Thursday Musings - 6 Weeks into Stay at Home Orders

I seriously can not believe we have been "sheltering in place" for 6 freaking weeks now, and I say this as an "I'd rather be at home" introvert. I have no clue how the "I am never home" extroverts are dealing with this. I say this with 3 MORE WEEKS to go, as our state has extended the order until the end of May. At that time the state government is "hoping" to roll out opening the state in phases.

I will admit when this started my first thoughts were cool I will start working out in the mornings before working, get the house spring cleaned, organised yada yada.. Ok so what happened was.......  I did get my home office setup but not organized. The basement got cleaned up and the carpet steam cleaned to set up a family room (read no more video games on the main TV for hours and hours). We are going tonight to pull the loveseat recliner duo out of the storage unit and the end tables to finish out the family room.  I also weeded the flower beds and planted a few flowers to make the yard pretty.

We found an amazing sale at Sam's Club on a new tv and sound system for the livingroom. All I am going to say about this is #1 measure your TV stand before buying the new TV. We had to make a temporary extension. And #2 the TV looked way smaller up on the display in the store...

I finished up the winter/spring term at school. Not having a life for 10 weeks paid off. My GPA for that term is 4.0 and I am waiting to hear if I made the Dean's list for the semester. Purdue's dean's list is hard AF to get on.

The laptop I bought on Amazon "new" last August had a full on hard drive failure. I say new in quotes because it was listed as new. However, when I went to Dell to see what I could do about the hard drive, as it was less than a year old, I discovered it was already a year old and out of warranty when I purchased it.  In December 2019 it started having some issues, and I had contacted the seller about them and received no answer. So when it flat out failed, I contacted Amazon. They have a 30 day return policy.

All I will say about that is. Keep asking. It took me most of April, but I got a full refund. I replaced the laptop, but went to Dell directly this time. I will also no longer purchase any major items from Amazon again. Yes 2 day shipping is amazing, but for some things direct from the manufacturer is the best. 

I am on school break for a week so I do plan to have some organizing done just not sure how much. I also plan to do that whole "get more active" bit. I bought myself a new Fitbit smart watch. I am tired of being less active and not feeling as great as I did a few years ago, so it is time to get moving again..

Post Isolation Questions

Thought I would pop in and do one of my irregular blog postings. I am just wrapping up another term of classes and heading into a small break before starting another term. I've been reading my regular blogs but have not had a chance to do any postings myself.

Any writing I have done the last two-and-a-half months have been for my English Comp or Legal Ethics class. I haven't had time to do much not school related reading either. So keeping with the blogs I follow has been a few moments of stolen time, so to speak!

I saw a post isolation post on Michael's blog that looks like fun. So I followed her link to Kezzie's post with all the questions Post isolation fantasy quiz. I chose 9 of the questions. All 13 are listed on her blog.

Restaurant you would go out to:

Something local - Ravanelli's most likely.

Friend you would meet up with first:

My daughter and grandbabies - Little Mister's birthday is coming up and with our Shelter in Place order extended until the end of May I will miss it.

Place you would go/Shop you would go to: The nail salon!!!

Food item you would buy/eat: Ice cream - soft-serve

Cake you would eat: None - at present I have yet to find a gluten-free cake that  doesn't taste like dirt!

Show you would/will see: Fast & Furious 9!!!!!!!

Concert you will watch: For my birthday S bought Halsey tickets for July -        however in my heart I know they will cancel this based on the statement from the Mayor of St Louis and I am not a happy camper.

Relative you will hug first: My daughter and grandbabies!

Reading These Days

or in my case listening to these days.. I've been reading  Legal Ethics - but my for fun listen to in commutes have been

Open Book by Jessica Simpson

I loved this honest and raw book. I won't lie I have been a huge Jessica fan right from "Is this chicken or fish that I have". I however really appreciated the inside look to everything she has/ is dealing with and her very candid sharing of her personal struggles.

City of Girls - Elizabeth Gilbert

I enjoyed this book so much.. A few days I was sorry my commute was already over, as I only listen when I am on my way to and from work. The story makes you want to be friends with Vivvy and experiencing everything with her as she navigates life both before and after WW2.

DNF

Wallis in Love - Andrew Morton 

I wanted to like this, being a huge fan and follower for decades of the Royal family, but I just can't this book is insanely tedious, I found myself turning it off more than once and just listening to the traffic report with more enthusiasm. 

Up Next

Today is release day for a friend of mine's latest. Her book signing is Thursday, where I will pick up a hardback copy and dive head first into a Veronica Speedwell Adventure!

  

The One Where the Weekend Needed a Speeding Ticket

As weekends tend to do it went by way to fast.. It was a quick but expensive one!! I needed new tires and an oil change on the Jeep.. OUCH, thankfully tires are only a every few years thing. I am also glad that times are changing and places will not mount and balance tires not purchased there. I went to Tirerack.com for them got a great deal and then had CarX put them on.

I am on break between terms and waiting not so patiently for my final grades to post.  I know I did well but I want to see what my GPA is. School is totally different when you are paying for it! In highschool I prayed that grades would get lost now I am like ok term ended where is my GPA!!! I want it NOW!

We did some odds and ends around the house, replaced the backdoor knob and lock, changed out the porch light and installed a new motion sensor light at the garage. The house got cleaned, the kitchen cabinets were organized - ok the top ones, next weekend I'll sit on the floor and to get to the bottom ones. The bathroom cabinet was redone as well and the hall linen closet is on next weekends hitlist as well as taking things to the storage unit. I have movers scheduled for the first weekend in March to clear my stuff out of my apartment.

The lease isn't up until the end of March but for the first time ever in a move I don't have to wait to the last minute and make myself nuts with the move out and cleaning of the old space, so I am not going to. Hiring two guys for two hours to just load the U-haul was not expensive and I don't have to take crap down 3 flights of stairs. Most of it is going into the storage unit so we are doing the unload ourselves. When we get the house sold and we are ready to move into our new one (when we find it) we are hiring movers again. After that I do not plan to move again for a long time.

Do you realize that in 3 weeks it is time to alter time again? March 8th we spring ahead 1 hour again, bringing with that warmer weather!! I am so ready. I am tired of being cold, I am tired of wearing 50 layers and a damn coat. I am tired of the grey gloomy blah that is outside. I can not wait to be warm again when I go outside and to NOT drive home in the dark!! 




Spring is SO close!!!

Is January over YET???????

Don't go away mad just go away already!!  I'm ready to go on to longer days, warmer weather

I have two more weeks left of this quarter in school, I have 2 HUGE finals - each are 3 hours and a final project due for LS 100.. 

Apparently the Superbowl is this weekend, which I did not even realize we were this close to it. Frankly if we are being honest my Christmas tree and decor are still up - I keep looking at it thinking, okay I have to put this stuff away but then I end up back into a school book thinking meh who fricken cares - the cat is thrilled to still be batting the lower branches for funzies. I also think its time to retire the tree its has better days, but I don't know what exact to do with it. Do you toss an artificial tree? Does it recycle? If it does where does one take their old artificial tree, and since I have yet to figure that out it helps justify that its still up HA! The one at the house is down and everything put up - except the lights outside. Its just my apartment that is still fully decking the halls. 

We did manage to do a small overhaul on the bathroom at the house last weekend. We had the tub refinished, put up a new tub surround - side note am I the only one on the planet who had no clue just how flimsy those things really are?? New things went up as well I have my steampunk bathroom finally! The shelf is still being finished as well as new towel holders then I'll toss pictures up here. 

When I take rent in on the 1st of February I will also turn in my notice to vacate on March 29th. This past 2 years have flown by. It seems like both yesterday and a lifetime ago that I signed the lease and picked up the keys to my first on my very own apartment sat in the middle of the empty living room on the floor looked around and thought holy shit now what. 

I guess I am ready to go in more ways than just waving January goodbye... 

Currently - January 2020

Why does January seem like it is a decade long?? It's like January 74th by now, right? Christmas is over bring me SPRING!! I am tired of being cold and wearing 57 layers.

My first quarter at Purdue is going well. Its just stressful balancing pre-law classes with work and family time. These days my reading material comprises Constitutional law and Supreme Court cases which is why I have not taken part in an SUYB posts in a while, I can't remember the last time I read anything. I did finish an audiobook during my commutes to the office and home.

I am also starting the packing process to move in March. My theory is that the more I can pre-do now the easier the process will be in March as I will just be starting a new round of classes. We have not found a house yet, so the move is a temporary move. I just didn't want to one sign another year lease or two pay more for a six-month lease.  I will say house-hunting only looks fun on an HGTV show.  Just me? Ok..  I have learned that I really want more of a turn key property - I don't have the patience for "fixer-upper" that doesn't come with Chip and Joanna to drive it!

Another thing I have had little time for is TV, but I have really gotten into the Netflix original You.. Oh My! Anyone else watching this?

My Christmas tree and decor are still up - because SCHOOL. Considering just wrapping it in saran wrap or tossing it over the balcony and shutting the door!

The Jeep needs an oil change - again time.  Hell, I even stopped getting my nails done and my roots are waving for attention.  I started doing my own dip nails at home because I can do that at 11 at night in my jammies while re-watching the seminar for one of my classes to prep for the quiz.  


What are y'all up to while we wait for it to warm up???

Happy Festivus 2019

Its that time of year, its Festivus - and I have not done this before, meh what the hell I am doing it now. Its the time of year you air your grievances..

Shitty drivers

St Louis traffic

Let's round out that theme with drivers who not only do NOT pay attention to what they are doing and they t-bone your car they get out of theirs and say oooo shit my bad, here is my info but you need to know I am uninsured.

Me not blogging for months and months, yes yet again.

I started at one online university and hated their set up so bad I cringe every time I hear their fricken commercial, so I transferred Universities.

Class discussions on Pay Equality and a WOMAN saying meh men are at work more they deserve more pay, there really isn't a gap and the woman need to stop bitching and just realize its math - more hours equals more pay. I rage threw my phone.

Melania Trump - shut up "lady". Your husband is the biggest bully there is.

The fact I am now gluten intolerant - I fuckin like bread...

Insane baby mama's

Sellers who think their home is worth way more than it truly is.

Your turn ... what are your grievances this year??