Although it seems like the same things happen week after week here, I thought of doing a "week in our life"....
Sundays are usually filled with work for Mikel and homework/grading/relaxing for me. Some Sundays are more productive than others but they all are fairly low key because Sears doesn't open until 11.
Sundays also generally involve some large batch cooking like this:
This is a bunch of leftovers of things I made on Sunday so we would have things to eat all week. A lot of times during the week, Mikel goes to work when I'm at school and is at work until around 9:30 or 10 so we don't always get to eat our meals together. We have found that having some good meals that make good leftovers are a lifesaver (and money saver). Every other Sunday we generally go to the laundromat and do A LOT of laundry-- 2 weeks worth. It's about half the price there so we try and do it in large batches. We usually have to do a load or two at our apartment during those 2 weeks but do the bulk of our stuff when we make the grand trip.
Mondays are generally an fairly easy way to ease into the week, at least for me. On Mondays the only standing commitment I have is to teach Physical Growth and Motor Development from 3-4:20. Usually I stay at home on Mondays until Mikel goes to work between 11 and 3 and then stay at school until about 9:30 when he gets off work and picks me up. Everyone thinks I am such a hard worker because I'm there so late at night but sometimes I don't start until 2 or after class at 4:30.
Tuesdays start at 9:10 for me and I teach Bowling I from 9:10-10, The Healthy Lifestyle from 10:20-12:10, head back to my office from 12:10-3, go to Qualitative Research class from 3-5:50 and then head home after class. If Mikel has days off during the week, they are usually Tuesdays and/or Thursdays so he takes advantage of these days to relax, watch movies, go fishing, doing things around the house and whatever else.
Wednesdays are my earliest days because they start with an 8am advising meeting with my advisor and all her other students. This meeting is an hour and we usually discuss our current research projects, new ideas, current struggles, and advising questions. From 9-11 I have my official office hours so I either answer student emails and questions when they come in or do grading and prep work for classes. Generally after my office hours I head home for lunch with Mikel and then take him to work in the afternoon. He generally works in the afternoon from around 2-9:30. I teach Physical Growth and Motor Development from 3-4:20 and then stay and work until 9:30 if Mikel is still working and then we head home together. If I'm tired of being at school, sometimes I go home after I teach and do work from there until it's time to pick up Mikel.
Thursdays are generally identical to Tuesdays except instead of going to Qualitative Research class, I go to Issues in Teaching Undergraduate Kinesiology class (also from 3-5:50). I like Thursdays because they are my last day of the week so I usually go home and turn off my computer and relax for the night.
Fridays I don't have any class to teach or take so sometimes I work from home and other times I go to my office and work from there. Mikel's work schedule on Friday is not very predictable so sometimes he works, sometimes he doesn't. If there's a volleyball game or something on campus on Friday night we check that out. Sometimes we go to a movie, out to dinner... something fun (as long as Mikel doesn't work).
Saturdays are fun when Mikel doesn't have to work because we have the day to explore or do something fun. Lately, I've been working at the football games but whether I'm working that day or not, we're generally watching football on tv usually as I am grading/relaxing/studying... Sears is open until 9:30 on Saturdays so sometimes I'm home alone.
Most nights after we get home we spend time hanging out, talking to friends/family, on our computers, watching tv or Netflix, or outside taking a walk when the weather is nicer.
Recently I've been sprinkling in different work assignments at Breslin like tomorrow-- I am working the Daughtry concert from 6-midnight but the most I can average is 9 hours a week so it's not too much.
My workouts/rehab have been moved all around this semester although I'd like to get it more scheduled. The nice thing is that I workout with my Healthy Lifestyles class twice a week so that's a guarantee! Another couple days of the week are worked out differently each week.
Also, Mikel gets a different work schedule each week so every time it's different. Having one car ensures that we see a lot of each other (or at least a lot more than we would otherwise).
That's a typical week in our life!
So we learn new things about Michigan all the time!
Sweetest Day is apparently a holiday here in these parts that they don't realize the rest of the world doesn't really celebrate! It's like a fake Valentines Day that happens the 3rd Saturday in October.... weird
I'm going to ask my students about it this week and see what they say but Mikel had heard about it at work and then we saw a stand on the corner selling stuffed animals and flowers! So the 17th was a double celebration-- Mikel's birthday and sweetest day!
I figured this was another good excuse for more wedding pictures-- my sweetest!!
So yesterday was Mikel's 27th birthday so we had to do something fun! He had to work until 3:30 but after that, we headed out for some fun.
I had to take a picture at the gas station we stopped out because they had this huge sign in their window. Not being able to sell alcohol on Homecoming probably hurt some profits!
Then, we got a little bit down the road and we saw this 'New Driver' sign. Underneath the 'Driver' sign it says 'sorry for any inconvenience'-- awesome! We survived that and headed towards Lansing. In Lansing, we got Mikel's fishing pole fixed (a couple inches broke off the end of it on his way home from his last trip). They were able to fix it for about $2.50 so that was exciting and then headed to Gander Mountain to get him a fishing pole for his birthday. He definitely had a fishing-filled birthday... he got waders, a new pole and a new reel for his birthday and is super excited!
Then we headed to Fitzgerald Park in Grand Ledge to check out the trees changing colors and the fishing...
After Grand Ledge, we headed to watch Penn State play MSU in volleyball. Penn State is #1 in the nation and beat MSU in an hour and fifteen minutes but it is fun to see such good volleyball; there were over 3,400 people at the volleyball game! The scores were 25-11,25-18, 25-12.
After the game we finished the night at the movies-- good times!
On another note, I got to work my first big event at the Breslin Center-- Midnight Madness and it was MADNESS! It was the first time the Breslin Center has ever been completely filled; they've had sell-outs before but literally every seat was filled and we had to lock the doors and not let anyone else in because there were so many people. The event started at 9:30 and there were lines of people by 7:00. The basketball teams signed autographs, Coach Izzo drove onto the court in a racecar, there were fireworks, and the raised the banners from last year. Luckily, I worked at the gate where the family and friends of staff and players were let in as 'VIP' guests so it was fairly calm!
We have another busy week ahead- I have lots of school and Mikel has work and hopefully some fishing plans!
Cute Halloween stuff!!
A pine cone pumpkin...
I NEEDED this... Ok, not really but everyone gives directions based on their palm here and this oven mitt and a map of Michigan on it!!
A funny sign...
This is some of the cider we bought as well as a mix for Red Pepper Corn Chowder we got at the cider mill that I'm so excited to make!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!
