One week down! 299 days to go...

As you can see, the countdown is still on...and we are beginning the two hundreds. Blah. Well, Landon and I have now been back alone in Rio Rico for one whole week. Only a week??? It seems SO much longer. I am still missing having people around all the time-- I'm not so good on my own. :/

Friday was a busy day, which was great! I worked in my classroom, and then Landon and I went to dinner with Donna, John, Neecie, and Robbie. We spent a few hours with them just catching up. It was nice. Afterwards, Landon and I drove to Tucson to buy some fabric for my classroom. (Can you believe that is the closest place to buy fabric?!?!) We got home pretty late, so I didn't really have any time to sulk, which is good.

Now, the rest of the weekend has been pretty bland. I've been trying to clean out some things around the house, and get some other deep cleaning done. Landon spends his time playing with his toys. I've been doing things that I haven't done in awhile...like playing games on the Wii and writing in my journal. I'm really just ready to get this school year rolling so that I feel like I have more to do with my life. Being bored is not good for me when I'm alone because I just sit around and feel sorry for myself and I do not like that. :/

I did sign up for this single parent meet-up group online. A bunch of single parents (in Tucson of course) set up times for everyone to meet at the park or zoo or something, so other single parents can meet each other and get out of the house and the kids have new friends to play with. Whenever they have another activity that I'm interested in, Landon and I are going to check it out...see if it's even worth bothering with. We need some new experiences, desperately!

Well, this is the last week before it is back to school for real, so I have a lot of work to do! Wish me luck! Only 299 days until next summer... HA HA HA :)

Just another day in "paradise"

Last night I decided to try to tackle my two months worth of unopened mail, and I'm glad that I did. I had received a check from Farmer's after having cancelled my insurance policy. $118 I wasn't expecting! :) I bought a few things that I needed for my classroom and filled up my gas tank. That's the good news.

Then there was bad news...Today my laptop fell off of the couch. Luckily it's fine, but my internet connection which was plugged in at the time wasn't so lucky. It is totally busted and unfortunately I'll have to wait until my first paycheck to pay the deductible and get connected again. Thankfully I still have the internet connection on my phone or I would be totally disconnected from the rest of the world...ha ha. So, I'm writing this post from my phone; a little more difficult than from my computer.

Other than that, today has been pretty much just like every other day since I got back to Arizona. I worked in my classroom for a couple of hours, ran to Wal-Mart, took a walk with Landon, and now we're sitting around doing pretty much nothing. My life is pretty mundane right now, and I'd just like for something better to be happening. But, overall I'm doing okay. :)

Sorry, no cute pictures of Landon today...

Just another day...

Today I got some more work done in my classroom. I got the desks set up in groups, and started working on my classroom library. Landon was very cooperative today. He set up a little "office" where he sat coloring or talking on the phone. His office moved with me around the room, but he just played and let me work. I also met a new teacher today, whose husband is taking one of the eighth grade positions at my old school. She seems nice. Really nothing out of the ordinary to report. After working at the school, Landon and I went to play at the park. He was cranky by the time we left again, so when we came home he took a nap and I cleaned his playroom. I still have things to unload from the car (how's that for lazy), and I didn't want to unload his toys until the playroom was as clean as usual. So, the playroom is clean but the toys are still in the car...it's dark outside and that's my excuse. :) I'll do it tomorrow.

I felt pretty good today; I didn't cry at all until this evening when I sat down and wasn't keeping busy with anything. I think of how silly it is to cry about missing my family when I just spent the whole summer with them, but I can't help it. I love my family, and it gets pretty lonely when you're somewhere by yourself with no one to talk to (no one that can talk back at least). I think my mind is pretty much made up that this will definitely be my last year in Rio Rico, AZ. I do want to be closer to my family. Not only for my sake, but for Landon. I want Landon to have a close relationship with his grandparents. After how much Landon showed that he loved grandpa this summer, I know that he wants to be close to them too. Now all I need to do is check on what I need to do to recertify my teaching certificate in New Mexico. There's another little project for me. :)

Homesick...

So, today I was really homesick again. I hate this feeling!! When I get like this, little things set me off and make me cry. Little, dorky things like looking at Landon's portable dvd player. He watched it almost every night before bed at grandma and grandpa's house...so it reminded me of being home. Landon has been such a sweet little boy. He knows when I'm feeling down and he comes to cuddle with me, give me kisses and hugs, and even brings a wet-wipe and wipes the tears off of my face. He's SO cute!

I do some other dorky things when I'm homesick too...like make a countdown to the end of school where I can mark off each day as we get closer. School hasn't even started for the year and I'm already counting down. That's probably not a good thing. But, as of today there are only 304 days until the summer vacation of 2012. ONLY... On my little countdown I even mark when all of the vacation days are happening. It's a nice visualization. I made a similar countdown last year and used it for like the first week and then got back to a hectic schedule and forgot about it, so I sure hope it works out like that again this year. It makes me feel a little better for the moment anyway.

Another dorky thing I did was made a little "vacation bank" so Landon and I can start saving our money for our first actual summer vacation. I figure that I will more likely actually stick to my savings plan if I don't see the money sitting in my checking account all of the time. I'm not a saver of anything by nature, so this is a new thing for me! :) That little activity gave me something different to focus on for awhile as well.

This morning I met with a friend to talk about things that I missed at the Association yearly planning retreat this summer and then Landon and I went back to my classroom. Landon was a little less helpful today, but I was still able to get things set up pretty much where I want them to be, and I finished organizing/going through the closet. Landon took an hour nap in the middle of our work session. I haven't moved my beanbags or anything comfortable into my classroom yet, so he took a super comfortable nap on a piece of butcher paper laid out on the floor. HA HA. This kid can sleep ANYWHERE!

Afterwards, we ran to Safeway for some milk and fruit. I had to buy some chocolate milk because Landon ran out, and grandma got him hooked this summer. :) We decided to eat pizza for dinner, and we are currently in a middle of a marathon of Dora, Max & Ruby, Little Bill, and Blue's Clues. (The same five episodes over & over & over. He only has these cartoons on one dvd, and I guess he really missed watching it during the last two months!) It's going to be a long night...

Life back to normal

Well, after feeling a little low yesterday, I jumped back into life as much as possible today. Landon and I spent a day out and about. First, we picked up our bucket of mail that was being held at the post office. I never realized just how much mail I would have accumulated over two months! Yikes!
After that we headed to my new school, Pena Blanca Elementary, to pick up my classroom keys and to begin initial set-up work in my room. Landon was such a big help! :) When I was moving furniture around he always "helped" to push it to the desired location. When I was looking through the closet and deciding how to organize he sat at a table and drew "pictures". He is certainly becoming a big boy and wanting to do big-boy things. :)
We took a break and went to lunch after working for a couple of hours, after which we ventured to K-Mart and Wal-Mart to pick up a few odds and ends that we needed after coming home from vacation. We ended our outside adventures with a trip to the park. During the school year we frequent the park quite often...two or three times a week sometimes...and I'm sure Landon missed it during the summer. :) Landon ran with joy to the playground when I let him out of the car! We played there for a couple of hours, but Landon left kicking and screaming because he REALLY wanted to play with another family's stroller (and was long overdue for a nap). We really enjoy spending time at the park, especially when it is so nice outside...I just wish we didn't have to drive to Nogales to play!
Now it is time for us to relax and play at home. And, of course, I should be doing some housework. Some things never end!

Wow...has time passed!

Okay...so, I completely forgot about this whole blog-thing (as is evident by my lack of action the last two and a half years!!). Yikes! SO, SO, SO much has changed since I was last on this site. I can't remember 31 months worth of "stuff" so I think it is better just to begin anew.
The most important thing to add (which everyone hopefully already knows) is that I have a little person in my life now! Not a midget, but a little baby! Okay, he's not a baby anymore...he's already two years old! My son, Landon, has changed my life forever...in a good way. It's just the two of us right now, but we are living life and having a good time.
Today, I got back from my summer vacation. I always feel SUPER homesick right after vacation and decided to do something different to get my mind off of things...and so I am here blogging. :)
Landon and I spent the entire summer with our family. We traveled up to my parents' house in Fruitland, NM just a few days after the school year was finished. We hurried up there to get home before my sister, Heather, got released from her mission. We got to spend a lot of time with my family, which I always LOVE. We got to see everyone too. We stopped by and saw Fred and Sara on the way to mom and dad's. Shaylah and Serena came down to visit at mom and dad's, and Serena even stayed with us for about a month. Later we all took a trip up to Grand Junction for Serena's birthday and saw Shaylah, Cel, and the rest of the gang. We just came back from Las Cruces where we all drove down to see Fred and Sara again. It was a very nice summer vacation...very relaxing! I'm so glad that I have such a wonderful family!! :)
I'm really going to miss them during the "adjustment period". I don't know why I always get so homesick...especially after being out of the house and living in different towns for so many years...but it is the same every time. I think it has to do with coming back and not having to go to work right away, so I have some time that is not scheduled to the brim with things to do. I hate this feeling, but as soon as I get back into the swing of things I'm sure that my mood will pick up.
Well, on a happier note, I decided recently that I want Landon and I to start taking family vacations every summer. I want to plan early and save up throughout the year so that we can go wherever we want. Because Landon will only be three next summer, I decided to keep plans simple. So far, the plans for next summer are to take a road trip up through Arizona, with stops in Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon, and Lake Powell. Then we'll go up into Utah to visit some friends, and over to Colorado to visit Shaylah's family, and end up in New Mexico to spend the rest of the time with my parents. I have a rough estimate of how much money I would like to save every paycheck in order to make this trip a success. I am really excited to get started on this tradition!

Well...I do feel better now that I have "talked" to everyone in cyberspace who reads this. Now I should probably go do some laundry or something. :)