. I'm afraid our canal walks are going to be shortened quite a bit with the coming summer heat - neither one of us can handle it. Anyway, perhaps the highlight of my week was finding these two beauties on my ever-blossoming tomato plant. I ate them for dinner Thursday night, and they were DELISH! I look forward to many more bright red homegrown maters this summer.

2011, Week 14

I spent the weekend hanging out in College Station with Bonnie. We shopped, watched movies, played handbells at mass, and just enjoyed spending time together. Brodie discovered a new-found love on the drive to/from College Station - there are so many small towns along the way, where the speed limit drops to 35 mph, and so in each town I would roll down the passenger window and Brodie would stick his head as far out the window as he could. You could see the pure bliss in his expression! When he would pull his head back in, his hair was completely flat on one side - hilarious! I was thankful for a weekend away from my daily routine in Dallas and the chance to see a lifelong friend. It was a nice refresher before a busy week at work.

2011, Week 13

This week started off with an absolutely gorgeous Saturday, which I spent almost entirely outside. I took Brodie to the park to watch a friend's soccer game and then sat out in the sun studying for quite a while. It was a glorious day. Spring is definitely in Texas (though the weather this week was mostly below normal), and with Spring comes the anticipation of Easter. I took really cute Easter pics of Brodie on Sunday afternoon, with this pair of bunny ears I purchased at Target. I was quite surprised with how cooperative he was - the pics turned out adorable! The rest of the week was mostly spent working and preparing for a trip to College Station on Friday.

2011, Week 12

Why oh why oh why does spring break have to end?! This has been a long week, with Mom and Ben leaving on Sunday after a wonderful visit and returning back to work after a wonderful week off. Senior Tutorials were Thursday and Friday of this week, which meant the days leading up to them were really busy, and I spent all day both days listening to our seniors defending the projects which represent the culmination of their Cambridge education. Just listening to them talk about subjects that I barely know anything about, and answer questions like experts, makes me nervous about defending my own dissertation (assuming I ever finish writing it, of course!). ;) These kids are so impressive. The weather this week has been amazing so Brodie and I have been spending time out on the balcony and walking as much as possible. I've enjoyed seeing my flowers settle in. I have two bluebonnet buds and can't wait to see the beautiful blue flowers filling my pot. And my tomato plant is filled to the rim with little green maters and tons of yellow flowers. It's so exciting!

2011, Week 11

Ah, Spring Break, how I love you! Yes, this was Spring Break, and it was fabulous. I spent the first few days of the break reading, cleaning, and preparing for Mom and Ben to visit. They flew in on Wednesday for their first visit since 2004, and we had a wonderful time. We shopped, toured the Cowboys Stadium, played with Brodie, played Putt-Putt, had a brilliant day at the Dallas Arboretum, planted flowers, looked at scrapbooks, and just enjoyed one another's company. It was a great visit and I was sad to see Mom and Ben leave.

2011, Week 10

Whew, what a LONG week! I'm not sure why, but I spent most of the week exhausted, falling asleep on the couch early each evening. Work was really rough, and with a major event on Friday, it was busy too. And not only that, but I was eagerly anticipating spring break - I couldn't WAIT for a break and Mom and Ben's visit. Thursday evening I suffered through a major headache to take Brodie on a walk along the canals with Shawn and Zoey. When we got back to the apartment complex, we ran into Mercy, and the three dogs had a blast roughhousing and playing with Mercy's kong toy. At one point they all three had hold of the toy and were tugging - too cute! I quickly grabbed my phone and took a few pics. I'm so glad Brodie has doggie friends in the area (and I'm thankful that I finally have a friend here too!).