Friday Five: 12/12

This week's Friday Five is a good opportunity to share what a typical week in the life of Susan is like. Keep in mind, however, that I'm not usually this lazy. The increasing darkness of winter and me feeling a bit under the weather makes for more naps and laziness than usual.

1. What did you do on Monday?

I got up late (a theme for the week). I'm on a bad sleep schedule. Anyway, I ate breakfast and read a zillion blogs in my jammies until about 1pm, when I showered and got ready for the day. At 3:00, I went to the first of two piano lessons taught in the students' homes. I was done around 4:20 or so and went on to church, where I used some free time to plan some music things and write my regular blurb on the Hymn of the Day for the church bulletin. Then I had two more piano students from 5:15-6:15 and then I directed the bell choir 6:45-8pm. I went home, and Erich and I made a quick stir-fry dinner, we did devotions with our new Treasury of Daily Prayer, watched a little tv, then went to bed too late (another theme for the week). I hate when we're not even leaving the dinner table until almost 10--that makes it hard for me to want to go to sleep before 1am.

2. What did you do on Tuesday?

Tuesday I had high hopes of finally Christmasizing the house, but it was not to be. The early part of my day went about the same as Monday, and I headed over to church around 3:15 to teach piano students from 3:30-8. I had one break from 4:00-4:30. Teaching for more than four hours straight always wipes me out, and it makes for more late dinner, late devotion, and late to bed. Yuck.

3. What did you do on Wednesday?

Wednesday was our own private Turkey Day. Erich had gotten this idea to roast a turkey. We've never roasted a bird or made gravy before, and this was a good chance to practice. And Erich really wanted some lunch meat. Why not get it from a bird we roasted ourselves? So in the afternoon, I prepped the turkey. I was kind of looking forward to it, and then I had to laugh at myself when I actually opened the package and thought, "Aaaaugh! A dead turkey!" I got over it, salted the inside, buttered the outside and filled it with chopped onion and celery. I finally got to use a really nice roasting pan I got from a bridal shower! And into the oven it went.

I was expecting one student at 4:00. The mom called at 3:56 to cancel. GRRRR. I had to forgive her though, since the student was actually in the hospital.... (Mysterious.) Since I was all dressed up with no place to go, I took a quick trip to the bank. Deposits are a big ordeal for me. I usually let my checks accumulate for the month and then go deposit them all with a live teller. It's just much simpler than the ATM since I have approximately 9,154 checks, including reimbursements for Christmas piano books. Anywho, making bank deposits is good for my brain since I add about 20 numbers by hand. And I'll have you know I didn't make any mistakes! After the bank, I stopped at my mom's to borrow a platter big enough for a turkey. Very important.

Erich got home around 5:30 and we pulled the bird out shortly after. It wasn't thoroughly done, but the breast was, so we sliced some of that. I mashed some potatoes (still getting good at that, which is hard without a potato masher), and we made some gravy, which was delicious but didn't look right--since the turkey wasn't done, it didn't drip enough gravy-goodness. Dinner was yummy but our work was not done. We popped in A Christmas Carol and finished roasting the turkey. When it was done, I made more gravy (practice) with the pool of juice--it had too much flour but it was still quite good. Erich sliced the breast for sandwiches and pulled apart all the extra little pieces and leftover parts of the turkey and got to work on making stock. AND I dragged up all the Christmas decorations from the basement and Christmasized the house! I'm getting way too used to having energy from 3pm-12midnight. Hmm.

4. What did you do on Thursday?

Sleep in, shower, nap. My life is hard. I think I did more than that but I can't remember. I had two out of a regular three piano students from 4-5. I looooove that my Wednesday and Thursday piano students come to my house. Erich accidentally came home an hour early because his computer clock changed when he connected to a substation in PA. But that was okay because it gave him plenty of time to get the turkey curry ready. YUM. And we were able to have a leisurely dinner and devotion before our very long choir rehearsal from 7-9. We couldn't watch our recorded TV until after the Bears threatened to lose but eventually won. So at least it was worth it. And Kath & Kim, The Office, and 30 Rock made it worth staying up way too late again.

5. What are you going to did you do today?

Erich took the day off to travel down to Louisville for a college friend's wedding. He left around 10:15, and I left around 11:00 to meet up with my mom. I had an EPIC DAY with my mom.

First stop, eye doctor so my mom could correct her contact lens order and get her new glasses adjusted. She dropped me off at a store downtown N-ville, where I scored an awesome gift. I walked to the eye doc to meet her in time for the the receptionist lady to break her glasses! And she didn't have her new contact lenses yet! So I drove my blind mother back to her house so she could put in her old contacts. Then we were finally on our way! Destination: new strip mall in Naperville. Nordstrom Rack, Loehmann's, World Market, and Home Goods. Boom, boom, boom, boom, awesome shopping. We also stopped at the new Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck), took in samples, looked at all the beautiful food, and ate from their awesome and extensive deli/salad bar. Yum! From that strip mall we went on to Border's and Linens 'n' Things. I'm now at their house eating Chinese food.

Good day. This post is really long now, isn't it? Okay, bye!