Over President's Day weekend, I went to Bakersfield to visit my grandparents. It was a crowded ride down, and I had to stop several times in order to avoid the worst of the traffic. I went on shopping sprees in Dublin and such while I waited, so it wasn't all that bad. My visit was pretty nice. My grandparents are all fine (as fine as 80-somethings can be), but are moving very slowly and can't get out hardly at all. Just being in my grandma's house is comforting, though. It reminds me of being a kid, and I feel like myself again. I also had fun visiting my other grandma at her assisted living home. I had dinner with her and the other seniors in the dining room, which is always fun. They marvel at me like I'm a movie star. Positive attention is nice. So yeah; it was a good trip.

I've been getting back into exercise lately. On Wednesday and Thursday I went to yoga classes, which was exactly what my body had been missing. My friend Bobbi and I signed up for personal training at the 24Hour Fitness near her house. We are planning on going on Sundays, though my first session is this Wednesday. I'm looking forward to it, as I put on five pounds over the last few months that won't seem to budge. I need someone to kick my ass into shape. If it works, I may keep it up. Who knows how long I'll keep this job and how long I'll have a decent, steady income. Might as well take advantage of it.

Today was a lovely day. Bobbi called and asked if I wanted to go for a walk with her, so we rounded up her two big dogs and went to Lake Chabot. We walked them for about an hour, and it was nice. The area we went to was lovely, though it was a cold day. Afterward, we dropped the dogs off and went to get manicures and pedicures. My toes are sparkly pink, and I had a french manicure done on my fingernails. I feel so girly and pulled together. After that, we went out for a late lunch at a pizza place. I was thrilled because they had low carb chicken and feta pizza. C'est parfait. We went to the gym, and that was that.

Earlier in the week, a sries of exciting things happened. Fineas got out of his cage on Thursday, which scared me to death. I never thought I'd see him again, but he came back after 20 minutes of my opening up his cage and putting a big pile of treats inside it. Yesterday we had an earthquake. We were having a grade-level meeting in my classroom when the entire room seemed to lurch forward, nearly toppling us out of our seats. It shook the windows and everything. Being from California originally, I've lived through many earthquakes; this was the first in a long time. A couple of kids in an afterschool tutoring program that uses my room stole $40 out of my desk. I have half of it back, with the promise of getting the other half on Monday. I hope I do. On Thursday, a really cute man started flirting with me at Borders, and it culminated into a coffee date that we've set for Monday night. He's very charming and pulled together - exactly the kind of guy I've been looking for. We'll see how it goes.

Right now I'm watching Marie Antionette. I know that it may not be the most well-made film of all time, but I'm really enjoying it. I love the scenes set in the gardens of Versailles, as it reminds me of my trip to France. That's where my short-lived romance with Abdu began. God, that seems like a million years ago. I was so happy.

Tomorrow should be an OK day. I have a two foot-thick stack of papers to grade, and I haven't even read the class novels that I've assigned to my kids. I need to do lesson plans.....siiiigh. All that will be a drag, but the rest of the day should be fun. I'm coming to Bobbi's house again in the afternoon. We're going to grade papers and watch the Oscars together. I'm so excited about the later. I'm an Oscar freak and get into them big time. Last year I went to an Oscar's party, but this should be fun as well.

I'm going to get back to my movie. Til next time!

Anne