Solo Weekend Things

Extended title for this post would be:

Solo, Snowed In, Watched Every Episode of Girls in 3 Nights, Haven’t Seen Another Human Being All Weekend Things.  And that last part is only a slight exaggeration.

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Joey has been at “work conference” in Vegas (that just so happened to coincide with March Madness — how odd!), so I was flying solo all weekend.  I still can’t decide if I really loved having so much alone time — and I mean really alone because it snowed all weekend and I left my apartment…hmmm… about twice the entire time — or if I was just crazy from lack of human interaction.

I took up watching Girls on Wednesday night thinking that would hold me over till Sunday.  Saturday morning I finished the second season, so that plan didn’t really work out.  I know the end of season two got weird –really weird — but I really loved the show.  Having watched it all in one giant chunk, I don’t even think I could put all my thoughts on it into words.  Or into one post, so I’ll just say that I already want to make Joey watch it.  Partly so I can re-watch it…

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I celebrated Friday by picking up the new JT CD at Target.  And maybe left with an armful of stuff I swear I had not planned on buying.  Can I just ask why they need to make it so difficult to open a CD?  It’s only a $10 item!!!  Clearly I was frustrated, but not as frustrated as when, after 10 minutes of struggling with the CD wrapping, my arm caught the top of our olive oil cruet and dumped the whole thing on the floor.  Sadly this was not the first time I have spilled olive oil all over my kitchen floor.  I proceeded to ignore the spill and watch and episode of Girls before calling my sister to complain.  She suggested I pour cornmeal over the spill before wiping it up and it worked!  For future reference…

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I woke up to this scene on Saturday.  I was less than happy to be pulling out my winter coat again.  I had really hoped we were done with this whole winter and snow thing, but this is Colorado and there is a chance of snow all the way into May.  I often give Joey a hard time for wanting to “do nothing” on the weekend.  I don’t know how to “do nothing.”  And I especially don’t know how to “do nothing” when I have plans to do something.  But this weekend I had absolutely no plans to do anything and dare I say it was kind of nice.

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I didn’t have an agenda, or a to-do list, or anything in mind that I “needed” to accomplish.  I didn’t feel guilty for sitting on the couch and watching TV.  Way too much TV.  And I didn’t put any pressure on myself to “be productive.”  And you know what happened?  I was kind of productive anyways.  I mean, I made honey beer bread!  That’s all the productivity a person needs, right?

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I found this recipe earlier this week and when I decided I wasn’t into cleaning off my car or finding out if the roads were bad or not on Saturday, I pulled up the recipe and was delighted to find I had all the ingredients on hand (oh the beauty of being a homebrewer — beer is always on hand!).  I didn’t have a loaf pan so I went with the pie dish but who really cares what the shape of their bread is anyways.  This turned out fabulously!  I ate a buttery slice hot and fresh from the oven and thought I was going to die of happiness.  Seriously one of the best pieces of bread I’ve ever eaten.  Gah!  I also fed it to my sister (along with some cheesy chicken and rice soup) last night and she concurred that it was phenomenal.

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On Sunday I trounced around in the snow with this little girl.  My parents took a trip to Santa Fe so I’m helping out with their dogs.  I stopped by their place yesterday after my usual afternoon yoga class (which was so sweaty and amazing) and took both dogs out.  Huni proceeded to hop into the snow and then stand there totally confused and probably really cold.  It was adorable.

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I also made life revelation #549784541: the answer to all things is caffeine.  For all sleep-deprived, motivation-seeking, must-get-through-the-workday, or just because times, caffeine is the answer.  I also happen to be super sensitive to caffeine, therefore one measly cup of Earl Gray totally has me buzzing and feeling like my brain is minutes from slipping into either brilliance or insanity (same thing, right?) for the rest of the day.  So fun!

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And what’s caffeine without a side of chocolate chip pancakes anyways?

I think I’ve rambled on long enough, Happy Monday!

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Are you still getting snow where you live?

Can you go to Target without buying at least a handful of stuff you don’t need?

When was the last time you spent a good chunk of time by yourself?

St. Patrick’s Day Weekend Things

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

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Right now, I am so full of corned beef and cabbage, green beer and marbled cheesecake brownies that I don’t think I can move from my couch.  Good thing blogging requires me to do just that; sit on the couch and not move.  Other than eating too much green and Irish food, I can’t say my St. Patrick’s Day hasn’t been too wild or crazy.  It’s actually been more productive than anything.  Checking things off my to-do list left and right.

Celebrate the arrival of a new Cooking Light magazine by reading it cover to cover.  Check!

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Who else is excited for fresh spring food?

Have a successful driving lesson.  Check!

Confession: I can’t drive stick.  Which I feel is such a basic skill and something I should know how to do.  Especially since Joey drives a stick shift and if I ever had to I wouldn’t be able to drive us in it.  I only drove around the neighborhood, but I actually did pretty good.  The real test is when someone is behind me — pressure is on then.

Watch Beetlejuice because a certain someone has never seen it.  Check!

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Dayo, daaaaaayo.  I hadn’t seen this movie in years but 1. Alec Baldwin is so young! 2. What happened to Michael Keaton?  He is awesome in this movie! 3. What is with the plot of this movie?  It is so all over the place!  Okay, enough exclamation points.

Finish up some vacation reading.  Check!

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I had no idea The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was a short story.  I never liked the movie, but I have newfound appreciation for it, now that I’ve read the original.  Whoever came up with the storyline for that film really had to expand from what Fitzgerald gave them.  I just wish they had expanded it quite so much.  Longest movie ever.

See a late night 3D Imax movie for $16 a piece.  Check!

Movie prices these days are crazy!  Oz (or whatever it’s called) wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t really worth that much money either.

Refill our super sad and empty fridge.  Check!

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If only beer was food, huh?

File my taxes.

My mom likes to baby me and has always done it for me (I swear I really did try to do it myself last year and she took over!) but I actually sat down and did it start to finish all by myself this year.  Turns out it’s super easy and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

Bottle beer #4.  Check!

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We’re slowly but surely getting a handle on the brewing/bottling thing and basically flew through it on Saturday.  Basically.  It still takes some time and cleaning a carboy that had beer sitting in it for two weeks isn’t on my list of favorite things to do, but that’s why I leave that part to Joey.

Deep clean entire apartment.  Check!

I feel that my hands may never be clean again.

Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day the traditional way.  Check!

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Feel super full all night long.  Uh, I think we covered that one.

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Did you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day?

Have you filed your taxes yet?

Can you drive a stick shift?