crisp

Next week looks like this:

-spanish vocab quiz
-spanish test
-art history slide i.d. test
-art history #2 test
-design project #3 due
-world civilizations assignment #3 due

I think that's it.

The days are settling nicely into Autumn. The sun shines, the breeze blows, and the leaves flutter gracefully onto the ground. I'm not sure if the weather will stay this comfortable, but for now I'm going to enjoy the extra bundling that the cool morning requires, and I'm going to be entertained by the sight of my breath as I wait not-so-patiently at the bus stop.

tonight

i am sleeping with the windows open
it feels and smells and sounds like fall
tree frogs are chirping their evening lullaby


i know it won't "officially" be fall here until november or so, but the weather today was such a lovely break from the hot, sweaty, humid days of zone 7 summer.

this and that

I'm exhausted. I've been working more and have projects to work on for design and tests abound.
I'm still living between two piles of clothes....clean in the basket to the left of my bed and dirty on the floor to the right. The house is a disaster...

On a happier note?
-I received 100% on my spanish vocab quiz (no word on the test yet).
-The drawing I put in the student show last semester won me a $100 gift certificate to the art store------which I just picked up last week---which is the week I HAD to buy art supplies for design (I spent $80 just on paint!)
-The art history test that I was freaking out about and stayed up all night for studying will have to be postponed. I received a text message this morning as I was recapping (our school has an emergency/urgent message system set up) telling me that our campus was closed due to power outage.
I am definitely not ready and "missed" my 8am class to get a little sleep and to study more. So now we'll have the test Tuesday.
I am really happy that I am going to get to sleep a bit because I am working with classic tonight (photography) as a favor and won't get home until 9pm. It was looking to be a VERY.LONG. DAY.
These are my plans as soon as I have time to breath (aside from right now of course because i'm going to sleep)
:::::::::
and in no particular order:

-laundry
-clean the house then set up cleaning schedule (per roommates request and to my happiness)
-catch up on garden tasks
-grocery shop; refill basics (getting pretty low on toothpaste!)
-put air in bike tires
-blog
-finish anthropology project that is not due 'till october
-organize/research games/activities for the girls i babysit
-clean
-clean
-take some photos (but first i have to buy batteries!)
-organize my clothes so i can take something off the closet shelf without having a million things fall at me
-make pesto before all the basil flowers


I'm sure there are more things but I'm a little foggy right now.

It's labor day so it might as well be a Sunday.....

So I rode a motorcycle for the first time EVER last week. I was terrified the entire ride but managed to keep myself balanced so that I didn't skew the driver's balance.
I've since ridden a couple of times, and each time seems to be an easier ride. My max speed is maybe 50mph but when you are not in control, it feels a lot faster. And scarier. The winding curvy roads are the scariest. I've managed though, and each time feels a little bit more comfortable and the scales tips more towards FUN and farther away from FEARFUL.

I was "on call" today for babysitting since I work for a nurse....and she was on call today...and I was doing them a favor. All day, from 9am to 9pm, I carried on business as usual at home but with a certain uneasiness knowing that my phone could ring at anytime and I would have to stop what I was doing and go 'work'. I finally left the house around 7pm to buy the required art supplies(motorcycle trip #4), still worried that I was going to receive that call.
I didn't. The anxiety I held all day, not getting too deep into anything or having too good a time (because that of course meant that I would receive the call at.that.time.) it was all for nothing! Go figure...
All in all, it was a good day.
And this is my newest neighbor:
It's really not shiny. Every night it spins a web between the porch post and the tree. Every morning it is gone. It's huge, as most of the spiders I see here are.
Tomorrow is a school day and brings my first spanish vocabulary quiz. I did get to spend a large portion of the day studying so I feel alright about it.
Bed time now---it's late!