January 19, 2015

 Today was a productive day, even if I did sleep in. I finally took down my Christmas tree. Much like the larger one from upstairs, it did not fit nicely back in the box. I decided to tie the box closed with some yarn but it is much too thin on its own so I made a crochet chain out of it which worked out pretty well.

I also cleaned my room to get ready for the new semester, which starts this week. I packed up all the trash that had accumulated, not only in my trash can, but all the random papers and things that ended up in stacks around my room. I reorganized my small bookshelf and plan on keeping it that way. We'll see how long that lasts. I also moved out the green chair and replaced it with the writing desk I got from my grandma's house. I thought that would be a more practical choice and hopefully I will get in the habit of using it. To make a little more room for the desk I moved my bed over about four or five inches, which is a fairly small move, but it made my room feel a lot bigger. Soon enough it'll become normal and I won't notice it anymore but at the moment I really like it.

I did laundry today and that involved messing with the washer for awhile. Every now and then it leaks, possibly only when the water level is set to maximum, but I don't know. Regardless, after my first load I noticed some water so I pulled the washer away from the wall so I could get it all cleaned up. I also had the thought that maybe the leak was due to the washer not being level, like being tilted slightly forward or back. I got out my level and it was tilted forward a bit so I tried to remedy that for quite some time but I don't think I really got anywhere. I was never quite sure which way to spin the feet to get them to go up or down and it didn't seem to matter with one of the front feet because I don't think it moved at all. I eventually got tired of being bent over and lifting a heavy washer with one hand while spinning one of the tiny washer feet with the other, so I got it back to being level so it wouldn't rock back and forth, and called it good, pushing it back into position.

Tonight I finished reading the book club book, One For The Murphy's by Lynda Mullaly Hunt. I enjoyed the book, probably more than any of the other books we have read for book club, but I can only vaguely remember those, so I don't know how reliable that judgment is. I do know that the books tend to be a bit or a lot on the depressing side, and this one was a little better in that department. It didn't have the ending I wanted but it was a realistic ending, at least based on my brief volunteer experience. I also liked that it had a bunch of short chapters. That makes larger books feel much more manageable. I would definitely recommend it. And now I'm back to reading textbooks almost exclusively. How exciting.

Earlier in the day I watched Blended, which turned out to be a pretty good movie with Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore. It was very much an Adam Sandler movie but I liked it. I also watched the two episode season finale of The Librarians. I really like that show and I am hoping it comes back for another season. They ended it in such a way that the season can stand on its own if it doesn't come back but I am hoping it does. Tonight I watched Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Also enjoyable. I haven't watched a movie like that in awhile and I liked it. It was a bit strange hearing Kiera Knightley with an American accent though.

Tomorrow MAP testing resumes. Can't wait. There aren't as many tests this week but still more than I would like. One is more than I would like if we're being honest. I'm going to go to bed, not so the morning will get here sooner, that is just a sad consequence of sleep, but because I'm kind of tired.