My Car is Old and other Weekend Happenings

On Friday night we went back to that fancy pants Luxury Cinema that charges you $19.50 for the pleasure of watching a movie in a giant recliner, ordering dinner at an additional cost and access to a button that calls someone over if you asked for 7 Splendas with your coffee but only  got 2. I know 7 is a lot and it could be causing bodily harm but I guess I just have other things to worry about.  Like making my coffee tasty with as few calories as possible.  I really didn't think we'd be back to Cinepolis so soon but Mj made plans for us to meet another couple at the location that's a little bit closer to us.  They live really close so they go all the time.  I didn't even know what movie we were seeing until we walked into the theater. Well, Mj told me a few weeks ago but I forgot then I was so busy enjoying some pre movie champagne that I didn't bother to ask.  I had no idea what Olympus Has Fallen was about and it was fun to be clueless going in and then watch it unfold. It was really good. Gerard Butler was so bad ass.  I ordered a Chicken Quesadilla not the salad and Mj stuck with the same burger he got last time. 

Source: nyandcompany.com viaCeCe on Pinterest

My car is so old I have to get a smog test to renew my registration so I did that on Saturday morning and then headed over to the mall to get my shop on and oh am I ever glad I did.  I found a coupon in my Marie Claire magazine set to expire in a week for $10 off a pair of their Crosby Street pant at New York & Company while supplies last.  It takes me forever to get to my magazines so I'm lucky I caught this one in time.  I went in, tried them on and loved them.  They have the perfect amount of stretch and flare.   The tag said $52.95, but I paid $10.00.  You so cannot beat that.  Later that night we met friends at a Sushi restaurant downtown called Katsuya for a Birthday dinner where I did not eat sushi but did discover a tasty low cal cocktail.  I prefer my food cooked thank you very much and I don't do seafood so I went with the grilled chicken.  The new discovery is Evergreen Fizz and it has Moscato, Gin, Lime juice and crushed rosemary.  I'm thinking maybe the reason it was $15 is because the bartender had to go to the trouble of crushing the fresh rosemary in the glass right there.  Downtown prices are ridiculous.

I felt bad because on Saturday Mj was heading downstairs to go to his homework and I lured him into cuddling which turned into a 3 hour nap....so he ended up doing homework for most of Sunday afternoon.  I finally watched Breaking Dawn Part II.  Soooo good!!  I loved it.  I got all teary eyed at the end.  Never mind Kristin Stewart's seeming inability to open up her mouth when she speaks; the thing that gets me about those movies is Bella and Edward's deep love for each other.  It's the kind of perfect love that you dream about when you are a little girl and watching it played out on the screen gets me all mushy inside every time.  I'm a sucker for an epic love story.  We capped off the night with Walking Dead.  Only 1 more episode left!!  I'm so sad season three is almost over.

I didn't spend one second thinking about work craziness or do any housework. 

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Long Short Weekend

This weekend seemed to last for a lot longer then a ridiculously short 2 day weekend normally does. Usually I blink and it's over but for some reason on Saturday I felt like the next day was going to be Monday but it wasn't. I still had one more lovely day.  The last two weekends have been packed with social outings but this weekend we didn't have much planned which was nice.

Saturday I woke up and cleaned house.  I dreaded it so much but was so glad when it was over.  I also got the laundry finished.  That night we went to dinner at a friend's house for an Irish meal.  One of them is actually Irish.   The corned beef and cabbage with potatoes was really good.  I drank some wine, Mj had some beer, neither one of us wore green while doing it and that was the extent of our St Patty's day celebration.

Laundry is Fun-NOT // Grocery Shopping // Watching Figure Skating & Blogging // Mj doing taxes

Sunday we did Insanity first thing in the morning.  Insane right?   I was hanging in there okay with the cardio until the drills.  That's when it got REALLY hard and I had to stop a lot.  It's a tough work out and that's only the first one.  Mj is planning to do it for 60 days but I'm not that crazy.  I'll probably just jump in there and do it every now and then until he gets to the harder ones and then I probably won't be able to do it at all.

Next on the agenda was the ordeal that is grocery shopping.  We haven't really been on a proper shopping trip in about two months.  We've only been picking up little things here and there so it was time to make that trip to the commissary.  We spent $170 which sounds like a lot but would have been a lot more had we not been on base and it should last us for a while.  I really don't like grocery shopping but it's not as bad when  we do it together.  Our pantry was a mess.  Mj totally re organized it as we put everything away.

The tax man finally did our taxes.  It was just Mj and Turbo Tax gettin' it done.  He's been our tax man for the last three years and each time he gets better and better at it.  We don't owe!  We are actually getting a nice chunk of change so that's cool.

For dinner we made Tostada Pizza.  I love this Pizza just as I love all Pizza in general.  I'll be posting the recipe soon.  We had Margaritas on the rocks with it.  I used a skinny margarita mix that has only 10 calories per 1/2 cup left over from my trip to Vegas last year!  It's about time I finished it up.  We watched an episode of Breaking Bad and Walking Dead.  Then watched The Office while eating Jello.  I forgot how good that stuff is. 

We got a lot of quality time in together just being at home and getting stuff done.  It was nice not to have much to do.  I really need that every now and then to re group. 
 
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Amazing Quest & The Guys

Team #9 AKA Lay off my Biscuits (long story...inside joke)

I could hardly believe that we were doing this again.   Last year's amazing quest took us about 3 1/2 hours, involved a trolley ride to an entirely different part of town and had really hard challenges.  This year it was definitely watered down.  It was only about 2 hours, kept us right in downtown and had much easier challenges.  The take off point was a bar called Barley & Mash.  When they yelled GO we opened our first clue and took off running our little hearts out and trying to get through each challenge really fast.  It was in the 80's so we were HOT, sweaty and out of breath. 

They had us break at the half way point back at Barley & Mash.  Big mistake for us because we found out that even with all of our hustling we were still in 13th place!!  How did the #1 team do it so fast?  We couldn't figure it out so we took it easy in the 2nd half.  There was no way we would win or even come in the top 3...or even 5!  We took it so easy we skipped the last challenge because we were already over time and finished dead last.  We were tired, hungry and all we wanted was our free happy hour.  By the time we got back the other teams were probably on their 3rd drink.  The last round of the food was being put out and devoured within minutes.  I got a glass of wine and for the first time ever ate french fries so sloppy they required a fork.  Awesome by the way.  While everyone else was still partying it up in the reserved area downstairs the four of us ordered some food at the bar upstairs.  We were THE losing team so we got ran out of there.  No not really. We just got there so late we didn't get enough food. I was so worn out that night.  By 8:30pm I could barely keep my eyes open.  I felt so bad for Mj because he got busy writing a 10 page paper while I got busy falling asleep on the couch.

One of Mj's good friends L is moving out of the state so we planned a day at the park on Sunday for one last time all together.  It would have been nice if we could have flip flopped Saturday and Sunday's weather but even in California you can't always get the weather you want when you want it.  Saturday was in the 80's while we were running around the city but Sunday at the park the temperature dropped to the 60's.  It was still high 70's where we live but this was closer to the coast.  We ordered Pizza and ate this yummy cake with L's face on it.  I'm not even gonna tell you how many pieces of pizza I ate.  I was freezing for most of the day but I zipped up my hoodie, sucked it up and had fun anyways.  I got some laughs when I busted out the gloves but I didn't care. If I was smart I would have joined in on the volleyball and wiffle ball games so I could burn some calories AND stay warm. 

The Guys (L is the one on the right with the baseball cap)

Mj has a really great group of friends.  They don't just stay in touch on Facebook; they make sure that they hang out and see each other in real life too.  They bike, do dinners and take trips together.  I don't have friends like that.  Gosh, I can remember meeting all of these guys and their wives five years ago and hoping that they would like me and now I feel like part of the group.  L is really the center of the group and so good at bringing everyone together for Bar B Q's and gatherings at his house.  It's a part of life that things change and people move on but it's so sad.  It's going to be a good move for him but he will be missed by everyone.

 
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Four Day Weekend

I heart four day weekends.  I slept in and went to a 10:30 am Yoga class on Friday.  Then I came home, relaxed and started dinner.  I rarely make dinner so this was a big deal and for some reason I actually enjoyed doing it.  It was very strange, but I liked it.  That night we watched a movie (Stolen).

Saturday morning I got up early with Mj and went to his flag football game.  I started out in a sweatshirt drinking coffee and ended up sweating.  The sun was blazing and by the time we left it was in the 80's.  I got some really great action shots of the game using the zoom lens.  He's the organizer for these flag football games and I was unofficially hired with no pay to take shots for his group Facebook page. 

After football we went to an open house in our neighborhood.  We're definitely not in the market but it's still fun to look and pretend like we are on House Hunters.  Then it was time for lunch  and we had to eat outside because the weather was so perfect.  We went to Downtown Cafe because it's in our neighborhood and they have a great outdoor seating area.  That sourdough cheesy bread was so delicious that I'm still thinking about it.  I'm such a carb junkie.  It's an appetizer but I ordered it as my entree.  It was only $4.95 so once again I was a cheap date.  Mj got a juicy burger with fries.  I couldn't believe I was wearing flip flops and shorts in February.  Okay, I can believe it and that's why I love living here so much.  But don't be too jealous because it's supposed to start raining any minute.

My husband's job clearly doesn't care enough about their employees so he didn't get Friday or Monday off.  How sad is that?  Monday I got up and hit the gym by 9am for some cardio.  Since I was in no rush I spent about 30 minutes afterwards stretching and working on my flexibility.  I ran a few errands, did laundry and spent the rest of the afternoon watching TV and blogging.

Not having to go to work is the life, I'm telling you.  I had time to exercise, relax and get stuff done without feeling like a chicken with it's head cut off.  Long weekends are the best.

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More Sick People

My weekend in a nutshell brought to you by Instagram

Mj took such good care of me on Wednesday that I guess he figured it was only fair that I return the favor so he woke up sick on Saturday.  Well, it's actually not his fault or his choice for that matter.  I'm the one who got him sick and I do feel bad about it.   There was more sick people food to be made and more medicine to be taken.  First thing Saturday morning I went to the grocery store for OJ, cough drops and other very important things like Peanut Butter and Fat Free Pringles and after that I didn't leave the house again all weekend.  It was grey and dreary, I had a sick husband at home and was still recovering myself so that was fine with me.  It worked out perfectly that we didn't have a single thing planned.

This might be one of the first weekends I can remember in a very long time that Mj didn't do anything.  It's no thing for me to spend a weekend at home but he is such a busy body that even if he has no plans he has to run errands or SOMETHING just to get out but not this weekend.  His Saturday morning flag football was rained out which was a good thing because he was too sick to play.  Plus, it meant he  gave that broken pinky a rest.  He broke it weeks ago but refuses to stop playing.  As for me, I did a lot of laying around on the couch twittering, reading blogs, watching TV and generally being lazy.  It was the perfect weekend for it because I don't think the sun came out once so I was perfectly content to stay inside.  I did get laundry done and that was probably the only productive activity of the weekend.

Mj had to call in sick today but hopefully he'll be back to 100% soon too.  It's Monday.  Back to work.  Back to the gym.  Back to the grind.  The sun is shining and I haven't felt this rested on a Monday in a while.  All that laying around paid off.  What with MLK day and calling in sick twice I only worked two days last week and now I've got a lovely long five day work week ahead of me.  It only took me four days to kick that cold's butt and I only had about 2 really awful days.  I can't help but think about all the people in the world who are chronically ill and still hoping for the day that they get better and it makes me so appreciative of my good health.  I'll have to remember this thankful feeling when I'm wrenching myself out of bed on Friday morning for work and spending 3 hours cleaning house on Saturday.  As much as I whine about it I do realize I should consider myself lucky that I'm physically able to do them both.

The Weekend

I love Saturday mornings that I don't have to clean.  After waking up and NOT cleaning I spent a leisurely morning bumming around the house.  At around 3pm we went to a wine tasting at The Wine Bank downtown.  Another Groupon date of many over the last month.  Some people complain about not getting out enough with their spouse.  We don't have that problem!  I went Groupon crazy for a while buying them right and left but then not using them right away so that a bunch of them were expiring in December and January.  I had to actually put them on my calendar to keep track of what expired and when to be sure that we made time to use them all.  At the tasting we got five pours plus an extra of our favorite.  We brought some smoked mozzarella cheese and crackers to go along with it and ate the whole block! Yeah, we both really love cheese.  We bought a bottle of white Argentinean wine to take home. After that we went out to dinner at a seafood restaurant.  I don't eat seafood plus I was so full that I just got a side salad.  Mj didn't like the seafood entree that he ordered so he sent it back and ended up with a Chicken and Rice bowl so neither of us actually ate any seafood at the seafood restaurant. 

Sunday my mom, sister and nephew came down.   We watched football most of the day.  Mj left to watch the 1st game at a friend's house then later that night we all watched a movie together.  It's so much fun when they spend the night. Mj didn't get Monday off so I felt bad for him when he had to get up.  Instead of going to work I went to Reformer Pilates.  I finally got to take the barre class that's only offered when I'm at work.  The weather was 75-80 all weekend long and it felt really good to be wearing flip flops in January.  I got accused of bragging about it on Facebook.  Sorry, can't help it!  We went out to lunch and sat outside.  I closed my eyes and turned my face up to the sun.  It was so relaxing.  

I don't know where the time went.  Next thing I knew it was 7 o'clock and time for my family to hit the road for home.  Boo!!  At least it's a short work week.

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I'm part of an awesome group giveaway with great prizes that you do not want to miss.  Trust me.  check it out here at Keeping Up with the Cyperts.

4th of July (sort of) Weekend

The 4th of July being on Wednesday was pretty screwy this year so I took Thursday off.  It's not like we were even planning to do much of anything for the 4th but having to go to work the day after the holiday just didn't seem right.  So basically, I had two Friday's this week and getting through the 2nd one wasn't that bad.  We went to a BBQ on the 4th and enjoyed ourselves there.  We didn't feel like going anywhere else or dealing with any crowds that night so we skipped the fireworks.  We like them but can take it or leave it.

I probably need to work on my form!!

Thursday afternoon we went bowling downtown at East Village Tavern and Bowl.   I had a Groupon for $40 credit to use towards bowling and food.  Mj beat me of course.  The only thing I've ever managed to really "beat" him at is ice skating.  I pretty much suck at bowling.  My high score was 134 but I did manage a strike or two.  It was fun, but two games was plenty because by the 2nd one my wrist and hands were already feeling a bit sore.  I quit while I was ahead and my nails remained intact.  We use the rest of our credit on lunch and beer at the bar.

Poor kid!  He was so afraid of the sand at first

My nephew and my sister

Me and my sister

Saturday Mj organized a day at the beach at Breakers Beach on Coronado Island.  He posted it on facebook and about 27 people came out including my sister and her family.  The weather was a perfect 76 degrees.  It's on base so there are no crowds and plenty of close parking.  The last time I went to the beach was 2 years ago on our honeymoon in Hawaii and I can't even remember the last time we went to the beach locally.  Our beaches are beautiful and I've lived less then 30 minutes away from the coast my whole life but I've just never been into it.  I don't need a tan and the beach is just so messy and sandy.  The water is usually way too cold and I get a little nervous about what might be floating around in there so I'd rather go to a park with nice neat grass.  Or better yet a beach or a bay with grass.

I dug my toes into the sand and just went with it and it was actually kind of freeing to just be sitting in the sand and just letting the dirt happen.   It was a nice break from my usual clean freak mode.  Black folks CAN get sunburned.  Mj and I both got a little bit burnt.  We bought umbrellas but apparently they were real cheap and didn't stand up to the wind.  They were both broken within an hour of us being there!  Dj was really afraid of the sand and wouldn't sit in it and didn't even want to walk in it.  Poor kid.  He finally got over it when his dad sat him in it and just left him there crying.  After that he had a lot more fun.  The ocean is so pretty to look at but only my feet went in.  Mj went body boarding, the guys were throwing balls around and we had a giant party sub from Subway.  There were so many people and so much going on I barely sat down the whole day.  We all had a really fun time.  

I embraced the dirt but when I got home I made a beeline for the shower.  It was a fun day at the beach but it felt so good to be clean again.

The Amazing Quest

Our team dressed up for the costume contest

Mj's job hired a company to come in and organize what is called The Amazing Quest.  I'd never done anything like it and I was really excited.  We couldn't have asked for nicer weather.  It was a warm but not too warm 78 degrees.  We met up at a bar where everything kicked off with a team costume contest.  Then we were instructed to open our first clue and were on our way.  

This race was not easy!  The puzzles and challenges were well....challenging

Trudging through the city

There were brainteasers, puzzles, and challenges throughout the entire quest and it took as all over the city.  It was really well planned out.  Each team had to stick together and complete one task before getting the next clue that would send us racing off to the next location for our next challenge.  I lost count of how many clues that we got along the way.   It was way more rigorous then any of us expected.  Everyone contributed something to the team; even the pregnant one who couldn't run much.  Okay well, maybe all of us except the drunkard.  Mj killed it all over the place with his quick thinking brain.  My shining moment was balancing six dice on a tongue depressor in my mouth in less then a minute on my first try.  I also had to be blindfolded for about 45 minutes walking through the city and then on the trolley.  Very bizarre experience and a little scary.  I held onto Mj's arm really tight and trusted that he wouldn't let me fall off of a cliff...or a curb.

Mj made 5 baskets in Bub's bar so that we could get our next clue

We had to stop for a break right??  No.  This has nothing to do with why we didn't win.

I couldn't see a thing but I could hear everyone asking what the heck we were doing

More brain teasers to complete

Almost there!!!!!

We knew we weren't in last place as we approached the home stretch.  We also knew there was no way we were going to win but at that point I didn't care.  It was more about finishing what we started and that's exactly what we did.    It took us 3 1/2 hours to get back!  There were about thirteen teams and we finished somewhere in the middle.  We were supposed to be back at our starting point by 5:15 pm but I think there were only a few teams that made it.  The challenges were hard!  With all the stuff we had to do I have no idea how they did it so we all just assumed they cheated!!  My legs were killing me by the end.  We were all exhausted but we had such a blast.  Just the experience alone was worth the effort....and the fact that they fed us!  Cheesy Quesadilla's....yes please!!  We were served Mexican food appetizers buffet style for us at the end and we got our drink on so even though we didn't win the costume contest or the race itself that was reward enough for me. 

Fab 4 Day Weekend

Sisters

My little sister is such a hot shot that she got flown down here on Friday night to shoot her friend's sister's wedding on Saturday.  It was an early ceremony and reception so she was done by four.  My big sis and I met up at Mom's house so we could all hang out and spend time together.

Hangin' out at the bar

Me and my sparkling wine.  Can't seem to get enough lately.

Grandparents and Grandkiddo. 

We went to Claim Jumper for dinner.  That place is always busy and since there were six of us it took a little over an hour to get a table.  We passed the time in the bar.  What is it with this sparkling wine craving?  That was my drink of choice while we waited to get seated.  I was trying to be "good" so I just got the salad bar for dinner and put together my own delicious salad.  We didn't get out of there until around 9pm.  We stopped at my Aunts house and then headed home to watch a movie and eat ice cream and Pie.  Well, I don't eat pie so I had a few cookies instead.  I spent the night and took my little sis back to the airport Sunday morning.  I love family time.  It was a short but sweet visit.

It's been great having a four day weekend.  We get both President's Birthday's at my job.  Friday I got to get my cleaning done in the morning and did some errands in the afternoon.  That night Mj and I ate Subway and watched the movie Straw Dogs.  Sunday  we did some home improvement related errands.  We bought a new kitchen sink at Home Depot.  Then, we went out for Pizza and to the movies to see Safe House.  This morning I woke up bright and early and went to the gym and then came back and did my homework.  It's been a fab 4 day weekend but it's not quite over yet.  I've been watching TV and now I feel an afternoon nap coming on.  I'll have time to sleep AND have dinner on the table by the time Mj gets home and finishes his work out.  Now that's fabulous. 

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I am pleased to announce that the winner of my first giveaway is Mrs. Williams!  Her prize is a 5 x 7 canvas hand painted by Lauren and a $15 shop credit to her Etsy Shop.  Thanks so much to all who entered.

Laughter: Fuel for the Soul

Pic from a couple years ago but it's basically how I looked all night

Mj's friends cousin has been doing stand up comedy around town.  Friday night we went to one of his shows.  During the week I saw a commercial for sparkling wine.  I can't even remember what brand, but ever since then I had a craving for it and I was really excited about going to the show just so I could get some.

The last show we went to seemed a little bit like amateur night so I wasn't sure what to expect.  There were 7 comics and they got 10 minutes each.  The host opened the show.  He was hilarious.  Good sign.  These guys were all good.  One after another each comic got on stage and made us laugh.  Good old fashioned straight from the belly mouth wide open head tilted back uncontrollable laughter.  I laughed hard and loud in between sips of my sparkling wine; thank goodness they had some!  Laughter is such good fuel for the soul.  It just makes you feel good.  I love laughing and I love to see Mj laugh.  He was laughing so hard his eyes were all watery and teary.  For a second I thought about what a racket the night was.  It cost us $10 each to get in and on top of that there was a two drink minimum at $7 each.  That's $24 bucks each just to get in the door!  But it was a really good show and we were supporting a friend.  Laughing out loud for almost 2 hours straight while drinking wine after long week of work was well worth the price of admission.

Jam Packed Weekend

Last weekend was jam packed.  Where do I begin...Ok Friday night.  My friend Fe was a bridesmaid in my wedding and I haven't seen her since.  She lives out of state but was in town for work and I was so excited to get a chance to see her.   We met up for happy hour and got into some great conversations about life, love and work.  Just what a girl needs every  now and then.  She hasn't seen our house yet so she stopped by.  It was really good to see her.

Our party bus for the night

Saturday night was Mj's company holiday party which I very much look forward to every year.  It's a chance to dress up, eat, drink and be merry on the company dime.  The party was at Loew's Coronado Bay and Resort.  Their rooms average about $380 per night so yeah...we didn't stay there.  The four of us took a cab bus there from our hotel which was also pretty nice.  We had a good time.  The food was delicious.  They had a Macaroni & Cheese Martini Bar station.  Need I say more?  Band's are nice for ambiance but overall I think they're pretty lame for dancing so I didn't do too much of that.  We left around 9pm once it became clear that we would not be winning any raffle prizes and went downtown where we finally got the chance to get our groove on.  We found a club with a good DJ and a wide open dance floor and basically danced all night long.  We had a blast.  I won't go into the gory details but I definitely drank too much.  When will I learn that I cannot drink nearly as much as I seem to think I can?  I have no idea what time we made it back to the hotel but I think it was pretty late.

Me and my mac and cheese martini

Dancing the night away

Sunday morning we met Laura and Rob for breakfast then Mj and I went to the Bills v Chargers game.  We had great seats but it's still so hard to find the ball while watching a live game.   Luckily the sun was facing us so that kept me warm through most of it.  It was fun watching the Charger girls.  The home team won; Mj wasn't too happy about that.  I was pretty tired by then so I was really glad to finally get back home.  Not so glad to have to take a test for school but at least I got it over with.  One down and one more to go.

Chargers V Bills

It went against every fiber of my being to go out on a Monday night after work.  It was cold and rainy and I'd already had a full weekend and a very long day.  Mj's friend's cousin was doing stand up so we met up at a nearby burger joint then went out to comedy night with his friends.  I forgot how vulgar and nasty comedy can be but it was fun and funny.  Tonight there are no plans unless you count the gym.  The weekend was exhausting...but fun!  I'm a homebody so a lot of times I just want to stay home but I think it's good for me to get pushed out the door and pushed past my limits every now and then.  Life is meant to be lived....even if I often don't  feel I actually have time to live it!  But we sure made time this weekend.  I hate to say it but we still haven't decorated our poor little Christmas Tree.  Hanging head in shame.

Power Outage & Another 3 Day weekend

Thursday at around 3:40pm the power went out at work.  We all came out of our offices and started chatting and speculating as to what was going on and how long it would last.  Turns out it was a total power outage throughout the entire county.  They called it historic because apparently this has never happened before.  Around 4:20pm we were told we could go home which was great but it took me over an hour to get home because everyone else was doing the same thing at the same time and all the traffic lights were out.   I was below E that morning.  Luckily I'd gotten gas on the way to work or else I don't even know if I'd have made it home.  A lot of the gas pumps were out.  I couldn't complain too much.  This wasn't the result of a natural disaster and while an inconvenience we were safe and we still had running water. It was actually kind of fun.  My biggest worry was that my precious Dreyer's Light Coffee flavored ice cream would melt.  I seriously considered eating almost a whole gallon of ice cream just to save it!  Mj used the car radio to check for outage updates which was a reminder to me that we should have a battery operated radio (and a lot of other things for that matter) because of situations like these.  We ate sandwiches for dinner and watched a movie on my lap top draining that battery then played scrabble outside next to our fire pit until the cell phone died.  I remembered what the point of a land line is, then it was time for bed.

By the time we woke up Friday morning the power was back on and I was happy to find that none of our food got ruined.  Just as I was getting ready for work I got a text from my boss that the district had shut down.  A free paid day off?  My weekend had begun!!!  I'd say the power outage worked out pretty well for me.  For a minute I felt like I didn't know what to do with myself.  I was already up so I went to the gym.  Later on that night Mj and I met some of his co workers for drinks.  Saturday I got some errands done and hung out with a friend of mine while Mj was out biking.  Then we went to a early dinner and did more errands.  I found a great vase for the living room.  Sunday we both stayed home all day which was really nice.  I had a great surprise 3 day weekend.

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Thanks to everyone who commented on this post.  Clearly I'm not alone!  It helped me gain some perspective on the age old pesky hot button topic of neat vs messy and relationships.  It was very helpful for me to blog about it.  I'll continue to work on patience and trying not to let any of it be a bigger deal then it needs to be.  And by the way my little refrigerator labeling joke actually worked.  Mj did complain about having to open 3 drawers just to make a sandwich but he actually put everything back where he got it from.  We're having sandwiches again tonight for dinner so we'll see what happens.  I'm hoping it sticks!

A Nice Weekend

After dropping Mj off at the airport on Thursday morning I was a little bit sadder then I expected to be.  He was gone pretty much all of 2009, is out of town at least one weekend a month and has already gone on his first of three long work trips for the year.  I'm used to this for the most part and tend to think I'm quite the pro at having him be gone but apparently that is not the case.  I could already feel myself starting to miss him on my way back to work. 

We wore this baby out but he didn't complain

I'm glad I had a nice diversion to keep me occupied this weekend.  I went up to visit my big sis on Saturday.  We always have a ball together.  I got to her house at around 12pm and we were out the door with my cute little nephew in tow by 1pm.  We did errands, a little shopping and went to dinner.  We split a 1,400 calorie Chocolate Brownie Obsession at TGI Friday's.  Yep-they were kind enough to put that awesome number right there on the menu for us.  Then, we finally headed back to the house.  My nephew was so good the entire time.  We took him in and out of his car seat a million times and he got loaded up into his stroller over and over again but did not cry or fuss even once.  I still can't figure out how we managed to stay out so long.  We didn't get home until around 9ish and when we did we got comfy and relaxed while drinking Moscato wine (our favorite) and eating Haribo gummy bears (another favorite).  We only made it until 11:30pm before we were so tired that we had no choice but to go to bed. 

Sunday mom and dad joined us at Big Sis's house for a Dad's day BBQ.  More wine, Turkey Burgers and a bunch of other yummy side dishes.  We have so much fun spending time together that I didn't really want to leave.  But alas the work week lies ahead so at about 7:45pm I loaded up my car and hit the road for the 1 1/2 hour drive home.   I unpacked, showered, called Mj then fell into bed.  The weekend was great but it went by way too fast as usual.  After work today I forced myself to the gym to burn off the weekend indulgences and was so SO glad to finally get home after a long day and have another Monday down.  I got into my jammies as fast as I could, grabbed some food and happily settled down for some HGTV.  The only thing missing is Mj.  I'm so tired!  I'm definitely going to bed early tonight.

Hangin' out with Sis

Me and Big Sis at Mom's house 
She's almost done losing her baby + weight!

I had a great weekend hanging with my big sister and the rest of my family.  Friday night I was on my own.  I stayed home and watched The Roommate.  It was a typical obsessed girl beats herself up for attention and snaps at the end kind of move but it was good.  Saturday morning I rolled out of bed and cleaned the house.  I'd put it off for a while so it had to be done.   One of Mj's friend's planned a baby shower for Saturday night.   Even though he is out of town I still wanted to go, but not by myself so Big Sis dropped my nephew at mom's and came down to spend the night so we could hang out and then she could come with me. It's so great having her nearby again.  We have already planned our next sister get together for next month up at her house.  We spent the day hanging out at my house talking about anything and everything and then went to the baby shower that evening.  The first of what is likely to be a flurry of baby shower's to come seeing as how everyone is turning up pregnant lately.  I'm not a big fan of baby shower's for some reason so I liked it that it was just a basic unisex gathering with food.  The only way you knew it was a baby shower was the baby themed cake, paper plates and napkins and the baby gifts.  No games at all.  There was some really good eats and we had a fun time.  It was kind of late but still, we did our best to stay awake after we got home but didn't make it long before we had to go to bed.

He changes everytime I see him. 

I've really been in my homebody mode lately, especially with Mj being gone.  I was going to stay home alone in my jammies after my sister left for my Mom's on Sunday.  But really.  Why should I spend the day at home alone in my pajamas when I can be with my family? Nice as that sounds I just did that last weekend.  Mom told me I should come up and she'd make whatever I wanted for dinner and I'm glad I did.   I got to see Mom and Dad and my little nephew who is as cute as can be.  DJ is standing up by himself now and has 4 teeth.  He'll be walking any day now.  We had Turkey Chili, Salad and Cornbread for dinner.  I only just started eating cornbread last year because I'm picky and had decided that I didn't like it which doesn't make too much sense because I love bread.  Anyways, I like it now and it was so good.

It was a little bit gloomy all weekend but the sun seems to have reappeared and I'm looking forward to a sunny three day weekend and Mj coming home.  I've missed him!  And not just because I had to take over the the plant watering and trash duties.