San Francisco Bound

I apologize for the lack of blog entries of late. I am tired, tired, tired. In addition to crazybusyness at work, I seem to have somewhere to be every night, whether it's to show up for more work, to go to a class I've signed up for, to spend an evening out with Dan, or to attend numerous and seemingly endless meetings for the Interim Minister Search Committee at my church, of which I am a part. While I have chosen (and desire) to be a part of all of these things, they all seem to be happening at the same time. It's getting a bit exhausting.

This weekend, I will finally have the chance to rest (at least a little). At 5:45am on Saturday (I'm trying not to think about how early I will have to be at the airport), I board a plane bound for San Francisco! There I will join Ash and Nik for what I'm sure will be a fabulously fun trip. Considering that I will inevitably be scrambling to pack tomorrow night, this is likely my last pre-trip post. I return to St. Louis late Tuesday night; hopefully I'll have some photos up by Wednesday or Thursday. Until then, just imagine me in the photos below.

Good Thing: Strawberry Salad

As delicious, juicy strawberries come into season, you simply must try this Strawberry Salad with Herbed Goat Cheese Crostini, featured in one of my very favorite magazines, Vegetarian Times. When we ate it over the weekend, Dan proclaimed, "This is the best salad I've ever eaten." Granted, he may have been a bit caught up in the moment, but trust me, it's really good. Just don't skimp on the fresh herbs!

Memorable Moments of the Week

Monday, 7:47pm: After a 5-day trip with friends from high school, Dan arrives back in St. Louis and I get the big hug I've been waiting for!

Wednesday, 2:30am: I am working an asleep overnight shift at one of our customers' homes (I currently am middle management at my job, but I earn bonus pay for filling direct care shifts). At 2:30, my customer decides he is not interested in sleeping. At all. He never goes back to bed. I never went back to bed, either, though I did enjoy a large cup of coffee and finally did catch a nap from 5:30-6:30 that evening.

Wednesday, 8:36pm: After waiting for over an hour, Dan and I finally snag a table at the romantic dessert place Cyrano's. One of our favorite artists, Erin Bode, is performing. To accompany the fantastic music, I have three of my favorite things--a cheese plate, followed by coffee and a delicious slice of chocolate raspberry cake.

Thursday, 7:05pm: Class begins at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, where I learn more about fair trade coffee, how coffee is harvested and made, and about coffee cupping (tasting). We are presented with four different types of coffee, three of which are fair trade, one of which is Folgers. I have no trouble at all picking out the Folgers (ugh). The class officially confirms my hunch that I have been a coffee snob for quite some time.

Friday, 4:37am: I awake to a shaking bed. I reach over and grab Dan's arm, and we both look at each other in a slight state of panic. Just as I'm thinking, "Is this an earthquake? Seriously?," the shaking stops. Turns out, it was indeed an earthquake.

Saturday, 10:12am: After a slight delay, the 5k race, a fundraiser for my workplace, begins. My goal was to finish the race without stopping, and hopefully not to be last. I did both, finishing with many folks behind me and with a semi-respectable time of 29:40. This was the first 5k of my adult life. Afterwards, I simultaneously feel like I am going to die and feel like a kickass rockstar.

Signs of Spring (in Winter Weather)

One of my very favorite places in St. Louis is the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Dan and I have a membership there, attend several events there every year, and even got engaged there two and a half years ago. Despite all this, I always seem to miss the blooming of spring flowers every year; by the time I finally make it there in May or June, they have usually dwindled away.

Determined to witness the beauty of the tulips and daffodils this year, I marked my calendar for a visit to the Gardens this weekend. When I woke up yesterday morning, the forecast called for a high around 40 degrees, rain, sleet, and snow. Not exactly the sunny, 70-degree day I had been hoping for. Nonetheless, I pulled on my long underwear, hat, and gloves, packed up my camera, and decided to brave the winter weather.

Despite the chill and the complete lack of sunshine, it was definitely worth it. Some of the flowers were a little worse for the weather (not only due to the cold but also due to some very heavy winds we had on Friday), but there was still much beauty to behold. Needless to say, it was not crowded at all, so I really had an opportunity to get some good photos. And I only got rained on a little.

Tulips and Statue

More tulips

Daffodils

Another daffodil

And more daffodils!

Magnolia

Unbelievable cherry trees. These reminded me of when Anne of Green Gables arrives at The Avenue on Prince Edward Island and renames it "White Way to Light."

Cherry tree blossoms

Pansies (These always make me think of Ash!)

Hyacinth

I don't remember what these are, but they sure are cheerful!

Rocka My Soul

For at least the last ten years, I've wanted to see a performance of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater.



For various reasons, it did not happen. Thanks to a surprise birthday present from Dan, I finally got my chance tonight.

I can hardly find words to describe how in awe I was of this show. Tonight's performance had three different pieces: "Firebird," "The Golden Section," and Alvin Ailey's "Revelations." "Revelations" is probably the most beautiful and moving piece of choreography I have ever seen. I was teary-eyed the entire performance, and the segment below left tears streaming down my face.



If you ever have an opportunity to see "Revelations" performed, do not miss it. This is one of those nights I will never forget, and one of those performances that will stay with me forever.

Unlucky

I will admit that I have many, many things to be grateful for, and that I should focus on the positive. But today was one of those days when it just seemed like I could not get a break.

In preparation for labwork I had done this morning (an attempt to solve yet another of my medical mysteries), I could not start my day with breakfast. I also could not drink coffee. No breakfast + no coffee = a bad start to the day.

Hungry and half awake, I drove to the lab where I had several vials of blood taken, followed by a glucose tolerance test. This involves drinking a bottle of Gatorade-like substance within five minutes, feeling nauseous for at least 45 minutes after that, then waiting in the office for two hours for your blood to be taken again. On the same arm.

After rushing to a sandwich place and scarfing down lunch, I stopped for coffee. It was starting to rain, and thunder was rumbling just a short distance away. I found a great spot, turned on my blinker, and someone rudely (or obliviously) took it. I found another spot--and someone took that one, too. I ended up parking clear on the other side of the parking lot, walked out of the coffee shop just in time for the rain to start falling hard, and then got back into my car just in time for the rain to stop.

From there, I went into work, where the talk of the afternoon was an infestation of bugs (termites? ants with wings? nobody can tell). They were crawling everywhere while also maintaining a nice, swarming concentration on the carpet, leaving me feeling itchy and icky.

From the office, I left for a meeting to discuss an issue with a customer's guardian. I've been arranging my appointments around this meeting for weeks, and I drove 20 miles in rush hour traffic to get there. The guardian did not show up.

After picking Dan up from work, we drove a different route home (to stop by our pharmacy) and managed to drive right over the biggest damn pothole I have ever seen. This, of course, resulted in a flat tire. Great. In a twist of luck, I do have an auto club membership with the Better World Club, so the flat tire was taken care of in about 45 minutes. And we had company--there were two cars in front of us who also had flat tires resulting from the monster pothole, and a collection of wheel covers had developed right next to the pothole (they were ceremoniously arranged around a tree). But, to continue the streak of bad luck, apparently my tires were put on too tightly after I had them rotated on Saturday, and one of the lug nuts broke off. So now I have a spare donut with only three lug nuts holding it on.

Tomorrow morning, I will have to get up at 5:30 so that I can have my car to the auto place by 6:45. This means that I will miss going to the gym for the second day in a row (I couldn't go this morning because I was not supposed to exercise before my labs). Additionally, I am waiting to see if a battle will ensue with the car people, as I expect them to cover the costs to repair the damage they created by putting my tires on too tight. I expect that this damage is going to mean extra complications (and possibly additional repair time) tomorrow morning; all of this will add to the fun and expense already awaiting me with the purchase of a new tire.

And in all the tire drama, I ended up not stopping by the pharmacy. The pharmacy is a local place, and they close at 9:00; I wasn't able to make it there last night, either, due to a meeting that ran until 8:45. It was Sunday when I discovered that I was out of refills. This means that, for the third night in a row, I will be unable to take my birth control.

Phooey, phooey, phooey.

I Love Today

This weekend, I decided once again to try to make the most of my Saturday morning, when the roads are clear, the stores are practically empty, and the checkout lines are short. Here's what I managed to accomplish:

• Took car in for maintenance: oil changed, tires rotated, wiper blades replaced

• While waiting for my car, completed some paperwork that has been sitting on my desk at work for weeks
  

• Went grocery shopping at Whole Foods

• Bought workout clothes at Target (after consistently going to the gym for over a year now, I figure it's probably time to invest in clothing that was actually intended for exercise)

• Ran 3.5 miles at the gym; I'm pretty sure this is the longest I've run in about 10 years, and it's definitely the longest I've run in the last 5 years. I was super excited.
  

I was finished with all of this by 12:30; it was awesome to have that much done so early in the day. With all of that behind me, I enjoyed a lovely afternoon. The weather has been sunny and around 60 degrees. Dan and I walked over to Washington University for the Buder Center Pow Wow, which we've attended annually for the last few years, then took a nap together on the couch. I talked to my mom, snuggled with the cat, and enjoyed some delicious raspberry sorbet. Tonight, Dan and I are opening up a bottle of wine, eating some cheesecake with cherries, and starting work on a new puzzle (one of our favorite things to do together).

For me, it's a perfect balance of things--feeling productive and getting some much-needed things off of my "to do" list, experiencing the first day this year that truly feels like spring, enjoying some tasty treats and a bottle of wine, and taking some time to just sit back, relax, and realize how much I have to be happy about.

I love today.

Girls' Night In

Tonight, Dan is participating in a semi-regular event with his coworkers: the viewing of an obscure and ridiculous movie, usually from the 70s, that features wretched acting, a horrible script, and the cheesiest special effects and costumes available at the time. Tonight's movie is "Zardoz." You can tell just from looking at the movie poster that this one will be a goodie (that's Sean Connery in the center, by the way).The movie is being shown at one of my favorite St. Louis spots, a local brewpub called Schlafly Bottleworks. I really like all of Dan's coworkers--they are smart, have a fun sense of humor, and always go out of their way to include me. While I might have eventually grown weary of the ironic humor of the evening, with good beer and good company, I likely would have had a great time.

I considered going. But I also thought about the alternative: an evening at home, all to myself. I love being married, and Dan is, quite honestly, the most perfect and caring husband (he's so loving and patient that he makes me feel like a total bitch sometimes). I love spending time with him, and I couldn't ask for a better best friend. But I have also love time alone, without another person within hearing or sight, and the thought of the apartment all to myself is such a compelling and wonderful thought.

So, tonight it's just me and the girls (my cats Elsie and Nessa), a Totino's Crisp Crust Cheese Party Pizza (for reasons I cannot explain, I love and crave them), and the results show of "American Idol" followed by back-to-back viewings of "Sex and the City." I honestly can't wait.