Two Days Of Swimming In A Row

I got to go swimming with my nephew both yesterday and today. And to think that I had considered myself lucky if swimming was something that would even come up this summer. (It didn't last summer. It also didn't come up during at least one of my summers when I was in college either.)  I quite enjoyed it.

I have found out the hard way that my yellow plastic flip-flops (which a a big flower decoration at the toe and which Mom had gotten me at a sale somewhere) are a little tricky to keep on after a swim. Sometimes, they'll slip when I'm walking. (Either the shoes or the feet or both are too wet no matter how hard I try to dry them; at least that's my guess anyway.)

I may or may not swim again this summer (or what's left of it). Who knows?

Coming Down With Something

In the last day or two, I started coming down with sniffles for some reason.  I took some Alka Seltzer last night (something I haven't done before) that my sister's boyfriend offered. This morning, I took some cough syrup that my sister offered. I've got barely less than another half-hour before time for the next dose.

It's been a quiet morning so far. My nephew's playing a video game this afternoon. We might do something else in the afternoon. Who knows?

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I need to check on my laundry.

This Weekend

My sister's household got in Saturday evening. Layla, my stepdad's dog, was with us from then until this morning.  Cosmo played with her more often than Millie did. When my sister and her boyfriend took their dogs for a walk last night, they took Layla with them. (Layla doesn't get walked at home.) Supposedly the walk with Layla went over pretty well. I might take a shot at walking her myself when I go home.

Yesterday, I went swimming with River. I haven't done that in at least one or two years. I enjoy swimming, but I don't really like having so much leg out in the open for it. (There are online stores that offer swimsuits with the coverage that would be nice to have, but buying online is not feasible for me at this time.) If there was a way to add extensions to the bottom half of my swimsuit, I would. (The top has red and white stripes and dark blue spaghetti straps. The bottom consists of a skrited brief. It's the closest I could find to something that DIDN'T make me look like I was up and about in my underwear when I got it.) 

It's hard to believe that we're in our last week of July. As far as I know, I'll be going home in a couple of weeks, but the exact date has yet to be confirmed. Now the question is what'll I do until then?

At My Sister's House Alone...Again

My nephew is at his former sitter's until tomorrow. My sister and her boyfriend are out of town as well. They'll supposedly all be back tomorrow afternoon (which is when they'll bring Layla).

I've cleaned the rabbit/guinea pig cage and the litter box upon request. I've hosed down the bottom part of the cage and am waiting for it to dry in order to put in fresh bedding. Later, I'll need to water the plants and walk Cosmo and Millie.

I'm waiting for some emergency laundry to dry (due to a stain on my overalls which shall go undescribed), as well as the dishes in the dishwasher. Maybe I'll get some more work done on the rewrites as well (even though I feel like being at someone else's house has been somewhat distracting; at least I think that's part of the problem). I don't know what else I will be doing.

This could very well be the last time, at least this summer, I am the only person here overnight.  Unless it turns out otherwise, I will be here for another 2-3 weeks at most. After that, I'll be going home, and it'll be back to normal routine of job search on some days, Doggie Bag on others, church on Sundays, and other things that I had to put aside to babysit my nephew. This may be the last summer I will be available to do this, especially if I take a paid job somewhere and/or I do return to my dad for good. (Right now, my heart's saying "no" to the latter for multiple reasons, but I can't help but wonder what the repercussions will be if I decline to return to my dad when/if it becomes feasible.)

Surprise Guest Today

For some reason, the therapy dog from the middle school in my sister's hometown was at the house for a little while today. (I guess his owner needed someone to watch him.) The dog's name is Vegas. I don't know if he's part lab or a full-blooded lab, but my guess is that he's one of those two.

At first, his being there shocked Millie, but then she calmed down. She didn't hang around him, but Cosmo did. Cosmo humped him a couple of times. (It was dominance-related, not sexual.) However, he didn't get upset about it or anything.  (A friend of mine said that labs tend to be passive.)

I'm looking forward to seeing Layla for a little bit this weekend. I haven't seen her since I came here back in May. (The longest I've gone without seeing her was 9 1/2 months when I was living with my dad. I was worried that she would forget what I looked like.) Maybe she'll shake things up a little.

Getting Anxious To Go Home

I've got about 2-3 weeks before time for me to return to my hometown and to my job search, not to mention my volunteer work at Doggie Bag.

I checked my account on Salliemae regarding my student loans. My deferment expires in 3 days, and since I don't have a job (and am in no position to look for one as I am at my sister's in order to be available to babysit), I'll need to do yet another deferment (which will hopefully be my last one). I supposedly will need to provide documentation about my attempts to seek employment. However, I won't be in a position to provide said documentation until I go home, and the date for that has yet to be determined.

As a job seeker, I have gotten to the point where I don't feel right about leaving my hometown, at least not for an extensive amount of time as it's time I can't spend looking for a job or otherwise establishing income as I have someone else's schedule to adhere to. The only reason I can justify being anywhere but my hometown this summer is that I had a family member that needed my help, and this is what I would classify as more of a "working" trip rather than a "vacation" trip. However, last time I checked, doing a service that is limited to someone in the family cannot go on a resume, and it's vital that I be able to do as much justice as possible to my resume during this part of my life.

Nephew's Gone Again Until Saturday

My nephew is on his way to my hometown. He'll be staying with my mom tonight but go over to his old babysitter's tomorrow and will stay with her until Saturday. My sister and her boyfriend will be going out of town on Friday night. They'll be bringing Layla here with them on Saturday night, and she'll go home sometime on Sunday. (That won't leave a lot of time for all three dogs to get into mischief.)

Oh yes, today, my nephew and I went to that lunch program over at the high school once again. This time it was grilled chicken with rice, broccoli, a roll, and pineapple upside down cake. I don't know if he and I will get the chance to do this sort of thing again. At least it gave me an excuse to get out of the house.

I don't know what to do now. Maybe I'll take the dogs for a walk.

A Few Things I Did Today

Today, my nephew's clothes needed reorganized, and I was to help him with that. I ended up doing a lot of the work, and he didn't do as much of it as my sister would've liked, but I think the amount that he did do was better than nothing at all.

It just so happens that the high school in my sister's hometown has a food service program in the summer. My nephew and I went there for lunch. Today it was Frito's with meat and cheese on top, salad, peaches and a cinnamon roll with a choice of regular white milk or chocolate. (My nephew and I both opted for the latter. It kind of brought back memories of my school days...not counting college of course.) It was pretty good, and it gave me an excuse to get out of the house (for which my opportunities have been limited lately).

Sometime after we got home, he played a video game and then had an hour of reading to do. (It's for some program with the library from my understanding.) I did my daily Bible reading. He asked for some company in the living room. As I didn't want to simply sit there on the couch and didn't have any "regular" books of my own to read, I decided I might as well get a head start on more Bible reading. (I finished the Book of Proverbs today.)

I probably don't have much else going on today, but that could very well change.

Monday, Monday

Again, not my most eventful day. I watched my nephew play a video game a couple of times. He also did some reading, per my sister's instructions.

This evening, I played a game of Trouble with my nephew. Either during game or shortly after it was finished, Cosmo came up to us. I told him that he didn't have thumbs so he couldn't play Trouble. My sister's boyfriend, who happened to walk into the room, said, "He can get into trouble. Does that count?"

I haven't really had any oppotunity to get out this past week except for a walk or two, and I don't know if I'll get a chance to get out either. Merely coming and going as I please is out of the question, at least as long as my nephew's around.

In a little while, the show You're Cut Off will be on VH1.  I'm going to watch that. I also need to feed my Petville Pet on Facebook. Bye now.

Not Much Happened This Weekend

I didn't have very eventful day yesterday. My nephew had a drum recital (which I missed as I had slept in) in the day and a pool party at night. I mostly watched TV and did stuff on the computer. I think I also played a video game with my nephew.

Today wasn't much more exciting either. I've been at home all day. I've watched TV, been on the computer, and played a little fetch with Cosmo. I did just now manage to catch part of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Movie, but not all of it. I hadn't seen it before, so it would've been nice to have seen the whole thing. Oh well, maybe I can rent it when/if it becomes feasible to do so.

Now, I'm about to watch The Waterboy. Maybe I'll do some Facebook stuff while I watch.

Got Dressed Up Today...Sort Of

Most of the time that I've been at my sister's house, especially when I had nowhere else to go, my look would consist of dressing very casually, down to my blue "at-home" flip-flops (which would be replaced with "going out" shoes if I ended up having somewhere to go). While I am pretty good about doing my duty as an owner of causal shirts and pants to where them as much as possible when at home, running ordinary errands, or attending a gathering where dressing up is out of the question, it has a tendency to get boring, especially if it's all I get a chance to wear.

I was in a bit of a slump yesterday. I wore some black cotton pants which had an elastic waistband (which, if I wore them to my Doggie Bag shift, I'd usually combine with a white top, a black necklace and bracelet, hose, and black shoes), a standard baggy navy graphic t-shirt, and my blue flip-flops. That may have contributed to said slump. One of the things I was missing about being in my own hometown was getting to dress up for stuff, such as my job search, Doggie Bag (for which dressing up is not technically required of me, but there's nothing in the rules forbidding it either), and church on Sunday. My sister's household does not go to church nor does anybody in said household have any cause to dress up for anything that happens in the home or outside of it, and since I was expected to be at the home full-time (or at least when my nephew was there), why would I have any more cause to dress up? But I digress.

Today, in order to help me out of said slump, I dressed a little differently. After my shower, I put on my khaki capris, a solid green 3/4-sleeved top, my black satin slippers, and a gold chain. To finish, I did my hair in a braid in place of my usual ponytail and put on some eyeshadow and lipstick (something I didn't do much of this summer). I think it helped me out of my slump a little. I did some vacuuming, but wasn't able to get to all of it as my sister came home and decided she needed to lay down. Shortly thereafter, her boyfriend and my nephew came home, which meant that my attention would need to be on my nephew.

As far as I know, I will be at my sister's until the first or second week of August. I hope I don't get too homesick until then.

Personal Punishment

In case you haven't been to my other currently running blog, The Way Of The Accommodite, I have recently adopted the use of the sentence system (where you write "I will/will not [fill in the blank here]" multiple times) as a penalty myself for anything I do wrong that negatively affects others physically or emotionally. Sometimes, I make simple mistakes multiple times, and they are often the kind where "I should know better". I am hoping the sentence system will remind me that I need to engage my brain, act my age all the way, and be mindful of the details of my conduct so as not to hurt or anger anyone. Besides, how can I consider myself to be a well-behaved Christian woman if I'm constantly slipping up?

Yesterday was the first time I did this punishment. My nephew was getting something out of one of the rooms, and the light was left on by mistake. When my sister came home, it was still on. She reprimanded both of us for it. She had turned it off, but it didn't change the fact that my nephew had forgotten to turn it off. At the very least, I should've checked to make sure it was off. After all he's eight, which (probably) means he's young enough that he should be told better, whereas I'm twenty-five and should know better. Also, as the one looking after him in the day, I've got a moral responsibility to set the best possible example for him. There were also times when I have left a light on when I shouldn't have, especially when turning it off when I leave an empty room should be second nature. If I'm caught doing the wrong thing or failing to do the right thing, thereby warranting a reprimand, I see it as a sign of my carelessness and get very angry at myself for engaging my brain properly in order to prevent the mistake.

Anyway, back to the punishment. I didn't have any actual paper, but what I did do is start a Word Document where I typed up a sentence 100 times stating that anytime my nephew or I left a room that wasn't otherwise occupied, I would see to it that the light was off.

This may sound like I'm being hard on myself, but my behavior is the only one that I can control (besides that of any children I ever have). If the people around me won't tolerate my mess-ups, why should I? Besides, a mistake I make could cause problems for my next job, my future husband, and more. I don't want that.

Another Morning To Myself

My nephew came home from visiting his dad yesterday afternoon. (The next visit will supposedly happen 2-3 weeks from now.) This week, his mornings are filled with art and drumming classes at the performing arts center in my sister's hometown. He'll be home for a few hours after that, and then he has counseling around four.

I've managed to get some dishes in the dishwasher, start my weekly load of laundry (which is currently drying), and walk the dogs. I don't know what all else I will do today.

Today's Been A Lazy Day

I woke up late this morning, like close to 11:00 (and I'm trying to not sleep in anymore; I think part of it's because it leads to laziness the rest of the day). I didn't really accomplish anything. I hadn't written to my dad yesterday. I need to do that today.

I was alone this morning and part of the afternoon, but my sister and her boyfriend are home now, so going somewhere to get a snack or anything is out of the question. There's no telling when my nephew will be home, and when he is home, he'll probably want my attention.

Maybe things will pick back up later.

Default Weekly Schedule For Fall Revealed

I won't be home until sometime in August. However, I've been thinking about what I plan on having my weekly schedule be like. Here's what I've come up with:

I plan to put in hours at Doggie Bag on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays; Mondays and Thursdays will be full days; Saturdays I plan on going in at opening time and staying until 12:30 or later, depending on whatever else I need to do. If I have a pressing project there, I'll go in on extra days.

I plan to work on my job search and/or getting things in place for a freelance proofreading business I wish to start on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Laundry day will likely be on one of these days but may vary due to my stepdad's schedule.

Of course, Sundays will mean church unless the weather's really bad or something comes up.

Everyday, I plan on reading the bible in the morning, as well as reading a chapter of another book sometime in the day (unless I'm involved in a read-a-thon where I'm trying to get in as many hours as possible).  At night, depending on the situation, I plan on blogging, doing writing-related stuff, Facebook, and/or catching up on email.

Of course, these plans are tentative as anything could happen, good or bad. But at least I can feel like I have something to go home to when I do.

Another Saturday Alone

My sister and her boyfriend are in Kansas City until tomorrow, and my nephew's visiting his dad. So once again, I'm looking after the house and the pets.  Since I don't know when exactly tomorrow they plan on coming home, I don't think I'll be going to church this time. (I'm looking forward to returning to that when I go home in August.)

I don't know what all I'll be doing today except for walking the dogs later tonight. I also need to clean the litter box and do my weekly email to my dad. I might do some more editing work or something.

That's it for now. I'll make another post in a little bit.

I'm Restless Right Now

The morning and afternoon were kind of slow today. However, sometime after dinner, my nephew and I went to a carnival that took place at the town square (which is where I normally take the dogs whenever I walk them). I bought my nephew a wristband so that he could go on the bouncy stuff (for lack of a better term) that was there. He also happened to run into a friend of his from the day camp he had gone to last month.

Later in the square, there was a showing of the movie Back To The Future.  After it was over, I had contemplated watching the run/walk-a-thon but decided against it.

It's barely after midnight, and I'm restless. I don't know what to do right now. Maybe I'll drink a beer and watch some TV.

Not Much To Report, I'm Afraid

My nephew finally had his swimming lessons yesterday and today. When he came home yesterday, he spent a lot of time on his Nintendo DS. He played some more of it today when he came home, but right now, he's watching The Kids Next Door and eating a sandwich. (I might eat something around twelve.)

There hasn't been very much going on here in the last couple of days. Last night, I was going to see if anyone wanted to take a walk after dinner, but it rained, so I didn't. I'd be lucky if it didn't rain anytime today.

That's all I've got for now. Maybe tomorrow will be more eventful.

Slow Day Today

This has been a very slow day for me and my nephew. It was raining today, so the swimming lessons that my nephew would've otherwise had today were cancelled. Whether or not the weather will let up to allow them at any point this week remains to be seen.

He's been playing video games off and on today. While he was doing that, I did laundry. He's done maybe three rounds of video games today.  When my sister came home, she had him stop and then suggested that he go clean his room for a while.

It'll probably be a slow evening as well. Maybe the weather will allow for a walk after dinner or something.

Parties Two And Three Of Party Weekend

I went to a barbeque last night with my sister and her household in honor of Fourth of July. It had rained at times, but I think it stopped at least for the fireworks.

As usual I did partake in some drinking. I had some rum and coke and later two beers. I might have been a bit buzzed by the end of the night, but I wasn't full on drunk. When music was playing, some people, including myself, danced.

Today was my nephew's second birthday party for the year, the one with adult guests. The guests consisted of my mom, family members of my sister's boyfriends, neighbors of my sister's, and my nephew's former babysitter. We had hamburgers, hotdogs, etc. The cake was half-chocolate, half-white with white frosting and red and blue sprinkles.

Everyone's gone now. I don't know what will be going on tonight if anything. It'll probably just be another ordinary evening. I watched my nephew play a new video game for a while, but right now, he and I are watching The Garfield Show on Cartoon Network.

Yes, this was somewhat a party weekend for me.

If You're From The U.S. Happy Fourth Of July

It's that time of year again, a day often celebrated with fireworks and who knows what else.

I don't know what will be going on where I'm at. My sister has to work until eight tonight. We will probably at most just shoot off fireworks at home. I remember two years ago when we were going to see a fireworks display somewhere, but my nephew wasn't feeling good at the last minute, so we ended up staying home. Last year, I was living with my dad. He and I were considering going to see fireworks somewhere, but that ended up not happening. I think part of the reason was the weather at the time.

The thing I really don't like about the Fourth is that it's the anniversary of when I got fired from my last paid job. I was working at the Burger King that was in town at the time and had been there for three weeks. I wasn't very far into my shift when I got called into the office and was informed by the assistant manager that I was being let go because my speed wasn't up to standards. That was four years ago.  The only time I went in there after my termination was to turn in my uniform and pick up my check. Due to my sense of shame of having let them down, I pretty much stayed as far away from them as possible.

I'm worried that my performance failure with Burger King, as well as my spotty employment work record (at least part of which was beyond my control) will work against me ever having a job again. Due to the nature of my failure with Burger King, I cannot trust myself at all to do justice to a job within the food service industry unless said job is that of bussing tables. However, something like retail is still fair game.

Okay, that's enough ranting for today. Again, if you're in the U.S. or even if you're a U.S. citizen who is currently located elsewhere in the world, happy Fourth of July.

Back From The Party

I'm back from my nephew's bowling party. I think four or five boys showed up for it.

First, we had some pizza. Then, we bowled (something I hadn't done in a while). I was on a team with my sister, her boyfriend, and one of my nephew's friends who I guess is usually involved in some sort of bowling league. My nephew and the rest of his friends were on the other team. Out of everyone on my team, I placed third. For what it's worth, I made one or two strikes. Afterwards, we had some cake.  It was a rainbow cake with white frosting and red and blue sprinkles.

I'm not sure what will happen tonight. It'll probably just be another quiet evening at home. I'm mostly watching TV as I write this. I might do some stuff on Facebook for a while.

Nephew's Birthday Celebration: Part One Tonight

My nephew will be turning eight on Monday. He will get two birthday parties this year; one will be at the bowling alley with other kids around his age, and the other will be at the house with adult guests (namely friends of my sister's and/or her boyfriends' and/or other adults in my nephew's life).

The bowling party will be tonight, and the other party will be on Monday. As far as I know, I will be going to both.  I'm looking forward to it all.

Played "Smash Bros." This Morning

At various times this summer, I've been playing the game Smash Bros. with my nephew. This is where various Nintendo characters would go against each other. I usually choose Princess Peach from the Mario series. My nephew will use different characters. Sometimes he wins, and sometimes I do.

Sometimes after we've gone against each other, a challenger will approach. This time it was Mr. Game and Watch, and I ended up going against him. I won the match, thereby adding Mr. Game and Watch to the list of character options for the brawls.

I think that game will be one of the things I will miss when I go home in August.

Doesn't Look Like That Proof Copy Is Going To Happen

I heard back from Createspace last night. It turned out that I had made a formatting mistake. I have corrected it, but it's still in the process of being reviewed. I'm lucky if I'll still be able to use my code for the proof copy. Yesterday was the alleged deadline to use the code, but I heard that last year, some people were able to use their codes a day or two after the deadline. There's no promise that it'll happen this time.

If I can't get a proof copy this time, it's probably just as well. After all, I'm not really ready to formally publish the novel. Maybe I'll be able to do actual copies of the book closer to October when I'll hopefully have more editing done.

I'm not really looking forward to breaking the news to my dad. I'm hoping I won't have to endure any questions or lecturing regarding the whole thing (like I have with other things in my life), but that is a possibility. I'll probably owe him an apology for any disappointment it may cause.

Maybe someday I'll learn to do things like this right the very first time and/or make time allowances for if there are any problems.

The next Nano Wrimo is four months away. It'll be the second one. Hopefully I will reach the 50k on that one as well and be able to do a proof copy on it.