Alone again

Just made it through one very busy week and am facing another, with M & L leaving on their father/daughter camping trip today. Here they are right before the left the driveway. That will give me some distraction-free time to prepare for the upcoming college semester (which starts Thursday!) and L's homeschooling semester. I still have LOTS of material that I need to write/plan/and schedule.

Jasper is our little suitcase lover. He will stay in the suitcase/bag until he's ultimately ousted for space, and then he just stands on top of it.

Yesterday was our anniversary, and also date night. M planned a night out in Madison, which as usual, was a surprise to me. We had a very nice night. Everything went smoothly and was enjoyable. I was really tired yesterday from a couple of nights of minimal sleep, so I pumped caffeine in the whole night, so I could stop yawning and make it through the whole night. I accomplished my goal, as I was wide awake until 4:00 this morning! UGH!

We started with dinner at Dobhan. We had way too much good food, some of which came home in a to-go box for me to enjoy later. We started with appetizers--pakaudas and samosas, followed by dal (making my mouth water at the thought of it), and then my main course of masala dosa. I'm powerless over the siren call of masala dosa. No matter how many delicious looking items are on the menu, if I see masala dosa, I am unable to order anything else. I had a glass of pino grigiot which went down very well. I was tempted to go for a second glass, but didn't want to risk ruining the next event with a headache, hot flashes, or any of the other uncomfortable things that result from pushing my alcohol limit.

The entertainment was a concert at the Token Creek music festival. It occurs every year, but it was new to us. The pianist, Robert Levin, played Beethoven with a chamber orchestra. When we picked up our tickets at the call window, we were greeted with a Happy Anniversary wish, which surprised me. It was a sold-out performance, and was packed very tightly. As we got to our seats, M left me for a very long trip to the bathroom ( because there was a line, not that he had major business to conduct in there) which gave me time to look around at all the people I was trapped behind. As I realized that there was no way to get out without literally sprinting across the laps of the many senior citizens in our row, I started to feel very hot and trapped. I was just working up to the point that I didn't think there was any way I could be that trapped and crowded for two hours, I noticed something wonderful right behind me. I realized that I felt some coolness and turned around to see that my chair was right in front of a sliding glass door that opened out to the balcony. Ah, sweet relief! By the time M made it back, the crisis was averted and we enjoyed the fabulous music as much as possible when packed in like sardines.

We topped off a lovely night by watching the new footage on the LOST season 6 DVDs that just arrived yesterday. We were pretty happy with the new footage, as Hurley and Ben are featured. They managed to wrap up several loose ends with it, including the Hurley-bird mystery (my Hurley bird was named in honor of Hurley and the Hurley-bird mystery).

I can't end without saying my goodbyes to an old friend that I lost Friday night. We were on our way to our friends' for a few beers (OMG! Sam Adams cherry wheat is hella good!) on the patio while the girls (ours & theirs) played. On the way my beloved flip flops died. I tried to fix them, but no luck. I've had these flippies for probably 10 years and worn the hell out of them. They are so comfy and go with everything, and I'm sad that they're gone. As you can see, I've certainly gotten plenty of use out of them!

Also, I was chastised Friday night for using a pet nickname for L in front of her friend (who is two-years older and thus too cool to hear L's "baby names"). UGH! I was dreading this time but not surprised it's arrived. I still remember being about her age, at the mall with my Grandma. She used one of her many pet names for me, "Bunchy", in front of some other girls my age. I wanted to die! It was the most embarrassing, horrifying thing ever (at that age)! Who knew in a few short years, I would lose Grandma and never get to hear her call me anything again. :( I will do my best to curtail it (at least in public), out of respect for my daughters' feelings, but it's going to be hard to break a 10-year long habit!