Monday, March 3, 2008

You Look Like a Duggar

First things first ... apparently I've fallen off the NaBloPoMo wagon before I even got on it. I'm supposed to post every day of March, with a list theme. I'm going to quit before I begin. I don't want to be boxed in like that, and you guys (if you exist) don't want to read formulaic posts. So, now that that's out of the way ...

The Weekend

Fiance and I had dinner at Divine Bar (East) on Friday night with his friend from high school and her fiance. Fiance and the friend hadn't seen each other since graduation (10 years ago), so it was exciting, and turned out to be a lot of fun. She's super sweet, and the two of them are getting married a week before we are. We had fun talking about wedding and non-wedding things. They are both M.D. / PhD students (morons, obvi), and we had some interesting chats about health care, among other things. I really hope we go out with them soon.

Saturday was insanity. I woke up (sufficiently hungover) at 7 a.m. and hightailed it to the grocery store (the "groshery" as Fiance would say), to prepare for the little dinner party we were planning for Saturday eve. I had to get an early start since we were planning on being at church all day for a retreat. Well, I was originally going to make Dr Pepper cake for dessert, but our new wonderful paralegal talked me into making Rachel Ray's Strawberry Tiramisu. I cannot for the life of me find the recipe online, but if I do, I will post it. The paralegal printed it out for me (I think she was horrified that I was going to feed my guests Dr Pepper cake). Anyway, so it's 7am and I am hungover, and my grocery cart (the one I bring from home, since I am sans auto), has a shaky wheel. I'm weaving up and down the streets, and I probably looked like a crazy person. I went to Foodtown and got everything I needed, except for the lady fingers for the tiramisu. So then I went over to Key Foods, down the road, stopping at two convenience stores and two bakeries along the way. No lady fingers anywhere. I already had the strawberries and the mascarpone cheese for the tiramisu, plus the steak and veggies for dinner, and I just stopped and bought a can of Dr Pepper (back to Plan A), and went home.

It was still only 8:45 when I got home, but I saw my mom was online, so I gave her a call. She said to use pound cake. Poor Fiance was as hungover as I was (even though he got to sleep two hours later), and my ranting and carrying on with my mother did not amuse him. Sorry, honey. He was probably less amused when I asked him to run out and buy some pound cake. Anyway I put all the groceries in the fridge, we cleaned the house (80% anyway), showered, and we made it to church by 11. Not bad.

The retreat at church was pretty good, but, as always, dragged on way longer than it needed to. We started with Saturday of the Souls Liturgy. I don't know why I didn't expect to cry though a Liturgy praying for all our dead friends, but somehow I was surprised by the fact that I wept through the whole thing. Every time I started to get myself together, I would look over at my priest's wife, and since she was crying harder than I was, I'd lose it all over again. Not a good situation. I thought I was pretty much finished crying but I guess not.

We had two speakers. The first is a crazy Canadian man who is really energetic and really wise. His lecture was hilarious but really moving, too. He talked about why we fast, how we should fast, and what we are supposed to get out of fasting (this was a Lenten-themed retreat). I think everyone -- especially the older generation that isn't as accustomed to fasting -- came away with a better understanding and appreciation for fasting. Then we ate an ironically large lunch of subs and cookies.

The second speaker talked about forgiveness, and his lecture wasn't as carefully structured. The old ladies ended up standing up and, without using any names but saying things like "I think you all know who I'm talking about," recounted stories of old grudges that they either had or hadn't let go. It was amusing, to say the least.

We then had a too-long coffee break, followed by a too-long question-and-answer session, followed by Vespers. Vespers usually lasts about 35 min, but we had so many guest chanters who liked to do thing slooooowly that we didn't get out of there in less than an hour. So, it was 6 p.m. before we left church, and my friends were supposed to come by 7. I was anxious, to say the least.

Then, I remembered this little Italian Market in the neighborhood. I don't know how I didn't notice it as I was wandering up and down the street that morning. My friend was with us and offered to run there for lady fingers (and another cheese I needed), and, thankfully, they had it.

We ran home, started the roasted potatoes (thanks again to my friend), did the string bean salad (recipes to follow), and assembled the strawberry tiramisu. We finished cleaning (squirrelling) the house, and I had the steaks ready to be cooked before my friends got there.

We had a great evening of wine, fine dining, and wii. Very sophisticated. I was thrilled to break in the new dining table, and it was just a great night all around.

Sunday we dragged ourselves back to church, and then went to Skinflints for burgers. We went home and I basically sat on the couch all day while Fiance did some cleaning and organizing. Finally, we were hanging out on the couch last night, and I mentioned about how badly I need a haircut (it's been since Labor Day, and it's now past the middle of my back). Fiance says, "Yeah, you look like a Duggar!" I've never been so angry while laughing so hard before. He's hilarious.

And now, somehow, it's Monday again. I got to work super early this morning, and I have a ton to do (why am I blogging? because my people need me). Hopefully won't be a super late night, but Fiance is going to have to stay late anyway, so I don't really mind. I'm planning on making tilapia tonight. We'll see.

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