It's That Time Again...

Every summer I just have to take a few minutes and whine about living on the face of the sun. Today's the day:

Screen shot taken from my phone yesterday evening as I was leaving work.

In all fairness, this summer actually hasn't been that bad. We hovered in the 97-99 range for most of July, and it's not until we hit days upon days of triple digits that I really get burnt out (pun!) on the heat. I was hanging in there for quite a while, but now it's August and I'm officially over it. I'm tired of sweating on the walk from the garage door to the car, I'm tired of an electric bill that rivals a medium-sized car payment, and I'm tired of just generally hibernating inside and avoiding the outdoors.

I'd love to wax poetic about the approach of beautiful fall leaves, cozy scarves, and steamy pumpkin spice lattes, but this is Texas. There will be no colorful leaves. Scarves are for fashion only, and even then they are as gauzy as they come and layered over a tank. And, come November, I'll still be sweating when I walk up to Starbucks in the morning-- where I will most likely order a grande iced coffee. But, I will happily take those mid-high 80 degree days when they do finally roll in around sometime in October. Sigh.

OK, pity party over. I did just return from a fabulous 10 day vacation from the Pacific Northwest, where we had a great time catching up with family and friends in Seattle, Portland, and beautiful Orcas Island (along with a string of gorgeous 80 degree days.) I'm catching up on laundry, lots of work emails, and (let's be honest) a full DVR, but hope to post some pictures later this week!

How It's Been

With the exception of Nicholas' monthly updates-- which are essentially his baby book (and thus the guilt meter starts to creep up if I delay them too long)-- it's been nothing but radio silence over here for a few months. I've been meaning to write a real update for weeks now, but, well... time is a precious commodity these days. So... an update. Here goes. This working mom thing? Um, it's hard. I realize this is not exactly earth shattering news. I also did not go into this new role thinking, "this is going to be a piece of cake." And, this is not to say that staying home with a baby was easy. I enjoyed it, but many days it was also very challenging. Nonetheless, working full time has definitely been more difficult than I expected, and challenging in different ways than I expected.

Let's start with the positives-- the job itself is going really well. I (mostly) enjoy what I'm doing. I have a great rapport with my boss. And I really like the company and the people who work there. I am grateful for all of this because it has definitely made the transition back to work and being away from Nicholas easier. Nicholas also seems to be adapting well to daycare, and we really like his school and his teachers.

On the other hand, I have really struggled with having very little quality time with my son each day. We spend about 45 minutes with him each morning before we head out the door, but most of that time is spent getting him ready and then running around trying to get ourselves ready and get his bag packed for school. Once we pick him up in the evening, we have about an hour and a half before we put him to bed. (It's lights out around 7pm each night.) The majority of this time time is spent feeding him dinner, bathing him, and doing his bedtime routine. We will usually get about 15-20 minutes of play time. Unfortunately, this is often his (and my) most fussy, tired time of day, so it's not always the best "quality time." We do have the weekends, but I need to use a lot of that time to grocery shop/run errands/catch up on laundry/do everything that it takes to run our household-- and, if I'm lucky, maybe find a few minutes to myself to relax. 

I do think I'm slowly adapting to our new routine-- while I was completely and utterly exhausted to the point of tears most nights for the first month or two, I'm gradually building up my tolerance. Maybe it's like starting a new work out routine? (I wouldn't know since I've set foot in a gym exactly once in the past 3 months. That's another topic...) This post isn't meant to be all "poor me... my life is so hard." It's not. We are incredibly blessed, and I am grateful for each day I have, regardless of how tired I am at the end of each day, and for each few minutes of time I can spend with Nicholas, even if we're both worn out and cranky. And the good news is that juggling work and family and home does seem to get easier with time. I'm learning to lower my standards where necessary, to really start prioritizing how I spend my time, and that "balance" may always be elusive for me-- so I shouldn't beat myself up on the days when it seems particularly unattainable. I'm trying to just deal with each day as it comes, give it my best shot, and grant myself grace whenever I feel like I'm falling short.

So, that's it. That's life for me right now. We've had a lot of change and transition in the past few months and I am looking forward to relaxing into our new routine a bit more in 2013. I'll let you know how it goes...

You Know You're a Mom When... (Birthday Edition)

This past weekend, I turned another year older. I had a few fun plans with friends, and my two boys did a great job making my day special, but I was struck by how (much like everything else) birthdays are a little different once you have a baby. You know you are a mom when . . .

 . . . You begin your birthday (which happens to fall on a Sunday) not with a lazy morning of sleeping in, a leisurely brunch, or even a hot cup of coffee and a piece of toast. Nope. You begin your birthday with an 8:30am trip to the grocery store. But you're actually excited about it because it's a solo (!) trip and it's been so long that you've been to the grocery store alone that it might as well just be an hour long hot stone massage. It's that indulgent. It's also thrilling to get such a necessary chore knocked out early in the morning before the crowds hit. Birthday perks galore.

. . . Your birthday wish list is a little different this year. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't turn down jewelry, flowers, designer shoes, or a fancy meal out. But what I really, really want? A nap. Maybe an hour alone to flip through the pages of a magazine . . . or just stare out the window. A good glass of wine. And, oh yes, another nap. I'm easy to please these days.

. . . Your little man is teething and decides that, nope, he is simply not going to nap whatsoever on your birthday and you realize that even cranky, tired snuggles from your seven month old are a pretty good gift.

(And the antics of a cranky, non-napping seven month old are made infinitely more tolerable when your husband bakes you chocolate layer cake with chocolate butter cream frosting from scratch for your birthday dessert. Amazing and delicious.)

Clean Sheets

I just turned in my first big freelance writing assignment. Big, as in entire corporate website big. It's been two weeks of squeezing scanty bits of writing in around Nicholas' sub par napping habits and then cobbling together any other free time I can find to write. Late nights. Early mornings. For 17 minutes while I can distract Nicholas in his jumper. You get the gist. Everything else has fallen by the wayside.

Thanks to my postpartum hormones, the floor of my bathroom is covered in a carpet of hair so thick I could easily go into to the wig making business. If this writing thing doesn't pan out. Gross. But true.

Meanwhile there are no less than 6 loads of clean laundry scattered in piles across every flat surface in the house. I am not exaggerating. It might be 7 loads. Or 8. At least it's clean?

And I just found a whole peppercorn on the floor of my bedroom. Ponder that for a second. A peppercorn. That either says something significant about the intensity of my culinary passions... or that I just really, really need to vacuum.

But. But. I'm wearing clean pajamas and my bed awaits me, neatly made, with clean sheets. Those clean sheets make everything else a little more manageable. They assure me that order will soon be restored to my world. And that tonight, I will sleep well.

Full of Hot Air

We are currently on day 6 of no air conditioning during a summer of record-breaking heat here in central Texas. (For reference, the high today is supposed to be 105, and 109 by Friday. Awesome. Can't wait.)

This saga began last Wednesday evening when we arrived home to a very warm house. It was unpleasant, but with a few industrial sized fans blowing right on us, we managed to sleep (somewhat.) We figured that the AC repair crew would make it out on Thursday, and the problem would be solved. When they didn't arrive until 5pm the next day, we became a little concerned... and then a lot more concerned when they told us the compressor was out and that they would need to order a new one. I don't know much anything about air conditioners, but, as I understand it, the compressor is essentially what pumps in the cool air. So, you know, it's kinda important.

That night we stayed in a cheap motel on I-35 with high hopes of a cool house by the weekend. Said hopes were dashed when we found out that the compressor would not be in until Monday at the earliest. That meant a full weekend with no AC. Let me provide a little color... with a drafty, poorly insulated house from the 1920s and outdoor temps well over 100, that means it is no less than 94 degrees inside our house at any given time. You could, if given enough time, bake cookies on our kitchen tiles.

We managed to get a portable AC unit to tide us over, and very quickly discovered that the portable unit is fantastic if you only want to cool approximately 3 cubic feet of air immediately in front of it. Unfortunately, if you want to cool your whole house, or even one room, no dice. Necessity being the mother of invention, J has rigged up a little contraption whereby we put the AC unit at the foot of the bed, duct tape our sheets over it, and then prop up the sheets between the AC unit and the bed with... wait for it... golf clubs. This creates a small wind tunnel of cool air on our legs. It's still 94 degrees on our face, but the cool air under the sheets makes sleeping somewhat tolerable.

Cooking is another story altogether. After eating out for 3 days, we decided that was no longer sustainable and now it's become every man for himself, foraging in the fridge for whatever assortment of foods we can throw together that require no heat whatsoever to prepare. Last night we had leftover pasta, cold rotisserie chicken, and grapes. What's that you say? You want an invitation to dinner? Come on over!

After a weekend spent full of creative ways to spend time indoors in other people's AC (aimlessly strolling the aisles of Target, getting stroller demos at Buy Buy Baby, lengthy visits to the grocery store... and pharmacy... and Lowe's, a movie, church, a couple more meals out), we are plum out of ideas. And patience. The compressor wasn't in yesterday, but thankfully arrived today. Can they install it today? Of course not. That would be too easy. So we're crossing our fingers for tomorrow.

This enormously whiny post is just to say... it's hot and we're tired of it, but, boy, are we thankful that we even have a house with the possibility of AC. I've seen a few homeless people since this ordeal began, and my heart goes out to them. I am really conscious of the homeless during the cold winter months, but have never really thought about their needs during the summer. If anything, this experience has given me the conviction that I need to be more intentional about helping out the needy in the off seasons-- not just around the holidays when it's top of mind. And when that air conditioner shudders to life (hopefully) tomorrow, I will never, ever take it for granted again.

Wedding Weekend

This past weekend we traveled back home to Portland for my brother's wedding. The weather forecast held true, and we enjoyed beautiful 80-degree weather (truthfully it was a little chilly for my Texas heat-thinned blood! ...my friends and relatives in the NW are now laughing at me considering that it was one of the nicest weekends they've had all summer), and more importantly-- a beautiful and touching wedding. My camera is still broken, so these shots are courtesy of my cousin and mother-in-law.

The beautiful bride and groom.

Laura & I giving a reading during the ceremony.

The "three of us" at the reception (that would be me, J, and baby for those of you counting... ; )

Beautiful garden setting for the cocktail hour and dinner. And in the background, you can see the ice cream truck arriving. So cute! The ice cream truck (which also had cupcakes) was in lieu of a traditional wedding cake.

The wedding was gorgeous and it was so great to see so many extended family members. A trip home for this type of big family event is always kind of a whirlwind, and the 3.5 day weekend didn't seem nearly long enough. I've definitely had some homesickness since we arrived back in Austin, but I know that this whole living thousands of miles away from everyone we know and love is just a season of life. It's the best thing for our little family right now, and hopefully we'll be back out west at some point in the next few years.

Side note: my blues did not improve when we are arrived home at 2am Sunday night (or Monday morning) after a long delay in Denver, waited for our bags, walked all the way out to the long-term parking lot (because we didn't want to sit around and wait for the shuttle at 2am), and worked up a nice sweat in the 90-degree heat along the way, only to find that my car wouldn't start. Of course. So we walked all the way back to the terminal and took a cab home. On Monday, we went back to jump start the car, but no luck. So now my car is in the shop and we're just crossing our fingers that it's nothing serious. I'm really, really hoping that after weeks of preparing for and dealing with the move, and now several weeks spent unpacking and organizing-- plus the wedding travel, work travel (greetings from Atlanta!), and now the car fiasco-- that life slows down soon. Is it Friday yet?? (OK, end whine.)

And so it goes...

House hunting
Work travel
A trip home to visit the family
A bridal shower to host
Goodbye dinners and parties for some of our b-school friends leaving town
New projects at work
Packing and prepping for our move
Painting the new house...

... the list goes on.

Fortunately, I think my life might be approaching a more reasonable level of sanity in the next few days. Our move is scheduled for Saturday. We've been fiendishly scrubbing every nook and cranny of the house and painting trim and/or walls in nearly every room, but the end is in sight. I'm hoping I can take a big deep breath on Sunday. And maybe a nap, too.

Wish me luck!

This & That

Well, hello there. Somehow three weeks have passed in the blink of an eye... and with no blog posts. Unfortunately, I don't have anything terribly exciting to share from my absence. What have I been up to? A little of this...

• A work trip NYC. I attended a loooooong, 8-hour conference for one of my new clients, but it wasn't all work. I managed to enjoy a few good meals at Abe & Arthur's in the Meatpacking District and Cookshop in Chelsea (definitely the winner of the two), some free time spent wandering around Greenwich Village, a delicious Belgian pear cider and dark chocolate ganache cupcake pairing at Sweet Revenge. Really... cupcakes paired with adult beverages. Does it get much better?
  


• Gaga, oh-la-la! Yes, we did. Buy tickets to and proceed to rock out at the Lady Gaga concert, that is. There are really no words. Or maybe there are just too many... amazing, perplexing, awe-inspiring, disturbing (at times), and always entertaining. And just sitting around in the arena waiting for the show to start? Definitely the best people watching of my life.
  
  
  
  (Our seats were kind of off to the side, so I had better luck with pictures of the big screen vs. the stage)
  

... and a little of that:

Acupuncture. I've had chronic knee pain for going on 10 years now, and there doesn't seem to be a cure. I've seen multiple doctors, had MRIs, and several rounds of physical therapy. The doctors all say there is nothing wrong with the structure of my knee, and the physical therapy kinda helps... for a while. Then I go through another 3-4 month phase of knee pain until it decides to go away again. My diagnosis is officially patella tendon syndrome and a tight IT band, which basically means I have tendinitis in my knee. The pain comes and goes, but when it's bad, it's hard to do much more than walk to and from the car or around the apartment. So I started acupuncture last week, and after just one treatment I could see an improvement. I don't think it will "cure" me, but I believe it can be a great tool for pain management and hopefully alleviate some of the inflammation that is causing the problem. I just went back for my second treatment this weekend, and am really loving it so far.

(Not) stressing about the future. No updates on the job/moving/major life changes front. Trying to remain peaceful and zen about it. Trying to also remain supporting and encouraging for my hard-working husband who is slogging through the build-up to finals, while interviewing regularly (and traveling regularly for said interviews.) Fingers crossed we have some positive news to report by the end of the month when we have to make a decision on whether we give notice on our apartment!

And, that's about it folks! I hope you're all out enjoying a beautiful Easter weekend!

Patience

...Unfortunately it's an attribute that I really struggle to cultivate. Being my type A/Virgo/gotta-make-plans/gotta-check-that-item-off-my-list self, it's been a struggle for most of my life to slow down, calm down, relax, and be patient. And, boy, life these days is really testing my ability to chill out. I've mentioned it a few times on the blog, but J has been interviewing up a storm for a new job after business school. With graduation officially two months away, we're starting to the feel the pressure a little bit. And it doesn't help that about 60% of his classmates already have jobs. Many of my girlfriends (mostly wives and girlfriends of other students) are already starting to plan their moves to new cities and look for housing. Meanwhile, our lease is up June 30th, and we have to give 60 days notice. Meaning... we need to know what's next as of April 30th. Yikes.

But, like I said, J has been blessed to receive numerous interviews, and while he hasn't found THE job yet, all signs point to the fact that he is a desirable candidate and it's just a matter of finding the right opportunity. He's got 3 interviews next week at a West Coast MBA recruiting forum, so I am trying to remain calm, yet optimistic-- not gnaw my fingernails in stress or obsessively stalk Craig's List for apartment listings in a city that we don't yet have a job offer in. Patience. Patience. I think the Big Guy Upstairs is trying to teach me something. Ultimately, I know it will all work out and everything will be fine, but keeping myself calm and centered during this season of our lives has been a challenge for sure. Ever so slowly, I think I might be getting a little better at it. Here's hoping this crash course in patience is nearing completion.

(Oh, and we wouldn't mind any thoughts/prayers/good vibes you can send J's way next Friday...)

Have you ever returned groceries?

Because I have. And let me tell you... awkward! Granted, I have a totally valid reason (at least that's what I told myself yesterday). Basically, I bought a bunch of ingredients to make some appetizers for a Super Bowl party that we didn't end up attending, and now we're heading out of town. Considering my near obsession with using up everything we have in the fridge each week-- including, um, "creative" techniques to utilize past-its-prime produce-- and my extreme aversion to ever wasting food (blame it on the OCD), I definitely wasn't going to let this bag full of groceries sit around and go bad. And, now that we're on our all-cash, Dave Ramsified budget, my frugal tendencies are flaring into overdrive. Not only do I not want to waste food, I also don't want to waste money from my precious grocery budget. So I decided I would just return my groceries.

Logical, right? Returning my groceries toooooootally makes sense.

Too bad genius over here decided the perfect time to take care of this little errand would be at 6:15pm on a Tuesday night, smack in the middle of the dinner rush at the grocery store. Long lines, crowds of people, the works. Then, when I finally get up the register, unload my bag, and give my spiel (while enduring heavy sighs and massive eye rolls from the people behind me), the cashier has to page the manager over the intercom. Yeah, that's not embarrassing.

Ultimately, they did take back my groceries, and I'm sure it's not the first time it's ever happened at that store. But, moving forward, I think it might be time to impose some limits on my frugality. (Or, on the occasions when I can't tame my OCD tendencies, I will at least save my embarrassing errands for very early in the morning or very late at night!)

Please tell me I'm not the only one who is this crazy...

A loss

This past weekend Jason and I suffered the loss of our first pregnancy. I debated about whether or not to share this news here, but after thinking about it, I realized that I want this blog to be a real and accurate reflection of our lives-- not just a summary of the fun trips we take, entertaining movies we see, or delicious new recipes I try. And since the miscarriage is what's on my mind right now, I decided it's what I should write about.

The pregnancy was a huge surprise to us in the first place. While we both want children at some point (and probably sooner rather than later), we weren't officially "trying," and weren't planning to until we had a better idea of our future after business school. But in early October, I started feeling a little off-- tired, run down, and just not myself. A pregnancy seemed far fetched, but as the days passed I began to wonder if it might be a real possibility. On October 13th I took a test, and the positive sign popped up immediately-- even before the control line appeared. Even though I had suspected (and shared my suspicions with J), it was still shocking to see it confirmed so quickly. The first 24 hours was a mix of Oh-My-Gosh-How-Did-This-Happen-Am-I-Ready-For-This anxiety and Oh-My-Gosh-This-Is-Amazing-I-Am-So-Excited elation.

Quickly, we adapted to the idea of welcoming our new addition in late June and began sharing the thrilling news with our immediate family members and a few close friends. As the days wore on, we became more and more excited... reading our pregnancy books, talking about the baby as it grew from the size of a poppy seed to the size of an orange seed, and imagining our lives as a family of three. The pregnancy was smooth sailing for me-- aside from some serious fatigue and the occasional headache, I felt great.

But then last Friday, at exactly 6 weeks, I noticed some very light spotting. I honestly wasn't too concerned about it because I had read that it can happen during the first trimester and not signal any major problems. But, just to be safe, I called the doctor. They suggested I come in for an ultrasound just to confirm everything was OK. As I waited for my appointment, I began to get a little nervous, but tried to reassure myself that everything would be fine. Unfortunately, the ultrasound tech was particularly quiet during the procedure, and I could tell it wasn't good news. A little while later, the doctor took me into an exam room and informed me that what they saw on the ultrasound was not consistent with a baby that should be developed to 6 weeks of gestation, and, most likely, I was experiencing the beginning of a miscarriage. Sure enough, the miscarriage began in earnest later that night.

Jason and I were both shocked and devastated by the news, and Friday was a tough day. Since then, the immediate shock has worn off and I have daily ups and downs-- sometimes feeling OK and accepting it, and other times just feeling a dull sadness or depression about it. I know grief is a process, and it will probably continue like this for a while. After lots of reading, I've learned that almost 9 out of 10 women go on to have a healthy pregnancy after a miscarriage, so I am cautiously optimistic that we'll have better luck next time. I do feel some anxiety about trying a again because I know that as difficult as one miscarriage was, a second one would be exponentially more painful. But, for now, I am trying not to worry about this and to just stay positive and take it one day at a time. When the time is right, we will try again, and I know that in the long run, no matter what happens, everything will be fine.

La Cucaracaha

...And not in that cute, funny way, where you're all "hey, I'm sipping a margarita and singing about cockroaches in Spanish! How funny!" No, I'm talking about a real cockroach-- an ugly, hairy little guy that was a good inch and a half long. Ew. It gives me the shivers just writing it.

I had grand aspirations for this morning. I've been on a real house keeping kick, deep cleaning and getting everything organized (since I have an empty house and lots of time on my hands), and last night after giving the shower a preliminary spray to loosen up any grime, I set my alarm to get up early and give it a good scrub before work. (I also wanted to get a blog post up, but now I'm sitting at my desk at work and typing furiously before my 9:30am status meeting.)

So my alarm goes off, and I (begrudgingly) get up and head into the bathroom. I start the shower water and hop in. I start to move the non-slip bathmat we have in the shower and then I detect a little movement. Before I can even get out of the way, a cockroach leaps up and on to my leg and foot. Ew!! I am not naturally someone who screams or shrieks. In fact, before this morning, I'm not even sure I knew what I would sound like if I screamed out of sheer terror. But now I do.

I leaped out of the shower and sprinted back into my room. But then I just stood there trying to figure out what to do. I actually called J in a moment of panic. Fortunately he didn't pick up because I'm not sure what I would have said. "Um, can you come back from Charlotte and kill the cockroach in the tub?" Probably not. So I did what any self respecting woman would do. I put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, drove up to HEB at dawn, and bought some Raid to kill it myself. On the way to the store, a bird flew directly into my windshield. I have no idea if it died on the side of the road (I hope not), but I am just thankful that it didn't leave any blood, because I think I would have seriously freaked out at that point.

When I got home, I thoroughly fumigated the bathroom and then shut the door to let the Raid work it's magic while I brewed some coffee and tried to enjoy my Kashi Go Lean with strawberries. I gave it a good 20 minutes and then peeked inside the shower again. The roach appeared to be dead, but I gave him another little spray just to be sure.

Then I spent 10 minutes contemplating how to get him out of the shower. I most definitely was not going to touch it, nor did I want any of my household tools to touch the roach. So finally I covered my broom securely with a plastic bag, then I swept him into a dust pan (which in hindsight I should have also covered with plastic) and dumped him over the edge of our balcony. I had no idea if leaving him in the garbage might encourage his family members to come check him out for some reason.

At this point it was now about 8am, so I had to jump in the shower and get ready and I didn't have time to even clean out the Raid, let alone the deep clean I had planned. I just let the hot water run for a little while to wash away as much of the chemicals as possible. Finally, I got in and got my day started. Let's just say, it was not the way I had planned my morning... I guess it's a good reminder that I'm not really in control. Now I'm sipping my coffee at my desk, and hoping the rest of the day goes a little smoother!

Whirlwind!

Hi friends-- Sorry for my absence of late. It has been an absolutely crazy spring! We just wrapped up seven nearly consecutive weeks of visitors. Combine that with bi-weekly business travel and trying to squeeze in those um, super fun triathlon workouts, and the result is not a whole lot of free time for blog posting or, you know... cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, eating, sleeping, or generally taking care of business. This Thursday I am heading west to meet my sis in Seattle and then drive up to Vancouver for her bachelorette party. But, upon my return, I promise to get back to more regular posting. Get excited for recaps on:

• A visit from my best girlfriends from college
• Visits from both sets of our parents
• Bluebonnets galore: spring in Austin!
• Final stretch of the triathlon training
• The bachelorette party (duh)
• And, travel plans for our upcoming trip to South Africa in June!

Lots of exciting stuff to share... stick with me as I wrap up one more crazy week!

Update to Friday's embarassment

I am 99% sure that in addition to getting his hair trimmed, my (straight) boss also got his eyebrows waxed on Friday afternoon when I bumped into him at the salon. Definitely not feeling so bad anymore! I'm pretty sure we'll both be putting this little episode behind us, never to be spoken of again.

This will make you feel better...

For all of you who have ever had a really embarassing moment at work, and even just those of you who can't stand your jobs... this will make you feel better:

Yesterday, after a hellacious week full of turmoil at my company (the kind of turmoil that results in layoffs and potentially impacts my ability to receive a regular paycheck... more on that later), I decided to duck out of work early and get the weekend started. However, I decided to stop at the spa near our office on the way home and get-- full disclosure here because I am trying to make you feel better about yourselves at my own expense-- a bikini and a lip wax. A girl's got keep up on her maintenance... I'm just sayin'.

So I take care of my business and head up to the counter to pay. When I turn around, who do I run into? If you said "your 34 year old male boss," then BINGO! As my husband pointed out, he might have been a little embarassed being caught as the only male in an Aveda spa to get his hair trimmed (high maintenance much?), but let's review the facts here:

It is apparent that I've ditched work early since it's only 5:15 and I'm already paying for my treatments

AND

wait for it...

My upper lip is BRIGHT RED, thus giving away the fact that I ditched work early not to go shopping, not to hit up happy hour, not to go home and take a nap... oh, no, my friends. I ditched work early to GET MY LIP WAXED.

There was really no way to avoid a conversation with him, so we had a nice awkward exchange:

Me: "Hey, what are you doing here?!?" (Ferverishly trying to position myself so the sun glaring in through the window doesn't further accent the raw, red skin on my freshly waxed lip.)

Him: "Oh, just getting a trim.... You're just finishing up here?"

Me: "Uh, yep, well uh..."

Him: "Well, have a great weekend..."

Me: "Yeah, you too!" (Bolting out of the salon as fast as I can.)

Sigh. See? Your embarassing work moment isn't so bad, is it? Yeah, thought so.

Snowmaggedon

So... funny story. This past week I had to travel for two different business trips. I travel once in a while for work, but it's not something I really enjoy so two trips in one week is a lot for me. My first stop was in Columbus, Ohio, for a client meeting. My flight wasn't until Monday afternoon, so I went into the office that morning. Before I left, I gave my client a quick call to touch base and she mentioned they were expecting a big snowstorm. I had to drop my car off at home before heading to the airport, so I ran in and threw an extra change of clothes, some workout gear, and a novel into my suitcase. I dreaded the thought of getting stuck there, but figured I might as well have clean clothes (and squeeze in a workout) if my flight did get cancelled.

Sure enough, when I arrived the snow was falling and the city of Columbus eventually declared it a "Stage 1 Snow Emergency." My client's office closed early and only about half the people who were supposed to attend my meeting were able to show up due to school closures and bad road conditions. So I spent the entire day mentally preparing myself for the fact that I would likely be camping out at the Hampton Inn for another night. But after hours of obsessively checking my flight info, there were no signs of cancellations, so I showed up to the airport and was surprised to not only make it out of Columbus, but leave on time-- which seems like quite a feat these days, even when it's not a "snow emergency."

Fast forward two days later. I had a half day client meeting up in Dallas, and was booked on an afternoon flight back to Austin that would have me getting home earlier than if I'd gone to the office for the day. Imagine my surprise when I land and find that it's dumping snow. In Dallas. Mid-morning I received a message that my original flight had been cancelled, but that they had booked me on another flight an hour and a half later. When my client meeting was over and I headed back to DFW, I found that my new flight was delayed another 30 minutes. That 30 minutes turned into another 30 minutes and then another 30 minutes. Finally, around 6pm, they said we could finally board the plane. At this point I was starving, but knowing that the flight back to Austin was only an hour, I figured I'd forgo the airport food and eat something better when I got home.

So we unsuspecting passengers board our flight. And then the pilot gets on and tells us we should "prepare ourselves for a very long night." Never a good sign. Turns out Dallas doesn't handle snow real well. And DFW doesn't have a whole lot of de-icing equipment. And when one of their de-icing trucks breaks down, you wind up with about 24 planes sitting out on the tarmac with nowhere to go.

So we sat on the plane. On the tarmac. For SEVEN HOURS. No, I am not joking. And, yes, Obama recently passed a law to ban that kind of thing, but apparently it doesn't actually kick in until April. Sweet. So, yes, 7 hours on the tarmac. I could have been 95% of the way to Paris. But, no, I was waiting for a 37 minute flight back to Austin. With no food. At one point I actually yelled at flight attendant because I was so angry they boarded us, knowing full well that we couldn't actually take off for hours, but didn't give us the heads up that we might want to hit up Micky D's for a value meal before taking our seats. Because, you know, it was 6pm. And normal humans like to eat dinner. And they knew there was NO FOOD on the plane.

The poor woman sitting next to me, who was on a trip back from visiting her family in Peru, took me took pity on me (or else she was just scared I might start gnawing on her coat) and gave me some special Peruvian dulce de leche cookies she had brought back with her. Then she told me had been traveling since 8pm the night before, which made me feel just a smidge guilty for complaining when she was on the 4th leg of her journey home and hadn't slept in over two days. And that she was going home to see her 4 year old, who she hadn't seen in two weeks. (And I could tell the cookies I was devouring were clearly for her little toddler.) But only just a smidge.

After about 4 hours on the tarmac, they opened up the bar on the plane and said they'd give us whatever we wanted. It was pretty much a free for all-- people triple fisting beers or whatever they could get their hands on. At that point, however, there wasn't much allure to the free alcohol. I got a Coke, which I never drink, figuring I should maximize the caloric value of whatever I could ingest... and also that the carbonation might help fill my stomach a little. And distract me from the fact that I didn't bring a book, that I had already read the American Airlines Magazine twice (and once earlier in the week on the way back from Ohio), and that my iPhone battery had died 3 hours earlier (stupid work emails.)

Finally, at about 1am, the much fabled de-icing truck made it's way to us, and we were able to take off. I made it home at 2:30am. It felt like Gilligan's Island-- the 3 hour cruise that suddenly turned into the excursion from hell. Let's just say that I'm not getting on a plane anytime soon, and I cannot wait for winter to be over.

What have I been up to?

Two weeks have flown by in a whirlwind of urgent deadlines, client meetings, late nights at the office, and even a little weekend office time (yuck). The massive adrenaline rush needed to sustain my frantic running to and fro at the office for 10-12 hours nonstop each day, has left me slumped on the couch in a stupor in front of the reality tv show du jour most evenings. So blogging has slipped by the wayside. One bright spot in the hurricane of client calamity that has consumed my life of late was J's birthday last weekend. We went out with some friends on Saturday night to Chuy's for margaritas, queso, enchiladas, and the like, followed by skeeball, dancing, and drinks at Highball, one of Austin's new hip night spots. It's kind of like the Garage in Seattle with the same retro bowling (plus skeeball!), but a little clubbier with a dance floor and a DJ most weekend nights. We happened to be there on "Sci Fi Disco Dance Party" night, so the bar was half full of people in storm trooper and space alien costumes, which lent an additional festive flair to the birthday celebrations.

Last Sunday was J's actual birthday, and we spent most of the day in our PJs eating a big breakfast of waffles and bacon and watching Friday Night Lights episodes. We're already on Season 3, and even though I've already seen them all, I'm sad we're almost done. The fourth season is supposed to come back on TV sometime soon, but I haven't heard or seen anything lately. I'm going to be in serious withdrawals if it doesn't show up soon!

Later that afternoon, we cleaned up, got in the car, and then I took him on a scenic drive through the hills in the western most part of Austin. Lots of beautiful vistas and massive, massive houses. We ended the drive up near Lake Travis and had a delicious steak dinner at the Steiner Ranch Steakhouse. Yum.

This week has been another blur because I've gotten up early every morning to get to the office, have gotten back late most nights, and then in my remaining 2-3 hours of spare time between working, commuting, and sleeping, I have tried to squeeze in a couple workouts, a very small amount of housework, and, um, eating. That's about it.

However, Saturday is here once again and I don't have to go into the office. I am traveling to both Columbus, Ohio, and Dallas next week, so I expect that it will be hellacious. But for the time being, I'm enjoying sitting on my couch, drinking my coffee, and perusing the blog world. My good friend Anne is also coming up from San Antonio this afternoon with her two pooches, and we have a taxing schedule of going to the dog park and getting manicures and pedicures planned. I can't wait! Hopefully Monday morning will come very, verrrrry slowly.

The only title I can think of...

...is Blechgggghhg. I don't even know what that sounds like, but I do know that I literally did not see daylight today. I was at my office working before it was light out and left after it got dark again. Delightful. Work is pretty much kicking my butt this week, and I don't think it's going to slow down for weeks to come. My brain is fried, and I'm trying to psych myself up to go to the gym tomorrow morning before another long day. I hate the idea of getting up at 5:30am (again), but I also know I'll feel a lot better if I squeeze in a workout before the weekend. But, in the spirit of good attitudes and positivity, there are a few things I can be happy about:

• It's in the mid-70s every day this week. Two weeks ago it was in the 20s. Now it's in the 70s. I am not complaining. Bring it on, springtime! I have sandals that need a good dusting off.
• Frozen meals -- not the Lean Cuisine/Smart Ones variety, but delicious, home-cooked meals that I made before the holidays, froze, and have been thoroughly enjoying this week. There is nothing like simply heating up a batch of homemade chili after a 12-hour workday when merely operating the remote control sounds exhausting.
• J got an interview with a very-large-technology-company-in-the-Bay-Area-that-shall- remain-nameless for his summer internship-- hopefully the first of many, but it's a start!
• In less than 48 hours I will be popping a bottle of vino rosso and toasting two (hopefully) work free days.

Aaaaaaaaand, I'm spent.

Monday Night... whew!

For some reason, I really like Monday nights. Monday night always seems more relaxing than I'd expect... most of my weeknight plans tend to be mid-week, and I'm not yet totally worn out or exhausted by the work week. So I usually have the time and motivation to cook a nice a dinner, and then I have the time to just veg out and relax or watch TV. Plus, there's just kind of this sigh of relief that the day you spent all Sunday dreading is over and the week is moving forward.

Tonight I made a quick chicken saltimbocca-- basically boneless, skinless chicken breasts wrapped in proscuitto and sage, and then pan fried on the stove. Typically it's made with veal, which I'm not a fan of, but this recipe from Everyday Food (one of my best quick and easy cookbooks) called for chicken and looked relatively painless. Usually I'm a little leery of pan frying or sauteeing boneless, skinless chicken breasts, because mine always turn out tough and flavorless. But this recipe worked like a charm. I chalk it up to the delicious proscuitto giving it all that extra flavor and the quick white wine sauce that went with it. Mmmmm. Only 15 minutes to prepare and it's super tasty? This will definitely be going into my regular weeknight recipe rotation.

Now I'm settled in front of The Bachelor. This is totally my guilty pleasure-- so ridiculous, yet so entertaining. Best moment of the night so far: Michelle asking him to kick her off, and then her being surprised when he actually did. I'm also glad he got rid of Elizabeth. She definitely was playing games with him, and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed that his BS radar is as finely tuned as it is. Usually, the bachelor will put up with all kinds of crazy before he finally sees the light and kicks off the chicks that are so obviously not suitable for him. Jake is definitely impressing me more than I expected... what about you? Any Bachelor fanatics out there? Who's in your top 4? My money right now is on Tenley, Ali, Corrie, and Ella.

Random Thursday

With the departure of one of my colleagues last week, I've taken on not one, but two new accounts. AAAaaayyyy-eeeee-ieieieie! That's me yelling, doing a crazy dance, and pulling out my hair. But let's look on the bright side, shall we? Say it with me people, "JOB SECURITY." Job security, job security, job security. A very good thing in a one-income household. I just keep reminding myself of that. I'm a little crazed, so in lieu of a real post, I give you a string of random, completely unrelated thoughts:

- I've been fighting off a cold since Sunday. I have managed to not "officially" get sick, but I haven't managed to kick the headache, sore throat, and fatigue that has been hanging around. I'm not sure if it's better to avoid a full-on cold, but kind of feel crappy all week despite it, or to actually get sick for a few days and then get better. The jury is still out.

- I only buy lunch once a week (for both budget and health reasons), and I always look forward to the day that I don't have to make my lunch: a.) because it's annoying; and b.) because I get to get out of the office and have a quick change of scenery. However, on the day that I actually do get to go out and buy my lunch (ahem, today), I can never figure out what I want! Do I go with soup and a half sandwich from Whole Foods? Or maybe a burrito bowl from Chipotle? Or a fancy deli sandwich from the cute bakery down the street? I have no idea. And it's lunch time right now.

- I haven't done anything after work this entire week except eat dinner and watch TV. And I'm totally, 100% fine with it. Ditching the to-do list once in a while is kinda nice.

- I didn't move to Texas for 29 degree temps. Thankfully, the weather is cooperating once again. It's not sunny, but I'll take 60 degrees any day.

- Um, going to a school /rooting for a school that is uber dominant in sports is fun. The UT men's basketball team is now ranked #1 in the country. J and I are going to the UT vs. Texas A&M game on Saturday night. I've always enjoyed March Madness, but my new found interest in sports may now also encompass regular season college basketball games. Who knew?

- MBA internship recruiting season is picking up steam... J had an interview yesterday for a position in Dallas, and was in San Francisco last week meeting with a bunch of companies there. Business school is kinda like law school, where you get a paid internship in the summer and, if you're lucky, that translates into a job offer at the end of the summer. Obviously, you can get an internship and then get a totally different job afterward, but the whole internship recruiting process will give us the first glimpse of a.) what the economy is really like right now for newly minted MBAs; and b.) where the heck we might wind up after this whole crazy adventure. The whole "where are we going to be moving in a year and a half" question gets me all worked up and more than a little panicky any time I start really thinking about it (because I have some definite preferences), but I just keep reminding myself of my New Year's resolution to take it one day at a time. So here I am, practicing some calming yoga breathing, and telling myself I won't worry about it... just yet, anyway...

And there you have it folks. Hope your week is trucking along smoothly! TGI... almost Friday!