Married to the Empire

Saturday, January 19, 2008

Random weekend activities

We've had an interesting Saturday. Steven started the day by going to church to help move our church's belongings into our new building. We're very excited about having a new building in a more convenient location! I slept in since I've been feeling headachy and run-down lately.

This afternoon we headed out to Hobby Town so Steven could get something he needed for a Star Wars project. Driving through the shopping center's parking lot, we saw a sign that flu shots were available today at the pharmacy. We decided to get flu shots since Steven is high risk due to kidney disease, and I'm about to start tutoring in a middle school that is bound to be rife with sick germs. And when I say "we decided," I really mean that I decided, and Steven knew better than to argue. Two flu shots left us $56 poorer, but in my opinion, it's money well spent. And yeah, we should have done this back in October, but better late than never.

We then headed over to Christian Community Action to drop off an extra artificial Christmas tree that is just too big for our house. Turns out that they weren't accepting trees that day since Christmas is 11 months away. We decided to park and go into the CCA store, though, just for the fun of it.

I wound up finding a James Herriot book that I didn't already own. Steven had gone off on his own through the store and came back carrying this:



Lava lamps retail for $40, but this one in perfect condition was only $4. The man loves his lava lamps, and I confess to thinking they're pretty cool, too. The blue and black go very nicely in his Star Wars room. He was marveling over his find, and I told him it probably came from some guy who just got married, but his new wife wouldn't let him keep it. Because, you know, I've heard of wives being mean like that. In fact, I've learned that I'm a bit unusual because I let him have an entire room of our house just for his Star Wars stuff. Guess that makes me a nice wife, huh? I remind him of that fact. Often.

He's now trying to defeat the Rebels in some Star Wars computer game, and I'm about to go read one of my new, first edition (!!!) Chaim Potok books that my sweet hubby gave me for Christmas.

It's been a good Saturday.

6 comments:

Cathy VanPatten said...

A lava lamp!?! What a great find! I have always wanted a lava lamp, but I'm too cheap to pay full price. This was a great find!

This weekend has been the first in many, many weeks that we haven't run any errands--mainly due to the sub-zero wind chill. Not going out in that unless absolutely necessary!

I hope it warms up a bit this coming week, as we are amassing quite a pile of stuff for the Salvo ourselves, and I want to get it out of here before we just give up and store it down in the basement--which means we will forget about it forever!

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

I know!!! We didn't even have to buy a bulb for it; it was 100% intact. I think my scenario for why it was there is probably pretty close to reality.

He already has a lava lamp at work, but now he's just so excited to have one at home!

We're still in the process of cleaning out. My craft room, which I so ambitiously started tackling last weekend, is still in a state of near-disaster. I'm bad about starting things, but not finishing them. That's on this week's agenda, and it simply must get done because I start TAKS tutoring in a couple of weeks. But when I'm done, I'm sure I'll have a new pile of stuff to give to charity. It's really amazing just how much junk we all manage accumulate.

Cathy VanPatten said...

Argh! TAKS! The first elementary basal program I ever worked on was for Texas. The TEKS and TAKS are quite a challenge! Pretty soon we'll be gearing up for another Texas program... At least I have some experience with the Lone Star State under my belt now!

Ann said...

Fun!! You know, I just bought a lava lamp for my son from Wal Mart but I discovered that it gets very hot very fast. I feel like it's not safe. Are they supposed to get that way? I was planning to use it as a night light for him, but I don't feel comfortable letting it run for more than an hour.

It's pretty cool Ruf has a Star Wars room. We hope to someday finish the basement so Eric can display all his stuff down there (with a really good humidifier going, of course!) We also have to wait till the kids are a little older. I heard that IKEA sells these tall glass cases that are great for displaying/protecting. It's going to be awhile yet.

AnneK said...

No idea flu shots were so expensive. Here we get them free from the Christian radio station. But prevention is better than cure for sure! Are you excited about the teaching?

Anne Marie@Married to the Empire said...

Ann, yes, lava lamps are supposed to get hot, as it's the heat that melts the wax. I think they're generally safe to run for a few hours. I know Steven keeps his at work on all day. But if you're worried, especially if your son is at an age that he might knock the lava lamp over or touch it or something, then I wouldn't run it for long.

Am I excited about teaching? Yes, and no. I'm not excited about working part time because I really do love the freedom of being at home. And I dislike those first couple of days when I'm trying to learn names and such. BUT, I really do enjoy being in the classroom, helping kids improve their reading comprehension, and just helping kids learn. Of course, it helps that this year they're paying me as a tutor instead of as a sub. That will more than double what I made last year doing this job. I'm getting the hourly rate that I would make if I were tutoring in the private sector, so that's a very nice thing!