Thank you Easter Bunny

Sunday morning started off relatively early. I got up and ready, then Cas got up and ready. We had breakfast, then we went off to his brother's church. As we did last year, we seemed to arrive at the same time as his mother.

Cas and I sat with Jeanne and Dave, while Chad and Becky sang in the choir. 

Zoey was at children's Sunday school service. Afterwards, we all went to a restaurant for lunch. It was the first time I had seen the whole crew since Cas and told them he intended to propose to me. They all seemed quite happy about that.

I am told that in the next several months, I will be subject to a stream of unsolicited wedding advice. Right now, I am just enjoying the fact that people seem happy.

After we parted ways with the Dunlap crew, Cas and I went to my parents' house. We had beers with dad and talked with mom for a little while. We also made plans to go to a hockey game with Dan and Laurie.

It was a good way to close out what, for me, was a long weekend, and for him was spring break.

I was at work yesterday, and I am back at it again today. Cas, however, had yesterday off. He pretty much spent the day accomplishing tasks. The fence gate is repaired, and his to-do list for school seems shorter.

It's getting toward the end of the year, and we are doing a standardized test today. It should be kind of quiet, what with all the freshman contained in testing rooms. Either way, it's time to get after it. I've got work to do today.

Heard it through the grapevine

Of course, there was a Groupon.  I mean, who are we dealing with, here?  I had one for a wine 101 class with a charcuterie tray (turns out that is just meat, cheese and crackers as I had long suspected).  The place was in Grapevine, and it was the Su Vino winery.  We got to town around lunchtime and had a meal before wandering from place to place, having a glass of wine just about everywhere we stopped.

It was a whole lot of fun. Then again, I think Cas and I could have fun at a convention of insurance salesmen. We just have fun. It's what we do. 

We sipped our way up and down Main Street, then made our way to the class. It's a cute little part of town, and I think we may be back. 

It's after midnight now, meaning that it feels like Saturday when it's actually Sunday, and we have to get to sleep. His mom is meeting us at his brother's church in the morning for Easter services. I have to put on a dress and look like a girl. I suppose I can hack it for a few hours, but it's back to blue jeans after that. 

Stones

Last night, Cas and I were asleep way before our usual time.  That's why it was so strange when the hailstorm started.  It was the worst one I have seen in my whole life, and from what I hear, most people in the area agree.  It was crazy loud, and the hailstones were massive.  I set a quarter next to one of them for scale.

This was the backyard: 

And the patio furniture that took a beating: 

It's a good thing Cas and I ordered up our new furniture last week.  It's actually on the way.  The umbrella came to us already, but the rest of the stuff hadn't arrived, so we didn't put anything out yet.  Excellent plan, as it turns out.  That umbrella needed to wait.  

When we got up in the morning, we checked out the house from the outside.  It looked pretty good.  It looked like everything was more or less perfect.  When I was at the hardware store picking up a light bulb, the cashier told me they had sold out of tarps.  Ouch.  

It was my extra day off.  I had a substitute teacher in my classroom, and while she was managing my students, I was managing the sudden and rather massive leaf collection that we had acquired on the sidewalk.  In fact, it had covered the sidewalk almost entirely.  I had to sweep a bit.  In fact, I filled up three trash bags just clearing a walking path the the mailbox.  

After the hailstones all melted and the sidewalk, Cas and I went to look at gemstones.  We started at one store, went to another store, ate a really nice lunch complete with noodle salad, then returned to the original store.  

I pretty much want this, except with a sapphire:

Of course, I would also want it to fit on my actual ring finger.  Since Cas told his mom on Monday that we're planning to get married, we are apparently free to shop for an engagement ring, now.  Of course, I want something totally different from everyone else in the world.  I want a sapphire, and I want it without a lot of embellishment.  We're working on it.  As much as Cas and I both hate shopping, the day was pleasant.  I guess we had the bigger picture in mind... 

Turning Japanese

Yesterday, Cas and I woke up in Fort Worth and got ourselves to their Botanical Garden.  I had a Groupon to the Japanese Gardens, which is a beautiful portion of the actual park.  There was a little chill in the air, but Cas and I managed to have a good time.  The temperature just kept us from overstaying our welcome.

Here's Cas walking on water:

I had long suspected he may be able to do that...  

We had a fantastic time in Fort Worth, and we headed back to Dallas straight from the garden.  We stopped by my parents' house to pick up my dad and head out for beers.  Dad was happy to oblige, and I was glad to keep my standing Sunday date.  After that, Cas and I went to have Greek food, then headed back to the house.  

I went back to school today for what should be a four day week, as this Friday is the snow make-up day that we don't need.  I decided to take Thursday off, as well, so Cas and I could have an extra day of spring break together.  He has this week, which is kind of stinky, since mine was last week, but there's only so much complaining you can do when you're a pair of adults who get a full week off of work in the springtime.  You can't exactly cry about how it isn't the exactly correct week.  Not a lot of sympathy from non-teachers out there...  

So, since I have well over a hundred sick days, I am taking Thursday.  Seems like a pretty good idea.  

Fort Worth

The plan all along was to go to Fort Worth on our common spring break weekend. Today is the last day of my vacation and only the second day of Cas' spring break, and here we are- waking up in a very fancy hotel.

The logic, of course, was that if we only got one night out of town, we could bump up the living standards for that night. Mission accomplished. We're getting cleaned up and ready for the day at the Omni hotel downtown. It's sufficiently fancy. 

Yesterday, we checked in and parked the car, opting to take the suggestion about the city bus that runs from our hotel's front door to the stockyards. We wandered around for the early afternoon and stopped into a few places that had museum displays about Cowboys, cattle drives and the old west. 

We walked into a saloon that had swinging wooden doors, playing a game of pool that let Cas launch the cue ball at great speeds toward some rather shocked strangers. We watched an armadillo race, we saw a St. Patrick's day parade and we are way too much delicious food. 

The plan was to wander around, stopping into restaurants for an appetizer and a drink whenever the mood struck us. That was a pretty good plan, and along the way, we saw some intriguing things. Here was the start of the journey: 

And a shot of a racing armadillo: 

We saw a parade:

And we headed to Joe T. Garcia's for an extremely large dinner and some fine margaritas:

The city bus took us back to our hotel, and from there, we took a nap. We had fallen into a Joe T's food coma. I'm sure we weren't the first.

After the opportunity to regroup, we boarded the local free trolley and headed to Sundance Square, with little idea what we wanted to do. I saw Razzoo's, and since we had a hurricane there on New Years Eve, we stopped in again. It was a very tasty side trip. 

After that, we wandered a bit, eventually deciding to stop at a storefront advertising a comedy troupe Cas had heard of. The "Four Day Weekend" show was pretty clever, and we managed to sit far enough back so that we didn't have to participate in the audience participation parts of the show. Brilliant. 

Today, we're headed to the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens. I have a groupon for their Japanese Garden exhibit burning a hole in my pocket, and it is the last day I have off for Sprang Brake! Woo! 

3 months and 5 days later

In December, I offered both Holly and Kris their pick of three chairs I need to get rid of. I had two office chairs and a decorative wicker chair. Kris did not want either one, and Holly said she may be interested in an office chair.

I decided that this one was the better one that I had available.

In fact, I sent her that photograph on December 12. Well, yesterday I finally gave her the actual chair. I was only about three months and five days behind schedule.

Truth be told, I nearly forgot about it. But Mom and  I were headed to Holly's house on St. Patrick's Day to see her and the triplets. Somewhere in there, I remember that I owed her a chair.

The kids are fantastic. They are nine months old, and Holly is still completely exhausted. Mom and I were glad to see them. And if I am reading things correctly, Holly is glad to have a new office chair.

As for today, I appear to be closing out spring break with more thrilling activity. This morning, I led a plumber to the master bathroom this morning, and now my faucet is working perfectly. I also managed to make it to the gym. This afternoon, I will be meeting Cas for happy hour, as he is about to begin his spring break within the hour.

We do have plans to head to Fort Worth in the morning. They will be having a St. Patrick's Day parade, and we will be in attendance, all decked out in green shirts. The next day, we will enjoy a Japanese garden at their Arboretum. Seems as though I cannot get around enough plants lately. Must be my new thing.

For now, I had better get going. I've got a happy hour date with a math teacher.

The Jean Genie

After a second place finish in Tuesday night trivia, I made it to my pillow after midnight. That made breakfast yesterday seem earlier than usual, although it was at the regular time. I decided to have my eggs with my sweetheart then retreat to the bed again. It was for the best- I managed another hour and a half of shuteye before I had to be back up.

When I did get up and ready, it was for lunch at the Arboretum with Jeanne. I genuinely had a good time. She picked me up just after 11 and deposited me at the front door just before 4. Cas seemed pleasantly surprised I had enjoyed myself so much. I said, "Well, she's a very nice lady." He agreed. 

Of course, he planned to have lunch with her next week during his vacation time. I hope he has as much fun as I did. 

For your enjoyment, cherry blossoms: 

And other things: 

Sprang Brake! Woo!

It's Wednesday of my spring break, and a few short days away from Cas' spring break.  It's entirely unfortunate that we have different weeks off, but I can't complain too hard.  I mean, I am an adult who gets a whole week off of work for no real reason in the springtime, and so is he.  That's pretty kickass, actually.

We actually started the week off with a Saturday night hockey game.  Cas and I bought Chad and Becky a pair of Stars stocking caps with a copy of the season schedule in the box and instructions to pick a home game.  They picked Saturday.  It was a good time.

I spent Monday doing grown-up things like a trip to Costco and a trip around the house changing air filters.  I even made it to the Home Depot.  That's pretty grown-folks of me.

Tuesday, I went to the gym in the morning.  I had never done that before.  It was just as meh as any other time of the day, if you want the truth.  After that, I went over to collect my mom.  We got haircuts, and as I feared, my bangs are too short.  Sonofabitch.

Here's the floor around her about halfway through her cut- She had a lot trimmed: 

We had some Chinese takeout and sat around the house for a while, then I went home and made dinner.  I had to eat fast, because I was meeting Jerone and Laura for trivia.  We came in second.  I am convinced that we would have come in first if Cas could play on a school night.  Stupid one-week-off spring breaks.  Grr.  Oh, well.

Today, I am headed out to the arboretum to have lunch with Jeanne.  Sounds a little elaborate, honestly, but whatever.  I like her, and she apparently wants to spend time with me.  Okey doke.  Tomorrow, I am taking my mom to see the triplets, and Friday, I am waiting around for a plumber to fix a bathroom sink.  Super thrilling, no?  At least Cas and I have a fun weekend planned.  It's the end of my break and the beginning of his this weekend, so we booked a very fancy hotel in Fort Worth and planned virtually nothing.  We'll make it up as we go along.  Should be fun.  Heck, it's always fun when we go places.

I've got the world in a sling

Cas put his arm in a sling from Walgreens when we got done playing miniature golf.  He used that until his Monday morning doctor appointment, when he was issued a new one.  His shoulder was in a lot of pain.  If he bumped his finger into his desk, the pain radiated back to the shoulder.  If he tried to apply underarm deodorant, he winced.  He was not having his best weekend ever.

In addition to that, he had to finish up his comments about his kids.  Admittedly, he said, those were easier this year, but it was still arduous.  He said what had typically been a hell weekend every year was only a heck weekend this year.  Hooray for improvement.

This is the week before spring break, so I decided to teach my kids about photography in the digital media classes.  That meant a few trips outside to apply the skills we learned.  That resulted in this rather cute moment:

Adorable. 

If I didn't have such a nice kitchen, I may be tempted to print that and put it on my fridge.  It's totally cute.  

As for the rest of the week, Cas and I went for a walk after his arm stopped hurting so much.  I went to a PTA thing after school yesterday, and I was talking to this one mom for so long that I hadn't realized everyone else left.  I walked out the door with the last straggler and got home just long enough to let Cas hop in the car so we could go to dinner together.  

As for today, I am just riding out the clock on this one.  I have only moments left in my class, and I promised I would help out another teacher by taking care of her kids at the end of the day today.  After that, I am home free and heading out for happy hour.  Cas may come with; he may not.  I would, of course, love to see him there, but if he stays home, I understand.  His doctor gave him some really heavy ibuprofen, and he wants to keep booze out of the mix until he has a better pain management solution.  He's pretty clever.  

Putt Putt

Cas is working on the end of his school's trimester material. In essence, that means he's trapped in his office and glued to either a computer or a red pen for the duration of the weekend.

We decided (or rather, he did) to play a round of miniature golf. Today at around two, he emerged from his office and donned clothes he would wear in public 

We played mini-golf at a place that is currently called Adventure Landing. It is actually the exact same place as Putt Putt golf from when I was a kid. 

Cas has been having some trouble with his shoulder lately, so we decided to forego the tiny cars and the batting cages, heading straight for the miniature golf. He tried a one-handed swing:

That method was short lived. He quickly resumed two-handed putting, presumably using his strained arm for balance instead of force. No matter.  We didn't keep score, which is good, because our scores would have been embarrassing. 

It was a nice study break for him, though. He's trying to close out a trimester and get his comments written about his 59 kids. I think he's on number five, now. At least we got him out of the house and into the sunshine today...

Nailing Jell-O to a tree

Teaching school becomes increasingly harder as the spring semester progresses.  Last week, we gave the SAT test.  That was Wednesday.  No teaching or learning took place on Wednesday.  On Thursday, one of the theater teachers said he needed an audience for the day-shows they were having for their one act play.  I decided to take my classes to the shows.

It was a cute little play, and as a bonus, the kids who were in the show were mostly my past or present students.  They were very happy to see me there and very pleased to have an audience.  

I know that teaching will get harder as spring break draws closer.  I know that teaching anything of real importance will be totally impossible next week.  I have decided to do a piece on composing good digital photos in my Digital Media classes next week.  In my speech classes, I have them making how-to presentations for a few days, then we move on to a preview of our Shark Tank project.  I certainly won't start a new project before a week-long vacation.  It's probably best to finish a project, then discuss what is coming next, but wait to actually move on it.  

Someone once told me that teaching a kid anything around this time of year was like trying to nail Jell-O to a tree.  Sounds about right.