Whew! I love long weekends! And for once, this one actually felt long. There was plenty of time being social, being lazy and being productive. Makes me wish we always had three day weekends. While I'm closer than some people since I work from home on Fridays, it's still usually a very full work day for me on Fridays. But regardless, the point is that I haven't been in the office since Thursday night. Nice!
We went to dinner with our neighbors Friday night, then swung by the art museum to spend a bit of time looking around. That was fun despite being really tired. I think we should make more of an effort to take advantage of the many things in downtown Dallas since we live so close. The art museum's late night was a perfect idea. We saw two very unusual pieces of art that seemed to be composed primarily of cellophane (though the rest of the museum isn't focused on modern art).
Saturday morning was a 5k race. I didn't run the plan (the plan was accellerating 30 seconds per mile, ending with a very strong and difficult pace), but I went out too fast and then slowed down about 6 seconds in mile two -- and then I ran that same pace for mile three. So my mile splits had a total spread of 6 seconds. Not bad! I'll take a steady run, even if it wasn't the goal. But still about two minutes slower total than the 5k should have been. Ugh. Lots of work to do when speed training starts next week.
After the race, we came home and straightened up the house. We were joking that we should have houseguests every month because it's just so nice to get everything in order in preparation for their arrival. For once the entire kitchen is clean, all the bathrooms are clean, all the laundry is put away, all three floors are vacuumed, and there is no clutter sitting out. My law school roommate and her husband landed in the morning and we met up with them for a great lunch with another law school friend and his family. Then we spent some time hanging out and catching up around the house. Then the four of us set out for a 5 mile walk with a stop at a fun bar for a few drinks right near the u-turn point. We ended the night at a tapas restaurant, and we all went to bed fairly early. I've been just oppressively tired lately. But it was so awesome to have the day to catch up with her. She's always been one of my dearest friends. We went to college together and then lived together all three years of law school. She and her husband are a lot like us (only much cooler). They're also kid-free by choice and loving every minute of life. Their Christmas card picture this year was of them at Everest Base Camp. Insane! We could talk about travels and other shared aspects of life forever -- except politics! She and I decided long ago we were better off not discussing. Since we're both lawyers, it's too easy to argue points too vehemently. The funny thing is that as we get older, we seem to be also moving closer together politically. It was just so much fun to get the time with her. And my husband thinks her husband is awesome, so it was fun for all.
Sunday was a semi-long run (not much over 10 miles), and (thinking of my to-do list for the weekend), during the run, I extended a dinner party invitation. After the run, I went home and made waffles for breakfast for my law school roomie and her husband before they left town to go to Austin for a couple days. Wonderfully, the day on Sunday seemed to go pretty slowly. I managed to donate 65 items of clothing, and I took photos of all of it (you know, awaiting an audit), I updated my 2013 calendar to list days when I need to go shopping for birthday gifts and when I need to mail cards, etc., I sent a long email to some friends we made in China, AND I cooked a lovely Sunday night dinner -- a soup and a pasta dish. We had a relaxing night clearing some stuff off the DVR.
Monday was insanely lazy, but I did make progress on one task from the to-do list: I chose years worth of photos (and ordered prints) to hang in our stairwell. Unfortunately, we have to drive to Ikea to get frames, and it's about 45 minutes away, way out in the suburbs, so that project will have to await another day. We wanted to stay near the house on Monday. We managed four loads of laundry, including the sheets off the guest bed so they'll be ready for our houseguests next month.
Ugh, IKEA. I love some of the items they sell, but getting there, dealing with the throngs of people, and the long checkout lines makes me think twice about buying from them. I hope your trip there goes smoothly. I bet those photos look amazing along your stairwell.
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