A Good Week

You know it's going to be a good week when you're already having fun and it's only Tuesday.

Last night was Guitar Hero: Metallica with new friends (and two of Neversoft's own animators - very cool). Tonight is American Idol and dinner off the grill. And tomorrow we're going to roll back the rugs and dance in the kitchen 'til we can't dance anymore.

Work is good. The weather is good. Even my hair looks good.

Yes, it's gonna be a good week - a good week, indeed.

Number 20

Can be checked off the list.

Left-over hamburgers. Plenty of barbecue sauce. American Idol and a Blue Moon. Then warm, flaky banana bread for dessert - my mom's recipe.

It came out perfect, even if I did have to eyeball most of the ingredients (I really should invest in some measuring spoons.)

More To It

Sometimes all it takes is a little sunset, a little sand, and the smell of the ocean to put things into perspective, to remind us that there is more to life than what we do from 9 to 5.

I need to end more of my days like this.

Number 1

Can be checked off the list. I'm happy to report that my weekend was just as productive as I had hoped. Not only did I work on the list, but I also did my taxes, washed my car and did a little Spring cleaning.

And while I truly wish I could list all five of the books I read, I feel sort of silly saying I don't remember one of them, and it was a pretty good one, too. It was a library book and it's since been returned, and not thinking my memory is as bad as it is, I didn't write down the title or the author.

However, I do remember the other four, and I highly recommend all of them (at least for the ladies - guys, I'm sorry, I do tend to prefer girlier reads)!

Summer In The Land Of Skin by Jody Gehrman

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks
More Than It Hurts You by Darin Strauss

Such a Pretty Fat by Jen Lancaster (whose blog you can find in my list of favorites)

Five books is alot for me. I don't remember the last time I've read five books in a year. And the good thing is that reading those five has only made me want to keep reading. I'm on to Molly's book now. I read the first chapter last night and can already tell it's going to be fantastic.

Springtime

It's the official first day of Spring! The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and even the wind seems happy. Too bad it won't last. The forecast is calling for rain and 60 degrees of cold for the weekend. I'm thinking it sounds like a good weekend to work on the list. I'm also thinking it sounds like a good weekend for lounging in pajamas. And maybe painting the living room. Which means I might have all sorts of fun things to tell you about on Monday. Until then, enjoy the springtime, wherever you are!

Run In

Old friends. Hot coffee. A chance run in with the reality that life is in fact fleeting. A couple pitchers of green beer and good music to make us forget. A girls' night out. A long walk. A new hat - (a summer hat!) - and Molly's book , which I really, really can't wait to get cozy with. What a weekend.

5 Hours Too Many

When you're waiting for the second round of the Pac 10 Tournament, sometimes 5 hours can seem like entirely too many.

I'm ready for basketball and burgers and beer. And really, if I'm honest, I'm ready for sleeping late and snuggling and lazy breakfasts. I'm ready for the weekend. Yes, I know, I still have one more day - 5 hours + one more day to be exact. But at least I do have basketball to look forward to tonight. And burgers. And beer. Mmmm....

P.S.--When we won last night, the guy behind us said it was like shooting ducks in a barrel. I giggled. I couldn't have put it a better way myself. Go Cougs!

Clarity

Have you ever had a moment of complete clarity when you totally understand the need to live every, single day to the absolute fullest - to always be happy and never sad, always daring and never safe, always forgiving and never angry - to love so much and run so far and jump so high and smile so wide you almost burst right open?

I'm living in that moment.

Number 22

Can be checked off the list.

It came on so unexpectedly that I almost didn't even realize it counted as a hobby, and really, it all started with number 3, but after some thought, I realized it did indeed count, and then it made me smile.

Country dancing. My new hobby.

I love it, love it, love it. Can't get enough of it. Have to have it.

I go nearly every week now and find that when I skip a week, my feet get restless and my boots look lonely.

March Showers

For the last week or so, Santa Monica has smelled like flowers - like lilacs - fresh, new, intoxicating lilacs. This weekend, when the sun was out and the wind was warm, you could smell them sweeping in through open windows, and it made me so happy.

But today is neither sunny nor warm. Today is rainy and cold. And although I know that the lovely lilacs need rain to grow, I'm not one bit happy about this wet day. I want springtime days that need no jacket and summer nights that need no socks, and more than anything, I want a warm walk down Montana at twilight with a latte in my hand and the smell of lilacs on the breeze.

Perfectness

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Molly over at Orangette should feel very, very flattered.

It was her February 17th post that inspired Mason and I to have our very own crab feed this past weekend, complete with three large Dungeness crabs, a loaf of sour dough bread, plenty of melted butter and a bottle of Gnarly Head Pino Grigio.

From the trip to the bustling Santa Monica Seafood market to pick up our crabs to the nine hours of sleep we fell into immediately after we stuffed ourselves, it was a perfect evening - an evening I highly recommend copying as soon as you have a little extra cash, plenty of newspaper and a craving for good crab and great conversation.