Suitcases

I pulled out the suitcases today so I could begin my packing plans. I know I still have over two months, but I'm so excited and I can't wait any longer. I was originally planning on taking the large one on the right, but now I'm thinking maybe I'll take the little one on the left and put all of my toiletries in a small duffel bag that I can sling over my shoulder and take as a carry on. Hmm... This means I will maybe have to do some packing dry-runs. See which works best.

We are hosting a junior golf tournament at work today and tomorrow. Man, some of those kids can really drive you up the wall. I work from 5am-noon tomorrow; which is a nice short shift. Afterwards, I am going to lunch with my grandma at The Cheesecake Factory, my favorite, and then we are going to do a bit of shopping.

I finally mailed the invitations for the Bridal Shower today. Well, all but two invitations which I still don't have addresses for. Mom and I got a lot of planning done over the 3-day weekend. We have most of the game prizes purchased, along with wrapping paper and cute ribbon. Plus, we've planned some of the menu and how we are going to arrange and display it on the tables. We did a lot of cooking. Two different kinds of chicken salad, plus puffs for it them to go in. A dip that is served in hollowed-out cherry tomatoes. A glazed fruit salad. Berry lemon mouse parfaits for desert. We still need to find a few more heartier dishes to serve. We also bought four carafes at Target to hold water, strawberry lemonade, unsweetened ice tea, and passion fruit ice tea. We are also thinking about having a bottle of Chardonnay on hand, just in case anyone wants that instead.

It's Summetime

and I am working my booty off every day. I work six days a week and I average between 45-50 hours a week. Man, it's like I'm a grown-up or something. But that means money for Europe, so I take as many hours as they will give me. Although those 12 hour days that I was working last week weren't making me too happy.

I still have so much to plan and pay for before I leave in August. Aimee and I have to book and pay for a hotel room for our first night in New York. Plus, we are going to try and go to a Yankees game, so we should buy those tickets soon. I have no idea what else we will be doing in New York. Just playing that by ear I guess. Then we have to book a room for our first night in London. Not sure yet if we are going hostel or hotel. Also not sure whether we will be spending our three free days in London or maybe heading up into Scotland with another girl from NAU who is teaching in Hanau. Or maybe leaving the UK and going straight to the Continent. No clue. Our plans keep changing. We will have to get it together soon, though, so that we can book reservations and stuff. I still have to buy a train pass for the time I'll be there. I also have to buy a bunch of other little things, like a converter kit, but I'm going to hold off until later in the summer to do all that.

Right now I am trying to focus on my brother's wedding, which is in August. I bought my shoes last night, and the other bridesmaid and I scheduled a fitting for our dresses for next Thursday. I also have to make a couple of appointments to have my hair done. Ugh, I'd rather just do it myself, but since it would come out looking like crap, I guess I shouldn't. My mom and I are throwing Shannon a bridal shower in a month, and that is turning out to be more work than I expected. I printed the invitations two nights ago. I am just waiting for Shannon to give me her list with addresses so that I can get things sent out. Then we have to buy party gifts for the guests, a shower gift for Shanny, decorations, food (plus plan a menu).

This and That

I made the mistake of turning my TV on during a not-so-productive study session. The movie Fried Green Tomatoes is on one of the NAU movie channels. Oh man, now I'll get absolutely nothing done for the rest of the evening. This is such a good movie. I still cry when Ruth dies and when Evellyn Couch finds out that Mrs. Threadgood is Idgy. And I still have to change the channel when Buddy "meets" the train, even though I know they don't show it. It's just too much for me to take.

Word on the street is the new Harry Potter movie should be coming out July 7, 2007!

In about two or three decades, when I can afford to buy my own home, I want to decorate it like this:

For Lack of Anything Better to Write About

I appear to be living a very dull, routine life at the moment, explaining the lack of posts. Since I keep getting angry e-mails from some of you girls, I guess I better go ahead and update anyway.

Work: Only three more days of work left (Wed., Fri., Sat.). Although I enjoy my job, for the most part, I am going to be happy to bring an end to my employment there. I spend way to much time wandering aimlessly, looking for something to do. They schedule me for six hours even though I only have four hours worth of work to do. I'll be going back to my old job at the golf course as soon as school is out. I'm not yet sure whether I am dreading it or looking forward to it. All in all, working means more money for my four months in Europe. So I'll work as much as I can if it means the difference between riding a gondola in Venice or sitting in my room while all my friends go travel.

School: Only about a week and a half left. I still have quite a bit of work left to do though and I haven't even begun studying for finals yet. I have five finals next week. One will be really hard, one sorta easy, and the other three somewhere in between. On top of all this work I am packing up my room and preparing to move all my junk back home. It looks as if a bomb has exploded in one of my closets and all the victims of the blast are strewn about my room. I was trying to organize things- a box of stuff I won't need until I live on my own again, a box of stuff for when I start teaching, a box of stuff that I will need while at home. But my organization system broke down sometime this afternoon and I am now just placing stuff in whichever box has room. I'll just have to sort it out this summer when I have the time. Which means never.

Germany: My plans are really starting to come together. Aimee and I have bought all of our major plane tickets. We will be leaving for New York City on August 14 and staying there for four days, crashing with some of her friends. We still have to find a hotel for the first night we get there, because we will be flying in late and we don't want to be traveling in an unknown city at night. JFK airport has lots of hotels within a quarter of a mile, so it shouldn't be hard to find something. Although we have ideas of what we want to do and see in NY, we haven't been able to get down to the nitty-gritty yet. We are pretty sure about going to see a Yankees game, though. (That would make it my fifth major league baseball park. So cool!) We leave NY and fly into London on August 18. We aren't sure yet where we are going after that. We have a week and a half before we have to report to Hanau and the elementary school for teacher in-services and training. Our travel plans depend on when we will be able to move into the army barracks. So we teach, and hopefully travel, for four months. Our last day of teaching is December 8th , and we fly from London into NY and then Phoenix on December 13th. So there are lots of nebulous areas where we will have to start thinking about expanding and finalizing our travel plans. It's that time inbetween London and Hanau that we don't know what to do with.

What I'm Looking Forward To This Summer: Hiking Camelback Mountain. This one still kicks my butt.