Whirlwind Weekend

That was a whirlwind weekend.  I need a couple of days to recover!  Good thing it is Columbus Day...  Wait... I'm at work...

...Columbus Day is a stupid holiday!  I didn't want it off anyway!  It's not like he did anything important.

So this weekend started out with a double puppy class for me because a few people missed last class so I was kind enough to come in and do a quick catch up for them.  It's not something I mind doing at all but I do tend to get irritated when people ask me to do them and then don't show up.  Luckily that didn't happen this time and they showed up.  I can tell they haven't been practicing much at home (yes your trainer can tell when you don't practice) but they seem engaged in class so they come out on the positive client list anyway.

After class I went home and put together a shopping list.  Since it is getting cooler I am breaking out the crock-pot.  I like the idea of putting together crock-pot meals six to eight at a time and freezing them.  That way in the morning before I leave for work I can pop them in the crock-pot and they're cooked by the time I get home.  See, in the interest of eating better I'm coming up with an effective plan of attack against the nights were I tend to eat poorly, coming off of my 13 hour day where I am just TOO EXHAUSTED to even contemplate cooking.  Enter the crock-pot in all it's crocky glory.  Of course for this plan to work I have to do a lot of meal preparation all at once on days where I have time.  This is the first time I've done it so we'll see how it turns out.  Anyway, I got my shopping list together and took off to shop.  I don't tend to shop in bulk so it seemed like a lot of food to me.  On the plus side, I did get to push around the cart and I did do some cart riding doing the empty aisles.  You have to make shopping fun.

I returned home with all of my fresh purchases and yes I carried them all into the house at once.  Second trips are for babies!  I got to chopping and filling bags and then I realized that there was stuff I was missing.  Damn it!  The shopping list I worked off of wasn't complete.  After I got done cursing I called my sister and bribed her with some Margarita Cupcakes to get me the missing items.  Which she did because she's the best.

And yes, I did say Margarita Cupcakes.  Caught that did you?  Yep, I totally made Margarita Cupcakes from scratch.  And they turned out WONDERFUL!  Yes I did have to resort to calling my mother to find out what the heck lime zest was (I will never hear the end of that.) but it was worth it for the complete scrumptiousness of the cupcakes.

After a long day of chopping and crying over the onions (first time chopping onions has made me cry) I trucked off to Angie's house to see her new DVD.  Very exciting!  Raising an Off Leash Puppy which she knows a lot about since she has a wonderful dog Owen to prove it.  Someday I'll be as cool as Angie.  It was well past my bedtime by the time I got home.

So as you can see I already had a busy Saturday.  Bring on Sunday.

It began with a family brunch which has become a regular affair.  My Aunt Kim was visiting from St. Louis and it was very good to see her.  I do miss my crazy St. Louis family.  After that I managed to herd her, my mom and my dad over to the house I'm buying so we could go over just how much needed to be done and what needed to be done first.  That is a whole different post.  I'm actually starting to get excited about how cute this house is going to turn out to be.

Then we were joined there by my besties Caitlin and Kathleen.  Caitlin of course lives in the Springs and had seen the outside of the house but Kathleen hadn't seen it at all.  She stopped here in her treck across the country with her mom to kind of check it out.  I hope she decides to move back here from Ohio!  I wanted a three bedroom house so both Caitlin and Kathleen could live with me but that didn't work out.  I love them both and hopefully one of them can move in once this house is finished.

Then we went down to Manitou for some lunch.  There is this incredible Middle Eastern cafe there with some of the best falafel I have ever had.  Not only is falafel yummy but it is so fun to say.  Falafel.  FA-LA-FEL!  Great word.  Did some quick walking in Manitou then we were off to meet my mom and aunt at Lowes to look at paint colors and such. 

Aunt Kim is an interior decorator and has some serious talent.  I will have to fly her out again when the house is finished so she can decorate it.  Between her, Kathleen and my mom we were able to get a nice pallet that I can use throughout the house.  It is very earthy and natural, which I love.  We also picked out some tile to frame the tile already in the house around where my wood burning stove is going to be.

Then we went back to my brother's house where there was pizza had and a movie watched.  Long ass weekend.

And now the first week of the flu shot study is starting which means for the rest of the week I have to be at work by 6:30am and I have to work on Sunday.  *sigh*