{where are the warm, sunny days?}

Music I have been loving lately:

1. Chris Botti- Jazz trumpet... so sexy.

2. My students' mix CDs they made for a project:
i get blends of music i would NEVER think of making myself.

3. The Cold Mountain Soundtrack:
love the folk, with it's raw sound, love the instrumental orchestra stuff for its passion.

Things I am Looking Forward To:

1. My Blurb book about our trip to Europe- I just ordered it online, and we should get it in a WEEK! YAY!! A coffee table book all by me me me!(ask me to see it. I will GLADLY do so.)

2. The new (and last) Harry Potter book. July 21!!!!!

3. Our road trip to Utah and Vegas in July. We'll be camping in the state parks in between the two weeks, so feel free to join us in Zion's or Bryce's.

4. My sophomores' research papers to be DONE and graded. Anyone wanna help? I'll pay you.

5. Spring. The little tulip and daffodil blooms poking their heads up.

Things I Don't Like Right Now:

1. Mornings. When it is still dark.

2. My friends all living in places other than St. Louis.

3. Joe's car window being smashed by vandals Sunday night. Luckily, nothing was taken. Unluckily, it cost $200 to fix.

4. It being too cold to really spend any time outside. Cabin Fever.


Anyways.... That's all for now.
I can't WAIT for my BLURB book!!!

Update: Remember Those Piles?

So, today is FREEZING cold outside, but cheerfully sunny. So I got my butt in gear and organized/cleaned/purged/wrapped gifts...
I pretty much did some of the harder tasks, and did them 100% right the first time, so that they won't come back to haunt me in the next few months.
It's kinda like when you actually clean out your closet, instead of using it to shove all the stuff in so the room looks clean.
Feels good. So if you really want, you can scroll back down to the mess photos, then compare them to the clean photos...'cause i went back around to the worst spots and retook their picture. Sort of a Before/After thing.
After this, i promise not to bore you with pictures of my house for the next long while. PROMISE.

{remember the painting supplies? They were on top of this cabinet. all gone now!}

{The dining room floor.... no more tub/sewing machine/piles of presents to be mailed to friends.}
{the kitchen table-- still has some stuff, but is getting SO much better. Joe even worked on HIS side!!}

{Remember the laundry basket of papers needing to be filed? All filed! And THAT was a monumental task. Took a whole DVD movie to get through it.}
{Plaid couch- almost perfect! Just have to hang the pictures I got for Christmas and I'll be done here.}{Bedroom couch- Pile of clothes GONE.I'm LOVING the lighting in here today.}

{shoe pile... Well. It's ever-present. So I didn;t bother making it all perfect. One week from now and it'll be in a pile again. What can I say? I like having choices with my footwear.}
{Dresser Top-- jewelry all sorted, put away, little cute containers dusted and rearranged...}And in addition to organizing and cleaning, I also finally got packages ready to mail to loved ones and friends. This has been a HUGE To-Do on my list since Dec. 15. I LOVE taking piles of packages to the post office to send a little cheer to people I love.

{Pictured here is part of my motivation. Joe, my beloved hubby, has even been cleaning this week. I love that he has been trying to do his part. This morning, he came home from his overnight shift and went to bed, so i had a peaceful, uninterupted afternoon to make our home feel like a home again. This photo is from 30 minutes ago, as he was waking up. I love going into the room to see him after he has been asleep all day.}
So, there. Forced myself outta the slump. I can face February now. And I feel ready to keep going. the Catch-22 is broken.

Happy Saturday!