A Quiet Moment

Gumby took the children to his Fantasy Football meeting and I left work a few hours early, so here I am ALONE. This doesn't happen often, unplanned alone time. When I'm done with this post, I'm moving to laundry and packing up some things I've sold online over the past few days (woo hoo!). Then it will be time for the piles of homework that I have waiting for me.

I have a marketing paper due this coming Thursday, homework for my Tuesday writing class (which, I have not received my book yet and subsequently cannot do my homework, damn it) and then lots of studying and homework for the pharmacy tech certification. Oy.

It was a panicked, crazy week. We got word that the driver that killed Patrick has pleaded guilty *FINALLY* to the charges and would be sentenced this Monday. I quickly made reservations for my MIL and I to go to California only to find out there was a mistake in the system and the actual sentencing isn't until February 26th.

But the development of his guilty plea and the sudden realization of it all was overwhelming. I have to write my "victim's impact statement" that I will read before the court. That in and of itself is such an overwhelming thing to write. The eulogy was hard, but requires me to quantify HOW his actions have impacted the family. This is not easy to do. But I trudge on.

It's been raining here for the past few days, which is very unusual for Wisconsin, especially in January. It's depressing in one way, but nice because it's melting all the shitty, dirty snow. The hope for warm weather is reinvigorated by the melting snow.

Of course, traveling to California next month, while difficult, will be nice to experience some warm weather. The MIL and I have some ideas of what to do in our spare time there, which is exciting. I've always had crazy love for California, not quite sure why, but it will be nice to return again.

I'm watching Wisconsin Foodie, a new food geek show on a local channel. The owner from Meritage is currently on, which is interesting as we'll be eating there next Friday with friends. We desperately need a night out, a night of laughter and good company.

I must get going on my piles of laundry and homework now.

Split Pea Soup

It's cold out. It's been cold as hell the last few days (which, is that even possible? Modern theology would have you believe Hell is hot, a burning inferno....but we often say cold as hell...is that a simile?!? Damn, I should have paid more attention in English)

Anyway, I made a gigantic pot of split pea soup today with the leftover ham and ham bone from Christmas. I managed to do it before it got funky! Yeah to me! But it turned out very yummy; quite like my Grandma's. Which is awesome. There are somethings you just have in your head how it should taste and when you do it right, it's such a feeling of accomplishment.

I still have a bit of ham leftover, so I'm going to check for recipes for scalloped potatoes and ham; a favorite of my Dad as I was growing up. He always just used the boxed scalloped potatoes, but I'm interested in testing if homemade scalloped potatoes are worth the extra effort.

I've worked everyday since the 1st and have 2 days left in my marathon. Then I'm off most of the following week due to asking off for my birthday.

I turn the big 3-4 on Friday. It's funny, going through all the old photos, I see how 'young' Gumby and I looked when we had Baby Girl. And then I look at myself now. And holy shit, I look old. The little badgers have sucked the life right out of me ;)

New Year's Eve was a quiet night with the in-laws. We had fillet, lobster tail, crab legs, shrimp, baked potatoes, roasted carrots and hot cabbage salad. I remembered to pick up some sparkling juice when I ran into Walgreens, so we did a nice toast at midnight and the boys handled the pyrotechnics.

We are going back to school. I feel like I've wasted the past 6 months, not being in school. But with everything going on, it was for the best. Hopefully I'll be able to get classes that affect the kid's minimally. I'm hoping Thursday night works for Gumby and I to take a class together. Perhaps a Saturday morning class too, but I won't hold my breath. Those are hard to come by.

It will be nice to be back in school, finishing the seemingly never-ending degree. It's time. Time to be done, time to move on to the next part of my 30's.