Wishes, Songs, and Dance

Okay, sure I could probably be doing some work right now...but since there's nothing pressing, I figured I'd go ahead and finish catching up on my blog. Back on Sunday the 19th, it was a lazy rainy day. Tomkin and I slept in and lounged around, which felt great. Eventually we pulled ourselves off the couch and headed to Wishes for the Sky, an annual Earth Day event coordinated by our friend Marcus, who is the artist-in-residence of St. Paul. We brought Chloe along with us, and we all wrote our wishes on a kite. Then we took turns flying our kite. Even Chloe gave it a go until park security gave us a warning for letting our dog run off-leash. Oops! We met up with Helena and listened to the day's closing ceremony. Such a nice event! Tomkin and Chloe and I headed back home and spent the rest of our Sabbath day reading and relaxing.
Monday morning kicked off one of the busiest weeks I've had in a long time. I met with a couple first thing in the morning. Tomkin graciously did the weekly grocery shopping so I didn't have to. Then he headed into the office, and I worked on a structural engineering report. We walked Chloe in the afternoon, and that evening I had another session and Tomkin met with a couple. I did a little more editing, and then my wonderful, sweet husband suggested that we relax by watching "Dancing with the Stars" together while he stroked my hair. Ahhhh....
Tuesday morning I met with another couple. Tomkin had lunch with his friend John and then went into the office to work. I finished editing my report and then started writing my first grant proposal. It was pretty overwhelming at first and felt like a huge puzzle. When I'm in the early stages of a big project (or two or three...), I like to envision the time when it's all done and I'm looking back. That really helps me. I know I'll get it done--I just have to get to that point. We took Chloe for a walk, and then all three of us took a nap on the couch. I had another premarital counseling session and Tomkin met with a couple. I was fried by the end of the night, so I was happy to just curl up with Chloe and watch "Dancing with the Stars" and "American Idol."
Tomkin went into the office on Wednesday, and I worked on my grant at home. I also attended my first "webinar" about social networking for people in the publishing industry. We took Chloe for a walk, and that evening I had a counseling session. (Tomkin and Chloe hung out downstairs.) I watched "American Idol," and then we decided to buy our tickets to go visit Jenny and Allison in Portland. We had planned to go over the July 4th weekend. Unfortunately, tickets were a lot more expensive than we'd expected, so we decided to hold off on that trip for now. We were kind of disappointed, so we shifted gears and said we should start thinking about our trip to Hawaii in the fall. We checked on tickets and ended up buying them! We also booked our lodging--we'll be staying in the Coffee Barn room at the Pomaika'i "Lucky" Farm B&B on The Big Island. It was recommended by the Frugral Traveler in The New York Times, and it sounds amazing! The B&B is on a working coffee farm, and the very reasonable price includes breakfast, access to kitchen facilities, and use of snorkel gear, grills, coolers, beach towels, etc. Plus, we get to eat all the fresh fruit and macadamia nuts we want! Tomkin has been researching the area, and it looks like we couldn't have picked a better location. We're planning to go snorkeling, horseback riding, hiking, visit a volcano, go to a luau, and take a helicopter tour. The money we got for our wedding covered our plane tickets, lodging, and a rental car, which is awesome. And we already have a house/dog-sitter lined up, too! Of course we still want to get out to Portland sometime soon, but at least now we have Hawaii to look forward to.
Thursday morning Tomkin headed into the office, and I stayed home to finish up my grant. Phew! It was a gorgeous day, so it was nice to get out and take Chloe for a walk. I had one last premarital counseling session that evening; Tomkin went to the library. Since it was so nice, we hung out on the front porch for a while--Tomkin read while I played on the computer. I was happy that I'd made it through my very busy week and gotten everything done!
It was another beautiful day on Friday. I ran some errands, and then we took Chloe for a walk. Tomkin met with a couple and then had a wedding rehearsal. I went to DSW and ended up buying six new pairs of shoes! That was kind of crazy. One pair is comfy, one was a pair of brown boots (on clearance for $30!), and the rest are fancy party shoes. I fell in love with them all and just couldn't resist. That evening we hosted our friend Juliet (Adolfo's wife), who flew in from Chicago because she was auditioning for the Minnesota Opera on Saturday. We already had plans to go to Kris and Dave's house for dinner that night, so Juliet came along with us. Dave made another of his incredible meals (steak, homemade bread, salad, and asparagus), and we drank some delicious red wine and hung out and talked for a couple hours.
On Saturday, Juliet took out us for brunch at Pizza Luce. It was fun getting to hang out and chat with her. She's due to have a baby boy in August, which is very exciting! We all went back and napped, and then Tomkin had to go officiate a wedding, and Juliet left for her audition. I worked and did some stuff around the house. Tomkin picked me up, and we headed to a wedding reception at the James J. Hill Library (for the couple he had just married). We were seated at a table with people from Grand Forks! So funny that they knew people I know/am related to (and the bride used to be a member of the North Dakota Ballet Company!). And I loved that the wedding favors were Chippers from Widman's! We stayed for dinner and cake (both delicious), then headed home and took Chloe for a walk. Then we just relaxed and hung out at home, which was really nice.
Sunday was a rainy day, and we lounged in bed until noon. Then we read books and magazines and lounged around some more. I actually did a little organizing in my basement office, and then Tomkin was getting antsy so we went to Menard's. We've been needing to go there for ages, and it was kind of fun. We got materials so Tomkin could make me a hanging jewelry organizer. Right now I've got everything crammed into jewelry boxes and a drawer--it'll be nice to have all my necklaces and bracelets out so I can see what I have. Someone at the wedding had told us about a special this week only at Punch Pizza: $3 pizzas! So we picked up a couple pizzas and ate them at home. We exercised to "Rescue Me," and then we played some Bananagrams. I love that game! We wound down a wonderful Sabbath day by curling up on the couch and watching "The Office" and "Amazing Race." Ahhh....
Back to work on Monday. Tomkin went into the office, and I did some work at home, went grocery shopping at Target, then picked up a Punch Pizza. We took Chloe for a walk and stopped by Grand Jete on Grand Ave. so I could pick up some character shoes for our swing dance class. I love having so many cool local businesses nearby! That evening we had our first "swing & jitterbug" dance class, through St. Paul's Community Ed. There were about ten couples in our class, and it was really fun. Both Tomkin and I have swing danced before, but it's nice to actually take a class together so we can be on exactly the same page. It's also a good exercise in communication--what changes do either of us need to make to help out the other? It's fun to work together in new ways. We swung by Punch Pizza again, then went home and watched "Dancing with the Stars." (That could be us! Ha!)
Yesterday (Tuesday), Tomkin went into the office, and I worked at home. I took a bunch of "before" pictures of our house, patio, and yard since the contractor should be putting in our new front step and brick patio soon. (Yay!) I did a little Mother's Day shopping at Bibelot, then picked up another Punch Pizza. (Thank goodness this promotion is only for a week...especially with a trip to Hawaii coming up!) Helena came over about 3:00, and she, Tomkin, Chloe, and I all went to the dog park. It was a beautiful, sunny day. We walked for a while, then found a relatively secluded spot for a picnic. Helena is always so thoughtful--she had picked up a bunch of delicious drinks and snacks for us to share. It was fun to chat, to be outdoors, and to see so many cute dogs running around. Last night I did some blogging and watched "Dancing with the Stars," and Tomkin worked on my jewelry holder and a couple other projects around the house. Then we both exercised to "Rescue Me." I slept soundly last night!
Today we both had lunch with Tomkin's folks. I hadn't seen them in a few weeks, so it was great to catch up with them. Nancy recently traveled to Chicago, and this weekend she's going out to Portland to see Jenny and Allison. She and Tom are both busy with their church and with various other activities. They're incredibly active and social, and they have a lot of fun together. Tomkin went into the office to work for a couple hours, and I worked on this blog post. We both took Chloe for a walk, then got pizzas from Punch Pizza for dinner. (Yes, I think that might be enough Punch Pizza for a while!) Tomkin went to a movie with Tracy, and I talked to my mom. Now I'm going to catch up on "American Idol." Have a great week everyone, and thanks for reading my blog!