Last Monday was another in a string of cold days--too cold for a walk. Tomkin went into the office. I went to Target and then went home and worked on getting some stuff ready for Spain. That evening, Tomkin went to a neighborhood meeting, and I stayed home to watch TV, play on the computer, and work on my
year-in-review blog post.
On Tuesday I went to my final Weight Watchers meeting. It had been about three weeks since I'd last gone, and I was very happy that in the interim I'd lost 1.2 pounds! That gave me a total WW loss of 16.2 pounds. I was very happy with that. After the meeting, I met up with Helena at Tea Source. (She's a friend from college who I'd lost touch with until just a couple weeks ago.) It was wonderful to reconnect with her and hear about the
Center for Happiness, her upcoming trip to India, and all the other good things going on. She is a good-energy person, and I'm glad to have her in my life again.
That night, Tomkin and I went to the
Orpheum Theater for the opening night of "
Spring Awakening." While we were hanging out in the lobby before the show, we ran into Heidi and her daughter, Hannah! This was Hannah's third time seeing it. I can definitely understand why it's such a hit with the younger crowd. I enjoyed it overall. Some of the music was amazing, and the cast was really impressive. But the story was pretty simplistic ("adults are bad; children are misunderstood") and quite dark. I've been hearing about this show for years, so I'm glad we finally got to see it. Also, this was my first time at the Orpheum, which is a beautiful theater!
We've been trying to get up earlier, in preparation for the time difference in Spain. Wednesday morning we got up and worked out to "Project Runway." I ran a bunch of errands, and Tomkin had lunch with his folks. It was finally nice enough that we could take Chloe for a walk, which felt fantastic for all of us. That evening Tomkin went to his weekly poker game, and I worked on my year-end blog post. (It took me a lot longer than I'd expected it to!)
When I woke up on Thursday, I felt like maybe I was getting a cold. Not good, since we're traveling soon.... Tomkin met with a couple and then went into the office. I finally finished my
year-end blog post and started packing for Spain. That evening I had a
premarital education session, and then I talked to Mom. By the end of the day, I could tell that I definitely had a cold. Ugh.
Friday morning my throat was sore, so I tried not to talk at all--even to whisper. It was hard, but it definitely helped. Tomkin had a business lunch, and I went shopping at Target. We had set aside some money for me to get new clothes when I hit my target weight. So on Friday we did some serious shopping! First we went to
Stella Blu, a small shop on Grand. We had browsed in there before, and I've been dying to go back. They have really cool clothes that are reasonably priced. And a lot of their stuff was on sale! I ended up getting five dresses--one is a full-length formal gown, which I absolutely LOVE. I'm not sure when I'll wear it, but it was on clearance for $30, and it fit me like a glove, so I couldn't resist. I also got a bunch of jewelry and a few headbands. We came home for a short break, and then we headed to Macy's.
Tomkin brought along a book and laid on a couch outside the fitting room while I scoured the store and tried out dozens of blouses, pants, dresses, skirts, etc. I ended up getting two pairs of jeans, two pairs of dress pants, a blazer, three sweaters, and six tops/blouses, all for $220! (I don't think I paid full price for anything, and some clothes were as much as 80% off!) Next we went to Ragstock, where Tomkin found a couple cool shirts, and I got five scarves for $10. So all together, all my purchases for the day came in under $500. And I have a nice new wardrobe! We were pretty much exhausted after our shopping marathon, so we went home, had a late dinner, and curled up on the couch to watch some "Superstars of Dance" with Chloe.
Saturday morning we worked out to "Project Runway," and then we had lunch with Mark at Pizza Luce. He had been in DC for the inauguration and had MCed a party there, so it was fun to hear about his hobnobbing and adventures. It was the first day of the year that the temperature was above freezing, so Tomkin and I seized the opportunity to take Chloe to a park. We went to a place called Crosby Farm, next to the Mississippi River, and let Chloe run around. The sky was blue, the sun was shining, and the snow was melting. Hallelujah!
Unfortunately, I was feeling pretty worn out by this point, having pushed myself a little too hard for having a cold. So we went home and napped for about an hour, which felt heavenly. Then we went to dinner at the home of a couple, Raj and Sheri, who we met at Jim and Roxanne's
Chinese New Year party. (Jim and Roxanne were at dinner, too.) They served Spanish wines in honor of our upcoming trip, and we had some amazing food. We also got to play with their two adorable corgis! It's always nice to meet interesting new people, and we really enjoyed hanging out and talking with them.
Today was a pretty relaxing day. I've been reading a wonderful
book about the Sabbath, and it's inspiring me to really make Sundays a day of rest. After we get back from Spain, I'm going to try to implement a more restful Sabbath, including having a computer-free day. That is going to be hard.... Anyway, for now I'm cutting myself a little slack, what with our trip coming up and all. Tomkin got up early, but I slept in. (I'm still battling a cold and figure the rest is good for me.) We played on Facebook for a long time--it's been really fun to read people's lists of 25 random things about themselves. It's amazing how much I've learned about friends and family members that way! It was another gorgeous day, so we took Chloe for a walk down to Grand Avenue. By the time we got home,
Puppy Bowl had started! I was thinking about Scout and how much he enjoyed watching stuff like that. Chloe is just not interested....
Adam and Cheryl had invited us over to watch the Super Bowl, but I opted to stay home. Tomkin went over to their place for a while, but didn't stay for much of the game. I finally got to talk to
Lisa, whose baby daughter,
Kaya, is now two weeks old! They're starting their trek back from Hawaii to the mainland on March 1st. So hopefully I'll get to see them all in just a few weeks! When Tomkin got home, we worked on more stuff for Spain (finalizing to-do lists, getting things together, etc.), and we watched a little TV. I can't believe we leave for Spain in just four days! As it gets closer, I'm getting more and more excited. We've actually got a couple busy days ahead, but hopefully I can blog one more time before we go. We'll be away from February 5th through the 17th. (But we will have a housesitter and a big dog here while we're away!) And by the time we get back, hopefully winter will be easing into spring....
Thursday we cleaned the house, and I ran some errands and went grocery shopping. That night we had our monthly Third Thursdays party, and this time the featured drink was sangria. We had a great night, although I now realize that throwing a party two days after returning from a trip abroad was a bit ambitious. Nonetheless, we had a lot of fun. 
Although our Spanish ham had been confiscated at the airport (turns out you can't bring any fruits, vegetables, or meat into the USA), we had some other foods from Spain (including cookies we bought at a convent, ham-flavored Cheetos, and bacon-infused crackers--those Spaniards love their pork!).
One of the big attractions of the night were the Spanish tabloid magazines I brought home. There's one magazine called Cuore, and they did a special "AARG" issue in which they pointed out every conceivable flaw in celebrities (sweaty armpits, double chins, razor burn, fat rolls, etc.). It was both horrible and wonderful at the same time. I was delightfully surprised that my friend Helena made it to the party, since she was leaving for a trip to India two days later. And we learned that Cassidy and Angie are expecting a baby! The whole evening was really fun. I love Third Thursdays!
On Friday, Tomkin and I took Chloe for a walk, and that evening we had dinner at Kris and Dave's. (Chloe came along for that, too.) Dave's daughters were there, and we all ordered pizza and hung out. Unfortunately, my jet lag really caught up with me, so we headed home early and went to bed at 9:30! Since we'd gotten back from Spain, I had been waking up at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning (sometimes getting back to sleep, sometimes not), but that night I slept for 12 solid hours. I really needed it!
Saturday we exercised to "Project Runway," and I worked on my Oscar predictions chart. I know this is totally geeky, but it actually worked (and I had a lot of fun researching it). I made an Excel chart of all the nominees, and then I created columns for the Golden Globes, the guild awards, the BAFTAS, and various critics and predictors. There were some definite patterns (as much as I was rooting for Mickey Rourke, most of the check marks were in the "Sean Penn" column), so I based my predictions on those. That evening Tomkin and I stayed in and watched "Slumdog Millionaire" (which wasn't at all what I had expected--it's definitely not a "feel-good movie) and an episode of "Superstars of Dance."
Sunday we went for a walk with Chloe, and I broke my "no plans on the Sabbath" rule to go to a neighbor's birthday party. Though we actually couldn't stay long because we had an Oscar party to attend. (Oscars also trump Sabbath, apparently.) We met up with our friends Mandy and Peter and hung out at Peter's house for a bit. Then we all drove to Mandy's friend's house in Apple Valley for their annual Oscar party. There were lots of people (and lots of delicious food), and we had a great time watching the show. And Tomkin and I got 20 out of 24 of the categories right, so the predictions chart paid off!
Monday morning we were back to work. I met with a couple for premarital counseling, and Tomkin went into the office. I went grocery shopping and watched some Oscar coverage. That evening I met with another couple for counseling, and Tomkin had a meeting with a couple as well. We got some sad news that one of our neighbors had to put her dog to sleep. Another neighbor just had to do that, too, while we were in Spain. (And a friend from Chicago lost her dog recently as well.) I always feel so bad when someone loses a beloved pet--it's such a hard thing to go through. My heart really goes out to them all.
Other than Friday night, I still hadn't been sleeping well since we got back. So Monday night I took some nighttime cold medicine before I went to bed. On the one hand it was good, because I slept straight through the night. On the other hand it was bad, because I was groggy most of the day on Tuesday. I really felt like a zombie! Tomkin and I exercised to "Project Runway," and I tried to catch up with some editing contacts. I also found out that my friend Heidi from Chicago is going to come visit in April (yay!), and Tomkin and I booked a weekend at the Archer House in Northfield for our first anniversary weekend. Tomkin and I took Chloe for a walk (it was so nice out, the snow was melting!), and after that I finally felt awake. 
We went to the Guthrie to see "A Delicate Balance" by Edward Albee, who also wrote "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" It was my least favorite show I've seen at the Guthrie so far, but Tomkin loved it. Even though I didn't really enjoy it, it did provoke a lot of interesting discussion. After the show, we went to Pizza Luce. It was Fat Tuesday, and I wanted to squeeze in one last slice of pizza before Lent started. (I'm giving up pizza and chocolate, as I do every year.) Plus, it's always just fun to be out and about with my fabulous, fascinating husband!
Today we got off to an early start and had a productive morning. Tomkin worked on our taxes and had a phone meeting, and I got a bunch of stuff done around the house. We went to Tomkin's parents' house for lunch--it was great to see them again and catch up. Then we went shopping at Trader Joe's. I had 7 or 8 items on the shopping list, yet somehow we ended up with a trunk full of groceries and liquor. (The Trader Joe's in St. Paul is scheduled to open in June--I can't wait!) 
We also stopped at the library before heading home. It was another gorgeous sunny day, so we took Chloe for a long walk. Then tonight I talked to my mom, and Tomkin went to a movie with his friend Charles. I finally feel like we're starting to settle back in again, which is a good thing. And hopefully my jet lag is just about gone....
