Last Saturday night, Tomkin and I drove out to Bloomington to have dinner with my uncle Rick, his wife Lois, and my cousin Danelle, who was in town for the weekend from Texas. We had such a fun night! We hung out, ate (they smoked a salmon out on the grill), and talked for hours. Before
my cousin Kristin's wedding, I honestly don't remember the last time I had seen Rick (and that was the first time I met Lois). And I hadn't seen Danelle in almost ten years. It was great to reconnect with them all, and I was happy that Tomkin and Danelle finally got to meet.
On Sunday, Tomkin spent most of the day working on our itinerary for Spain. We just found out that our
program is now going to be held in the town of
Salamanca, which sounds amazing. We mapped out a plan for our time in Madrid, with one activity planned for each day. Tomkin typed everything out and added maps, photos, and timetables. I can't believe that he actually enjoys creating travel itineraries even more than I do! (We truly are a match made in heaven.) We did go out into the snow and take a walk, which was nice. I watched a little TV and uploaded some photos to Facebook. Tomkin pretty much worked on the itinerary all day.
I worked on Monday morning, and Tomkin headed into the office. That afternoon, for the
National Day of Service, we went to a local food/blood drive, where we dropped off some food and cash. I had planned to give blood, but my iron was a little too low. Fooey! Since we had a little extra time, we took Chloe for a walk. That evening I had my first digital photography class at the Amore coffee shop on Grand. It was pretty basic stuff, although I did learn a few new things about my camera. I'll probably skip the next class and then go back for the rest. When I got home, Tomkin and I watched the first episode of "
Superstars of Dance." It's cool to see a show like that on network TV.
Tuesday was Inauguration Day. I was glued to the TV, watching history unfold. Both Tomkin and I kept choking up--it was hard to believe what we were seeing. Out with the old, in with the new! The whole face of the nation has changed, and I hope we're ushering in a new era of inclusion, unity, tolerance, and hope. Tomkin had to go meet at couple at W.A. Frost. He said when he got there, the waiters were all glued to the television, watching Obama give his
inaugural address. After
Joseph Lowery gave the benediction, Tomkin led the room in a rousing chorus of "Amens"! It was such a joyful day, and it really did feel like the mood of the country had changed. We're inspired, we're coming together, and we've got a smart, thoughtful, trustworty man steering this ship. It's nice to feel proud of our country again and to believe that we can be a force for good and a beacon of hope in the world. Yes we can!
I did tear myself away from the TV long enough to go to Target, but then I was glued to the coverage again. It's been a long time since I've wanted to watch the news, but now I feel like I can't get enough! That evening, Tomkin and I went over to Kris and Dave's to celebrate our new president. Dave filled the table with a gorgeous array of meats and vegetables, and we put together delicious spring rolls. What a treat! We also toasted our country's new leader. I still love the sound of it: President Obama!
On Wednesday, Tomkin and I (and Chloe) went to his folks' house for lunch. We sat and chatted for a long time, shared thoughts about the inauguration, and Tomkin got his dad set up on Facebook. Back at home I did some work and watched more news coverage, then I led a premarital education class while Tomkin went to his weekly poker game. I talked to Mom and then watched more inauguration coverage. I just can't get enough!
Thursday morning the Oscar nominations came out. I typed up a chart, and Tomkin and I are going to try to use some kind of statistical analysis (based on expert predictions) to guess who will win. To be honest, I'm not super excited to see many of the nominated films--they seem so depressing and heavy. (I am looking forward to "Slumdog Millionaire," though!) I ran errands and did some work. Tomkin went into the office and worked on our taxes. Then we took Chloe for a walk. That evening we went to the
Red Stag Supperclub for
Metro magazine's Keeper Awards party. In an effort to keep talented local artists from fleeing to L.A. or NYC, Metro created the Keeper Awards. (Ironically, one of the artists has already left town.) The party was fun--we got to hang out with Dena, who works at Metro, and enjoy some yummy food and drinks. I've been feeling like such a homebody in this cold weather--it was good to get out.
On Friday we worked and then took Chloe for a short walk over to Jim and Roxanne's, where she got to romp in their backyard with Watson. It was so cold out, we just went straight home afterward. That evening, Peter and Mandy came over. We had planned to play Rock Band, but we ended up just sitting and talking for four hours!
Saturday was a busy day. I had a premarital education class in the morning, and then the woman who's going to dog/housesit for us while we're in Spain came by to see the house and meet Chloe. (She's a friend of a friend, and we'd never met her in person before.) After she left, I talked to my friend Carrie for an hour-and-a-half, catching up on her life in Chicago. (And trying to woo her here for a visit!) I spent a little time catching up on reading blog posts from the week. I subscribe to 20 or 30 blogs (some by friends, some that are newsy), and I had more than 300 posts to read; for most I just read the headlines and moved on. (Though with friends' blogs I always read the full posts!) My new favorite blog is
The Black Snob--political and pop culture coverage that is smart, funny, and insightful.
Last night Tomkin and I went to Jim and Roxanne's annual Chinese New Year party. (This year we rang in
The Year of the Ox.) They had lots of delicious food (including Jim's Awesome Soup--and that's no lie!), and we enjoyed talking to their other friends.
You may (or may not) have noticed in recent photos that Tomkin and I were wearing big black plastic watches. They were for a sleep study for Roxanne (who's a neuropsychology professor at St. Thomas). She gave us our results last night. Turns out we both sleep fairly consistently, and I sleep about an hour less per night than Tomkin does. I guess with college students, the charts are crazy, but for us they were pretty good. After we got home, we curled up with Chloe and watched another episode of "Superstars of Dance." Some really amazing and impressive performances from all over the world!
Today has been a nice, lazy Sabbath. Tomkin and I both spent hours on Facebook (really, how does it suck so much time away?). I thought it was too cold to go for a walk, so we worked out to "Project Runway" instead. Now Tomkin is reading, and I'm going to watch the Screen Actors Guild Awards. (I love this time of year with all the awards shows!)
Have a great week, stay warm, and thanks for reading my blog!
Last Saturday night, Tomkin and I drove out to Bloomington to have dinner with my uncle Rick, his wife Lois, and my cousin Danelle, who was in town for the weekend from Texas. We had such a fun night! We hung out, ate (they smoked a salmon out on the grill), and talked for hours. Before my cousin Kristin's wedding, I honestly don't remember the last time I had seen Rick (and that was the first time I met Lois). And I hadn't seen Danelle in almost ten years. It was great to reconnect with them all, and I was happy that Tomkin and Danelle finally got to meet.
On Sunday, Tomkin spent most of the day working on our itinerary for Spain. We just found out that our program is now going to be held in the town of Salamanca, which sounds amazing. We mapped out a plan for our time in Madrid, with one activity planned for each day. Tomkin typed everything out and added maps, photos, and timetables. I can't believe that he actually enjoys creating travel itineraries even more than I do! (We truly are a match made in heaven.) We did go out into the snow and take a walk, which was nice. I watched a little TV and uploaded some photos to Facebook. Tomkin pretty much worked on the itinerary all day.
I worked on Monday morning, and Tomkin headed into the office. That afternoon, for the National Day of Service, we went to a local food/blood drive, where we dropped off some food and cash. I had planned to give blood, but my iron was a little too low. Fooey! Since we had a little extra time, we took Chloe for a walk. That evening I had my first digital photography class at the Amore coffee shop on Grand. It was pretty basic stuff, although I did learn a few new things about my camera. I'll probably skip the next class and then go back for the rest. When I got home, Tomkin and I watched the first episode of "Superstars of Dance." It's cool to see a show like that on network TV.
Tuesday was Inauguration Day. I was glued to the TV, watching history unfold. Both Tomkin and I kept choking up--it was hard to believe what we were seeing. Out with the old, in with the new! The whole face of the nation has changed, and I hope we're ushering in a new era of inclusion, unity, tolerance, and hope. Tomkin had to go meet at couple at W.A. Frost. He said when he got there, the waiters were all glued to the television, watching Obama give his inaugural address. After Joseph Lowery gave the benediction, Tomkin led the room in a rousing chorus of "Amens"! It was such a joyful day, and it really did feel like the mood of the country had changed. We're inspired, we're coming together, and we've got a smart, thoughtful, trustworty man steering this ship. It's nice to feel proud of our country again and to believe that we can be a force for good and a beacon of hope in the world. Yes we can! 
I did tear myself away from the TV long enough to go to Target, but then I was glued to the coverage again. It's been a long time since I've wanted to watch the news, but now I feel like I can't get enough! That evening, Tomkin and I went over to Kris and Dave's to celebrate our new president. Dave filled the table with a gorgeous array of meats and vegetables, and we put together delicious spring rolls. What a treat! We also toasted our country's new leader. I still love the sound of it: President Obama!
On Wednesday, Tomkin and I (and Chloe) went to his folks' house for lunch. We sat and chatted for a long time, shared thoughts about the inauguration, and Tomkin got his dad set up on Facebook. Back at home I did some work and watched more news coverage, then I led a premarital education class while Tomkin went to his weekly poker game. I talked to Mom and then watched more inauguration coverage. I just can't get enough!
Thursday morning the Oscar nominations came out. I typed up a chart, and Tomkin and I are going to try to use some kind of statistical analysis (based on expert predictions) to guess who will win. To be honest, I'm not super excited to see many of the nominated films--they seem so depressing and heavy. (I am looking forward to "Slumdog Millionaire," though!) I ran errands and did some work. Tomkin went into the office and worked on our taxes. Then we took Chloe for a walk. That evening we went to the Red Stag Supperclub for Metro magazine's Keeper Awards party. In an effort to keep talented local artists from fleeing to L.A. or NYC, Metro created the Keeper Awards. (Ironically, one of the artists has already left town.) The party was fun--we got to hang out with Dena, who works at Metro, and enjoy some yummy food and drinks. I've been feeling like such a homebody in this cold weather--it was good to get out.
On Friday we worked and then took Chloe for a short walk over to Jim and Roxanne's, where she got to romp in their backyard with Watson. It was so cold out, we just went straight home afterward. That evening, Peter and Mandy came over. We had planned to play Rock Band, but we ended up just sitting and talking for four hours!
Saturday was a busy day. I had a premarital education class in the morning, and then the woman who's going to dog/housesit for us while we're in Spain came by to see the house and meet Chloe. (She's a friend of a friend, and we'd never met her in person before.) After she left, I talked to my friend Carrie for an hour-and-a-half, catching up on her life in Chicago. (And trying to woo her here for a visit!) I spent a little time catching up on reading blog posts from the week. I subscribe to 20 or 30 blogs (some by friends, some that are newsy), and I had more than 300 posts to read; for most I just read the headlines and moved on. (Though with friends' blogs I always read the full posts!) My new favorite blog is The Black Snob--political and pop culture coverage that is smart, funny, and insightful. 
Last night Tomkin and I went to Jim and Roxanne's annual Chinese New Year party. (This year we rang in The Year of the Ox.) They had lots of delicious food (including Jim's Awesome Soup--and that's no lie!), and we enjoyed talking to their other friends. 
You may (or may not) have noticed in recent photos that Tomkin and I were wearing big black plastic watches. They were for a sleep study for Roxanne (who's a neuropsychology professor at St. Thomas). She gave us our results last night. Turns out we both sleep fairly consistently, and I sleep about an hour less per night than Tomkin does. I guess with college students, the charts are crazy, but for us they were pretty good. After we got home, we curled up with Chloe and watched another episode of "Superstars of Dance." Some really amazing and impressive performances from all over the world!
Today has been a nice, lazy Sabbath. Tomkin and I both spent hours on Facebook (really, how does it suck so much time away?). I thought it was too cold to go for a walk, so we worked out to "Project Runway" instead. Now Tomkin is reading, and I'm going to watch the Screen Actors Guild Awards. (I love this time of year with all the awards shows!)
Have a great week, stay warm, and thanks for reading my blog!
1 comments:
It would be conclusive to say that you sleep less than Tomkin because you have a guiltier conscience! When are you going to tell him about your prostitution in the past, your rap sheet, etc.?
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