Hey all! So let’s see, I don’t think I’ve written yet about Valentine’s weekend so I will start there. Ivan and I were at the mall a couple weeks ago and got stopped at one of those kiosks where they try to get you to go on vacations and stuff, all you have to do is listen to the presentation. Somehow these people always get us. We were trying to decide what to do for Valentine’s day anyway so it all worked out. So we got a free night at this resort in Peoria (which is only like 10 minutes from where we live), $75 gift card to the spa, and $25 gift card for lunch. The room was really pretty, Jacuzzi tub and all of that. After we got checked in we decided to get some dinner and there weren’t many options because this place is in a fairly newly developing area. So we went to Chilli’s, and I haven’t drank in a very long time. I just don’t drink much anymore…so one Appletini and I was already feeling it pretty good. Haha. So anyway, we ate & drank and then I had wanted Ivan to see the Super Target…I love Target, and I went to this Super Target once before so I wanted him to see it. So we also decided, to make the trip fun to each take $20 and we got 30 minutes to roam the store to buy a gift for the other person. It was really fun. We were like sneaking around spy style trying to avoid each other and surprise the other. We’ve since decided we should do this like once a month at a different store each time just for the fun of it, and maybe vary the time frame or amount of money. In case you’re wondering, Ivan got me a purse (which I really like, I always get my purses at Target by the way) and a picture of a flower (which I like, goes with the colors in our bedroom). We had been talking about the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, so I got him that movie and a drinking/party game. He also got me a gift card for a manicure & pedicure for Valentine’s Day, and I got him (and I) tickets to a Coyote game when they’re playing the St. Louis Blues, which is this coming weekend. Anyway, the next day we had to sit and listen to the presentation about buying a timeshare and I have to tell you, it makes perfect sense for us. We are the kind of people who would actually use a timeshare, and once I learned how timeshares actually work I was definitely interested in hearing more. I always thought about timeshares as I knew of them from years ago. I thought you just owned a week wherever you bought, the same week every year, in the same location. Not so! Many people don’t even use the timeshare at the place they buy because you can trade it to stay in other resorts all over the world. In a sense, once your timeshare is paid off you have a lifetime of prepaid vacations at your disposal, plus major discounts to many other resorts. Sign me up! Stay tuned to see if we end up with a timeshare… J To wrap up the weekend we had a couples massage on Monday at the place where I am a member, and we got talked into getting Ivan a membership too. It’s funny because he was going to meet up with his cousin later and told him that we had plans—wouldn’t tell him he was going to get a massage! And now he has a membership too. Funny. So that was Valentine’s weekend.
Friday we finally got our new couch. Recap quickly: my employer supplies us with our furniture so almost everything we have is rented; we have bought a few little things here & there. We’re moving into a house this summer (renting, not buying) and so we’re starting to slowly buy up our own furniture and stuff. We’ve been looking at couches for a really long time, years, and finally found the one that met every need I had wanted. It was delivered on Friday and we’ve pretty much just been holding it down ever since. It’s a brown, leather sectional, nice big ottoman (we’re weirdos who really love big ottomans…who does that?) We just love it. It fits nicely in the apartment and will be great in the house too. And I’ve been buying up different art pieces and pictures to hang in the house. I always have seen these things that I just love but don’t have anywhere to hang in the apartment. I actually need to stop because I’m afraid I’m going to wake up and have filled the house too full already! We keep looking for the perfect pieces of furniture too. I guess I’m pretty picky. I just have an image in my head and can’t shake it until I find exactly what I was looking for ya know? We’re pretty sure we found a bed (a leather sleigh bed) and I finally found the perfect duvet cover too (www.westelm.com ). I happened to be watching a repeat of Oprah the other day when they were reorganizing people’s homes and saw some things I liked which they said were from West Elm. I went to the website and found MANY things I love! YAY! And there were some pictures from Crate & Barrel I’ve been eyeing for awhile so I went ahead and bought them, one from Pottery Barn too—finally went on clearance. It’s this huge red & white canvas that says Peace in like 14 different languages. I think a lot of people might use it just for Christmas time, but hey, I’m for Peace year round and thought it was really cool. So I’m very excited about that. The new house has two living rooms, so we’re thinking the upstairs living room will be “Ivan’s room,” ya know, decorated more to his taste since I guess I get the rest of the house. So I’ve been on Ebay a lot looking for different Cardinal & Ram decorations—while it will be more to his interests I’m not letting just anything on the walls! I’ve been trying to find some vintage things just to make it a bit cooler. I won the auction on this sign from the 1986 World Series which says, “Cardinals, This Bud’s for you.” Well apparently I won 25 of those signs!!!!!! They are signs that were hung up at the World Series and I thought the guy was selling them individually…nope, we now have 25, 18 square inch signs…so I’m thinking I might hang all of them up on one wall, kinda like a wall paper. Sounds kinda crazy maybe but I think it could look really cool. We’ll see how that turns out…! I’m also hunting craigslist for the upstairs furniture, maybe an air hockey table, that sort of thing. It’s fun!
What else…aside from my new online shopping habit (and Pier 1, I swear I go there once a week and leave with something or at least end up going back for something if I make it out of there without spending any money) I am developing a love of going to the theatre…which sounds really weird to say. Not like some theatre snob, but I just like any kind of live performance, and we happen to have a lot of theatre in Phoenix and the surrounding areas. It’s fun, and just something different to do ya know? So Sunday we went and saw “A Raisin In the Sun.” I had never read the book or anything but I had an idea what it was about. It was good. The actors all did a really good job, but I learned I think I’m more of a musical person, or at least more interested in things that have some comedy or light moments to it. I just enjoy it more. We just missed the Lion King, but Rent is coming in March and I would like to try to go see it.
Work with the part time job is going to be getting a bit busier. We just ended our basketball season, hip hop dance classes, and an arts & crafts class that I taught—the whole idea was for parents to work with their kids on the crafts I was leading so they could learn different things to do at home to work on their fine motor skills. It was a small group so it was nice to get to know the kids and their parents. Now we’re starting the baseball season, which is our busiest season. And we’re starting tennis, which is the first time we’ve had tennis for our kids. The other night we had a one-night tennis clinic for the kids, which was lead by tennis pros. For about 30 minutes before the kids got there the pros worked with me & my co-worker teaching us how to play tennis and all these little tips. It was so much fun! I definitely would like to spend some time playing and learning tennis. Maybe that’s what I’ll do this summer :) Spend my mornings playing tennis. Who knows! Anyway it was fun, and the kids loved it. I’ve been enjoying the part time job more & more lately as I get more comfortable with it and get to know the kids/parents more. I am taking the summer off from the job and am unsure about what to do this fall…there’s some volunteering I’ve been wanting to do for a couple of years with the International Rescue Committee (I’ve mentioned it a million times, they resettle refugees) but the time has never been right. It’s a volunteer thing that takes some commitment and consistency and with the part-time job I don’t think I can offer that. So I’m torn. Because I like the job, and also would like to stick with it because I think it could open up some opportunities in the future too for full time work, and get me out of OT eventually. The city has plans for a hug adaptive recreation facility, and if that goes through then they will need program coordinators and everything to run it…I dunno!!
So anyway, I will let ya go!!
