Let the Break Begin

It has been a goal to blog in the past weeks but I decided to be a professional and stick to my work duties.   As with most semesters, I had piles of grading but I have to admit I did much better with the workload this time around.   In past years, I've procrastinated or fell behind which resulted in late nights and a sense of panic during final's week.   I like to hand back major assignments on the date of the final exam.    So the date of a final exam governs when I have to have grading tasks completed for each class.   I had grading done a couple days before the final exams so that helped with the pace and sanity.  

We've lived in the apartment long enough now that we need to start up a cleaning schedule.   It's kind of a treat that the place is so new.   It takes awhile for dirt to show up.    Depending on gift cards given at Christmas or money from the next pay check, I need to get a wet and dry Swiffer.   I think that will work best for cleaning the tile in many rooms as well as the wood laminate flooring.    I don't think we need a vacuum or least not a huge vacuum.   I really wish I hadn't sold the small I had for years at our garage sale in the summer.   It would be perfect for vacuuming the bedrooms.  

I honestly thought I would feel lonely by now.    I really don't and I don't know what to make of that. It's probably a good sign that I like having my own place again.   It's nice to have my own routine and to a certain extent, I can do what I want, when I want to do it.   I'm interested in picking up a hobby of some sort.    Or rekindling a hobby from the past.   I've considered joining a book club.   I may be doing a bible study in January.   I don't see myself doing anything super creative because I'm not artsy.   I may need to do more research to see what I can fit into my schedule.   And of course, I've also considered adding a fitness class or something to my life to see if that would be a good choice for filling time.  

I did turn my grades in today and have a list of domestic things I want to get done before we depart for Waukon.    I still have boxes sitting around that need to either be stored away or fully unpacked.   I am trying to figure out how to best organize my desk area.   A lot of the remaining boxes pertain to papers and work documents.   I need to reorganize my filing cabinets and my motivation to go through all that stuff is lacking.   I should be able to throw away a lot of things though.  I have a huge pile of clothes that need to be donated, especially this year so I can use the donation for my taxes.   I still need to wrap presents too.   I made a huge dent in my Christmas cards last night.   The list of those receiving cards has been reduced again.   I am pretty happy with my choice of Christmas presents as Gavin and I spent an equal amount on each person.   I still need to get a couple things for Gavin though.   He's been difficult to buy for and I will likely need to make-up for a lack of gifts at his birthday.    I guess another way to look at it though is that he has everything he needs, which isn't a problem either.   

I guess that's it for now, hopefully I'll blog more over break.