Sunday check-in

This past week was not at all what I expected since my town experienced its greatest snow event since 1968 - a full foot of snow fell in one day followed by two inches two days later and another inch plus ice two days after that. Needless to say, I did not have school all week and was cooped up at home alone for the majority of the time. Here's how I spent that unexpected gift of a week off work...

1. Crafting - I made two layouts and a mini-book this week. No, that isn't nearly enough in terms of the time off I had, but I just didn't feel super creative. That's okay; at least I enjoyed what I did make.

2. Sleeping - I took naps; I stayed up late and slept in; I went to bed early and woke with the early birds. In short, I slept when I was tired without worrying about the time of day or anyone's expectations of me. It was an incredible gift.

3. Reading - blogs, message boards, social media, magazines, newspapers. I didn't really spend any time reading books this week - ironic, right, since I had so much time? I just didn't want to commit to a long piece I guess. Right now I'm working on Paris to the Moon and The Paris Wife, so I guess I'll just continue them into this coming week.

4. Watching - my streaming services got a definite workout this week. Netflix, Amazon, HboGo, my dvr, and Hulu were all part of my daily plans. I can recommend Veep (HBO series), Amelie (a famous French film from 2001), and The Americans (a new Amazon Prime offering). I also continued watching TrueBlood season 7, Grey's Anatomy and Scandal current seasons. Obviously, I spent lots of screen time this week.

5. Eating - yeah, this snow week has not been good for my waistline. Let's just say I've cooked and snacked and eaten and repeated all of that again and again. I don't want to talk about it anymore, I'm out of breath from typing. Hahaha! Looks like I need to get thy plumpish derriere to the gym asap.

6. Talking - while I spent most of the time alone, I spent many hours on the telephone this week. Tracie (ScrapGals bestie) and I chatted constantly about podcasting and scrapbooking and the weather, and our lives, and our goals, etc. Travis (one of my boy besties) and I chatted about romance and weather and work and writing; we're thinking of starting a writer's group to inspire us and hold ourselves accountable to our goals. Tonia (one of my scrapbooking besties) and I chatted about travel and family and Paris; I think she's going to join me for part of the time this summer! Vonda (my way back bestie) and I chatted about family and work and weather and our unexpected gift of time off.  The fella and I talked nightly about our days and the weather and interesting things we'd seen online and on tv. Kelsey and I talked a few times about her upcoming birthday and school and weather and pups. Of course, I also stayed in touch by text with my other boy besties, Sergeant and Coach, and my other bestie, Lori. Yeah, for someone who doesn't really like talking on the phone, I did a LOT of it this past week.

7.  Cleaning - besides getting caught up on laundry and dishes and mopping and bathrooms, you know the normal stuff that everyone has, I also worked on cleaning/organizing my 'junk' room that is actually an extra bedroom. I'm about 75% finished with it, so I feel pretty good with my progress. One more snow event would have me finished with that project and potentially ready to work in my studio on some organizing projects. The garage/bonus room will have to wait until spring since those areas aren't heated.

8.  Podcasting - because of the bad weather, I couldn't drive to Tracie's house for us to record new episodes of our podcast as planned. Instead, we had to improvise and record with me via Skype. I didn't love the format, but at least we will have a show for you later tonight.

9. Working - I did work a bit from home this week, primarily on my online class I teach for a neighboring county. I graded online work and held phone conferences a few times this week so that I wouldn't be overwhelmed by the amount of work I'd have encountered if I had waited. I also did some thinking/planning about the next few weeks at my brick and mortar school too and answered emails from students/parents/teacher candidates/etc. To not actually be at work this week, I still managed to do some work. I didn't get anything graded because I didn't bring anything home - oh well.

10.  Cuddling - with the pups the first part of the week and then with the fella the last part of the week. Once it was clear enough for him to go to work (Thursday!), he brought a bag over and spent the weekend with me. It was the first time we've spent several days together in a row. He did go to work on Friday and left for a couple of hours each yesterday and today to give us a bit of time apart. He's easy to be around, so that's one reason I enjoyed our time together.  I'm pretty good at cuddling. Haha!

How has your week been? What are some things that you worked on this week? I'd love to know. :)