week in the life | thursday

Wake up, Mama!


I'm up and out of bed before my alarm goes off today. I had planned to swim laps again this morning, but I have a stomachache. I decide to swim tomorrow instead. Get dressed and plan to spend the morning crushing my To Do list.


But first, a blog break: Laugh my ass off that my friend Jane and I have both posted pictures of our desks: two Macs, two glasses of wine, two desks - one a disaster (mine), one neat as a pin (hers). I e-mail Jane and we both laugh about it. Evidently, we live similar lives. ;)


Larry leaves for work. Then the fun begins:


Dishes. Party time!


The weather is nice and sunny this morning, so I go outside and spray the weeds on our front path. We don't use chemicals on our lawn, so my weedkiller consists of vinegar, salt, and dish soap.


Dig up my dead container garden. I've grown herbs here every year since we bought the house, but didn't plant any this spring and didn't take care of the ones that survived from last year. In fact, I watered the plants in my yard exactly zero times this summer. Now they're all brown. :(


I can't stand not having fresh herbs to cook with, so even though it's late in the season, I couldn't resist picking up a couple of plants when I was doing my grocery shopping at Whole Foods the other day. Hopefully, they'll get big before it gets cold out.


I plant thyme and oregano. These two herbs, along with rosemary (from the bush in our backyard), are the herbs we use the most in our kitchen. They are also easy to grow and can survive the winter.


Laundry. Again. Woo hoo! Shot of Arm & Hammer for washing machine, shot of tequila for me. KIDDING!


Lunch prep: grating carrots.


I have to look up instructions every time I hardboil eggs. Today I'm making Food & Wine's recipe for Hippie-Style Egg Salad Sandwiches. (It includes chopped veggies and sunflower seeds.) As I'm peeling the boiled eggs, I remember why I only make egg salad once every one or two years - I hate peeling the eggs! There has to be an easier way. I google for tips and learn that the shell comes off much easier if you crack the egg all over first, roll it between your palms to separate the membrane from the egg, and then peel it. It works!


Egg salad is complete. Put it in the fridge until lunchtime.


I'm feeling better, so it's time to get some exercise. 8 more miles on the bike, and I finish watching My Run.


Bathroom visitor/Peeping Tom. "Do you need my assistance in using the toilet, Mama?"


Lunch and reading break.


Shower. These days I'm using The Body Shop's tea tree products. I haven't shopped at The Body Shop since I was a teenager, but since my skin has been acting like a teenager's lately, I've been using tea tree oil to help clear up my skin.


I get dressed and even put on make-up today. I'm planning to meet Larry downtown this evening.


Afternoon in the studio. Yes, it's red. Yes, it's messy.


Gravy spends the day cramming himself in the strangest places to sleep. Due to our current house projects, we have our old bed in the library right now, and Gravy likes to sleep on the floor between the mattress and the old bed frame.


The view through our skylight: gray skies and thunder. It starts to pour. I'm thinking that trudging into DC in the rain to meet Larry isn't going to happen tonight.


Feed the dogs and try to convince them to go outside in the rain to take care of business. After much coaxing, Banjo finally darts outside in the rain, and runs around the porch and under the tree to lift his leg on the side of the house. Better than inside the house.


The dogs are not fans of getting their fur wet. They love getting toweled off afterwards though.


Drive to Ballston. Larry and I decided that instead of meeting in DC, we will have dinner with a couple of friends in Arlington.


The parking garage from hell.


The Ballston Mall is the worst place on earth, but the parking is only $1, so I park there and walk outside to meet my friends.


Dinner at Ted's Montana Grill with Larry, Jonathan, and Mike. Bison burger and fries. Second "bun meal" of the day. Oops.


Realize I haven't had dessert all week, so I get a cookie, too. :)


Nightcap at Rock Bottom. Cheers!


Buddies.


Back home for some puppy time. We spend a lot of time hanging out with the dogs on the floor in the evenings.


Banjo goes upstairs and puts himself to bed. "You guys comin'?"


Sit down at the computer to catch up on posting Week in the Life on my blog. Flickr is down for the evening, so my plan is thwarted. Realize that it's too much work to get stuff done during the day, document Week in the Life, and edit photos and post them on my blog in the same day. I don't want to stay up until 3 am every night editing photos, so the Week in the Life posts will have to wait until next week.


Time for bed. Gravy is back is his favorite spot snuggling the drop cloths that are still rolled up in our bedroom. He reaches out a paw and puts it on my foot as I step over him to get into bed. He will do this every time you walk by him, even if his eyes are closed. Goodnight, sweet pup.