let the wild rumpus begin!

so today . . . i am alone in my new house, all by myself, for three whole days :-)

i love my family. they are my favorite people on the planet. so i'm not quite sure why, but i occasionally need some extended solitude in my own house.

when we lived in oregon, rollie used to leave me fairly regularly. he would make short out-of-town trips every few months. but since we have moved to southern california, it almost never happens. because all of his meetings are now less than an hour away. unless traffic is bad. but traffic is never bad enough that he has to stay overnight somewhere...

this has been a craaaazy summer. between packing and moving and unpacking and going on vacation and starting school three weeks later than i normally do, i have completely lost track of time. which is how i find myself sitting here tonight all by myself...

...because several weeks ago, rollie was asked to speak at a retreat this weekend. he said yes. the retreat is for the church where my school is, so i thought it would be fun to go for at least part of it. but we are leaving on tuesday for a business trip and won't be back until saturday. which isn't a big deal, except my mom and dad are coming to visit NEXT FRIDAY. before we get home. so i have a lot to do...

and then, as i mentioned, i am not going to start working until the end of september. a perfectly capable substitute will be teaching my class. my wonderful assistant will be there to assist her. so i decided i was not going to even try to whip my classroom into shape. i decided i would just leave it alone and deal with it at the end of the month, and instead use the time to finish unpacking. and then, i got the class list...

for the first time, i will have more pre-k kids than kindergarteners. i am not thrilled about this, but that's the way it goes. at least i still have a job! but this change in enrollment is going to be a problem unless i make some changes in the classroom. so i spent almost five hours cleaning and rearranging furniture this afternoon. and i'm still not done. i'll be going back for a short (i hope!) time tomorrow morning. because i am almost done. i think.

and then, rollie asked me if i wanted to teach one of the sessions at the retreat. he asked me this about a month ago, and since it would help him and it's easy for me, i said, "sure!" i said this a month ago when i thought i was almost done unpacking (which clearly i wasn't!) so now i have to make some notes about what i am going to say tomorrow night. i know what i am going to say, and i don't get nervous about speaking, but if i don't have notes i tend to get off track--which can be entertaining, but sometimes i forget to say what i had planned to say...

...which is exactly what is happening on my blog tonight!! this was supposed to be about being home alone, and look what i've written so far! sheesh...

ok, so i'm home alone. i worked at school until almost 8:00 tonight, and then went to target. at 8:00 at night!! probably not a good idea. but i knew since i would be home alone, i was going to need snacks. and new nail polish. and while i was there, of course i wandered about. i found a perfect lamp to put on my piano, and it was on sale for only $13! but then as i looked at it, i realized that i was going to need to buy a shade. so i looked at shades, but the shades cost more than the base! the base!! the part with all the electrical parts (and a bonus free light bulb,) was cheaper than the part consisting of a wire and a bit of fabric. which was bad enough, but then i couldn't figure out how to attach the shade to the lamp. i thought maybe that was why it was on sale, but there were lots of lamps with no visible way to attach a shade, so i don't know...

and then i saw these.pillow pets of the anaheim angels rally monkey!! (ok, i know they are now the los angeles angels, but really, i don't know how anyone who calls themselves a fan can refer to them that way! los angeles has a team--the dodgers. angels stadium is in anaheim. they are, and always will be, the anaheim angels. it isn't rocket science, people. it's marketing.) i love pillow pets! i have loved them since i went on a hunt to find one for my nephew at christmas. they are cute and soft and cushy. the main reason i don't already have one, is that i haven't been able choose just one. but i think now i have--this is the pillow pet for me. sadly, it didn't get to come home with me today, because i was already carrying nail polish, cheetos, a shade-less lamp, and a bag of chocolate chip cookies. (oh, did i forget to mention the cookies? they weren't my first choice, but i couldn't find the devil donuts.)

i wandered back to the lawn and garden section by way of the school supplies. thankfully my hands were too full to pick up any pens or markers, but there was a giant CLEARANCE sign above the outdoor stuff. i don't know what there is about clearance signs that make me suddenly feel the need to purchase something. i was looking at gardening tools (even though we have a gardener who takes care of our yard,) decorative pots in all sizes and colors (even though we have all these empty plant beds around the edges of our yard just screaming for me to plant something in them,) and grilling accessories (even though we don't have a bar-be-que yet.) i managed to talk some sense into myself and headed for the cash registers. without any clearance merchandise.

and then a miracle happened (other than making it out of the store without buying any clearance merchandise)...

...because i have a track record at target. it doesn't matter what line i get into, the people ahead of me in line inevitably have problems with their transactions. my line is always, ALWAYS the slowest line in the store. always. but tonight i found a cash register with no line at all! the cashier was just standing there, probably counting the minutes until the store would close and she could go home.

it was pretty exciting for me.

i got home, pillow petless, but with snacks and new nail polish. i let the dogs out, watched some tivo and ate my sourdough jack. i was home alone. in my new house. and feeling pretty good.

and then i needed to go upstairs...

i don't normally get weird about being home alone. but i started up the stairs, and then realized that the back door was open. the back door was open, because we don't have a doggie door installed yet. so when we are home, we just leave the back door open so the pups can go in and out whenever they want. but it suddenly occurred to me that if i went upstairs, and the dogs followed me, then someone could come in the back door unnoticed. and i watch enough tv to know that when someone sneaks in your back door, it never ends well.

i turned around and closed and locked the door. i started to set the alarm, but then remembered that i can't set the alarm if the upstairs windows are open. since we have a big covered patio, our upstairs windows are apparently vulnerable to intrusions. although, it seems to me that by the time a crazed criminal could scramble up onto our tiled roof and get through a window, the dogs would have alerted the whole neighborhood and mia would be waiting to eat him. or her. but who am i to argue with the security company...

so here i sit. all alone. by myself in my new house.

for three more days :-)

today's plan? errands and a movie :)

so today . . . i ate bar-be-que potato chips and went to a movie by myself.

neither of these things are earth shattering, but they sort of sum up my day.

this is my last full day alone, and i woke up still thinking about getting my hair cut. i have been putting it off, because my bangs are just the perfect length, and that only happens for about three days every few months. my hair looks fine, but it feels heavy and annoying. and i was afraid that if i didn't go in and get it cut by someone who knew what they were doing, i might just break out my own scissors and see what happened. i have been known to do that before--usually late at night, when my hair is at it's worst and there is no place i can go for a haircut--not even supercuts! and the results are never good...

this morning i walked into supercuts, and for the first time ever in my experience, there were no customers in the store--not one! i sat down and got the full sales pitch on all the hair products that were on sale... none of which i wanted. i finally got my hair cut, and it felt much better. except for the bangs... they are now too short.

i decided since i was out, i should just do some errands. so i whipped out my list and headed to wal-mart. i got crayola crayons for 25 cents per box! and these were the boxes of 24!! (i know, i sound waaaay too excited.) i watch for this sale every year, because whether you are buying crayons or markers or watercolors, crayola is the best!! i don't know if they use special pigments or what, but their colors are definitely more vibrant than any others. which is probably why they cost more. and when you are buying for a whole classroom, you have to watch for the really good, back-to-school pricing. of course, this put me smack in the middle of the school supplies... (luckily, because i found the coolest folder! i have no idea what i am going to use it for, but it made me smile for only $1!)

wal-mart is also where i found the bar-be-que chips.

i got the last bag. clearly bar-be-que is the flavor of choice, since several other flavors were still on the shelves. i brought the bag home, and ate almost all of it. by myself. but it's ok, because that is all i ate today. and according to the package, it had 11 servings at 150 calories per serving. since there are a few chips left, i figure i ate about 9 servings which equal 1350 calories. and you know, people lose weight on 1500 calories a day, so i think i am good...

...except i did eat a hot dog at the movie theater. i went to the cheap theater to watch iron man 2. all by myself. i really wanted to see it, because i loved the first one, but it just hadn't happened. so when i saw it was at the cheap theater, i knew i had to go! i walked up to the ticket booth and asked for one ticket. the cashier, who was probably 15, just looked at me. then he gave me a big smile. i could almost see his thoughts--"it's perfectly ok that you are here by yourself. lots of people come to the movies by themselves. although most of them are alone because they have no family or friends or job. but hey! i'm sure that isn't true of you. i'm sure you have a ton of people you could have asked to come with you today. you are probably always surrounded by family and friends showering you with love and attention, and you came by yourself today because you were craving some alone time. right???"

uh huh... whatever...

the movie was really good. then i came home and vacuumed. yes, i vacuumed. rollie and diandra are coming home tomorrow, so i needed to pick up the debris that seems to collect around me (papers, magazines, photo albums, chip bags...) and prepare to share my space once again.

because while i really like my alone time (that 15 year old kid wasn't all that wrong,) i will be glad when my family comes back. as cute as my dogs are, neither of them are great conversationalists...

... and i think i might be ready to eat something that is not a snack food...

maybe i need a plan...

so today . . . i've been restless and lethargic all at one time.

you might think these two things are mutually exclusive, but they are not. and it is miserable to experience both at once! should i take a nap or take a walk? should i clean out my closet or go to the mall? should i eat a brownie (which is just sitting there in a package waiting for me to devour it) or a salad (which requires preparation.) it is unsettling...

i texted my dilemma to rollie. he is in illinois. he said i should forget about trying to accomplish anything and just do whatever i felt like doing. which was good advice, except i didn't know what i felt like doing. i wanted to work on my photo scanning project, but i couldn't find the big, rectangular folding table to set everything up on.

yes, apparently i have misplaced a table!!! i am thinking it must be the innocent victim of my perpetual rearranging of things, because it isn't where i left it and i know i didn't get rid of it. at least, i think i know i didn't get rid of it. but i can't imagine where i would have rearranged it to! i mean, there aren't that many places it could be... the one place i know it is not, is in the family room, ready to hold my computer and scanner and dvd drive and hard drive and photo albums!

so i decided to work on cleaning out my closet instead. i started that project yesterday, but then it got dark. i don't like to be in my bedroom after dark--it is not well lit, so it is very shadowy and i feel like i can't see anything. which is why i decided i should go in there today while it was still daylight. i thought i would watch tv while i worked, but unless you want to watch talk shows or judge shows, the choices are quite limited. no problem for me, though--we have netflix!!

i say we, but after scrolling through the choices, i realized it is mostly rollie and diandra that have netflix. because unless i wanted to watch the x-files, lost, dirty jobs, future weapons, survivorman, man vs. wild, deadliest catch, friday night lights, the hills, or various science fiction movies, i was in trouble. (i quickly logged onto netflix and downloaded a season of a show called miami ink--it is about a tattoo parlor. i can't wait to see what kind of reaction i get when rollie thinks i am really going to watch it--yes, i am easily amused! in fact, i might even actually watch it...) i finally found a couple of movies to watch and proceeded to try on every. single. thing. in my closet.

that might sound like fun. you know, kind of like playing dress up. but it was NOT fun. the whole point was to get rid of stuff, but i like everything in my closet. obviously!! i mean, i spent time and money to put each item in there, so getting rid of things was not all that much fun. i am beginning to think that i should just wear black or white and get rid of everything else, because it takes up a lot of space to have tank tops and t-shirts and sweaters in every shade of the rainbow... not to mention jackets and dresses! and shoes!!

as darkness approached, i headed to the family room (where there are decent lights!) and my computer. after checking to see what had been happening on facebook all day, i was thinking it might be time to indulge my restlessness and get out of the house. i was thinking maybe a movie and a hot dog at the cheap theater. so i checked the listings and found that iron man 2 is still playing! yesssss!! but only at 4:45 and 9:30. bummer!! it was 8:00 which meant i would have to go to the 9:30 show, and i was pretty sure i was too tired for that tonight. so then i thought i would go get my hair cut. i took it out of the ponytail where it has resided for most of the summer and decided maybe it looked ok.

so i ate an ice cream bar, and tried to blog.

but milo would not leave me alone!! the dogs get weird when we are not all at home. he was trying to get into my lap (where my computer was,) and licking my face, and pawing my hands. and when that didn't work, he rolled over on his back and waved his paws at me. and when that didn't work, he squirmed around to try to make upside down eye contact with me...

...and fell off the couch.

yes, we have had quite a full day. tomorrow, i think i will go out...