So Weird!

Isn't it strange that it is Monday and I haven't posted since Wednesday?!  No, you say?  Oh right: that's because it happens every week!  It's been a busy few days, and honestly, the weekends are my time for relaxation.  But as with most of my goals, I really need to get back on track about blogging everyday - Thursday through Sunday included.

Thursday started off my anti-writing period.  I spent the afternoon teaching night school and then attending the monthly Young Professionals Connection social.  This month it was at Mars Cafe, which was quite an interesting venue for a happy hour; I sure felt horrible for all of the college students trying to study!  It was a great time with amazing friends...and some wine.  :)

Friday was a girls' night in, complete with wine, cheese, fruit, and board games.  We played some rousing games of Balderdash and Apples to Apples before calling it a night around 1:00.  I have to say that I have the best girlfriends in the entire world, and I am so incredibly thankful they are in my life.

Saturday was a day spent baking pumpkin bread and then heading to a girlfriend's house for lunch and cribbage.  (How old am I?!)  Her husband made us Italian Wedding Soup, and BFF brought over homemade focaccia bread, and I contributed homemade pumpkin swirl bread.  It was quite a delicious feast for a Saturday afternoon!

Following that fun I headed West in search of a bachelorette gift for that night's party.  And then...it was party time!  Again, I have some great girlfriends, and while I called it a night fairly early on, we had a blast, and I hope the bride-to-be did, too!

Finally, Sunday was reserved for relaxation...and more baking!  I tried another loaf of pumpkin swirl because my oven did not treat the first one too well.  Thankfully, it turned out better.  Then I baked a batch of sugar cookies to practice my decorating, but I got too impatient frustrated with the icing after about six cookies and put the rest of the cut-outs in the freezer.

I'm really sorry that I didn't take any pictures...  Pretty much everything turned out burned because my oven sucks, so consider yourselves lucky.  :)

The weekend culminated in a Drake University alumni-student dinner.  I sat at a table with two '66 graduates, one '06 graduate, and four college students.  We had decent food and great conversation.  For $10 and a "free" pint glass, I will totally sign up for an event like this again!

After a weekend recap, we come to today: I woke up way too late and barely made it to work before I had to start teaching (major oops!).  The day went by quickly, though - thankfully: I was there until 5:00!  Obviously I was teaching until 2:30, then I had PROUD, and then I had an impromptu meeting with my principal (honestly one of my favorite people ever), and a colleague/friend (another one of my favorite people ever).

When I finally left school, I decided to attempt a workout.  I went to the YMCA and hopped on a recumbent bike, as that is how I warm-up for physical therapy, and my physical therapist said that this is cardio that I could do.  Um, I think 30 minutes of the "fat burning" setting was not so much a good idea...nor was the abs class that I did.  (The sit-ups/laying-on-the-back exercises were fine, but the rolling on the ball and the planks maybe were not so smart.)  Needless to say, I iced as soon as I got home.

Dinner included sushi with a good friend of mine.  I am absolutely, positively stuffed.  I think that's probably a good thing - otherwise I'd be chowing down on this pumpkin bread!  (Don't worry: I brought two slices to school already today, and I'm bringing the rest to school tomorrow!)

I'm off to ice again - I'll watch some Dexter and head to bed!

Ciao, bellas!