Where Did the Time Go...and Stew!

Here we are, 5:30 on a Sunday evening, and I'm only just taking a moment to relax. This entire weekend has been nothing but work! My goodness...I feel better, knowing what on earth I'll be teaching in each class this week, but it has been a while since I've had to immerse myself in such intense planning, and most of it is because I'm completely designing courses from scratch. It would be nice to just copy someone's binder, but in this case I know no one whose binder I can copy, so I spend hours and hours researching (mostly with the art and drama classes) and only then can I actually make day-to-day plans for my students. Phew...I'm pooped.
I'm looking forward to spending my evening immersed in "just for me" activities...
I finally went to the art store downtown and used my (birthday!) gift certificate from Nicholas, and with that purchased a lovely set of Staedler pencil crayons, along with some good art "helpers" like kneadable erasers and paper stump smudgers. I'm looking forward to improving my art, with the hopes that ONE DAY I'll finish my book, and have the skill to illustrate it. We'll see...
Valentine's day is slowly approaching, and I'm going to make a lovely day of it with a chocolate torte. I think...haven't quite decided yet. I love the idea of making Valentine's Day a family affair, with a nice breakfast and dinner, table decorations, just a big love fest. Nicholas and I never really do anything, ourselves, like spend extravagant amounts of money on dinner and wine at an upscale restaurant (although just once it'd be lovely). The whole commercial aspect of Valentine's is, like every holiday, way over done. Spending it at home, with a home-cooked meal and time together with the people we love is how it's done!
Speaking of home-cooked meals, time to stir my stew. Beef stew with dumplings - now there's a winter meal!