First Week of the New Year

It's been a pretty low-key week, which is fine by me. Last Thursday, January 1, we slept in, and then Tomkin headed to the office while I stayed home and did some work, organizing, and tax preparation. We took Chloe for a walk, and that evening we organized our financial info on mint.com (a cool, helpful, easy-to-use site--and it's free!). It's amazing to see how much money goes to boring stuff like taxes, insurance, the mortgage, and business expenses. But it's cool to finally see where all our money is actually going.
Friday morning we had a long, leisurely breakfast. We finished up just before I headed out to have lunch with Becca and baby Leo! We met for Thai food, and she filled me in on the house they're hoping to buy. As if their lives weren't crazy enough already! But I'm sure they can use the extra space. What do they have now, 14 kids? 16? I lose track. :-) I came home and spent the afternoon writing out thank-you cards for my Christmas gifts. Tomkin and I walked Chloe to the library, and she graciously carried home our books and movies. That night we decided to go use up some gift cards at the mall--I had no idea it would be so packed! Definitely a hot spot for suburban teens. There were lots of great sales--we found some good stuff at JCPenney's, but didn't have enough time to use up our Macy's card. Guess we'll just have to go back and shop some more! When we got home, we curled up on the couch with Chloe and started watching "1900 House." Bliss!
On Saturday I cleaned and organized the kitchen. Tomkin found a test online that helps you find out what motivates your dog and, thus, helps you to train them better. (I asked if he remembers the website; he does not.) Turns out Chloe is neither especially pack-driven or prey-driven. It's lucky we're able to train her at all! I met my friend Heidi for coffee, and we did more planning for the mini high school reunion we're hosting in May. We also chatted and caught up, and we enjoyed listening to the group of old men having a jam session on their guitars in the coffee shop. The weather was pretty nasty, so I didn't feel like going for a walk. Tomkin walked Chloe, and I stayed home and did some cleaning and then worked on my reunion blog. Our friend Pete came over for dinner. He's heading to the Philippines for three weeks (mostly for work), so we won't see him again until after we get back from Spain!
My resolution for 2009 is to observe a day of rest on Sundays. It's harder than you would think! Or at least it was for the first Sunday of the year. My rules are 1) no work and 2) no cleaning. Also, for now, no plans, but I think that will change (especially if we start going to church). I spent much of the day blogging and playing on Facebook. Tomkin and I walked Chloe--it was sunny but cold. Still, nice to get out and about. That night Tomkin did some cleaning (he's in charge of the floors and does an excellent job!), and we watched more of "1900 House."
On Monday we went to W.A. Frost for lunch and met up with Frank Nelson, a local pastor who created the TalkPoints program I use for premarital counseling. He is passionate about helping couples build strong, lasting relationships, and he had some good ideas for both me and Tomkin in our businesses. We had a delicious lunch (with the same waiter we'd had on New Year's Eve!) and a really nice conversation. I spent the afternoon catching up with both editing and counseling inquiries. When it rains, it pours! After dinner I led a premarital counseling session, and Tomkin met with a couple about their wedding. Then we finished watching "1900 House." That show made me thankful for washing machines, shampoo, and not having to wear a corset!
Tomkin went into the office on Tuesday, and I did some work. I went to Weight Watchers and was surprised that I had lost 1.5 pounds this week, for a total of 15 pounds! I'm pretty much at my goal weight now--I might try to lose a couple more pounds, but I think I'm at a maintainable weight now. Though we'll see how well I maintain it in Spain.... I went shopping at Target, and then Tomkin and I walked Chloe. It was so nice out! We're letting her walk off-leash more now, and she loves to run and sniff stuff. She's good about sticking close to us and coming when we call her. We had planned to go to Dog Days at the Metrodome that night, but Chloe was pretty beat from the walk, and we were sleepy, too. In fact, we went to bed at 10:00! I don't remember the last time we went to bed so early.
Yesterday I had so much to do that I opted to stay home while Tomkin had lunch with his folks and then shopped at Trader Joe's. We got a message from someone at Vaughan Town with the e-mail addresses of all the "Anglos" on the program, so we wrote to introduce ourselves and looked everyone up on Facebook. Now that the Spain trip is just a few weeks away, it's becoming more of a reality. It's exciting, although the program schedule is a little daunting. I'm sure we'll have a great time, though. Even though it was really cold, we took Chloe for a walk before dinner. Then we took a short nap before Tomkin left for poker and I led a premarital counseling session. After Tomkin got home, our friend Dave brought his dog, George, over. He and Kris headed to Jamaica this morning; we're going to dogsit George while they're away. He's a sweet dog, but he has a LOT of energy. With Chloe being so old and mellow, I forget how young and excitable other dogs can be! They played and explored and chewed on bones and toys. It took a while to get them calmed down to go to sleep. George is really sweet, though, and he and Chloe have a lot of fun together.
Tomkin went back to the office today, and I ran errands and did some editing work. I got two new clients this week--one local and one in Chicago. Tomkin and I took Chloe and George to a nearby park and had them run, run, run through the snow. They chased each other, and George chased a ball, and they both had a great time tearing around. And I think we finally wore them out! They came home and chewed on bones for a while, but all evening they've been totally crashed. Yay! I talked to Mom tonight and did some work on Brenda's belated birthday gift. Tomkin is reading now while I'm blogging. And the dogs are both snoozing soundly....

Happy (and Delicious) New Year!

For New Year's Eve, we decided to get dressed up and go to our favorite restaurant, W.A. Frost. (It's where we got engaged last January.) We invited Kris and Dave (who also got married this year) to join us, and as it turns out, their first date was at W.A. Frost! They came over to our place about 7:00, and we cracked open a bottle of bubbly. Then we headed to the restaurant. W.A. Frost still had their Christmas lights and decorations up, which made the place especially warm and cozy. In addition to the food and ambiance, I also appreciate their excellent service. We all decided to get the tasting menu; Tomkin got his without the wine pairings. It was a bit of a splurge but well worth it. Definitely one of the best meals I've ever had. We had a long, leisurely dinner (about 3-1/2 hours), and it was a treat to spend the evening enjoying delicious food and wine with good friends. A wonderful way to wrap up a fun and memorable year!
Here's our dinner, course by fabulous course:

We started out with a lobster bisque (which included a butter-poached lobster claw), paired with bubbly Italian Prosecco.

For our first course, we had filet mignon carpaccio, presented beneath a wreath of melted lacy parmesan. Almost too beautiful to eat! That was paired with an Austrian Riesling.

Our second course was a caramelized diver sea scallop, served with a shellfish risotto under a lemon froth and paired with a Spanish wine called Txakolia.

The third course was grilled New York steak with a foie gras and parsnip sauce and horshradish foam, paired with a red Italian wine (Valpolicella Superiore--can you tell that I kept a copy of the menu?). Normally I wouldn't order meat so rare, but I really enjoyed it.

Our cheese course was a Pleasant Ridge reserve that had "light nutty flavors with hints of caramel and pineapple." It was paired with a Spanish cream sherry--something, again, that I wouldn't normally have ordered but ended up really liking.

We finished off the evening with a dessert course that consisted of creme brulee and a small chocolate cake, paired with a sweet French wine (Sauternes).

I savored every bit of food and drink--everything was absolutely delicious.
We got home about 11:30, just in time to change into comfy clothes and ring in 2009 with kisses all around (for Chloe, too!). I don't think any year can possibly top 2008 for me, but I am looking forward to the fun and adventures that 2009 is sure to bring.

Two More Christmases

Christmas morning, Tomkin and I exchanged a few more gifts with each other, ate a late breakfast, and then headed over to his folks' house in the afternoon. We sat and visited for a couple hours, which was really nice, and opened a few more presents. Jenny called from Oregon (she and Allison arrived safely to their new home in Portland), so we put her on speakerphone and heard about their adventures in the snowy Northwest.Tomkin and I headed home and took Chloe for a walk down to Grand Avenue. It was so quiet out! Hardly any cars around. It reminded me of those mornings in Chicago when I would walk the dogs so early that it seemed like everyone else in the city was asleep. It was kind of cool.... Back at home, we finished unpacking from our trip to Texas, and that evening we settled on the couch to watch "Annie Hall" (Tomkin had never seen it before!) and a travel show about Hawaii. We've got two major trips coming up this year: Spain in February and Hawaii in October. I love having fun stuff to look forward to! (And trips to warm climates sound very appealing right now.)
Friday morning (the 26th), Tomkin had a wedding rehearsal, and I did some blogging. Our lunch plans with out-of-town friends got postponed, but we decided to go to Pizza Luce anyway. That afternoon I did some work, and then we took Chloe for a walk. We actually sat outside at Starbucks since it was relatively nice out! Tomkin officiated a wedding, and then he and Chloe and I went over to Kris and Dave's for drinks. I think we were there for four hours, just chatting, hanging out, and catching up. Dave's two teenage daughters were there, too. It was a really fun evening! And Chloe got to play with their dog, George, so she was happy, too. (And tired by the end of the night.)
Saturday (the 27th) was my friend Brenda's 40th birthday! I've been sending her nasty cards for the last couple months now. I couldn't make it up to her birthday party in Grand Forks that night, but I was sending happy thoughts her way and wondering how she'll pay me back later this year when I hit that milestone myself.... Tomkin and I had a nice lazy day at home. I went through some drink books to find more recipes for our monthly cocktail party. Tomkin dragged an old rolltop desktop and exercise bike out from the basement and put them on the curb with a "free" sign attached. And they both disappeared! I love that method of getting rid of stuff. I did some blogging and talked to my friend Lisa in Hawaii. She's expecting her baby girl to be born any day now! I'm so excited for her, and I'll be thrilled to have her back in Iowa (an easy day's drive!) in March. Tomkin went to the library, and we decided to skip taking a walk and exercise at home to "Project Runway" instead. Then we curled up with Chloe on the couch and watched the entire series of "1940s House." I love all those PBS shows where they take a modern family and put them "back in time." They're so interesting to watch, plus I think it's a great way to learn about another time and place. There are a bunch of these PBS shows, and Tomkin hasn't seen any of them. It's giving me a good excuse to watch them again!
On Sunday we had our fourth and final Christmas celebration of the year. Tomkin and I drove up to St. Cloud and had a wonderful lunch at the Blackberry Ridge Golf Club with my dad, Sandy, Phillip, and Alex. We went to the buffet there last year as well. The food is delicious, and the view of the snowy landscape is beautiful. Our thoughtful waitress even turned on the TV so the boys could keep track of the Vikings game. We headed back to their house in Sartell, where we opened presents and spent the afternoon hanging out and visiting. Alex is now in his final semester of college (majoring in statistics)--we'll be heading up there in May for his graduation!
Tomkin and I slept in on Monday--to me, it still kind of felt like we were on vacation. We don't have a housekeeper anymore, so we've started doing our own cleaning. Tomkin's in charge of doing the floors, so he spent almost two hours vacuuming and mopping. The place looked great! One of our former Carleton classmates, Chris Hagerman, his wife, Molly, and their baby daughter, Sabine, were in town for the holidays, so they came over on Monday afternoon. We got lunch at Pizza Luce, and then they came back and hung out with us for a couple hours. We took Chloe for a walk--she really seems to like her new winter coat and boots. It takes a little while to get her (and us) dressed, but it's much more pleasant for all of us to be bundled up for winter walks in Minnesota. That evening I let a premarital education session, and then we just relaxed.

Tuesday I headed back to Weight Watchers. I was up 1.4 pounds, which I really didn't think was too bad, all holiday eating considered. Tomkin headed back to the office, and I spent my afternoon shopping at Target. I hadn't been there in a couple weeks, so I had an overflowing cart-full of stuff, including a 6-foot-tall Christmas tree that I got for $6! That evening I talked to Mom, and then I blogged about our trip to Texas.
Wednesday (the last day of 2008!), Tomkin went into the office, and I worked on editing an article for NEED magazine. Tomkin met with a couple, and I took Chloe to the park to let her run off some energy. We ran into our neighbor Tracey and his dog, Wilbur, who Chloe loves. She was happy to get to romp and play with him for a little while. I'm going to do a separate blog post about our New Year's Eve celebration (dinner with Kris and Dave at W.A. Frost), so I can really do it justice. And soon I'll write a Year in Review entry. But for now, I'll just say that 2008 was one of the most amazing and wonderful years of my life! I got to marry Tomkin and elect Obama into office--those two things alone both kind of blow my mind.